tire flats

[THene1713]

[QUOTE= I've also found that one good skid on an ST tire, simply because the brake controller is set too high, can grind the tread clear off in a spot and leave them with a flat spot and no tread there[/QUOTE]

MY experience tells me different... that that flat/bald spot w/ cord showing thru came from an unbalanced tire bouncing repeatedly on that one spot... had a Buick lost a front tire wheelweight on a short 200-mile trip, returned home to find cord showing on one, weights missing, great tread on rest of the tire... and the Buick suspension... NEVER had a CLUE... never felt it... BALANCE YOUR TRAILER TIRES TOO.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by THene1713

MY experience tells me different... that that flat/bald spot w/ cord showing thru came from an unbalanced tire bouncing repeatedly on that one spot... had a Buick lost a front tire wheelweight on a short 200-mile trip, returned home to find cord showing on one, weights missing, great tread on rest of the tire... and the Buick suspension... NEVER had a CLUE... never felt it... BALANCE YOUR TRAILER TIRES TOO.

I'm talking about skidding. Skidding once because the brake controller was set too hi. Not bouncing. Bouncing wear looks different. And the smoke from a skid is not present with an out of balance tire.

But you are right that trailer tires should be balanced. Since trailer tires are not steering tires, they don't have to be balanced with the precision that steering tires need. Because of that, even bubble balancing is much better than no balancing. I do mine at home that way and they run smooth with no characteristic wear from being unbalanced.

[THene1713]

Originally Posted by robinnorcal

Please help me figure this out! I have had several recent tire blow outs recently. I always stop by my tire store and have them check the tires and pressure on my 17', yet I have two very recent blow outs (one in a very inopportune location!)
Thanks for any wise assistance.
Robin Escape 17

BEST ANSWER will come from you tire repair TECH? Did he find nails/ screws dropped from a construction trailer. old tires, or busted cords. Loaded tires running low/ flat will "ZIPPER" and peel the tread at the sidewall. Do you run a Continuous REARVIEW CAMERA, or TPMS?

[CharlesinGA]

There are NO Light Truck (LT) tires manufactured for less than 16 inch rims. Most small trailers are 13 to 15 inch rims, so you are SOL for getting LT tires. Michelin makes tires they call LTX in 15 inch, but they are NOT true LT tires. A real LT tire will have the size preceded by LT, just like trailer tires have ST preceding the size.

A lot of Airstreams are upgrading to 16 inch and LT tires, its an option from the factory on some models, but many of them, and many other trailers do not have the wheel well space to upgrade to a 16 inch rim and an LT tire. Should you do this, be absolutely sure the tires you are installing have weight ratings at least as high as the tires specified by the manufacturer originally. Many large 5th wheels have to upgrade to 17.5 rims and tires to get good quality tires (see BTBRV video channel on Youtube). There is a huge group of RV owners who simply do not have the option to upgrade to LT tires.

Charles

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by CharlesinGA

There are NO Light Truck (LT) tires manufactured for less than 16 inch rims. Most small trailers are 13 to 15 inch rims, so you are SOL for getting LT tires. Michelin makes tires they call LTX in 15 inch, but they are NOT true LT tires. A real LT tire will have the size preceded by LT, just like trailer tires have ST preceding the size.

Charles

Charles, Here's one for 14" wheels. And there are a lot more if you do a simple search.
https://www.amazon.com/Hankook-RA18-...id=10350133011

[Raspy]

Here's a couple more, easy to find.

https://www.amazon.com/Haida-HD818-O...omotive&sr=1-8

https://www.amazon.com/Yokohama-Y356...motive&sr=1-12

[David Tilston]

Originally Posted by Raspy

Here's a couple more, easy to find.

https://www.amazon.com/Haida-HD818-O...omotive&sr=1-8

https://www.amazon.com/Yokohama-Y356...motive&sr=1-12

Did you notice that all three that you linked to are, "Currently Unavailable"? As a 1997 Ford Ranger pilot, I have been looking for 14" LT tires for some time. No luck yet.