what would be wrong if I put light truck tires on a fifth wheel? Everyone has blowouts on trailer tires of all brands. My brother just blew an almost new Titan. I think I'll put LT tires, maybe michelins on my 5er. Any reason not to?

 

load capacities?

On a side note, the company my cousin works for runs 15" passenger car tires on their equipment trailers loaded with bobcats, asphault laydown machines, rollers, etc.

 

LT-rated tires are way superior to ST-rated tires.

You won't see very many ST tires on big gooseneck trailers.

 

My Thor Wanderer Wagon 32ft 5r came with LT rated radial tires, 265/85/16E they have over 35k miles on them with out a failure. Rated for 3415lbs at 80 psi. I was amazed to see them last this well.

 

Arguably the best 16" 5th wheel tires around are all-steel construction commercial-style LT radials recommended by their manufacturers for trailer service.

For an E-rated tire, look at the Michelin XPS Rib.

For a G-rated tire (if your wheels are rated for the load and 110 PSIG air pressure), look at the Goodyear G614 RST.

I've run both of these in the LT235/85R-16 size on previous (XPS Rib) and my current 5th wheel (G614 RST) with excellent results.

Rusty

 

I've seen this done by a few around here also. Passeger tires have a load rating too.

 

Rusty, I just had some very lengthy discussions with two engineers from Goodyear on this very subject. Both of them are saying that ST tires from Goodyear are far stronger on the sidewalls than LT tires, especially their new RST in 16" G rating. The steel comes all the way up the sides stiffening the sidewalls making them unusable in truck application, but great for trailer application. So, based on these discussions, I put them on my trailer. I note much less flexing in the sidewall when backing in on tight cornering to a campsite with them than my previous LT's. Also, the rounded tread design reduces the amount of digging the tire does in tight cornering. They are also re-groovable. I am not a tire expert and can only go by what I can dig up talking to the experts. I know I certainly have not been happy with LT's on my trailers, so hopefully this new configuration will give better results. I know I certainly have been highly impressed with Goodyear standing behind their product. Michelin has never helped me on many failures I have had with their products - - I have been highly disappointed with their products and worse with their standing behind a faulty product. It cost me several thousand on one of my motorhomes with only 24,000 miles on it. Two rears blew - - inspection showed cracks and delaming on two others - - I replaced them all. Michelin would not do anything about it. I just had problems on my truck with my Goodyear LT's. Noticed cracking on the insides about 1 inch down from the rib on 4 of them. I have 46,000 on the truck. These are $200 apiece tires mounted and balanced. I paid less than $300 for 4 new tires after adjustment. I don't like problems, but at least they stand behind them if they have problems. Seems like someone could build a tire that would not give problems, yet, when you consider the beating a tire takes it is a wonder they hold air at all.

Bob

 

Bob,

With all respect, look at the sidewall of the Goodyear G614 RST, or check their WEBSITE. The only size this tire is available in is an LT235/85R-16. I know because the LT235/85R-16 Goodyear G614 RST trailer-specific tires came as OEM equipment on my current Mobile Suites 36RE3 5th wheel.

Also, note that the Michelin XPS Rib is specifically recommended for commercial trailer service. Now, look at the sizes HERE. Note the LT235/85R-16E? I pulled the fabric-and-steel Goodyear Wrangler HT tires off my previous Jayco Designer XL 3610RLTS and replaced them with the XPS Ribs, and these all-steel construction radials ran significantly cooler with no tread separation problems.

Rusty

 

i blew a tire on my 5er this last week

oem tire that came with the trailer

the tire had about 7k on it, it flat out failed, side walls blew out at 70mph


i have been using truck tire on all my equipment trailers for years with no failures to date

i will be going to at least a 6 ply truck tire to replace my 4 ply biased ply trailer tires before i pull it again

had the spare replaced in trinidad colorado on the 30th

tire tech told me they had sold 30 trailer tires that day alone

hot day and highway speeds don't go well with biased ply trailer tires

 

Rusty,

Fully aware of the limitation in the size availability of the Goodyear line of the new RST which is a bummer. Thankfully, as you noted, my rig takes that size. Michelin definitely has more sizes available. Too bad we can't get them to back up their product when the failures occur (which they definitely do).

Bob

 

Bob,

I fear you missed my point. You said:
My point is that the G614 RST is identified as an LT tire as evidenced by the size designation of LT235/85R-16. Ditto the XPS Rib in the LT235/85R-16 size. Neither is an ST tire per the size designation, yet both are recommended by their respective manufacturers for trailer service; in fact, the G614 RST is trailer-specific.

Bob, have you ever failed an XPS Rib on a 5th wheel? I know lots of people who have failed ST or fabric-and-steel construction LT tires and switched to the XPS Rib, and I've never heard of another failure after the switch.

Rusty

 

Michelin has the attitude that you have no choice, other than to eat your losses.

I don't recommend Michelins to any of my customers, for that very reason.

If I sell a man a set of Michelins, and one (or more) of them go bad, Michelin won't do a thing for me.

I have, over the years, replaced a few Michelins at my own loss, and then, ripped the sidewalls with a knife and tossed them in the junk-trailer.

If I try to persuade a customer from buying Michelins, and he does so against my advice, and later has a problem, I don't feel sorry for him.

Michelin won't back up anything.

 

I guess I should add my $0.02 here... not really applicable to this situation, but hopefully will save someone some grief.

We had goodyear Marathon 225/75/R15s on our 5er. Load range D. Weighs 8500 pounds empty. We drove from the NW to Sacramento on I5. Blew 2 tires, put a bulge in the 3rd. We are not overloading these tires at all. The failure on every one was the same. The belt would break and then the tire would bulge. We caught every one before it totally let go.

Once in Sacramento, I visited several Goodyear dealers, hoping for warranty. If the tires are over 2 years old, forget it. Besides, I had blown 2 of these tires before this trip. They are just terrible tires.

The Marathons (load range E) have a higher capacity than any 15" truck tire that I could find. I think I found some 245/75 R15s that were close. I can't remember the load range. But they are a lot taller. I'd have to flip the axles and maybe move the axle apart.

So I got 225/75 R15s Carlisle tires put on in Sacramento. I chose load range D because they were in stock, but they are also available in load range E. On one of the blowouts previously, we put on a Firestone that is still going strong.

Bottom line. 15" trailer tires suck. No selection. It would be much better to have 16s on a trailer. Much better load capacity.

Stay away from the Goodyears. Carlisles should be a lot better.

 

I use 235 85 16 LT Load Range E. Forget ST.

 

So Ihave heard bad stuf about Michilen and Goodyear, so does anyone want to talk about firestones.