Recommended Special Trailer Tire for 2006 Mountaineer Fifth Wheel Weighing 11,600-lbs.

Question

Question:

Having tire issues. Replaced with Goodyear Marathon 235/80R16E. 2000 miles on these . Came home midnight last night. Today I notice rear tire is egg shaped. not flat tread as others. AS having blown the original tires which egg shaped and failed I know this isnt good. Tired of failed tires, I have had campers since 78 and honestly this has been my worst experience with tires. I already replaced an axle as tires were wearing inside. I didnt notice any unusual wear of shackles or bolts, springs two years ago. But today, wearing on shackles, spring bushings, probably equalizer. Reading other posts I went and looked at my springs as I only have 4 leafs.. This is a good size camper. I am concerned of needing to replace springs to a 6 leaf and replacing all the rest, shackles, wet bolts, equalizer, etc. I questioned Keystone on axle capacity 3 years ago on cutting their tolerances so close, like axles should have been 6000 # not 5400#, now to see 4 leafs,, really makes me see, they really cut things close. But first tires. max speed 65 MPH? Im 65- 70, its hard to stay in traffic flow constant at 65. So I possibly have caused premature tire failures. and now have ruined and need to replace another tire./ possibly the other three as well. and theyre all junk the ST made in China. LT arent right for campers. Maybe its time to trade, start fresh. Any words of wisdom? I dont know what to trust for tires, and if springs are under sized,,, need some help. Thanks

asked by: Paul S

1

Helpful Expert Reply:

All special trailer tires sold in the USA, no matter where they are actually manufactured, are produced on the same type of equipment and must meet all the same performance and safety standards established by the Department of Transportation (DOT). Sure, there can be some meaningful differences between tires, but in general the special trailer tire made overseas will meet or exceed all current standards. It is far more likely that a tire failure will result from something other than quality related to its point-of-origin.

Trailer tires' worst enemy is heat. Heat can result from under- or over-inflation, driving faster than the tire's speed rating or from overloading the tire with more weight than it is designed to handle. If a trailer's suspension is really out of whack - axle out of alignment, a bent spindle or badly sagging springs - these factors can also come into play.

The easiest thing to check is your inflation pressure. ST tires should always be inflated to the maximum cold psi pressure noted right on the tire's sidewall. It is never appropriate to under- or over-inflate a trailer tire. Next, you can confirm that the tires are rated for the actual weight load you're putting on them. Add up the total tire capacity and compare to the loaded trailer's gross weight. Here, some safety margin is a good thing, as you noted.

If you are typically driving at 70-75 mph on interstates, then you really need a tire with an M speed rating (up to 81-mph). A standard trailer tire is typically rated for 65-mph. Drive these at 10-mph over their speed rating for several hours on a hot highway....you see what I mean. The linked page displays the three ST-type tires we offer in your ST235/80R16E size. Taskmaster # TTWTRTM2358016E is a radial type load-range-E tire rated for 81-mph. Check out the customer ratings for this tire; more than 475 buyers have given this tire a 4.9-out-of-5-star rating. These are the folks with you out there on the highway.

expert reply by: Adam R

1

Recommended Special Trailer Tire for 2006 Mountaineer Fifth Wheel Weighing 11,600-lbs.

Product Page this Question was Asked From

Featured Help Information

Miscellaneous Media

Continue Researching