Tire Upgrade??

[Forrest Fetherolf]

Larry,
Ok..........now for more tech stuff.........because Deb was in the truck when weighed hitched up about 1/2 of her unknown body weight would be added to the rear axle weight. All my 190 lbs was only on the front axle scales when weighed unhitched, you need to subtract Deb's weight from my weight and add 1/2 that amount to the rear axle weight in order to determine the new and accurate hitch-pin weight. My best guess, the proper weight should increase about 30 lbs +/- or a total hitch-pin weight of about 2770 lbs.
My calculations are based on a commonly used theory called the S.W.A.G method, I cannot disclose what that stands for because I was once censored for using a bad work on the forum........if you must know....PM me.
Quit fretting and buy the 614s or I might not allow you to ever-ever buy dinner u-o-me.
Forrest

 

[twowheelers]

we have a cedar creek silverback which we are going to trade for a 3055 big horn. we have about 40000 (yes, that's right 40 thousand) miles on our silverback with 16" E rated original tires. no problems - not even a flat! tom

 

[Larryheadhunter]

So twowheeler, were those tires made in China? Regardless congrats, I am moving up to the G rated Goodyear 614's just to be safe.

 

[Jimmyt5]

Just put XPS on my 3055,just in time a blowout and an other tire with a baseball bubble on side. These tires look like tanks compared to the Missions I took off....None

 

[jolar3329]

That's a good price. They will cost you over $1000 if you get them latter.

 

[pmpcrowley]

If those tires are goodyear g614 that's good price I paid $ 1,000 for four tires and thought I got a good deal.

 

[Larryheadhunter]

So far the best price I can get here in socal for the goodyear 614's is $300 per tire, incl steel stems, balancing, and disposing of the despised Mission Tires. If anyone in socal has a better price please let me know.

 

[Jay Pearsall]

Tire risk

Glad I found this thread! Our 07 BH 3400 came with Karrier Loadstars and we'll have about 6,200 miles on them now. What's the word on the street on the Karrier's? How risky are they? We're currently on a trip and am wondering if I can wait until we get home to change them - about 1,500 miles to go. Tks, Jay

 

[jmgratz]

Glad I found this thread! Our 07 BH 3400 came with Karrier Loadstars and we'll have about 6,200 miles on them now. What's the word on the street on the Karrier's? How risky are they? We're currently on a trip and am wondering if I can wait until we get home to change them - about 1,500 miles to go. Tks, Jay

All I can say is it is at your own risk. If you have the money (or insurance) to pay for the body damage from a blowout and the time to wait to get it fixed then risk it. But on the other hand, any tire can blow out at any time.

 

[Jay Pearsall]

I have money and time for neither option, but one outcome (better tires now) is much better.

I'm trying to decipher the relative risk of Karrier brand to comments on the thread. I see notation of mission and china bomb - are these code words for Karrier or some other brand?

I wonder what folks are experiencing with Karrier brand?

 

[SmokeyBare]

I gambled on Karrier LoadStar tires and lost that bet...

I was lucky with only minor damage to the RV.

I now have a new set of G614 GoodYear tires on our BigHorn.

 

[caokgafamily]

Jay,
I have the Karrier Loadstars also on our 07 3400. I don't know how many miles are on them, but we do get out alot. I'm starting to see some cracks on them. I was thinking about buying the Goodyear Marathon 235/80/16 $129 per tire.

 

[caokgafamily]

Marv,
My cracks are the same area were your tread seperated from the above pic.

 

[TXBobcat]

This is an on going subject. You might search to find a lot of threads about tires.

As some of us have indicated you can purchase cheap tires, china or not. Are you sure your saving money.

We fulltime and so we have to watch how much we spend, where we use our money on the TV and 5er. So here is my thinking.

We are on the road for a 2/3 week vacation. As it always happens, we are in the middle of no where and a tire blows. The tread tears up the side of the trailer, bends/cracks the rim. We change the tire out and are on our way. At the next campground we pull in and set up. I go to a tire dealer in this little town (think Thermopolis Wy) and I want to get a new tire. They don't have one and never carry that brand or size. Have to call my dealer in Dallas TX. They have the tires we want. I have them ship 2 tires and a new rim. We wait two days for delivery. The tire shop mounts the tire and we are on our way. We go about 500 miles and loose another tire. We get to another town and they mount the other tire I bought. We are on our way. This actually happened to us on a vacation to Yellowstone in 1983 when we had a Starcraft popup camper.

How much would you apply to the RV repair, the new tires, the new rim, the overnight shipping, installation and mounting, loss of time and maybe reservations.
On my new Bighorn I changed to Michelin XP Ribs. 5 tires at about $250 each is about $1250. Just repair of the trailer would be over $1000.

If you want to spend $100 -150 or what ever for tires based on money, I thing you should setup a repair fund of about $3000 or 4000 when the tires go bad on you.

Now.. I am not beating anyone up, picking on anyone or putting anyone's ideas down. This is my personal way to save money. Being proactive to me is the cheaper way to go even if I spend more up front and I do understand some do not have the income to do this. I save for the unforeseen circumstances.
BC

 

[Cyncwby]

Even though we don't have our Bighorn yet I have been towing boats and BIG horse trailers for many years. I couldn't agree more with "TxBobcat". The Marathons USED to be good tires, now they are made in China and tires are just not something you want to skimp on. Get the Goodyear G614's or the Michelin XPS ribbed tires, whichever suits your wheel and rig load rating.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Like others, we had the Karriers. I was very diligent with checking tire pressures, temperatures while traveling and any other preventative measure I could think of. After 10 or 12,000 miles we were prepping for another leg on our trip North last Spring when I found the dreaded sidewall bubble. I put the spare on, finished the trip and had Goodyear G614's installed when we arrived in WI. My spare is still a Karrier. I think if every road in the country were perfect or we did'nt find any pot holes or concrete separations etc. The Karriers/China Bombs may last a while. The G614's weigh about 20# more than the Karriers so you can imagine the construction quality and amount of material used. I think the fact that they are regroovable make them heavier also. Like Bobcat mentioned there are many threads in this forum regarding tires. I think you could spend many hours reading and come to the same conclusion. Another topic often discussed is weather to use LT or ST tires, It's a choice we must decide but I don't think tire manufacturers came up with two different designations just for the heck of it. Or did they?

 

[jmgratz]

I have said it before and I will say it again. We had 2 blowouts (Chinese made tires) within the first 2500 miles of owning our Landmark. Both times on the same (od) side. First the front axle tire and after getting the damage repaired the rear axle tire blew. Each time the same area of the 5er was damaged and each time my insurance paid a claim of $4800 and then $4500. My insurance rate then increased. Look at the construction of the wheel well. There is no inner fender to withstand the flying rubber from a blowout at 60 mph. The entire impact is felt by the exterior trim, fender skirt, trailer brake wiring etc. If you are lucky you can get the tire changed and go on down the road. If not then you and your rig will wait for a wrecker to tow you to the shop, and then wait on the shop for God knows how long on the repairs. Quit guessing and buy quality tires and quality rims. Your life and the lives of other motorists rides on the quality of your tires. Just because the tires are new (mine were) does not mean they will not blowout. I was not overloaded, was properly inflated and they still blew. Buy quality, don't skimp when it comes to your tires.

 

[ct0218]

I have heard of no problems with the XPS Rib from Michelin, and that would be my choice in an E rated tire. In G, you have just one logical choice.

 

[Jay Pearsall]

Thank you to everyone for bearing with me. I'm convinced and ready to upgrade tires while on our trip in Williamsburg, VA. After I post, I'm crawling under the rig to check the rims to see if they're G rated and then call for an appt! Safe travels! Jay

 

[caokgafamily]

Jay,
I have a 07 3400, I couldn't find a "g" stamp on the back side of the rims. But I did find a 110 psi marking max pressure. I had 4 new G614 installed yesterday.