Well, just got back from Discount Tire. Priced out Trailer tires, Load Range E, Maxxis. I also priced Goodyears, Discount tire said that Goodyears trailer tires are still made in China, thats when I opted out. Went ahead and bought the Maxxis. Out the door, everything, $121.00 ea.
I have read all over rv.net and other forums and most everyone said Goodyears were made in USA. Well only the 16" and greater are USA built. All indications are 15" and smaller trailer tires are made in China. Anyway the decison is made, new tires will be put on in a day or 2. We will see then.
I am wanting to have this thing in half way decent shape cause the Indy race is in Ft. Worth, in a little over 2 weeks. We can check it out further then.

 

I would have done the same thing..opted for built in USA period If I am buying the tires.

 

That somewhat troubles me now... I was going to get all 4 new Goodyears put on this weekend and the local Goodyear store, I have to put it on the Goodyear card anyway. I have 14" tires on my TT. It does have two Goodyear Marathons on there now, look like they have been around a while. He made it out that the Marathons were US made, and that he had some chinese ones for @ 30 bucks less, so we decided to go with the Marathons... Now i'm second guessing that...

edit: Went to Tire Rack(Clicky on the specs tab), they show my size made in US or NZ, some of the other sizes are China as the tab shows, I feel a little better now...

 

This whole trailer tire thing can get confusing. Some sizes built in USA, and other sizes somewhere else. All I can say is go with your gut. If it says "Chinese" steer away and research your tires. Maxxis has a 4 year warranty, not dependent on mileage, but prorated by age. Michelin has a 2 year warranty, and Discount Tire says Goodyear also has 2 years, but you can also buy a "replacement cerficate" for $15 per tire if something should happen over a certain period of time....why pay for a warranty on top of a warranty....ummm.
Speed, heat, and curbs are a trailer tires worst enemies......

 

I understand where you're coming from, Steve, but senix's RV is brand new last fall after the camping season ended, so they are new on the new trailer where yours were ???? old and had ????? miles on them......
My 2 more cents....lol

Bud

 

Can't say, only point is no matter how closely you watch them, there is no way to tell when a tire is going to come apart.

Since the spare and all the tires on the trailer matched, I am pretty sure they are original equipment and they all have at least 90% of their tread, so I doubt they have covered many miles. Naturally there is no way to be sure. Trailer looks like new, so again I doubt it has seen much use.

Obviously I have no need to promote tire sales, but man when one lets go and damage is maximum, you are looking at some serious repair costs! Just had a local customer whose on his first trip out had two blow-outs. He was clearly unhappy.

Just my two cents worth,

Steve

 

How fast do you typically drive when pulling the trailer? ST trailer tires are rated for 65mph max. You probably know this but many folks do not. My experience, fwiw, is that speed kills trailer tires, regardless of where they were manufactured.

Tim

 

Sixty to sixty-five miles per hour. The tire weight rating is actually only good to 65 mph. Above that you have to derate the tire carrying capacity as speed increases.

Thanks,

Steve

 

good points on the tires, I try to hold my speed down just for that reason.

 

Hey, RV_Tech, I finnally got those Maxxis 10 plys put on yesterday. I made sure they balanced and also added the Hi pressure steel valve stems as we have 80 PSI in these tires. The Maxxis 8008 is a radial, ST rated 225/75/15. The Maxxis Tires are made in Thailand, that kind of bothered me, but they do have a 4 year, prorated warranty, not a mileage drive warranty. Oh, and we repacked the bearing while were were in there and checked the brakes, everything looked like new.

WOW, what a difference in towing, We decided to take off and do a little fishing this weekend after I got them on. Drove about 2 hours, a little over 120 miles. It pulls easier, trails 100% better. I had a side wind of about 30 mph and could not hardly tell it was blowing. I stopped and filled with fuel as we go almost here and it looks like I am getting about 1-1.5 mph more per gallon, I will get a better reading tonight when I fill again when we get back.
One thing we did notice, when turning or skewing the tires, it looked like way less stress as the sidewall were flexing more than the old tires but still allowed the dragging wheel to slide easier. Kind of hard to explain, it was just easier.
My confidence on the highway was very high compared to the older tire...
For everyones information the old tires on the 5er were SuperMax, but they were bias 8 ply LT7.00X15 and the date was 05-2004....little taller than the 225's.

 

Gearitis,
so do you think going to a slightly smaller tire helped as well?

 

Very glad to hear they are working out so well!

Steve

 

I had goodyears on my TT last year and they were in great shape. I blew one out pretty bad. My neighbor has Hercules tires on all his trailers and never had a problem, even when over loading. I since bought new tires 10 ply load range E at 2830 pounds. I really like the tire and were way less then goodyears..

 

Just got back in and indeed a 1.5 mph improvement after my fill agian. Still had the side wind and weight was nearly the same. Tanks empty and etc. I can tell the slightly smaller tire, I had to lower the hitch, in the truck, about 2 inches at the lake to level it up. I have read a bunch about going bigger on tires, and being an ole farmer, I agreed. But with the 10 ply rating, 80 psi, and the radials, I feel these factors all were gigantic improvements in its ability to roll.
I felt kinda bad coming back, and there was a Raptor Toy Hauler, parked on the side of the road. We stopped to see if we could help as he had 2 blow outs, his tires were "Made in China", Greenballs. The Raptor was a year old with tri axle and Greenball tires. He was one p***** off person. Its 95 here today and this was about 3:00pm. So tempers were already hot then this guy has this problem. All in all, very satified with the tires and the results. Now we will see in 2 weeks when we head to the Indy race, 260 mile round trip, thru Ft. Worth.