My 14K trailer came with 12K worth of tire
My 14K trailer came with 12K worth of tire
Well I bought my trailer new with new tires (I say this because a lot of "new" trailers come with used tires) and never looked at the sidewalls of the tires because I never had much of a load on em. I just inflated them to about 65 and ran. Now I am going to load it heavy and wanted to put the tires up to the max... which is 3042 # at 80psi.......
Does someone see something wrong with a trailer being sold and advertised at 14K gvw when it only has 12168# of tire?? or is it just my stupidity ...
Does someone see something wrong with a trailer being sold and advertised at 14K gvw when it only has 12168# of tire?? or is it just my stupidity ...
This is common practice. Just be happy your "new" tires are not, in fact, retreads. The trailer is what they're selling, THAT is rated for 14,000 pounds.
I know Kaufmann and Badger have been putting **** new tires on their **** new trailers for the past couple years, many other brands probably do too.
I know Kaufmann and Badger have been putting **** new tires on their **** new trailers for the past couple years, many other brands probably do too.
The GVWR on most trailers take into account the hitch weight as well. For instance the trailer that I bought comes standard with two 7,000 pound axles and a GVWR of 16,250. So they are including the hitch weight of 2,250 into the GVWR. 7,000 + 7,000 + 2,250. Commercial trailers, at least the one the company bought uses the axle ratings only to arrive at the GVWR. By the way, I thought the axles were a tad light for the weight of my trailer so I opted for the two 9,000 pound axles. And the GVWR is 21,000. I will get nowhere near that weight but it is nice to have that kind of safety margin for the trailer.
If you have load range E tires you can run them at max pressure of 80 psi but you are still limited to the axle weight ratings. The GAWR should be on the trailer's data plate.
If you have load range E tires you can run them at max pressure of 80 psi but you are still limited to the axle weight ratings. The GAWR should be on the trailer's data plate.
Interesting. normally I would think that in order for the trailer to get the 14K gvw, then the tires would have to match up, as well as the axles and brakes... at least it is that way for a truck, but I guess the standards are not such on a trailer.
Originally posted by balvert
The GVWR on most trailers take into account the hitch weight as well. For instance the trailer that I bought comes standard with two 7,000 pound axles and a GVWR of 16,250. So they are including the hitch weight of 2,250 into the GVWR. 7,000 + 7,000 + 2,250. Commercial trailers, at least the one the company bought uses the axle ratings only to arrive at the GVWR. By the way, I thought the axles were a tad light for the weight of my trailer so I opted for the two 9,000 pound axles. And the GVWR is 21,000. I will get nowhere near that weight but it is nice to have that kind of safety margin for the trailer.
If you have load range E tires you can run them at max pressure of 80 psi but you are still limited to the axle weight ratings. The GAWR should be on the trailer's data plate.
The GVWR on most trailers take into account the hitch weight as well. For instance the trailer that I bought comes standard with two 7,000 pound axles and a GVWR of 16,250. So they are including the hitch weight of 2,250 into the GVWR. 7,000 + 7,000 + 2,250. Commercial trailers, at least the one the company bought uses the axle ratings only to arrive at the GVWR. By the way, I thought the axles were a tad light for the weight of my trailer so I opted for the two 9,000 pound axles. And the GVWR is 21,000. I will get nowhere near that weight but it is nice to have that kind of safety margin for the trailer.
If you have load range E tires you can run them at max pressure of 80 psi but you are still limited to the axle weight ratings. The GAWR should be on the trailer's data plate.
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This is a common problem with 5th wheel RV's.
They put cheap 15 in. tires on a unit rated for WAY over the tires' carrying capacity.
Many 5er owners are having to upgrade to 16 in. rubber at their own expence to avoid the inevitable blowouts.
They put cheap 15 in. tires on a unit rated for WAY over the tires' carrying capacity.
Many 5er owners are having to upgrade to 16 in. rubber at their own expence to avoid the inevitable blowouts.
You will very seldom, if ever, find axles and tires rated to carry the entire weight of a fifth wheel trailer, because they never do. That's pretty much common practice in the industry, like it or not.
I'm with NJOverkill on this one. GVWR is GVWR, its listed on the tag and no assumptions are necessary. I've had my fill of "sea-lawyers".
And for NJO's trailer, I'm betting the dealer figured out that since the trailer has a 14K GVWR, he's thinking that with 20% pin weight = 2800 lbs, that would leave the axles/tires to carry the remaining 11,200 lbs. (14,000 - 2,800). Plenty of margin for 12k of tires. BTW, what are the axles rated for?
Massage those numbers any way you like; the dealer is clear.
If something goes wrong and you try and pin it on them, they'll demonstrate that you either improperly loaded it beyond its capabilities or unsafely loaded it.
And for NJO's trailer, I'm betting the dealer figured out that since the trailer has a 14K GVWR, he's thinking that with 20% pin weight = 2800 lbs, that would leave the axles/tires to carry the remaining 11,200 lbs. (14,000 - 2,800). Plenty of margin for 12k of tires. BTW, what are the axles rated for?
Massage those numbers any way you like; the dealer is clear.
If something goes wrong and you try and pin it on them, they'll demonstrate that you either improperly loaded it beyond its capabilities or unsafely loaded it.
Manufacturers can derate the axle by using lesser tires as long as they indicated the appropriate GAWR on the data plate. njoverkill, what does the data plate show as the GAWR? If it shows 6,000 pounds (even if the plate on the axle itself shows 7,000) then at 80 psi you have 6,000 pounds of capacity per axle. If the data plate on the side of the trailer (not on the axle) shows 7,000 but you have load range E tires on the trailer, then you have a case against the manufacturer for putting tires on it that do not match the data plate. In order to have the 7,000 capacity each, your axles would need to have load range G tires inflated to max pressure.
Our 13,500 GVWR 5th wheel RV has 2 each Dexter 7000 lb axles. The OEM tires, however, were LT235/85R-16E, rated 3042 lbs each at 80 PSIG. Therefore, because of the tire load limits, the "sticker" GAWR's are 6000 lbs. Total GAWR is 12,000 lbs.
The actual scale weights of our RV are as follows:
GAW - 10,800 lbs
Pin weight - 2,700 lbs
Having total GAWR less than the RV's GVWR is common practice with 5th wheel RVs since up to 20% or more of the weight of the RV is carried by the tow vehicle as pin weight.
In our case, because the tires run approximately 90% of their load rating, and because the original Goodyear Wrangler HTs don't have an outstanding reputation in 5th wheel service, we replaced the tires with LT235/85R-16E Michelin XPS Ribs - an all steel construction radial recommended by Michelin for commercial trailer service. I've never heard of a failure of an XPS in 5th wheel service, and they run much cooler than the Goodyears.
Rusty
The actual scale weights of our RV are as follows:
GAW - 10,800 lbs
Pin weight - 2,700 lbs
Having total GAWR less than the RV's GVWR is common practice with 5th wheel RVs since up to 20% or more of the weight of the RV is carried by the tow vehicle as pin weight.
In our case, because the tires run approximately 90% of their load rating, and because the original Goodyear Wrangler HTs don't have an outstanding reputation in 5th wheel service, we replaced the tires with LT235/85R-16E Michelin XPS Ribs - an all steel construction radial recommended by Michelin for commercial trailer service. I've never heard of a failure of an XPS in 5th wheel service, and they run much cooler than the Goodyears.
Rusty
Originally posted by RustyJC
Our 13,500 GVWR 5th wheel RV has 2 each Dexter 7000 lb axles. The OEM tires, however, were LT235/85R-16E, rated 3042 lbs each at 80 PSIG. Therefore, because of the tire load limits, the "sticker" GAWR's are 6000 lbs. Total GAWR is 12,000 lbs.
The actual scale weights of our RV are as follows:
GAW - 10,800 lbs
Pin weight - 2,700 lbs
Having total GAWR less than the RV's GVWR is common practice with 5th wheel RVs since up to 20% or more of the weight of the RV is carried by the tow vehicle as pin weight.
In our case, because the tires run approximately 90% of their load rating, and because the original Goodyear Wrangler HTs don't have an outstanding reputation in 5th wheel service, we replaced the tires with LT235/85R-16E Michelin XPS Ribs - an all steel construction radial recommended by Michelin for commercial trailer service. I've never heard of a failure of an XPS in 5th wheel service, and they run much cooler than the Goodyears.
Rusty
Our 13,500 GVWR 5th wheel RV has 2 each Dexter 7000 lb axles. The OEM tires, however, were LT235/85R-16E, rated 3042 lbs each at 80 PSIG. Therefore, because of the tire load limits, the "sticker" GAWR's are 6000 lbs. Total GAWR is 12,000 lbs.
The actual scale weights of our RV are as follows:
GAW - 10,800 lbs
Pin weight - 2,700 lbs
Having total GAWR less than the RV's GVWR is common practice with 5th wheel RVs since up to 20% or more of the weight of the RV is carried by the tow vehicle as pin weight.
In our case, because the tires run approximately 90% of their load rating, and because the original Goodyear Wrangler HTs don't have an outstanding reputation in 5th wheel service, we replaced the tires with LT235/85R-16E Michelin XPS Ribs - an all steel construction radial recommended by Michelin for commercial trailer service. I've never heard of a failure of an XPS in 5th wheel service, and they run much cooler than the Goodyears.
Rusty


