Tire Advice - BF Goodrich 500-15 - too narrow!

[corinnedavid]

Tires and Wheels - 1966 Safari - Whitewalls & Red Rims
Hi Everyone -
We have a new axel, custom made, and looking to try out our 1966 Safari this summer.

But before hitting the road, we are searching for a source for replacement tires for my 1966 Safari. I am looking for whitewall tires with red rims, and chrome baby moons.

I ordered a set of tires - BF Goodrich 500-15 - and now that the tires arrived they are clearly not the right size. They are about 4" wide.
They look like a tire for an old-timey car, or a motorcycle. Back they go.

So here goes again...what size tires do you all recommend, and where can I find some classic red rims to fit?

Thank you so much for your advice. Best, Corinne & David.

[Zil]

https://cokertire.com/ and a rattle can of safety-red rustolium.

[corinnedavid]

The BF Goodrich 500-15 came from Coker. They are too narrow.

What brand / size of tires are Airstream owners buying for a 66 Safari?

[Coloradobus]

700-15 was your trailer's original tire size. We have given up on radial Goodyear Mararthon (May Pops) Can't prevent them from flying apart.
The biased 700-15 tire load range D gives you greater ground clearance, taller rolling diameter increases our trailers clearance provided by about an inch. They run cooler because of less sidewall flex.

[Jacob D]

Originally Posted by Coloradobus

700-15 was your trailer's original tire size. We have given up on radial Goodyear Mararthon (May Pops) Can't prevent them from flying apart.
The biased 700-15 tire load range D gives you greater ground clearance, taller rolling diameter increases our trailers clearance provided by about an inch. They run cooler because of less sidewall flex.

I don't see how you can call Good Year Marathons "may pops". I have been running them now for over 15 years with excellent service on my '67 Overlander. Most of that on the old Henschen axles and since December on new Dexters.

I will admit that most of my mileage has been on Canadian made tires, and now my new set is Chinese made but they look good and have run for a year with no issues . I tow about 2,000 miles per year.

[franklyfrank]

Originally Posted by Jacob D

I don't see how you can call Good Year Marathons "may pops". I have been running them now for over 15 years with excellent service on my '67 Overlander. Most of that on the old Henschen axles and since December on new Dexters.

I will admit that most of my mileage has been on Canadian made tires, and now my new set is Chinese made but they look good and have run for a year with no issues . I tow about 2,000 miles per year.

I had a set of " May Pops " that actually did pop, so I earned the privilege to say I used to own a set of Good Year Marathon did pop tires.
Seeing the multitude of GYM tire failures reported on this site alone should keep any level headed person from using a set. There even is a You Tube video of one. Go and look it up.

[gr.austin]

Chinese tires have horrible quality. Some are very good but others of the same brand can fail any time even in the first 100 miles. Buy American or European period. Quality control is 1000 times better. Older Marathons were good but those days are over, sorry to say. I just put 16" Michelin's on my 27' Classic. I feel much more comfortable.

Tires are rated by their load rating capacity. If your trailer weighs 5000 pounds fully loaded then your tires need to be rated to hold the 5000# plus a little safety factor like 10-20%. If you have 2 tires then each should be rated at 2500# plus 250# or 2750#. The diameter can be whatever fits but the load rating has to be greater than the required load. The safety factor allows for one side of the trailer to be loaded more than the other.

If you chose a metric tire, one with a "P" in the tire size, than the load rating of the tire has to be reduced by 10% because of the USA regulation for trailer use. Light Truck tires can be substituted for trailer tires with no ill affects. USA Rated tires do not need the 10% reduction in Load capacity. The Michelin's that I purchased were LTX225R16 and were not de-rated.

Auto car tires should not be used because the side walls are too flexible and can cause terrible handling problems.

Happy Streaming....

[ajnz]

Dexter Axle manufactures wheels and baby moon hubcaps that will fit your trailer. The wheels come from the factory painted black. Painting them red shouldn't be much of a problem for you. Proper size is 15 X 6. The factory should be able to match the bolt pattern and offset to match your axle. Suggest you contact Dexter for the proper part number for the wheels.

ST225/75-15 are the correct radial replacements for the original bias ply tires installed on your Safari. To my knowledge, they are not available in white wall but you can get the same look with the "toppers" shown in this link. http://www.mooneyesusa.com/Port-O-Wa...ite-p/ww12.htm

As far as brands go, there are no data out there showing one brand is more dependable than another. I've followed this forum and several others for over 10 years and have read of failures of all brands. None of the claims that one brand is better or worse than others can be backed up with credible data showing failures per vehicle mile or other meaningful statistics. This is because no such studies have been done. All statements in support or against a given brand are based upon anecdotal observations. Goodyears are often mentioned as causing problems but this could be because there are more Goodyear tires on the road than any other. Since there's no data one way or another, no one knows for sure. Here's an interesting discussion of the topic: http://fasteagletiretalk.blogspot.co...s-st-fail.html

Your best bet is to purchase the tires from a store you trust and make sure they are always properly inflated and that your trailer is not overloaded. I would get metal valve stems for an extra measure of safety.

Travel safely and enjoy the ride!

[VT Wanderer]

AJNZ - well said. You are right on target.

[franklyfrank]

Originally Posted by ajnz

Dexter Axle manufactures wheels and baby moon hubcaps that will fit your trailer. The wheels come from the factory painted black. Painting them red shouldn't be much of a problem for you. Proper size is 15 X 6. The factory should be able to match the bolt pattern and offset to match your axle. Suggest you contact Dexter for the proper part number for the wheels.

ST225/75-15 are the correct radial replacements for the original bias ply tires installed on your Safari. To my knowledge, they are not available in white wall but you can get the same look with the "toppers" shown in this link. http://www.mooneyesusa.com/Port-O-Wa...ite-p/ww12.htm

As far as brands go, there are no data out there showing one brand is more dependable than another. I've followed this forum and several others for over 10 years and have read of failures of all brands. None of the claims that one brand is better or worse than others can be backed up with credible data showing failures per vehicle mile or other meaningful statistics. This is because no such studies have been done. All statements in support or against a given brand are based upon anecdotal observations. Goodyears are often mentioned as causing problems but this could be because there are more Goodyear tires on the road than any other. Since there's no data one way or another, no one knows for sure. Here's an interesting discussion of the topic: http://fasteagletiretalk.blogspot.co...s-st-fail.html

Your best bet is to purchase the tires from a store you trust and make sure they are always properly inflated and that your trailer is not overloaded. I would get metal valve stems for an extra measure of safety.

Travel safely and enjoy the ride!

I would call the endless incidents of Good Year Marathon tire thread separation on just about every RV site a credible evidence.
I have never heard thread separation issues with Michelins. Thread separation is especially damaging to an Airstream because it is impossible to stop on a dime and a 3' piece of thread will mangle the side before you pull over. In my case the repair cost was $ 9,300.00 plus the hassle involved.

The best replacement for a 15" GYM I found is the
Michelin LTX M/S2 P235 / R15 / 108 T Extra Load E2. This tire is rated as D2 8 ply at 50 PSI, load capacity 2,185 #. At 65 PSI it is rated as a 10 ply tire. It is also a a high speed tire so you don't have to freak out pushing it over 65 mph and the ride is much better as well.

[ajnz]

If there are 500,000 Goodyear Marathons in service, a one percent per year failure rate equals 5,000 failed tires per year. If there are 10,000 Maxxis M8008's in service, a ten percent failure rate equals only 1,000 failed tires per year. If you haven't seen as many reports of Maxxis tire failures does this mean Maxxis tires fail at a lower rate than Goodyears? In my opinion no since there is absolutely no data out there to support such a claim.

BTW, the failure you mention is tread separation, not thread separation.

[franklyfrank]

Originally Posted by ajnz

If there are 500,000 Goodyear Marathons in service, a one percent per year failure rate equals 5,000 failed tires per year. If there are 10,000 Maxxis M8008's in service, a ten percent failure rate equals only 1,000 failed tires per year. If you haven't seen as many reports of Maxxis tire failures does this mean Maxxis tires fail at a lower rate than Goodyears? In my opinion no since there is absolutely no data out there to support such a claim.

BTW, the failure you mention is tread separation, not thread separation.

Logically speaking, from my individual experience, since I only owned one set of Good Year Marathon ST tires, the tread separation failure in my case is 100 percent. Where as with all the Michelin tires, on all my vehicles during the leas fifty years I never had a tire failure of any kind other than an occasional flat. And even in those instances the tires were repairable and continued to serve well without a problem. I don't care about surveys and studies and all that bull. I go by my own experience making tire purchase decisions.
I owned and ran 25 semi dumps in my construction business for 35 years. You learn tire lessons for a life time.

[Ray Eklund]

As soon as we are back in the Denver, Colorado area... I have FIVE Goodyear 15" Marathons, mounted on FOUR 2014 aluminum wheels and ONE spare on a steel wheel.

They have less than 500 miles on them, zero miles on the spare. Tested on a 25 foot International and preformed just fine. D Rated and fit Airstreams other than the 23 foot with five lugs.

I want them to go to an Airstream owner who appreciates GYM's more than I.

Looking at 55% of what it would cost to buy these on the NON RV shop market. You must come and pick them up at my home. Stored indoors. Stacked and look wonderful. I have never had a 15" GYM come apart.

I have had a number of 14" GYM's on our previous 23 foot come apart or punctured with gravel on asphalt. Those are C Rated. I rate them P, for Poor.

My bias is towards 14" GYM's. When the rubber meets the road... there isn't enough.

My bias towards 15" GYM's. None. I wanted to keep it that way by not leaving them on my Airstream.

[Action]

Any more discussion NOT on topic that was originally posted will be deleted. If you are unclear as to what is the topic please look at the first post. If you are unclear if you can stay on topic do not post. If you have any other non-clarity I will be compelled to deliver such.

Clear?!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Action

[corinnedavid]

Thanks for your advice. In talking with Coker Tire, the weight capacity on these tires is 750 pounds. With an Airstream weight of 3500 pounds, clearly not the right tires.
Appreciate any NorCal recommendations for trailer tire experts. Don't want to reinvent the wheel here. He he

[corinnedavid]

Tires and Wheels - 1966 Safari - Whitewalls & Red Rims
Hi Everyone -
We have a new axel, custom made, and looking to get our 1966 Safari on the road.

I am looking for whitewall tires with red rims, and chrome baby moons.

I ordered a set of tires - BF Goodrich 500-15 - but sent them back as wrong size and only spec for 750 pounds weight.

I see a recommendation to go with ST225/75-15 in this forum.

So here goes again...what size tires do you all recommend, and where can I find some classic red rims to fit?

Thank you so much for your advice. Best, Corinne & David.

[PKI]

Call Coker and see what they have. Good luck. Pat

[PKI]

The 700 or 750 have more weight capacity. Again, call Coker if you want white wall. Looking vintage is their business.

Good luck. Pat

[corinnedavid]

Are the Coker tires comparable in quality to the Goodyear Marathons, BF Goodrich, or Michelin tires?

[PKI]

Originally Posted by corinnedavid

Are the Coker tires comparable in quality to the Goodyear Marathons, BF Goodrich, or Michelin tires?

Tiz not the point. If you want the safest, you make one choice. If you want whitewalls, you make another choice.

But, note that Coker makes tires for expensive vintage cars. They make vintage looking radial tires. They sponsored an across the country road rally with purpose built vintage style cars and tire failure did not make national news. They offer an alternative. You may not feel it's a fit for your use.

We talked to a couple with a Retro trailer. The Coker tires were restricted to a maximum of 35 psi inflation pressure. That would indicate that the tire was designed to a different objective than the higher pressure ST and LT tires.

Good luck with the search. Travel safe. Pat