Best replacement tire?

Matthias

Fulltimer
Hi,

I had a china bomb go off on me on my trip back home from Toronto a month ago. For my next trip I would like to replace all tires with a quality brand.

Is there a consensus here what brand and type of tire is the most reliable for the BC?

Thanks,
Matthias
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
You'll probably get as many opinions as there are posters:). A lot of folks swear by the Michelin LT's, some like the Goodyears, hard to get a concensus probably.
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
For an E rated rim most go with Michelins. For a G rated rim most go with Goodyear 614.
 

SouthernNights

Past South Carolina Chapter Leader
I have the same trailer as you. I replaced my Missions with Michelin 265/75/16 LTX. It is a load range E tire but the capacity is over 3400lbs vs 3000 lbs on most other LR E.
There will be a slight clearence problem with the shocks if you go with this wide of tire but the stability is awesome. They are 2 inches wider and one inch taller than the stock tires but are still rated for the aluminum rim width.

IMHO if you stick with Michelin or the Goodyear 614 you cant go wrong.

Good luck. As Gus said, everyone has their own opinion-this is mine.
 

jnbhobe

Well-known member
Cheapest way out is a LT265-75-R16 tire rated at 3415lbs @80psi,Michlien is an excellent choice. But don't over look Firestone, General , and Continental along with most other US made tires. That would give you 13,640 tire capacity on your axles.And if you check your wheels they are most likely rated for G-rated tires also. JON:cool::cool::cool:
 

Matthias

Fulltimer
Thank you all for the responses! I had the trailer on the scale with all my stuff in it and it is at 13000 total, with 10400 pounds of that on the axles, so I should be good.

SouthernNights, was there any modification required to overcome the clearance problem?
 

SouthernNights

Past South Carolina Chapter Leader
I had to remove the shocks and cut the shock mount off the frame. Off door side was rubbing on the rear, door side had 1/2" clearence. But that is another story.
Here is what I had posted in another thread about the shocks.



"I just replaced the Mission 235/80/16 tires that came with the BC with Michelin 265/75/16. It is a LR E tire with over 3400lbs capacity.
One mod that had to be made was remove the shocks to clear the tires.

I never quite understood the shocks on this trailer. I took a protracter and measured the angle of all four. 2 were at 33 degrees from Horizontal (not Vertical), 1 at 32and fourth at 35. The most effective way from a pure dampening aspect to mount a shock is vertical. The longer the piston or shaft stroke and speed of the stroke enables the shock to control the unsprung weight (tire and wheels, hubs, brakes etc.). At 45 degrees, the effectiveness of the shock is negated. The stroke is greatly deminished both in travel and speed. Beyond 45 degrees I doubt the shock is doing anything other going for a ride."

You are not loosing anything by removing the shocks, here is the rest of the thread. It is intersting reading.

//heartlandowners.org/showthread.php?t=8984&highlight=horizontal


__________________
 

Matthias

Fulltimer
Thanks for the reference, very interesting indeed! I think I need to come to this forum more often and read more of the discussions.

I just looked under my trailer to see how this all looks and I noticed one shock lost the rubber mount and jumped from its lower connector. It sounds like the argument of dampening the oscillation of the springs is a good one to justify their mounting angle.
 

Brenrick

Member
Hello everyone,

I have a tire question for my tow vehicle. We have had our BC for about 3 months and took it on its 2nd low milage road trip, about 250 miles round trip. We have a Ford f-250 with BF Goodrich 285/75 R16 tires with a load rating of D. When we returned home we noticed the drivers rear tire had a huge bubble, glad we made it home. We are now looking to replace all the tires due to the load rating and would like to know if anyone has some suggestions on what new tires we should be looking at. The BC is a 3300RL model rated at 14,500 lbs. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 

Matthias

Fulltimer
I'm ready to pull the trigger on these new tires. The Goodyear 614 are certainly outside of my price range. I do not want to remove my shocks, so the 265 Michelin are a no-go.

So I am considering the Michelin XPS RIB LT235/85R16, Load Rating E, Max Load 3042 pounds at 80psi. Is that sufficient? Again I have a 3250TS, 6k pounds per axle.

Thanks,
Matthias
 

SouthernNights

Past South Carolina Chapter Leader
Matthias,
You cant go wrong with the XPS. Great tire and will handle your weight no problem. Look at the construction of the XPS, they are a true all steel constructed tire.
Michelins ability to make a tire with a flexible sidewall but still carry the weight and give a soft has been their engineering secret for years.
Enjoy them, there is alot to be said for the peace of mind when you get rid of the Missions.
 

Jburks

Well-known member
Matthias, I just bought a set of Goodyear Marathons, I asked my tire guy about the G614's and he said they are great tires, he said they are made like semi truck tires and good if you are traveling 40,000 to 50,000 miles a year, they are a 14 ply tire but like you say a little expensive. He gave me an alternative of the Marathons, they are a 10 ply tire and will do what I need them to do. They are about half the cost of the G614's, but I would say it's a matter of choice.
 

Matthias

Fulltimer
I read a few threads about the Marathons on this forum with some people not being very happy with them. It appears they are just another set of China bombs with a brand name on it, so I do prefer the Michelin option.
 

trumanr

Member
Mission Tires

I've had my Big Country about a year and 1/2. There may be 4,000 miles on my Mission tires but I doubt it. I had one blow on my last trip, only my third blowout in almost 20 years of fifth wheeling. This is the shortest time frame I have had a tire to go. The others were over five years old. I have been looking for replacement tires and appreciate the suggestions in this forum.
 

vangoes

Well-known member
I just ordered a set of Maxxis Tires. They seem to have a pretty good reputation on all forums and they are reasonably priced.
My old tires are Loadstars and they have about 14,000 miles on them and no blowouts. The two on the left side have worn considerably with the rear ones tread wearing the most and evenly across the tire. The front left wore mostly on the inner edge. The tires on right side does not show much tread wear at all.
 
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Matthias

Fulltimer
Yay, the Michelins are installed!!! Made in the UK! No more China bombs other than the spare. Next to the thick walled Michelins, the Missions looked like cardboard cutouts.
 
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