Breaking news - Scamp moving to 8-ply D-rated tires

[Darral T.]

It wasnt a tire salesman but a manager at a utility trailer sales/service. And yes, if Maxxis goes through a slump like the Marathons did a few years back and starts getting a bad rap and a recommendation to stay away....I will.

I've heard alot more good on DT than bad. I had our Gateway Tires to ruin one of my truck tires and not want to do anything about it. I had been doing business with them for over 20 yrs or more!

The overall moral is- stay vigilant... NOTHING lasts forever.

Originally Posted by floyd

So as soon as one salesman tells you to stay away from MAXXIS... you will avoid them as well?
BTW... We have already had someone post here to stay away from Discount Tire, so what's the moral ( in your opinion)there?

[Raz]

Originally Posted by Darral T.

Raz,

I believe that was Floyd that bought some new tires not too long ago and was able to lock the brakes...or found them more "aggressive" than the previous ones. I've never been able to "lock" my wheels on my Scamp with the e-brakes.

Darral T.
Senior Member

Name: Darral
Trailer: Scamp Standard 13' 2010
Tennessee
Posts: 1,183
My 13' will slide on gravel and not on pavement. I use "Full" voltage but then select "P1" to have less "aggressiveness" when I first apply the brakes. If I set it to NOT slide on gravel, it would be basically ineffective on pavement.

This is from a discussion from last April ?????

[Darral T.]

I thought you meant "pavement". My Scamp (and probably ANY trailer with brakes) will slide on gravel and that's what I spoke of in that post. Sorry for the misunderstanding. But no, my Scamp will not lock the tires on pavement...even with the Maxxis. If my Scamp weighed 1000 lbs instead of 1800 ready to travel? Maybe; dunno.

Originally Posted by Raz

This is from a discussion from last April ?????

[Kai in Seattle]

Paul gets our tires at "our" local Schwab store.


He bought three 13" tires for Peanut--so far no problems but only about 1300 miles on them. The originals were marked 2007...too old regardless of condition, which was not good.


"Trailer Tires" Paul says from his easy chair in the other room. "I bought Trailer Tires--I told 'em how much it weighs and they recommended three types they had in stock and I chose one of them. I left it to the experts."


Low tech tire selection at its finest.


Different strokes for different folks.


YMMV.


BEST
Kai


Photos: those funny Dexstar Rims!

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Darral T.

Raz,

I believe that was Floyd that bought some new tires not too long ago and was able to lock the brakes...or found them more "aggressive" than the previous ones. I've never been able to "lock" my wheels on my Scamp with the e-brakes.

I did buy new tires but did not attribute any significant portion of the improved brake performance to the tires.
My past experience mirrors yours.

[Glenn Baglo]

Do dogs peeing on tires increase or reduce traction?

[rdickens]

Originally Posted by Radar1

Congratulations on the new trailer Ray!
As for tires for the 16, this is what we now have on our 05 16' Scamp (which weighs about 2600 lbs lightly loaded or 2950 lbs loaded for long trips). We have been running 14's on ours for a few years now. These are rated up to 81 MPH although we never go that fast, but it is nice to know they might be durable at 65 MPH.

http://www.discounttire.com/en/buy-t...ail-hd/p/27208

Thanks!
I will look forward to visiting with you around a campfire soon!

With the weights that you listed, your choice certainly makes some sense to me.
Load Range and Load Index
http://www.discounttire.com/en/learn...nge-load-index

With the original Scamp16 load range C tires (load index of 91?), the weight carrying capacity would likely be 1356 pounds per tire (2712 lbs for 2 tires) and your long distance travel weight would exceed that.

With the new Scamp16 load range D tires (load index of 96?), the weight carrying capacity would likely be 1565 pounds per tire (3130 lbs for 2 tires) and your long distance travel weight would only be a couple hundred pounds under that.

The 14" tires, that you listed, have a load index of 105 which apparently translates to 2039 pounds per tire (4078 lbs for 2 tires), so they would give you a substantial safety margin.

As previously mentioned, some other manufactures have gone to 14" tires (or even 15" tires). I've heard one unconfirmed speculation (from a fellow who had recently towed two different brands of FGRVs) that he thought that the trailer with the 14" tires was easier to tow. The question might be: Was it the larger tires, or the weight difference in the trailers, or maybe a difference in frontal area?

If you remember details of when you changed your Scamp16 to the 14" tires, I'd certainly be interested in hearing your opinion on that!

Ray

[rdickens]

Looks like the GLOBALTRAX ST 175/80R13 tires that Scamp is now using have a load capacity of 1610 pounds per tire and are rated for "High Speed". As previously mentioned, tire sidewall says max inflation pressure is 68 lbs.

GLOBALTRAX ST 175/80R13
ST175/80R13 Load Range D - GlobalTrax Trailer Tire

Ray

[Paul O.]

Originally Posted by Kai in Seattle

Paul gets our tires at "our" local Schwab store.
He bought three 13" tires for Peanut--so far no problems but only about 1300 miles on them. The originals were marked 2007...too old regardless of condition, which was not good.
"Trailer Tires" Paul says from his easy chair in the other room. "I bought Trailer Tires--I told 'em how much it weighs and they recommended three types they had in stock and I chose one of them. I left it to the experts."
Low tech tire selection at its finest.
Different strokes for different folks.
YMMV.
BEST
Kai
Photos: those funny Dexstar Rims!

This is a PM (make it "personal message") of sorts: I really like your sense of humor and Paul's KISS attitude.

[Kai in Seattle]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Do dogs peeing on tires increase or reduce traction?

Good question. I once heard a quote: "Nothing dries faster than tears..." but I'd say dog pee on tires dries pretty fast, too. I think it would have a net impact of -0- on traction unless it was quite wet, in which case it'd have a similar effect to rain--reducing traction until it dried off. 8)

But I also think it would be negligible anyway, probably undetectable to the naked eye or driver. 8O

And friends don't let friends drive naked. ;P

And I do know something about dog pee on tires--our two mamma dogs always pee on our tires when they get the chance. So far, -0- effect to our personal detecting ability as to traction. On the other hand, it does mess up the garage floor quite a little bit over time, requiring washing the cement a couple times a year. XD

Personally, I always eat the hole with the cheese. If you're going to melt the cheese on a hamburger, I recommend you use slices with more cheese than holes. The holes are far less tasty. :Q

On the other hand, they are quite low in calories. 8)

BEST
Kai

[John McMillin]

Originally Posted by MK Evenson

I love it when Scamp improves!
I am wondering why Scamp uses 13" tires/wheels?
I understand that 14"or even 15" are used by some other manufacturers with claimed benefit. Is it a weight issue or cost issue? Hopefully it is a strategic choice and the best one.

Mark

Yesterday we bought a 2021 Scamp 16, hooray! I was surprised, though, to see that 13" wheels are still used. The last time I drove on 13s, it was in a German minicar that weighed half as much, and it had twice as many of 'em. The little wheels look puny and toylike, compared to Casitas on 15s. That said, my last Scamp 16 went many safe miles on the same tires. The new one is a 50th Anniversary model. Every one of them had 13-inch wheels, so am I to say they're wrong?

Has anyone substituted 14" wheels and/or larger tires? What does it require?

[John McMillin]

Originally Posted by rdickens

Thanks!

As previously mentioned, some other manufactures have gone to 14" tires (or even 15" tires). I've heard one unconfirmed speculation (from a fellow who had recently towed two different brands of FGRVs) that he thought that the trailer with the 14" tires was easier to tow. The question might be: Was it the larger tires, or the weight difference in the trailers, or maybe a difference in frontal area?

If you remember details of when you changed your Scamp16 to the 14" tires, I'd certainly be interested in hearing your opinion on that!

Ray

If your 14" setup had larger diameter tires, the bearings would certainly be spun slower, and that's always good. Or are you putting lower aspect tires onto the larger wheels, to get equal total diameters?

[Wayne Collins]

It aint the size of the tires, but how they are made that counts, eh?

[Roy in TO]

I installed new wheels, tires & baby moons on my Trillium 4500 towards the end of this summer. I went with the Carlisle Radial Trail HD line. Choosing the 175/80R13 load range D 6H04521 because I thought it would have a stiffer sidewall to accommodate any effect of side/cross winds.



Load Range C is rated @ 1360 Lbs @ 50 PSI
Load Range D is rated @ 1570 Lbs @ 65 PSI
I didn't think the difference of 210 Lbs capacity was going to make a huge difference.


Image of specs below was snagged from pg 34 of the Carlisle catalogue.





After a few small trips & @ 2000+ Km trip to Ohio recently, I've noticed things are bouncing around in the trailer i.e. rougher ride. My logic says that would be mainly due to the extra 15 PSI tire pressure which I never really considered.



My thoughts are to go with the Load Range C in the same tire for 2 reasons. A softer ride & not pushing my portable compressor to it's max limit.



If someone has a heavier trailer and is considering some Load Range D tires, I'm open to negotiation. I bought 3 -175/80R13 tires (date code 0322), mounted & balanced on 3 black powder coated steel wheels (5 x 4.5" bolt pattern) & 3 chromed baby moons to match. I'm willing to separate the tires from the wheels. If you are interested, shoot me a PM.

[Jon in AZ]

You can run the D’s at 50 psi and have the same maximum safe weight rating as C’s at that pressure. Before you give up on perfectly good tires, try lowering the pressure in 5psi increments to see if the ride improves.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

You can run the D’s at 50 psi and have the same maximum safe load rating as C’s at that pressure. Before you give up on perfectly good tires, try lowering the pressure in 5psi increments to see if the ride improves.

This. I ran range E all terrain tires on my Tacoma, just used the standard Tacoma pressure, they were perfect.

[Nancy]

Our tires are getting old, so are we. We have not used our trailer much in the past few years. It is under cover, tires off the ground in the winter.

Should people always replace tires that are getting old but otherwise good?

Thanks for any replies. Nancy

[Nancy]

https://www.discounttire.com/learn/tire-aging

Ah, I found this in an old post from Floyd.

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

You can run the D’s at 50 psi and have the same maximum safe weight rating as C’s at that pressure.

That was my initial assumption, I emailed Carlisle because I couldn't find a load/pressure chart for their tires. Their response was:

Thank you for contacting us about your Carlisle tires. The air pressure that you need to keep in your tires are 65psi. It does not matter the load should always be at 65. If you have any other question please contact us.

I take that to read that they won't support lowered tire pressures like other manufacturers.
Maybe they know something about their construction that we don't or they are listening to their lawyers.

[Jon in AZ]

Sounds like lawyers to me. I’d feel comfortable lowering it cautiously in small increments, but you have to do what you feel is right.

My Scamp has Carlisle C’s, and I run 45 psi.