moespeeds

Blew a tire on 58 this morning coming out of VIR, and wasn't happy at all about having to change a tire in the right lane, in the rain, before I even got a chance to get coffee. It was hairy to say the least since there is no shoulder on 58 and the drainage ditches keep you from pulling off the road. Anyway, I've decided to toss my junk tires that came with the trailer and get some good ones. I'm running a 24' enclosed, weighing in around 3300 lbs, plus the car and gear puts me around 7-8k on dual 5k axles. A friend recommended Goodyear Marathons but they actually have some pretty bad reviews on the RV forums if you do the research. Anything else out there? Towmax STR are E rated and not too expensive. I'd rather not go to a 16" wheel because of the added expense of replacing the 2 spares.

crease-guard

You need a heavy duty truck type tire that's rated to carry a load. Regular ole passenger car tires just aren't beefy enough. Plus check the pressures, heavy duty load tires usually run around 70-75 psi.

Jay

NavyVet

Good luck friend. We have used Goodyear Marathons, Green *****, TrailMasters, and every other Chinese trailer tire in the last few years. Please understand that there are NO TRAILER US-MADE TRILER TIRES today!

We cover our trailer tires with canvas protectors at all times. We always run proper maximum tire prssures - maximum for trailer wieght & tire size. We try to think of everything.

I blew a trailer tire comning out of Charlotte NC last May. Another coming out of Lincoln NB fronm SCCA Nationals last year. Another in CA last summer. Another in AZ this summer, etc, etrc, etc. (Note - trailer is 24' with 5,200 lb axles, one Corvette and two sets of race tries plus fuel -i.e., not overloaded!!!). Tires are always covered. Always checked to proper maximum pressure. Never towing over 75 MPH. On and on and on .....

My best suggestions - go slow - nto voer 675 MPH - and preay for an American manufacturer to make a trailer tire again!

Bottom line - Every trailer tie sold in the USA is made in China and is a piece of crap!!!!

I've towed race cars for yeyars and never had these problems before the past few years. Now, in the last 4 yerars, I've blownout 13 tires!!!

China sucks and there is no alternative today. We lose and they win.

Paul

crease-guard

That's not very reassuring.

db2xpert

I'm lucky I've never blown one yet, also 24' ft, sometimes running around 9K loaded. Running 16" tires.

Been looking for replacements for near future - every manufacturer has tons of negative reviews. Have several friends that have blown tires on their trailers and 5th wheel RVs.

My current tires are not made any more.

No decision on what to get....

rustyguns

Everyone in our club has had the same experience as you. I went with a motorhome axle and run 12PR tires. Good luck so far, cross your fingers!

Olitho

Hercules STR is a 10 ply tire one of our fellow T1 racers recommends. Any feedback on those?

AU N EGL

Carlisle Radial Trail RH Trailer Tires 10 ply. always carry two spares

rbl

Goodyear Marathons are JUNK. Went through 4 of them pronto. Busted belts mostly.

I run a Carlisle now which is not much better and made in China

c4cruiser

He's looking for trailer tires. Never use truck or passenger car tires on a trailer.

Canam

Nice to know your in the same boat....errr.....trailer....in a weird way. There just isn't any decent tire and Marathons are terrible. I blew one out same year bought and another has a sidewall bulge. I do agree about speed and heat. I dropped my tow speed to 65mph or lower and always make sure the tires are at 50psi.

Trailer towers should be lobbying for an investigation into this. If there is no decent tire to get then its a safety issue in the industry. Your GOING TO have blowouts no matter what you do.

About the Chinese comment, a friend put it to me this way:

Why are we dissing the Chinese? Goodyear tells them to make the product for X amount and don't go over. That pretty much restricts even the Chinese company's own company profit so the consumer gets junk. So who's the bad guy, Goodyear or China? Both I say, but Goodyear bears the responsibility. They also know the Chinese material standards are sub. Its all about money still and screw the consumer.

Jason

E rated. Keep your pressures up. Keep then covered. Carry two spares. Pack your impact gun and jack so you can get to them.

1991Z07

One of the keys to trailer tires is being able to monitor them...

We took the RV with trailer to California in June...had a catastrophic steering tire blow out at 75 MPH and decided right then to look for a pressure monitoring system. I found the reviews on these guys very good, so we ordered a system and had it delivered to our end destination in California.

http://www.tsttruck.com/RV_Tire_Systems.html

http://www.tsttruck.com/Equine_Transport_Product.html

We got the RV system, with sensors for 12 tires. They screwed onto the valve stems...took all of about 30 minutes to set the system up.

Temperature is the #1 cause of tire failure, and these monitor that as well.

Got up the next day to come home, did a full walk around and ran through the sensors to check pressures, got on the freeway and had gone no more than 3 miles and the system started squawking...pressure in one of the RV's tires was dropping fast. Got off the freeway and over to the tire shop that installed the (second) new steering tire we had installed the day before. Nail puncture...the system paid for itself in less than 24 hours. We would have never known the tire was flat until it came apart, and they run $800/ea. (plus the roadside fee...another $300).

Somewhere in Arizona, we had a tire temperature warning go off on one of the trailer tires. Pressure was good, but the tire temperature was climbing. Pulled off, and found an axle bearing going that was heating the rim and through that the tire.

I can't recommend them more...great people to work with and their product WORKS! I can now drive with confidence, KNOWING what is going on with the tires in the entire rig. And since it starts to give you warnings well in advance of actual tire failure, you can get off the road and replace the tire and have the faulty one fixed instead of replacing it.

Also saves the trailer from getting beaten by the flailing python of destruction...

moespeeds

The monitoring system looks trick, I meant to look into something like that this morning and forgot, thanks for the link. I'm gonna get the Towmax in an E rating, the local tire guy has them.

1991Z07

It is pretty trick...it cycles through the tires one by one as you drive...

When one of the tires goes outside of the set parameters, it immediately goes to that tire.

If it were me...I'd get one that did the tow rig AND the trailer...I don't care if the tow rig has a pressure sensor system. This one beats the pants off of anything the OEM's install...and it'll monitor them all together.

waddisme

Hope you got one of these:



Also, just got to run them at max air pressure.

Gordy M

You made a good choice, like other have said, Minimum of "E" rated tires, 75lbs of air and also get two spares. Murphy's law, if you carry one spare you will have two tires go bad, if you keep two spares only one tire ever goes bad....

MJM

I've had 3 blowouts of these on my last 3 trips, one tire was only 5 days old when it went. The blowout was loud enough I heard it from the cab.

Inflated to 80 psi cold, correctly loaded trailer, etc......KABOOOM!

I think the point to understand is that all 15 inch trailer tires are suspect these days, no one is making a good one.

moespeeds

So ideally I should goto 16" wheels? I'm looking on etrailer and they really aren't that expensive.

Jason

Gotta make sure you can find tires the right circumference that will fit in your fender wells.