Taking an informal pole here of what brand trailer tires people seem to like the best. I currently have a 30' fifth wheel with slide that have 225x75x15 Carisle tires load range D on it. Well it did... in about 300 miles I have lost three out of the four tires. One blew apart on the highway causing significant damage to my camper, luckily not on the side with all the plumbing and tanks, and two have blistered. One blistered within a 20 mile trip. I check the tire pressure before every trip so I know the cause is not from underinflated tires. Not that I am looking for a cause, I just want to know what peoples opinions are on brand tires and what to pick, since I now own a camper with no rubber on it! Oh, I guess I should mention that the two year warrenty on the tires just ran out this spring and Carisle is refusing to replace them.

 

IF you have room for a 16" wheel, I would highly recommend the Michelin XPS Rib, a load range E all-steel construction radial recommended by Michelin for commercial trailer service. As a Moderator over on iRV2.com, I've seen a number of individuals who have had tread separation problems with 5th wheels make the switch to the XPS Ribs, and I've never heard of a failure afterwards.

I switched our previous 5th wheel from LT235/85R-16E Goodyear Wrangler HTs (the fabric-and-steel OEM radial tire) to the same size XPS Ribs and couldn't believe the difference. Coming off the Interstate into a rest area on a hot summer day, you could feel the heat radiating off the Wranglers from 2-3 feet away. With the XPS Ribs, I could put my hand on the tread and leave it there.

Our new 5th wheel (see signature) came with LT235/85R-16G (load range G) Goodyear G614 Unisteel radials. This is an all steel construction commercial radial that is very similar to (albeit with a higher load rating than) the Michelin XPS Rib. We've pulled the new 5ver on a 100 degF day, and just like the XPS Ribs, I can lay my hand on the tread, so I'm encouraged so far, but time will ultimately tell.

JM2CW....

Rusty

 

I have the MAXXIS http://www.maxxis.com/
brand on my 5VR, so far so good.
On my TT that I bouhgt 2 years ago I had Carlise tires, the TT was 2 weeks old and I had 3 of 5 tires separate as if they were retreads. 1 caused 2k worht of damage the the TT. I made Carlise replace the tires, pay for another 5 new tires I had to buy while I was on the road and cover all the repairs of the TT.
Actually they ar lucky I didn't sue them for installing the wrong tires on the TT.

 

You are both right and wrong with this statement... True, the tires you had were most likely way under weight for the trailer, (since most manufacturers are cheap), but that is not carlisle's fault.

As for the initial poster, take your trailer to a scales that can weight each wheel seperately, and you will likely find the manuf. screwed up and put too small of a load range under your trailer (welcome to the club!) Step up to load Range E, and you will not have any further problems with most any brand.

Dennis

 

Just went through that a couple of months ago. TT was a 2002 model. Made in 2001. I bought it in august 2003 after a hurricane destroyed my previous TT. (see member photos) Any way the tires looked good (no dry rot) but they all went bad. Including a blowout causing $2000 damage. They were carlisle D rated 225/75/15. They had just set to long in one spot without moving. No warranty on them. Went back with carlisle in E Rating. They have been good in the few hundred miles i have on them

 

I'm running Goodyears on my 24' Nash TT.

 

Actually in this case I am correct. I contacted Carlise, Thor, & the West Coast Carlise Rep and they (Carlise) agreed that they(Carlise) put the wrong tires(bias ply) on the TT that I purchased. They also realized athat they(Carlise) had sent out a ton of them on that brand of TT for that year 2002. However on the 03 models they(Carlise) had corrected the problem by using Steebelted radials. Yes I was very pi$$ed off, since I was heading to S.C. from Oregon and was only 500 miles from Portland when the tires start coming apart.
I almost decided to blow the sucker up on the side of the road.

OH yeah, the Carlise Rep sent me 5 new Goodyear Steelbelted Radials to install on the TT

 

Every fifth wheel I have ever owned, I installed 1/4 plate steel in front and rear of each tire to prevent the dammage to the trailer in case of tire failure, that is after I went thru the goodyear saga of tires and the carlise saga also. I have had no problem with the michelins. When going thru the problems both companies have stated that any tire that is over 6 years old no matter what tread depth is a hazard. Most rv's are parked on dirt and are not used frequently which adds to tire problems. Also a large section of the rv makers buy thier tires in bulk and the tires you could have on your trailer can and sometimes is two years old already, A goodyear rep told me that one and the next fifth wheel we bougt I looked at the date code and had the dealer change out the tires as they were a year older than the trailer. Tire and Rvs will always be a problem when most overlook them and not keep up on them. Goodluck,,Rick

 

Since when did carlisle build trailers?? I would think your trailer manuf would do that?? Were the tires mislabeled, or did the manuf not check to see what they put on?

Not trying to be a pita, just confused.

Dennis

 

ck'd out the photo ... the 2 propane tanks are sitting there, right side up.

Were they on the trailer?


Forrest

 

I heard carlisle was owned by goodyear like bf goodrich is owned by michelin

 

thanks for all the help and great ideas.

1. I am getting the camper weighed here soon, I believe that I am at the load limit for a D tire. Thinking that going to load range E is a good idea.

2. The metal plates are something I never though of, and an awesome idea.

3. The tires on my camper were manufacture in 2000, I bought my camper new in fall of 2001. So the tires were already a year old. Nice. Never thought of checking on that. Will be in the future though.

4. About the Goodyear - Carisle relationship, I don't think Goodyear owns Carisle, but there is some sort of relationship because Carisle told me to contact Goodyear to file a damage claim. The Goodyear rep told me according to the serial # from the tire that blew out, it was their tire. NOT necessary manufactured by Goodyear, but manufactured for Goodyear (with Carisle's name)?? So I submitted a damage claim with Goodyear. Once they determine that the blow out was caused by a defect and not a road hazard they will pay for the damage done to the trailer, and reimburse me for the cost of a new tire. What sucks is that Goodyear will only reimburse me for the blown tire, not for the blistered ones, for those I have to deal with Carisle.

 

Forrest, the tanks had flung off . I had picked up the yard a little in the photo.

 

DFD536
The Carlise Rep is respnsible for ensuring that their tires are matched to the load that the TT MFG is makeing. He wants to make sure that they hold up so they won't get a BAD name( I guess it didn't work)
Anyway as you can see, they(Carlise & Thor) took care of getting things fixed and getting me back on the road.
Just a quick and dirty, I ran the BIAS Ply tires I put on the TT all the way accross country and back, but the Carlise TT tires didn't last 500 miles, go figure