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Old 09-05-2016, 08:36 AM   #1
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TIRES

I know this is a "tiring" subject---

Ok...it’s come my time. I was airing up my 8 yo DICO’s and see dry rot. I know...that’s way past the suggested 4-5 yr date. I bought the Scamp in ‘10 but the tires dates are ‘08. Glad I saw it before taking it out again this fall. For what it's worth, the dry rot is showing up in the sidewalls. I can post of pic if anyone wants to see it. The treads are in SUPER shape!


NOW.,..I’ve tried to look back through FGRV's history with the "Search" option here to no avail

Over the years though, I've heard about Khumo, Carlisle, Marathons, Kenda, Maxxis..... (may be others) I guess the question is, which tire to stay away from??? I know the Marathon’s sure caught a bad rap one time-but I seriously think they had a bad run. But regardless....we don’t need that on these trailers!

All suggestions/comments/warnings welcomed.....
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Old 09-05-2016, 09:41 AM   #2
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Its like cars - for many - all it takes is one problem and someone will decided I am never every buying such and such a car again! Another party may have owned several of the same car and NEVER had any issues. ;-)

As a result you are NEVER going to get a clear answer to your question! Just a lot of rants as to why you should avoid such and such a brand. Thousands of threads on various RV forums go around and around and around on the topic.

There are several major high end RV manufactures who still use Marathons so they are not buying into the suggestion that they are not reliable tires.

Way to many variables as to why tires fail.

Having said that I pulled off a set of Marathons of my new to me trailer - only due to age and replaced them with the Maxxi's which were a little more expensive BTW. Putting Marathons on the trailer was not an option as the tire dealer I use no longer carries them - for various reasons - made the decision simple! ;-)

So far I am happy with them.
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Old 09-05-2016, 09:42 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Darral T. View Post

NOW.,..I’ve tried to look back through FGRV's history with the "Search" option here to no avail

.
Are you using the bottom Google search option on the drop down?
LOTS and LOTS of threads on the topic!
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Old 09-05-2016, 10:15 AM   #4
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Well the Google takes you outta here. There IS a history at the bottom but it goes back to 2006...lots changes in 10 yrs!

You know what would be nice? If this forum software could/would "group" the topics into a form of index....sweeeeeet

Quote:
Originally Posted by Carol H View Post
Are you using the bottom Google search option on the drop down?
LOTS and LOTS of threads on the topic!
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Old 09-05-2016, 10:41 AM   #5
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It is very easy for any tire manufacturer, Asian or United states to change the name of a tire, and nothing else. In the U.S. a tire made by Kelly Springfield (Kelly Springfield is owned by Goodyear) was sold by Sears as the WeatherHandler and at WalMart as the Americana. It was the exact same tire, and a good tire, just a different name. Firestone also made a tire for Sears and Pep Boys. It was the same tire with a different names. Asian manufacturers do the same thing, only it's harder to keep track of the Asian names. If a tire gets a bad reputation all they need to do is change the name without any other changes. Making a decision on which tire to buy is a tough choice. Good luck.
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Old 09-05-2016, 10:42 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Darral T. View Post
Well the Google takes you outta here. There IS a history at the bottom but it goes back to 2006...lots changes in 10 yrs!

You know what would be nice? If this forum software could/would "group" the topics into a form of index....sweeeeeet

Hummm strange.

If you simple use Google on your browser it will take you out of here. As will using the first search box in the drop down "search" menu.
BUT if you click on "Search" above and use the very BOTTOM search box that reads "Search Site Google" it will return all the threads on the topic from this forum. You can tell its from this forum by looking at the URL's of the search returns. Yes you will see the first few returns or off sight ads - but if you scroll down you will see all the returns are from this site. Use the search words tire & rot.

There is an index. You need to click on the Forums link on the far left and then click on "Forums" to get to the index. For tire topics click on "Towing, Hitch, Axles and Running gear". There is actually a sticky at the top of that index re tires.
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Old 09-05-2016, 10:44 AM   #7
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Tires

Last year we put new tires on our Casita. Part of my decision was based on where in the U.S. And Canada I could get service on the tires in case there was an early failure. Now I'm not a big fan of Walmart but they are everywhere sorry to say. If you need 14's, they have Hankook RA08. We bought 15" Goodyear explodathons in load range D. If you travel more locally, buy something that is distributed locally. I would have gotten Carlisles but they don't seem to be available in the western U.S.
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Old 09-05-2016, 11:05 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by starbrightsteve View Post
Last year we put new tires on our Casita. Part of my decision was based on where in the U.S. And Canada I could get service on the tires in case there was an early failure. Now I'm not a big fan of Walmart but they are everywhere sorry to say. If you need 14's, they have Hankook RA08. We bought 15" Goodyear explodathons in load range D. If you travel more locally, buy something that is distributed locally. I would have gotten Carlisles but they don't seem to be available in the western U.S.
Location of where you purchase our tires can be an interesting thing!

Once had a well known brand of tire start coming apart at 3 years of age from the inside out while in the middle of no were in Mid California. Closest town was a one tire store place. Next place with more tire chooses was a couple of hundred miles away. Did not think the tires I had would make it that far.

Ended up with a brand of ST radial tires I had NEVER heard of and have never heard mentioned here since. Figured they would be good enough to get me home and due to their relatively low price it would not be a real biggy if I changing them out once home and had more chooses..... never got around to it as they seemed to do the job just fine.

Two years later while at a FG meet in Oregon a party here who logs a BIG number of miles running from Southern US to Alaska often, parks beside me and they have the same tires on their 5th wheel! We had a good laugh when they told me what little town in California they had purchase them in and why! They were not unhappy with them either. but we decided best not to brag about them to the tire experts here. I kept a close eye on them, adjusting the inflation as needed and ended up running them on my Scamp for 4 years and lots of miles without an issue. They were BTW about half the cost of what I currently have on my trailer. If I get 4 years out of whats on there now I will be happy.
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Old 09-05-2016, 11:16 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carol H View Post
Its like cars - for many - all it takes is one problem and someone will decided I am never every buying such and such a car again! Another party may have owned several of the same car and NEVER had any issues. ;-)

As a result you are NEVER going to get a clear answer to your question! Just a lot of rants as to why you should avoid such and such a brand. Thousands of threads on various RV forums go around and around and around on the topic.
I agree. The hearsay data on trailer tire performance is pretty fuzzy to say the least. Personally, I think a lot of the stories are engendered by poor care, low tire pressures, overloading, and perhaps banging into a curb or three somewhere along the way.

I have also seen trailers so poorly designed and fitted that the dry weight was only a few hundred pounds less than the gross weight rating; overloading is practically inevitable with some of these.

~~

On a cheerier note, you can search any website using Google's advanced search page.

https://www.google.com/advanced_search

In the case of searching this site, you would enter the search terms at the top of the page and "http://www.fiberglassrv.com/" without the quote marks into the "site or domain:" field about 3/4's of the way down the page.

It will then take you to a results page and you will see that your search terms are followed by "site:http://www.fiberglassrv.com/".

I hope this helps.
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Old 09-05-2016, 12:25 PM   #10
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Lots of good points here...both for tires and "searching"! Thanks CG and Carol for the added tips.

Jack/Carl, I had a friend tell me about Walmart as I REALLY wanted to get these tires changed...like RIGHT now. I was planning on taking it out this weekend but I dont think that's going to happen for several reasons now which DOES give me a little more time to make- what I hope is- a good decision. But I AM curious as to the brand. When I called Walmart they had the ST175/80R13 but they didnt know what brand it was. She did tell me it was a C-rated tire. Also, they didnt have them separate- only on the rim unbalanced. $213 + tax = apx $235 which seems high to me...? (especially since I dont need nor want the rims). I think I can wait. Nothing else opened today (tire shops) because of Labor Day. So...plenty of time to browse around and read.

It appears from being online and searching, that our local Discount tire has the Khumos, Carlisles, and Maxxis- some of the more popular-mentioned tires from previous discussions I've been able to find and read.

Thanks for all the input... as someone mentioned-- and for wishing me "luck" because of WHO knows where all these things are made and who by?????
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Old 09-05-2016, 01:43 PM   #11
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Darral, my tire guy, who has had a tire shop for over 50 years, recommended Hercules for my Casita. He said he's never had one come back or any complaints of them. I'm happy with them too.
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Old 09-05-2016, 01:55 PM   #12
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What ever you do make sure you get radials and you get them balanced - a lot of trailer shops do not balance trailer tires unless you ask them to do so.
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Old 09-05-2016, 02:14 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by Carol H View Post
What ever you do make sure you get radials and you get them balanced - a lot of trailer shops do not balance trailer tires unless you ask them to do so.
If a tire has the letter R in the size nomenclature it is radial. For example ST205-75R-14 is radial construction. A letter D as in ST205-75D-14 is bias construction. A surprising number of the big box tire people are unaware of the difference.
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Old 09-05-2016, 02:18 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by starbrightsteve View Post
I would have gotten Carlisles but they don't seem to be available in the western U.S.
I just bought Carlisles from Discount Tire, with their extended warranty. Was told that if I had a problem somewhere where there wasn't a Discount Tire nearby, I could buy any suitable tire to get by. When I got to a Discount Tire, they would reimburse me for the purchased tire, and, my option, replace the odd tire with another Carlisle, so that my tires would all match. Mounting and balance included. Thought that was a pretty good policy.
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Old 09-05-2016, 02:42 PM   #15
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This may (or may not) be off-topic, but I was wondering about the pros and cons of using Light Truck instead of ST (trailer) tires. I've read that STs have stronger sidewalls, which are better at resisting sway and carrying heavy loads. But while that might have been true for bias-ply STs, is it still true for radial ones?

At least one MFG manufacturer, namely Oliver—which is high-end in everything else—equips their trailers with LTs. Given all the stories about trailer-tire blowouts and failures, when the time comes (our OEM Goodyear Marathons are only three years old) I will want to know whether LTs are an option—as maybe might the OP.

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Old 09-05-2016, 03:42 PM   #16
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Although I do have ST tires currently on my trailer, and even though they don't have a lot of mileage on them, (< 15 K,) they are coming up on their 6th, (and final,) birthday, so I'm going to change them at the beginning of next Spring's commissioning.

I have also been seriously thinking about going the LT tire route as well. My thought is that ST tires are designed for applications where side scuffing often occurs, but you don't get side scuffing with a single axle trailer. They would only experience scuffing when you have multiple axle trailers, during turns, since each axle doesn't exactly track in the other axles "footprint" during a turn.

Since there is only one axle on my Casita, I don't really know that ST's would necessarily be required. I do know from experience that LT tires are built pretty "bullet proof" and provide good service life in many "tire-abusive" environments. It'll be interesting to read what pops up on this thread. I believe that LT's are certainly made better and stronger than any ST tire for sure.
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Old 09-05-2016, 03:44 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by Mr Lynn View Post
This may (or may not) be off-topic, but I was wondering about the pros and cons of using Light Truck instead of ST (trailer) tires. I've read that STs have stronger sidewalls, which are better at resisting sway and carrying heavy loads. But while that might have been true for bias-ply STs, is it still true for radial ones?

At least one MFG manufacturer, namely Oliver—which is high-end in everything else—equips their trailers with LTs. Given all the stories about trailer-tire blowouts and failures, when the time comes (our OEM Goodyear Marathons are only three years old) I will want to know whether LTs are an option—as maybe might the OP.

/Mr Lynn
When I bought new tires last year, I considered LT tires but the smallest LT readily available is a LT235-75-15. It's just a little too big for my trailer. I had to use the slightly smaller ST225-75-15.

Oliver uses 16" wheels and they probably have larger wheel wells. This makes LT tires a viable option for Oliver. If an LT tire would fit my trailer and the weight capacity of the LT tire was adequate for my trailer weight, I would consider using the LT.

Oliver also puts shock absorbers on their trailers. Obviously they have a set up that works. 16 inch wheels and LT tires are more expensive too. I wish I had an Oliver!
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Old 09-05-2016, 04:02 PM   #18
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Originally Posted by Casita Greg View Post

I have also been seriously thinking about going the LT tire route as well. .
Way to go Greg! lets take the trailer tire debate full circle as it always goes and not only debate the various brands but the application of ST vs LT tires

Another topic your never going to get any clarity as to what the majority of folks do!
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Old 09-05-2016, 08:01 PM   #19
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I made my way to Walmart today to look at their mounted 13. The Carlisle on this particular wheel is made in China. That's one of the first things that stood out. Not that that's a deal breaker, but some have mentioned getting tires made in the US.I googled the 3 main tire manufacturers and they're all potentially made in the US or China...and Taiwan...and Korea...well..you get the picture.

I have a link to the tires I was looking into at Discount Tire. To me, they sound a BIT pricey??

Havent heard of the "Hercules" Borrego! Interesting and sounds like a good tire. DT doesnt sell them.

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/car...roductId=27234

One thing I will mention about ST tires is the stiffer sidewalls. It's suppose to help ward off trailer sway which doesnt appear to be a real issue on our FG trailers anyway.
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Old 09-05-2016, 08:08 PM   #20
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I made my way to Walmart today to look at their mounted 13.
Is there are reason you are wishing to purchase mounted ones?
A word of warning all rims have a MAX PSI on them, many of the smaller rims are lower than what you may want to run if you should you purchase a different tire in the future. The rims max PSI is normally stamped into the rim on the inside.
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