I posted about my crappy tire experience here: https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...w-t276214.html

Since then I purchased some 16x7 Ford 8 hole alcoa wheels for the trailer. They look good and are much lighter than the steel trailer wheels. Now I need to buy some tires. I've decided on using LT tires, thanks for the good discussion in the other thread.

My stock trailer tires are 235/80R16, so I'm looking at the 235/85R16 or the 245/75R16. The 235/85R16 is the same width, but almost 1" taller at 31.7". The 245/75R16 are .3" shorter at 30.5", and also .254" wider. Both are rated for the same 3042# weight capacity. Any thoughts on which will be better?

As for brands of tires, I figure I want a highway tire to minimize the rolling resistance. I was looking at something like a Firestone Transforce HT, Yokohama Geolander HTS, etc. The Nitto Dura Grapplers also came to mind. Any recommendations? If I go with the 245/75R16 I may be able to get some Chevy 2500 takeoff tires.

Thanks!

 

I believe that BF Goodrich has a "commercial tire" that may give you good service on your trailer. I've heard of people using them on trailers.

Since you are in Scottsdale, AZ., this is a desert climate & is very hard on tires, especially, those that are not used on a regular basis.

Yesterday, I had new BFG Rugged Trails installed on my "03 Dodge 3500 SRW at the Discount Tire at 4455 W. Bell Rd. (Phoenix). I've owned this truck since new & it had the Rugged Trail's on it from the factory. I got 56,982 miles out of those tires before a bubble formed on the sidewall of one of them. At that time, I had Bridgestone Dueler REVO's (stock size) installed on 6/30/07. The REVO's have been cracking along the sidewall near the wheel for awhile, now. I bought these at Fletcher Tire & took them back hoping to get some warranty consideration as they are not yet 4 years old according to the purchase date & the date codes printed on the sidewalls of the tires (4706 or the 47th week of 2006). I took the truck into Fletcher's last Wednesday afternoon & I'm STILL waiting for them to confirm whether, or not, there is some warranty available for dry cracking. I got 21,885 miles out of the REVO's!!!!! Never had any problems with them until the cracking occurred.

At any rate, I went to the Discount Tire just to look at cheaper tires so I didn't have expensive tires dry rotting on the truck. The salesman asked why I was looking & I told him. He immediately said that they could warranty the REVO's & sold me the new BFG's, with everything, for $535.15 plus, there was a $60.00 rebate which, brought the price down to $475.15. I LOVE DISCOUNT TIRE!!!!! Great service & I would recommend them for anyone's tire purchase considering the way they treated me. They gave me $100.15 off of EACH tire. They were genuinely interested in helping me out of my problem. Maybe, they can help you with your questions on trailer tires.

BTW, Michelin & BFG are the only tires that Discount sells that have a 6 year Ozone Warranty. All the others have 3 to 4 year Ozone Warranties. Living in the desert, this is something that may prove to be valuable to us desert rats. Hope this helps.

Joe F.

 

Last month I had the Michelin AT/2 tires installed on the truck by the Discount Tire store at Loop 101 and Frank Lloyd Wright. It was $1060 out the door for all 4 tires with warranty certs. Great tires and great service.

The BFG commercial T/A look good, but the $745 ($685 with rebate) out the door price at Discount Tire is more than I'm wanting to spend. With the warranty certs I'd add another $92. They have some cheaper tires available, but I think my best deal will be by mail order. I work as a consultant in dealerships and can get mail ordered tires mounted and balanced cheap.

I was checking the onlinetires.com site, they have a Hankook Dynapro AS RH03 for $483 shipped to my door, or the BFG Commercial T/A for $635. If I were doing the BFG's it'd be better to get them at Discount Tire with lifetime balance.

I also saw Hankook F19 7.50R16 14 ply tires, but they measure a little taller.

 

I had a set of BFG Commercial LT E tires installed on our 12k 5th wheel a little over a year ago. Great tires for the price.

 

Something to think about.

ST tires are limited to 65 mph max. Its stamped on the tire.

Trailers require wheels with zero offset. Truck wheels have too much offset and will/can wear out wheel bearings permaturally especially running heavy all the time. Many trailers don't have a wide wheel opening so with the wrong offset tire clearance may be a issue.

Replacing ST tires with LT tires is always a good idea if the LT has the same load capacity. ST235/80-16 E @3400-3500 lb capacity depending on tire brand. The LT235 or LT245 E load range are a 3042 lbs of capacity tire. Apples vs oranges in load capacity. Four LT E will give you 12168 lbs of capacity which will work on 6000 lb axles. If you have 7000 lb axle a higher 3500 lb capacity tire is needed.

The Firestone Transforce LT E tire is a excellent tire for trailer tire use. I've used them on a couple of my GN flatdeck that run commercial service. The BFG Commercial LT E and its sister tire the Uniroyal Laredo HD-H LT work great for trailer service. Cooper SRM II and Goodyear Wrangler HT have a good reputation for trailer service. Maxxis U-168 Bravo series LT tires are new the last few years and are gaining popularity with haulers. Then the best of the best is the Michelin XPS Rib LT and the Bridgestone Duravis R-250 LT tire both being a all steel ply carcass and are recommended for commercial trailer service. Both tire are very expensive but are re-treadable.

The devil is in the details. Good luck if you have 7k axles. If your not hauling with a DOT number then the LT E may give you enough capacity for your needs.

 

J&L,

Great input, I appreciate you posting it. I have no commercial hauler knowledge.

The f-250 wheels I purchased are 16x7 with a measured 4.25" backspacing. A zero offset 16x7 wheel would be 4" backspacing, I think it's close enough to not cause undue stress on the bearings. The tires stick out a bit more than I think they should from under the fenders, so the extra 1/4" should help tuck them in. There is 1.75" from the inside of the tire to the trailer frame.

The 65 mph rating is why I will be using LT tires. The speed limit here in AZ is 75 mph, I generally tow at 70 mph to prevent getting run over by 18 wheelers. I haven't purchased the tires yet, I am still looking at options. If I can find something in my price range that is LT and 3500 LB I'll buy it. After my poor experience with ST tires I do not want to use them again.

I do have 7K axles, but I am hauling for recreation only, no DOT number. I usually only have my 5500 lb Bronco on the trailer, and the trailer weighs about 3300lb. The last time across the scales it weighed 9200 lb with a weekend's worth of camping gear in the Bronco. I originally wanted a 10K trailer for my use, but the 14K was in stock and had other good features (larger brakes, 16" wheels, better jack, better ramps) for the extra $400 it cost. 12168 lb is more than I plan on towing, and getting darn close to the max capacity of 13200 lb for my 2500.

 

One thing I learned over the years of hauling...sometimes my budget needs to be adjusted to accommodate safety and longevity when it comes to brakes, tires, suspension and the feel good feeling I have a safe load rolling down the road.
Take a look at the Michelin Ribbed or steering XPS commercial tires for your trailer. I know of several success stories with these tires.
If Michelin would make the XPS in a 17" I would have them on my dually.

Just another way to look at it.

Scotty

 

I took off ST235/80R16 Goodyear marathons and installed Michelin MS LT245/75R16 E I found them too wide, they held on too much when maneuvering tightly. I installed Michelin XPS rib LT235/85R16 E tires and they are.... just OK despite the high price. After I installed them I found that they are NOT recommended for cold weather below zero centigrade. I probably should have installed Michelin MS LT235/85R16E.

 

Thats the first time I heard that about tires and temp. I bet its what I encountered with the TOYO M55's in the winter...wow did I slide lots...hard compound in the summer makes for too hard in our winters I guess. Good point for us Canucks. eh

 

0 degrees centigrade affects the OP from Arizona how? How many people travel exclusively below freezing weather with an RV? I agree with Scotty on the Toyo M55's and the michelin XPS rib is just as hard but as a trailer tire they can not be beat. Deep straight line tread and hard compound. Syncrude uses these in the mine year round on 1 tons, worst conditions to torture a tire with excess weight. Just like your truck if you need winter traction on your trailer switch them out. If you have to travel on ice with a trailer carry a couple of tire chains with you, they fit truck or trailer.

 

I DO !!!!! I pull a 40ft Featherlite Race trailer November thru March or early April from Detroit back and forth to Minnesota, Wisconsin and this year North Dakota......Oh and New York too...

 

lawdog800 look at our sigs, it was a poke in jest buddy. I doubt very much the temperatures you endure below zero and the length of days is waaaaay less than us. There is nothing you will do to your trailers folks that the mines here don't do on a continuous basis with overloaded service/mechanics trucks. Trust me these guys have tried every possible brand/grip combination out there they still use XPS rib almost exclusively on the light trucks. A straight rib tire on a trailer cools better, squirms less and runs quieter than any form of grip tire. A hard tire will resist side scrubbing better than a soft tire due to simple adhesion basics. #1 reason for tire failure is heat, #2 is overloading & #3 is under inflation, add some speed to 1 or all 3 and surprise tire failures. There are some low quality tires out there but checking for side wall heat on a regular basis along with "reasonable speeds" greatly reduces failures. Temperature guns are cheap but a hand on a sidewall works just as good but you have to get out and do it. If the sidewall is hot check the tread face and if it is also too hot to touch your trip is going to be delayed. As we all get faster more powerful tow vehicles we seem to think we can drive like your going to Vegas for a wedding. The farther south you live/travel the warmer it gets and pavement soaks up more heat than the outside temperature. 80 degree day equals road surfaces 30-50 degrees warmer when the sun is strongest plus speed plus weight plus equals tire temps in excess of 170-210 degrees. Pickup/trailer tires contact the hot road 2 to 1 tread surface compared to semi and look at the trouble they have in warmer conditions. Too cold = is when the oil in the bearings of the trailer wont allow the wheel to turn, discovered this somewhere about -53 in Red Earth one morning after the truck/trailer sat all night. Once they were warmed up and moving it was almost 40 miles before the flat spots came out. Yeh the tires were not impressed either but they eventually were round and flexible and we went to work.

 

I worked on the Alaskan pipeline years ago moving freight on site. The only tires we found that stood up under 20-40 below temps (and colder) were all steel carcass tires like the XPS Ribs. Nylon/rayon/fiberglass belted tires would bust/split belts from the intense cold. They simply became brittle.

All tires nowdays usually have steel plies in the tread.
I'm retired now and hang out of several LTL trucking webs and I don't see the AK/Canada haulers mentioning tire issue due to the cold.

 

I wasn't meening for it to be sarcastic and sorry if it came across that way.and I did not read your locaton earlier..whooops.. Sorry

 

I can get the Firestone Transforce HT black wall in that size mounted and balanced out the door for $115.00 per tire.