Trailer Tire Concerns

[Hohenwald48]

Originally Posted by Witt74

Set your tire pressure to the data plate (sticker) on your trailer . . .

I tend to disagree with this statement and think it is best to keep tires inflated to the max pressure indicated on the side wall. The data plate usually specifies the minimum pressure needed to carry the expected load with no excess capacity calculated in.

If inflated to max sidewall pressure you will be giving the tires the ability to support their maximum rated load. I can think of no negatives as a result of inflating to max pressure.

[Hohenwald48]

Originally Posted by Grawe

Steve, if you are buying a new Jayco, they just initiated a mandatory Goodyear tire upgrade on 2017 models.

Any idea what kind of Goodyear tires they'll be using?

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by Hohenwald48

I tend to disagree with this statement and think it is best to keep tires inflated to the max pressure indicated on the side wall. The data plate usually specifies the minimum pressure needed to carry the expected load with no excess capacity calculated in.

If inflated to max sidewall pressure you will be giving the tires the ability to support their maximum rated load. I can think of no negatives as a result of inflating to max pressure.

I agree and keep all tires, except my TV front, inflated to the maximum on the sidewall.

Doing that, the only two negatives I'm aware of are potentially harsher ride and poor wear. On the other hand, at higher tire pressures sidewall flex is reduced which reduces tire temperatures and increases sway resistance.

[norty1]

Every trailer I ever owned had the recommended psi the same as the cold psi on the tire. As long as it's the same load range tire.

[cekkk]

I've only had two TTs and four sets of tires in six years. But I've overloaded numerous hay and car haulers, and pulled boat and utility trailers, as well as a couple horse trailers. I watch tire pressure, and usually park the tires on 2x12s and cover them when stored, and I am yet to have a single problem. I believe that tires and brake systems are two of the most reliable and cheapest things we have.

I suspect other posters are correct when citing the tendency for folks to post bad outcomes as opposed to all their uneventful outings.

[norty1]

The eventful ones are the ones that cost the $$$$ and headaches.

Human nature tends to prevail on the eventful, but there are problems with tires on rv's if loaded to the tires limits.

[Kenelz]

I've never had a blowout, I guess I'm lucky and I spent a few winters on the road south going between AZ and FL.
This summer I was taking the '12 19RD around Lake Michigan, coming down from the U.P.. and somewhere on a back road south of Lodi, WI, my leg was falling asleep. So, I got my wallet out of my back pocket (that's what causes it), and drifted on the shoulder a little.

But, there was no shoulder, the dirt/gravel was washed away from the pavement, and it was a three or more inch drop. I got right back on the pavement, but looked in my mirror, and could see the left wheels were above the pavement. I stopped and did a walk around, and all looked well.

My next stop was south of Chicago, I looked inside, and it was a mess. Broken dishes and stuff all over the floor. I cleaned it up, and next morning headed to east of Toledo to pick up grandson at Maumee Bay State Park. (great place to camp!).

Got back to northern Michigan, and saw one of right tires was slick, right down to exposed chords. I don't know how I was so lucky not to have a blowout. The rim was bent just on that one tire.

I went and bought a new '17 Flight 21QB, I'll be more careful. The 19RD was a great trailer, served me well. Mostly I wanted an easier to make bed, lol.

[motorbreath]

This post says it all, while many people have had legitimate failures, I would guess that just as many were speeding or had low tire pressure.

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

IMO, one of the big unknowns regarding trailer tires is SPEED. All of the trailers I've towed, the tires are supposed to be limited to 65mph. I tow at 65 and I am passed by LOTS of TT. I'm sure a few of them have upgraded their tires, but certainly not all.

The other issue is INFLATION. My experience: I checked and set the tire pressure to the maximum shown on the sidewall during the PDI. I drove ~1,800 mi over the next 3 days with only visual checks (and temp checks by touch). A few days after that, I noticed 1 tire was visually low. A pressure check confirmed it. A trip to Discount tire and they found it needed a new core/valve stem (no charge, BTW. Love that place!). Thankfully it wasn't a faster leak. My point is even with a brand new trailer, tires can be under inflated and need to be checked.

Even if it was the truth, few, if any, posting about tire a failure begins with, "My tires were under inflated and I was driving 75 mph when ..."

[Hohenwald48]

I've noticed a lot of folks posted that they check tire pressures at each stop and that's a good idea. However, it's important to not reduce tire pressures when checked hot. Tire pressure should only be adjusted when tires are cold. Obviously, if your tires were set to 65 PSI in the morning and only have 45 PSI at lunch you need to do something. But it they read 72 PSI at lunch you should leave them alone.

Also, I once had a valve core stick when I checked pressure mid-day. I checked the pressure at the beginning of the 1 hour lunch stop and all looked good. When doing my walk around (and routine tire whack) before getting back on the road I noticed one sounded funny. Rechecked it with a gauge and found it down to about 25 PSI and noticed the valve core was stuck open and slowly bleeding air. If I had simply gotten back on the road I would probably be telling a "China bomb" story and claiming the pressure was fine.

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by Hohenwald48

I've noticed a lot of folks posted that they check tire pressures at each stop and that's a good idea. However, it's important to not reduce tire pressures when checked hot. Tire pressure should only be adjusted when tires are cold. Obviously, if your tires were set to 65 PSI in the morning and only have 45 PSI at lunch you need to do something. But it they read 72 PSI at lunch you should leave them alone.

Also, I once had a valve core stick when I checked pressure mid-day. I checked the pressure at the beginning of the 1 hour lunch stop and all looked good. When doing my walk around (and routine tire whack) before getting back on the road I noticed one sounded funny. Rechecked it with a gauge and found it down to about 25 PSI and noticed the valve core was stuck open and slowly bleeding air. If I had simply gotten back on the road I would probably be telling a "China bomb" story and claiming the pressure was fine.

All good.
Your experience with a sticking valve core got me rethinking about buying something for Tire Pressure Monitoring (TPM). I check my tires often, but what if a core sticks slightly after I check the pressure and I don't hear it? Hmmmm... The sad thing is, if a core is going to stick, then the more often it is checked the greater the chances of it sticking! Isn't that a 'Catch 22' situation?

Great! Another thing to worry about when I wake up a 3am.

[Gman1372]

Originally Posted by Grawe

Steve, if you are buying a new Jayco, they just initiated a mandatory Goodyear tire upgrade on 2017 models.

When did this happen? My 2017 has Raniers.

[RPreeb]

Originally Posted by Gman1372

When did this happen? My 2017 has Raniers.

Haven't looked that closely at my 2017 X213, but it definitely doesn't have Goodyear. Wonder if we could get any satisfaction by contacting someone. I hate to go out and buy replacements for a brand new TT, and trying to explain to my wife why I had to do it would be tricky.

[schrederman]

After having my wife out on a busy freeway in Little Rock while changing a flat... and then trying to find anyone that could get us a spare wheel and tire... at a premium ... I had no trouble convincing her that a new wheel and 5 new tires was worthwhile. Amazing how that works.

[oldmanAZ]

IMO, watch your towing speed and tires carefully, and check tire pressures frequently. OEM tires do not have a good track record, but that doesn't mean all or most of them will soon fail.

My OEM tires have ~8,000 mi and look fine. Early next year I will be putting another ~2,500 mi on them. I'm not worried, but I will keep an eye on them.

[Gman1372]

So with the price of trailer tires being relatively close to regular tires. Why not put on better quality car/truck tires. I've got Michelins on both my trucks. Any reason why not to put them on the trailer? I know Michelins are more expensive but there are other brands that are better quality than trailer tires

[schrederman]

Originally Posted by Gman1372

So with the price of trailer tires being relatively close to regular tires. Why not put on better quality car/truck tires. I've got Michelins on both my trucks. Any reason why not to put them on the trailer? I know Michelins are more expensive but there are other brands that are better quality than trailer tires

I doubt that you could find 14" car tires in load range D. I just upgraded from load range C to D because C was too close to the limit for my peace of mind. Most car tires will be load range B. They will not carry the load. Some folks put LT tires on their trailers but I haven't seen a 14" LT tire... but I didn't look for them to be honest.

[Gman1372]

Oh right. Wasn't thinking of rim size.

[TCNashville]

We have 15'' rims on our camper and I've searched the world over and can't find a 15" e-rated LT tire. Would love to put Michelin XPS Ribs on the camper but would have to upgrade to 16" rims to get the e-rating. Approximate cost to do this would be around $1500. At this point, I'm going to take my chances on an e-rated ST tire upgrading my 6 year old d-rated Marathons I have on now.

[norty1]

Maxxis does have a E rated tire for 15 inch rims. I was not aware of that till I found this:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....1x0iLT9jAS.pdf

Not LT but they have good reviews.

[TCNashville]

Most ST tire manufacturers produce a 15" e-rated tire. The only one that doesn't to my knowledge is Goodyear. They do however have an e-rated tire in the 16" rim size.