LT tires or ST tires???

In two years of full-time Rving, we've had four blow outs....3 with Carlisle tires and one with Powermax. The tires are ST235/80R16/E. The rig is a good 2000# under the maximum weight of 16000#, and the 7K axles we upgraded to have more capacity than we need. Have considered going to the Mitchlin truck tires I use (LT265/75R16) which I love and already have 55k miles on them.

Question: Can one use the LT tires on the Big Country 3555 or must one stay with the ST tires?? No one seems to want to suggest leaving the ST tires; but I wonder what Heartland would say????

Any thoughts???

Many have changed to LT tires. I would go with 235/85 R16, not the 265/75 as there would probably be clearance issues. Have you weighed each wheel separately? My trailer is unbalanced, as I suspect yours is, and one wheel carries about 400 pounds more than the average. You may want to consider a 14 ply tire such as Goodyear G614, or a less expensive alternative, the Sailun S637. Both are up to carrying the weight of your trailer.

I went to LT tires in 09 after having a blow out with the ST tires. The tires I was able to get on such short notice were Hankook LT's. They are 300 pounds under my axle capacity, but have been trouble free for over 12,000 miles. I have switched all of my trailers, 5 total, over to LT tires and all of my tire problems seemed to disappear.

Follow the thread about "Tire Problems, ... Tire Engineer"

dbbls59 said:

Many have changed to LT tires. I would go with 235/85 R16, not the 265/75 as there would probably be clearance issues. Have you weighed each wheel separately? My trailer is unbalanced, as I suspect yours is, and one wheel carries about 400 pounds more than the average. You may want to consider a 14 ply tire such as Goodyear G614, or a less expensive alternative, the Sailun S637. Both are up to carrying the weight of your trailer.

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I have used 265-75-16 in place of 235-85-16 for years they are usually the same or a touch smaller than the 235's they are a little wider and carry 3415 lbs at 80 psi vs. 3042 lbs for 235's.

Check these out-this is what I run and they are excellent tires.http://simpletire.com/sailun-235-85r16-8244393-tires

If you research recommended tires for trailers you will find that LT tires should never be used on trailers. The ST (Special Trailer) tires have a much heavier sidewall than a LT (Light Truck) tire. LT's can, with their light sidewall, come right off the rims in turns, and cause uncontrollable trailer sway. Same is true with motorcycle tires, heavy sidewalls.

blacklabbob said:

If you research recommended tires for trailers you will find that LT tires should never be used on trailers. The ST (Special Trailer) tires have a much heavier sidewall than a LT (Light Truck) tire. LT's can, with their light sidewall, come right off the rims in turns, and cause uncontrollable trailer sway. Same is true with motorcycle tires, heavy sidewalls.

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Although there are many on this forum that will disagree with you, I certainly agree. I have blown out every tire (LT) that has been recommended on several trailers that were heavily loaded. Over loading, alignment, defects, and low pressure are what creates the ST issues. We blow vey few ST tires including Chinese but have a ravine full of America made LT's that were on trailers. We recycle them on trailers after coming off PU's with decent tread knowing we will be changing them when they blow. We only run 17.5 or 19.5 on the heavier GN trailers.

blacklabbob said:

If you research recommended tires for trailers you will find that LT tires should never be used on trailers. The ST (Special Trailer) tires have a much heavier sidewall than a LT (Light Truck) tire. LT's can, with their light sidewall, come right off the rims in turns, and cause uncontrollable trailer sway. Same is true with motorcycle tires, heavy sidewalls.

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Maybe you should talk to Heartland. The tires I stated above came on my 5ver from the factory. I have never read about one blowing out here or any other forum, but I have certainly read about many blowouts with ST tires-good luck with your ST's. IMO heavy rigs need LT tires.

mobilcastle said:

Maybe you should talk to Heartland. The tires I stated above came on my 5ver from the factory. I have never read about one blowing out here or any other forum, but I have certainly read about many blowouts with ST tires-good luck with your ST's. IMO heavy rigs need LT tires.

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http://www.carlisletransportationpr...iginal/Trailer_Tires__Tips_Best_Practices.pdf To each his own.

My previous trailer came from the factory with LT tires. Many manufactures install them.

LTs on my BC 3250TS have been absolutely trouble free...Never will have ST junk again..Don

The issue with the ST tires is not the basic concept, it is in the manufacturing materials and methods used by the Chinese manufacturing companies. Perhaps one of these days they will get it right but until then.....

GOTTOYS said:

LTs on my BC 3250TS have been absolutely trouble free...Never will have ST junk again..Don

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Don, what brand of tire are you running?

I don't think it is fair to bash a tire based on country of origin because they are all built and produced to corporate specifications. I subscribe to IEEE and other trade publications to gather the most facts that I can before making a decision about a product. Then I look to Consumer Guide to get their evaluation based on usage data. No where do I find Goodyear, Michelin and other that are produced in China or other countries to be inferior based on facts. I have seen some other brands that are how ever. My point is if you are going to be criticize a product, please provide some information to back it up. BTY, I don't like to see products produce in China either, but I chose to complain to my legislator about that rather than bash a product without sound facts. Also remember speed, temperature, pressure and load determine the reliability of a tire if it was spec'd properly in the first place.

wesley1963 said:

Don, what brand of tire are you running?

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I originally installed a set of B.F. Goodrich Commercial TAs in the 235/85/16 size load range E. I had no problems with them at all. After about 1 year and 10,000 or so miles they had a recall. The replacements weren't available so I wound up with set of Michelin Ribs. Although they are the same size 235/85/16 they do seem to be a little larger in diameter, but they still work just fine. If I had to take a set of Commercial TAs again I would have been perfectly happy...Don

mobilcastle said:

Maybe you should talk to Heartland. The tires I stated above came on my 5ver from the factory. I have never read about one blowing out here or any other forum, but I have certainly read about many blowouts with ST tires-good luck with your ST's. IMO heavy rigs need LT tires.

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At a loss as to why I should talk to Heartland. Trailer came with TOWMAX STR Radials, ST235 80R 16's. Load Range E

dave10a said:

I don't think it is fair to bash a tire based on country of origin because they are all built and produced to corporate specifications. I subscribe to IEEE and other trade publications to gather the most facts that I can before making a decision about a product. Then I look to Consumer Guide to get their evaluation based on usage data. No where do I find Goodyear, Michelin and other that are produced in China or other countries to be inferior based on facts. I have seen some other brands that are how ever. My point is if you are going to be criticize a product, please provide some information to back it up. BTY, I don't like to see products produce in China either, but I chose to complain to my legislator about that rather than bash a product without sound facts. Also remember speed, temperature, pressure and load determine the reliability of a tire if it was spec'd properly in the first place.

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I agree with Dave and would also include road hazard and tire age to the list of causes for failure. The only other failure not mentioned is those large bubbles on the side wall. What could be the cause for those? Tireman9, your thoughts?

If A = B and B = C then A=C, I don't have to have empirical data to show that ST tires made in China are inferior. I personally have had three different brands of ST tires and they were all bad. Trailer forums all over the internet are littered with complaints about Chinese ST tires. This forum is littered. This is not just MY opinion on these tires. I realize that there are causes of tire failure and these causes are all correct. However, why are there not forums littered with complaints about LT tires? Is this forum litterd with LT tire issues? A while ago, we had issues with springs made in China failing. There seems to be a pattern here. What about the toys with lead in the paint and dog treats that were killing some pets. Did the importing company say that the spec was lead in the paint or to put poisonous materials in the dog treats? What about all the counterfeit material that is produced and sent over here. Where is the oversight - where is the quality control? Some companies maybe have it, some obviously do not. I realize that it is crazy to say that everything made in China is bad. However, we have a problem with THESE TIRES so why play political correctness games? Someone said that a fool learns from his own experience and a wise man learns from the experience of others. A=B, B=C therefore A=C. Somebody must have bought some Chinese ST tires and now trying to justify the purchase. Of course - that's just my opinion!!! And OH Yeah -What about those bubbles??

You hear most about whatever is mostly used. Assume 100% of trailers start out with ST tires and 1% of owners change to LT tires. If they had the same failure rate, you'd hear 100 times as many complaints about ST tires as you would about LT tires, just because of the 100:1 ratio of how many of each are in use.

If there's a very low percentage of owners switching to LT tires, and we hear zero complaints about failures, is that statistically significant? I'm not a statistician, but I know that with small samples, whatever your findings, they're not likely to be meaningful.

So does changing to LT tires make the problem go away? I don't believe we have a large enough sample size to know. Just my opinion.

What can we do? I'm a believer in maintaining a large margin of error. So if the tire is rated to carry 3750 pounds, I verify that none of my tires are carrying more than 3250. 500 pound margin (14%). I air the tires up to 110psi which is their max cold pressure, and then I monitor with TPMS so that I know if tire pressure falls even a few pounds. Additional margin. The tires are rated for 75 mph. I drive between 55 and 60. Additional margin. I have Goodyear G614s that have steel from bead-to-bead, which helps prevent damage if I ever do hit a curb. Additional margin.

Does all this guarantee no problems. Of course not. But I know that by keeping safety margins as large as possible on all critical factors, I am increasing the likelihood that I won't experience a failure.