New Tires, Jack, and Repair

[fourwalshes]

Good morning, I have a Keystone Bullet 287QBS and have owned it for 3 years. I had 2x blowouts last week. Both of the tires were original Ranier brand. I replaced the other two with Carlisle, and they are still holding up. Both blowouts removed some of the black paint, and dented the wood subfloor above and to the rear of the tires. I'm looking for some advice from all of you:

1. I want to replace the issue tires (205/75R 14D) with higher quality and larger tires for greater safety margin and hopefully cooler running. Reading through the previous threads, it would be best to upgrade to 15" wheels. The price of 5 new wheels is above my budget. So I am thinking of purchasing Goodyear Endurance 215/75 R14. From what I read, this will give me more volume with a 1/2" wider tire. It increases the load from 2040# to 2200# per tire. Is this wise?

2. I need a better jacking system...I used precut pieces of wood and my truck's cheap, mechanical bottle jack. It was not very stable. What do you recommend for an "on the side of I-70 change a tire" jack? Small floor jack? Better quality bottle jack?

3. I'm thinking of either spraying bed liner over the damaged subfloor, or cutting and installing a galvanized steel sheet or heavy plastic above the tires. What are your thoughts?

Thank you,
FG

[notanlines]

Answer to question number one is to simply go with the Goodyear Endurance tire or Carlisle tire for your replacement. Both are good choices.
Question number two is easy enough. Harbor freight has a low profile 8 or 10 ton hydraulic bottle jack for a reasonable price, as does AutoZone and a number of other places. You want it to be low-profile as best you can so it will slide between the ground and your spring shackles on the end of the axles. The vast majority of experienced RV'ers on site will jack on the spring shackles/brackets on the axles rather than the frame of the RV for a number of reasons, not the least of which is safety. Your RV is not going to slip off the bottle jack on the bracket, but with questionable cribbing involved it may very well fall if on the frame.
By the way, avoid the 2 to 4 ton jacks like the plague. Even a 12 ton is better "IF" it will fit with the tire flat.

[jxnbbl]

There are others on here that will give you better advice than I tires! BUT for the advice that I got about 18 months ago it was quite valuable. I upgraded to an E rated Carlisle and had the original Rainers. Pretty sure this is not available in 14" tires but the Carlisle's have surpassed the originals in mileage (about 8k) and look like they were just mounted. The rubber compound is much superior to the Rainiers. Which had various wear within 4k miles and I removed them to prevent the problems. My tires cost about $110 each delivered to my house.

[jxnbbl]

On the jack...

On the road I carry one of these:

https://www.horsetraileraccessorysto...inum-_b_2.html.

(the yellow one)

At home I have a huge block of wood (old beam) that I use my truck jack and put across both axles to work on "one side" or the other.

[Canonman]

We went with Carlisle HD tires and upgraded to the E load rating. We're on our second set this year. The previous set simply aged out without incident. Remember, air pressure is your best friend when towing. Check it often (daily) when traveling or better yet invest in a good TPMS.

The trailer aide for tire replacement is the easiest way to raise a flat tire off the ground. A low profile bottle jack will work well too, but honestly you can't get much easier than simply pulling up on the trailer aide with the good tire and changing the flat as it will be off the ground. One note, be sure to loosen the lug nuts before you get pull onto the trailer aide.

[flybouy]

So I'm confused, not unusal for me. You replaced the tires that failed with Carlisle tires. Now you want to replace all 4 tires or just the original remaining tires? If you have 2 Carlisle tires the buy 3 more, 2 for the axle and 1 for the spare. With 14" rims you cannot get an ST tire rated above D load rating.

As far as jacks are concerned I carry a TrailerAid Plus ramp and a 12 ton had bottle jack. For me, the Trailer aid under the good tire raises the tire behind it while providing plenty of clearance to remove/install the tire that's in the air. Our trainer's fenders are very close to the tire sidewall. If I use a bottle ja k the tire is impossible to remove without flexing that fender. The other factor for me is not craving under the trailer on the side of the road to place & use a bottle jack while trucks are literally blowing buy shaking the trailer.

I carry the bottle jack for supporting the axle with a remove tire for longer duration maintenance & repairs such a bearing inspections. A bottle jack is also a nice tool to have incase the tongue jack fails or you need to change a tire on your truck.

I'll let others comment on repairs as fortunately that hasn't been necessary for me.

[fourwalshes]

I apologize for the confusion. A couple years ago I replaced two Ranier tires with Carlisle 205 / 75R 14D tires. They seem like good tires. Both Carlisles are on the same rear axle and holding up well.
At a minimum, I need to replace both tires on the front axle. I can go with the same Carlisle tires, or upgrade. I'm thinking of upgrading to the Goodyear Endurance 215/ 75R 14. Since the 215s are 1/2" wider, I'm thinking I may need to replace all 4. Or, can I run 205 on one axle, and 215s on the other axle. Thoughts?

And thank you for the jack suggestions.

[wiredgeorge]

Goodyear Endurance tires are fine but the Carlisle Radial HD tires are just as good and a whole lot less expensive so I don't consider Goodyear tires and upgrade.

[flybouy]

All four tires should match in size, brand, and age IMO. Trailer tires don't wear out they age out at around 5 years. My recommendation would be to buy 4 Carslise tires and use on of the Carlisle tires that you remove as a spare.

[sourdough]

^^^^This is what I would do. I would also look into the TrailerAid Plus. Much easier to use roadside than the bottle jack of which I carry 2 as well. In addition to all of the above you can look into the Andersen Rapid Jack. I have moved to carrying this instead of the TrailerAid but they're about the same. I had the Andersen Levelers as well so I already had the chocks to use under the Rapid Jack.

https://www.etrailer.com/Wheel-Chock...SABEgJ5xvD_BwE

Watch the video on the left for a better explanation. The one thing to be cognizant of with either of the drive on jacks is how high it gets the flat tire. Initially I owned the original Trailer Aid (not the plus) and it did not get my tire off the ground requiring a 2x4 under it and a lot of grunting and special words to get the tire off the ground while the whole thing just slid across the ground.

[fourwalshes]

Thank you all. For jacking, I'm going to purchase the Trailer Aid Plus and a better bottle jack.

For tires, perhaps I will stick with the OEM size 205/75R 14D and not switch to the wider 215/75R 14D. My thought was it wouldn't hurt to have a higher load weight. But I am really interested in durability and safety.
In that size, what tire is more durable? The Good Year or Carlisle? Should I be concerned that Carlisle appears to be under a different name?

[wiredgeorge]

Carlisle Radial Trail HD ST205/75R14 are sold as such. No name changes.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Set-of-4-...8?from=/search

[NH_Bulldog]

Carlisle ST tires (trailer tires), are now made in China by the same company that makes more infamous brands known as “China Bombs”. Guilt by association is enough for me, so I went with the Goodyear Endurance and have been very happy. While the Endurance tires work for me, do your research into brands and reliability and make an informed decision.

[wiredgeorge]

Carlisle ST (Special Trailer) tires have been made in China for many years and the home plant in Tennessee operates and controls the manufacturing process. The Carlisle tires are being rebranded as Carlstar. I have yet to hear of Carlisle/Carlstar tires failing and many Keystone owners are using this brand. To equate this brand with "China Bombs" is simply not fact.

[NH_Bulldog]

I was just reading an article on ST tires, and Carlisle was specifically mentioned. Almost all tires coming out of China are made at the Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Company. However, the company is notorious for using inferior materials and unskilled labor when creating tires. Because of this, Carlisle is another US brand that was once reliable but is now moving more tire manufacturing to China to save money. The tires have similar issues as other China-made tires, such as uneven tread wear and quick disintegration of the rubber. In addition, the tire cannot handle wide temperature extremes and often bursts under high heat or loses air in cold weather.

Regardless of which tire you choose, do your research, find what meets your needs and expectations, read lots of reviews, and make an informed decision, whether it is Carlisle, or Goodyear, or any other brand of tire, just do your research.

[sourdough]

The majority of tires come out of Shandong Province in China. ZC tire company is located in Hangzhou Province. They DO make some of the most notorious tires. They are the largest producer of tires in China but don't know how many of their tires make it onto U.S. RVs.

https://www.zc-rubber.com/index.php/brand


Shandong is the home to many tire manufacturers, some of Chinese origin, design and production and others are plants of other companies with products designed outside China with specific manufacturing processes, compounds, foreign oversight and quality control - Carlisles fall into that group. ZC tires fall into the former category. Here's a comment from Carlisle, note it speaks to my comments above;

"Where are Carlisle tires made?
Depending upon which Carlisle tire you select, the tire could have been made in a U.S. factory or elsewhere. We are an American company committed to American manufacturing and standards."

As a member noted the other day; his Carlisle weighed something like 56lbs. and the OE China bomp weighed 30 or so; that is the difference between the two types of tires - manufacturing, design and quality. Notably Sailun is the largest revenue producing tire brand in China.

As far as I know the Radial Trail tires are still made in China although Carlstar (Carlisle) has manufacturing plants in the U.S. They have a great reputation and have been coming from China for years.

[flybouy]

Tires are produced in some ways like appliances. Most tvs, stereos, small and large appliances are made somewhere other than the US. Often the plants that produce Walmart toaster is the same plant that produces a large recognizable brand toaster. Typically they are built to different specifications.

Soft drink companies do the same thing. For instance Coke a Cola produces the syrup and sells it to franchised bottleing plant that is liscense to mix the syrum, water, and carbonation to their specs. That same bottleing plant may also bottle ice tea, water, or other flavors/brands. The sign out front may cay Coca a Cola but it's intact a franchise bottling company doing business as ( DBA) Coke a Cola.

ST tires use the same "business models ". While one plant may produce several brands of tires that doesn't make them equal. Each brand has their own formula, materials, molds, and production standards. Just like Coke uses bottling plants all over the world the standard is the same.

To me there's a myth and or misunderstanding that BECAUSE the tire is made in China it's junk irregardless of the brand. In the end it's of course a personal choice what you spend your money on.

[fourwalshes]

I appreciate the comments and input from everyone. I will do some research after work this evening.

[CWtheMan]

It's a good decision to use the vehicle manufacturers OE designated size as replacements. Keystones, like all other vehicle manufacturers seldom approves a size change from the OE designated size. Remember, an increase in load range is not a tire size change.

Not all ST tires have nylon overlays. If they do have them, it will be molded into the tire sidewall.

All Keystone trailers are supposed to be jacked for tire changing using the trailer's frame. That's a Keystone standard. They built it and that's their rules.

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by CWtheMan

It's a good decision to use the vehicle manufacturers OE designated size as replacements. Keystones, like all other vehicle manufacturers seldom approves a size change from the OE designated size. Remember, an increase in load range is not a tire size change.

Not all ST tires have nylon overlays. If they do have them, it will be molded into the tire sidewall.

All Keystone trailers are supposed to be jacked for tire changing using the trailer's frame. That's a Keystone standard. They built it and that's their rules.

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Ehh…be adventurous, be brave.
Rules?
Learn by breaking things.



LOL