ST or LT

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

I can't figure out how to load a picture from my phone, but we're in FL and discovered that one of our tires does not look pretty.  We're going to put our spare on to get us home.  All four of our tires are pretty darn crappy, in our opinion.  My guess is they put the cheapest tire they could find on this as we're now looking to replace all four on our 2015 Jayco.  Pathetic considering that these tires probably have less than 8000 miles on them.

 

Anyway...my question is, when we replace them, any suggestions on brand and if we should go with an ST or LT?  We currently have a C tire, 14", and I plan to move up in size and rating.

 

Thoughts?

[ftwildernessguy 778]

Ah, where is Larry when you need him?  You have opened Pandoras Box.  ST vs LT is a real controversy.  Re. Mileage, however, tires time our before they wear out.  Check the DOT number on the sidewall.  The last 4 digits represent the week and year of manufacture.  It is not unusual for trailer tires to sit around in a warehouse for a couple years before being used on a new trailer, so your tires may be much older than the trailer itself.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

11 minutes ago, ftwildernessguy said:

Ah, where is Larry when you need him?  You have opened Pandoras Box.  ST vs LT is a real controversy.  Re. Mileage, however, tires time our before they wear out.  Check the DOT number on the sidewall.  The last 4 digits represent the week and year of manufacture.  It is not unusual for trailer tires to sit around in a warehouse for a couple years before being used on a new trailer, so your tires may be much older than the trailer itself.

I had read that, about the tires bring old, but I don't think they sat too much as the numbers are: 4714 and our camper is a 2015.  Brand is Rainier?

[bhall 115]

if you got the 4714 from the tire in the indented part near "DOT" that means they were produced the 47th week of 2014.  If you plan to move up in size and rating, make sure your wheels can handle the the max pressure of going to load range D.  My wheels can't for example, on the inside of the wheels there is a stamp that says not to exceed 55 psi.  The  Carlisle Load Range C tires I put on have a max cold psi of 50.  I believe Load Range D tires have a max psi of 65.  It was drilled into my head from my drag racing days to drive slow and keep the max cold psi in the tires and make sure the wheels could handle the max psi for the tires.

http://st.hotrod.com/uploads/sites/21/2006/12/hppp_0702_14_z-1970_pontiac_gto_pro_street-flipped_trailer.jpg

Several years ago a guy I knew upgraded to LRD without getting new wheels to match the psi.  So, he only inflated to 50-55 pounds.  Plus he didn't drive under 65 either.  So, that link above should be what happened to his trailer when the tire blew.

[ftwildernessguy 778]

Despite all the bad press re. Chinese tires, I have run them successfully many years.  I just replaced the Powerking tires my Outback came with a year ago due to age.  Any tire can fail.  The most important things - maintain the correct tire pressures, keeps your speed down (like bhall said) and don't overload your trailer.   I keep my speed at 55.  It may take me a little longer to get to the Fort, but I still get there.  I could care less if I get passed on the highway or not.

[parrothead7368 aka Norm 101]

Yes, load range D is 65lbs, that is what my trailer has.

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[AldeanFan 4]

I run Michelin LTX on my Airstream. Very happy with them

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[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

13 hours ago, bhall said:

if you got the 4714 from the tire in the indented part near "DOT" that means they were produced the 47th week of 2014.  If you plan to move up in size and rating, make sure your wheels can handle the the max pressure of going to load range D.  My wheels can't for example, on the inside of the wheels there is a stamp that says not to exceed 55 psi.  The  Carlisle Load Range C tires I put on have a max cold psi of 50.  I believe Load Range D tires have a max psi of 65.  It was drilled into my head from my drag racing days to drive slow and keep the max cold psi in the tires and make sure the wheels could handle the max psi for the tires.

http://st.hotrod.com/uploads/sites/21/2006/12/hppp_0702_14_z-1970_pontiac_gto_pro_street-flipped_trailer.jpg

Several years ago a guy I knew upgraded to LRD without getting new wheels to match the psi.  So, he only inflated to 50-55 pounds.  Plus he didn't drive under 65 either.  So, that link above should be what happened to his trailer when the tire blew.

Thanks.  Yes, if we bump up, we would get new rims.  We're considering Maxxis tires.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

If you are going to consider LT tires, understand that they have a lower carrying capacity than an equivalently sized ST tire. You either have to go up a load range and/or size in order to maintain carrying capacity.

For the size your camper is, the Maxxis m8008 is a great tire and should serve you well.

http://learntorv.com/what-are-the-best-tires-for-your-trailer/

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Here's the picture of the tire that went bad.  Thankful that we have Xchocks, or I might not have caught this when we arrived at the campground (I had checked our tires before we left).

 

[djsamuel 322]

I replaced the no name ST tires on my camper with the Carlisle Radial Trail RH tires. They've been excellent so far and are a MUCH better tire than the previous no names (Vail). The newer Carlisle tires are now the Radial Trail HD and have gotten great reviews. Maxxis would be a good choice as well.

[djsamuel 322]

3 minutes ago, twiceblessed....nacole said:

Here's the picture of the tire that went bad.  Thankful that we have Xchocks, or I might not have caught this when we arrived at the campground (I had checked our tires before we left).

 

Wow! You were very fortunate.  Did the other tires wear like that? I only got about 7,000 miles out of my cheap tires before one got a long split in it that run under the tread. I had enough of them and replaced them all.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

14 minutes ago, djsamuel said:

Wow! You were very fortunate.  Did the other tires wear like that? I only got about 7,000 miles out of my cheap tires before one got a long split in it that run under the tread. I had enough of them and replaced them all.

We got home after dark last night, so I haven't checked them since the campground...but (at that point) the others did not have this "shredded" area, but the tread was worn.  This particular tire, had a strange worn area (the area by the shredded section was worn all the way down).  We have a TPMS and I treat and cover these tires... so, who knows.

There is a chance we'll switch to a 5th wheel (yes, y'all told me we would) in the next year or so...so I think we'll save a few bucks and not move up in size, but we will be replacing all 4 tires (probably with Maxxis brand).

[ftwildernessguy 778]

With an uneven wear pattern, your issue may be with an axle misalignment.  Re. A fifth wheel, don't assume you won't have tire issues there.  I have seen more fivers on the side of the road with tire failure than bumper pulls.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

12 minutes ago, ftwildernessguy said:

With an uneven wear pattern, your issue may be with an axle misalignment.  Re. A fifth wheel, don't assume you won't have tire issues there.  I have seen more fivers on the side of the road with tire failure than bumper pulls.

Thanks... we were wondering about alignment as well.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

So.... just called the local dealership and a local tires shop and was told that travel trailers cannot be adjusted as the axle does not allow for it.

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

My 2 cents is go with Maxxis 8008's unless you are moving up to a 16" tire (obviously you are not doing that). I had several thousand miles of great service from our Maxxis tires on our older bumper pull camper. 

That tire wear looks a LOT like an alignment issue. While not quite as easily address on a camper it can cause problems. I would start with looking at measurements from the center of 1 hub to the center of the the 2nd hub on one side of the trailer. Take the same measurements on the other side of the camper and see how close they are. You might be able to do this with the wheels\tires on, but you can get a much more accurate measurement with them off. If those measurements on both sides are identical, or really close, you can scratch alignment off the list. 

 

Edit to add: 
If the bushings in the leaf springs are worn out\failing they can cause alignment issues, and this would be something to check if your measurements show different on each side of the camper.
It's also possible that the axles are just out of alignment and there are products to help with that... Example: Clicky

I don't want to sound too much like Larry, but this sort of thing is something that I consider to be a high priority. 

[ftwildernessguy 778]

1 hour ago, twiceblessed....nacole said:

So.... just called the local dealership and a local tires shop and was told that travel trailers cannot be adjusted as the axle does not allow for it.

That's a load of crap.  You need to contact a trailer fabrication shop.  Misaligned axles, while not frequent, are not uncommon, either.  The axle mount would need to be rewelded to the trailer frame.

[AldeanFan 4]

Here's the picture of the tire that went bad.  Thankful that we have Xchocks, or I might not have caught this when we arrived at the campground (I had checked our tires before we left).

 

That's an alignment issue.

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[AldeanFan 4]

So.... just called the local dealership and a local tires shop and was told that travel trailers cannot be adjusted as the axle does not allow for it.

Incorrect,

Find a shop that knows what they're talking about.

Trailers can be and need to be aligned.

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[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

2 hours ago, Helmsey......Todd said:

My 2 cents is go with Maxxis 8008's unless you are moving up to a 16" tire (obviously you are not doing that). I had several thousand miles of great service from our Maxxis tires on our older bumper pull camper. 

That tire wear looks a LOT like an alignment issue. While not quite as easily address on a camper it can cause problems. I would start with looking at measurements from the center of 1 hub to the center of the the 2nd hub on one side of the trailer. Take the same measurements on the other side of the camper and see how close they are. You might be able to do this with the wheels\tires on, but you can get a much more accurate measurement with them off. If those measurements on both sides are identical, or really close, you can scratch alignment off the list. 

 

Edit to add: 
If the bushings in the leaf springs are worn out\failing they can cause alignment issues, and this would be something to check if your measurements show different on each side of the camper.
It's also possible that the axles are just out of alignment and there are products to help with that... Example: Clicky

I don't want to sound too much like Larry, but this sort of thing is something that I consider to be a high priority. 

Thanks... yes, Maxxis is what we've decided on.  I'll crawl under and measure but help me understand... am I measuring from the middle of the axle out?

 

1 hour ago, AldeanFan said:

That's an alignment issue.

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1 hour ago, ftwildernessguy said:

That's a load of crap.  You need to contact a trailer fabrication shop.  Misaligned axles, while not frequent, are not uncommon, either.  The axle mount would need to be rewelded to the trailer frame.

The one shop (Contractors Tire:  http://www.contractorstire.com/) did say that it might be possible, but really unlikely...unless the axle was bent.  He said that he thought I would see wear like that on both tires, not just the one tire that I pictured, if it were an alignment/axle issue...versus a defunct/cheap tire.  Something on the "walls" of cheap tires... that they break down.

[caveat lector 181]

Great point. if the axel isn't bent, both tires should show some wear. seems logical.

[djsamuel 322]

the other possibility is the wheel bearing is worn or loose.  If the trailer is jacked up, see if there is any play when trying to wiggle the tire.  I repacked my bearings a couple of years ago prior to towing from Central Florida to Tennessee (Townsend).  When I got there, I noticed excessive wear on one tire in the same area as Nicole's picture.  I jacked up the camper and sure enough, there was excessive play.  I just had to tighten the bearing nut one more notch for the retainer.  All was fine after that. 

That may not be the problem here, but would be worth checking.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

22 hours ago, djsamuel said:

the other possibility is the wheel bearing is worn or loose.  If the trailer is jacked up, see if there is any play when trying to wiggle the tire.  I repacked my bearings a couple of years ago prior to towing from Central Florida to Tennessee (Townsend).  When I got there, I noticed excessive wear on one tire in the same area as Nicole's picture.  I jacked up the camper and sure enough, there was excessive play.  I just had to tighten the bearing nut one more notch for the retainer.  All was fine after that. 

That may not be the problem here, but would be worth checking.

Thank you!  We'll look at that!

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

On 11/14/2016 at 3:20 PM, twiceblessed....nacole said:

Thanks... yes, Maxxis is what we've decided on.  I'll crawl under and measure but help me understand... am I measuring from the middle of the axle out?

You will want to measure from the center of one axle to the center of the other axle. This is the best picture I could find that kinda shows what I mean. They are measuring from the center of one hub to the center of the hub on the other axle.