Upgrade Bigfoot 25RQ to LT Tires?

[Glenn Baglo]

Nope. Don't get it.
I thought I concept was "free enterprise", let the best man win.
Apparently that's what's happening. U.S. tire companies, making their U.S. stockholders happy by increasing profits, are moving production offshore where it is cheaper, so U.S. consumers can be made happy by lower prices at Walmart.
I understand buying local to support local economies, but that doesn't automatically translate to "superior".

[rbryan]

Well that may be true Glenn, but I was just commenting on the tire making "expertise" you mentioned. Alot of that is still here in the USA.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by rbryan

Well that may be true Glenn, but I was just commenting on the tire making "expertise" you mentioned. Alot of that is still here in the USA.

That could well be. Don't know.

[trainjunkie]

I think the "Made in U.S.A." sentiment is more about "Not made in China". While there are some well made Chinese/Taiwanese tires, there are a lot of turds that come out of the region. It seems like a lot of people just don't want to temp fate by experimenting.

Personally, I did a lot of research on tires before I bought a set for my Bigfoot. I was after reliability over anything else because I was dragging it between Alaska and California twice a year. I ended up with the Maxxis M8008 STs and I never had an issue in tens of thousands of miles. FWIW, Maxxis is a Taiwanese company but the M8008 is produced in Thailand.

[Wacenturion]

Originally Posted by JimKE

Thank you. I looked at the Goodyear Endurance tires, but it appears I would have to change rims as well as they are only rated to 65lbs where as the tires inflate to 80lbs. I called Goodyear and they said they would not work unless I changed rims to accommodate a higher pressure tire.
Did you do the same?
Thank you!

Like you the rims that came on my 2008 25B25FB were rated at 65 psi. Even if they had been rated at 80, I was going to run the new Goodyear Endurance tires at 70 psi. So I just stayed within the rim limits and run them at 65 psi cold. That is more than enough support weight wise based on each individual tire which supports 2540 lbs. at 65 psi for a total of 10,160 lbs for a trailer rated at 7500 GVW. With everthing in the trailer it comes in at 6750 lbs. plus or minus. Tows very smoothly at those pressures.

[JimKE]

I was thinking of keeping the same rims and doing what you have done. But..... I contacted Goodyear and ran that same scenario by them and they indicated that I would likely damage the tire at that low a psi and that it would also void my warranty. But I still think the existing rims could handle 70psi plus with out a problem. The question is, for how long could they handle that?

Thoughts?
Thanks

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by JimKE

I was thinking of keeping the same rims and doing what you have done. But. The question is, for how long could they handle that?

+ or - who knows.

[ZachO]

That's interesting that the "minimum" tire pressure is so high. I mean with a lot of light truck tires with a max pressure rating of 50psi, most people run them around 30.

The many-ply tires we used for work trucks were rated to 80psi, but we rarely ran them above 60. Up towards 80, it was a very, very stiff ride on pavement, and in dirt, they were really squirrely. Not even safe, really.

When you get into running things beyond their stated limits, you're in no-mans land. No tire manufacturer is going to tell what the "safe" amount is to run over the limit, and anyone on a forum who isn't a rim engineer who tells you what's safe is playing dangerous games with your safety.

Glen's answer is pretty spot on. They may last forever with that pressure, they may get damaged day one, or anywhere in between. Why mess with it?

[Wacenturion]

Originally Posted by JimKE

I was thinking of keeping the same rims and doing what you have done. But..... I contacted Goodyear and ran that same scenario by them and they indicated that I would likely damage the tire at that low a psi and that it would also void my warranty. But I still think the existing rims could handle 70psi plus with out a problem. The question is, for how long could they handle that?

Thoughts?
Thanks

For some reason that statement from Goodyear makes no sense. Example....Bigfoot has historically put rims on their trailers rated at 65 psi cold. If one looks at the tag on the front left of trailer (see picture of mine), it states tire pressure should be 40 psi cold. Yet the tire itself is rated higher than that as far as max psi. So, how many tires have gone south with RVer's running lower than max tire pressures? Probably so if the tires are underinflated in regards to actual trailer weight requirements, but probably not so if at or above trailer weight...JMO.

Goodyears own chart shows the recommended individual psi per supporting weight of the tire itself. So again using my tag if one looks at the Goodyear chart under 40 psi for the ST22575R15, you'll see that each tire is rated to support 1880 lbs. Four tires times 1880 lbs. equals 7520 lbs., or just 20 lbs over the 7500 lb GVW trailer rating. Coincidence? Don't think so, just what the manufacturer (Bigfoot) recommends to safely support the trailer within the trailer weight guideline. Actually it would be the minimum psi to support the weight of the trailer itself.

So personally I think Goodyear, or should I say the guy you talked to at Goodyear is wrong....makes no sense whatever. With my tires at 65 pai cold I actually look at it as having a margin of 2640 lbs. above what is the recommended minimum is.

[Wacenturion]

In fact I just realized that the previous owner of my 08' Bigfoot 25FB had put new E load 10 plys on the trailer back in 2011. Max psi cold was 80 on those tires. I recently replaced them with the new Endurance tires. He ran those tires at 35 psi and apparently did not have a problem during his ownership.

The reason I know is that when I checked the pressure when I purchased the trailer (picture below), I made the comment that the pressure was too low, and he replied, not so, indicationg that that was what the tire guy he bouight them from told him. So as you can see, everyone has opinions on tire psi, but many are not based on any more than opinion, and not actually on recommended levels and safety.

Again, just my opinion.