Any reason not to switch to tire with better load range

[bradandleslie]

I have 2013 Keystone Bullet 281BHS.
They came with Power King ST205 75/R14 LRC (max load 1760lbs).
I blew 2 tires on 120 mile trip over July 4th weekend... so I'm going to get 4 new tires.
My plan is to switch to Load Class D tires (to give me margin).
Any reason not to go from Load Class C to D (other than higher cost)?

[JRTJH]

I'd urge you to bypass Power King tires and go with either Maxxis or Carlisle. Maxxis does not offer a 205 75R14 LRD, and Carlisle does not offer a LRD in the Radial Trail RH, but does offer it in the Radial Trail HD.

Many members have had significant problems with Power King tires and many (me included) will never tow another trailer with them on it.

As for cost, Carlisle is very competitive and can be found at Discount Tire, often as the "least expensive" ST tire choice.

You might also consider increasing your size from 205 75R14 to 215 75R14. They are only 0.6" taller, which should not make any difference to installed clearance on your RV.

Keep us posted on what you do and the results of your choices.

Good Luck !!!

[bsmith0404]

Trailer tires lose about 10% of their load carrying capacity each year. With that in mind, after the first year, your C tires with a load capacity of 1760 are actually down to around 1580 after the first year. Your Bullet has a GVWR of 7,500. If you have roughly 1,000 on the tongue, that leaves 6,500 on the wheels, that is 1,625 per tire. Trailer manufacturers are notorious for using tires that just meet the load requirements. So to answer your question, there is no reason not to go up one load range on your tires. There is debate about if there is such a thing as too much tire. Part of your trailers suspension is the tire itself. Sidewall flex can reduce the harshness of the ride. I believe you can go too far with tires, but going from a C to a D will increase the tire capacity from 1760 to 2040 (Carlisle Radial Trail HD) which based on the 10% per year theory means your tires are under rated by the 3rd year. That is why they recommend you change tires every 3-5 years. I would feel very comfortable with a D tire and changing every 3 years if I was in your situation. If you wanted to go to an E, you'd most likely have to change wheel size to a 15" wheel and then you may run into clearance issues.

[Tbos]

Looking at the Carlisle website I'm confused which tire is the new model, the HD or RH. Any help deciphering it would be helpful. I think the HD is the new model. Am I correct? Thanks.

[CWtheMan]

Looking at the Carlisle website I'm confused which tire is the new model, the HD or RH. Any help deciphering it would be helpful. I think the HD is the new model. Am I correct? Thanks.

The new design will have a speed letter on the tire. The older design may not.

[slow]

Looking at the Carlisle website I'm confused which tire is the new model, the HD or RH. Any help deciphering it would be helpful. I think the HD is the new model. Am I correct? Thanks.

Yes, the HD is the newest model. But I have not been able to locate them in Canada yet, only RHs.

BTW: I contacted Maxxis Canada to find out what date of manufacture they were currently shipping. They responded with mid to late 2015. So up to 1 year of their 5 year warranty has passed. Something to watch for.

[Lic0rice]

It is smart to move up. Manufactures use the minimum that they can get away with. The Carlisle HD is an excellent choice from Discount Tire.

[bradandleslie]

Sounds like I want to go with Carlisle or Maxxis.
Just poking around online, I don't really see a 205/75R14 or 215/75R14 that is Load Range D. They are all C.
The Carlisle Radial Trail HD's are C also.
I'm going to stop by my local tire store this week and see what they can get.

Thanks for all the help!

[bsmith0404]

Sounds like I want to go with Carlisle or Maxxis.
Just poking around online, I don't really see a 205/75R14 or 215/75R14 that is Load Range D. They are all C.
The Carlisle Radial Trail HD's are C also.
I'm going to stop by my local tire store this week and see what they can get.

Thanks for all the help!

link to the Carlisle website. 6th tire down is 205/75R14 LRD. You may have to get a tire shop to order them, but they are available.

http://www.carlstargroup.com/product/tires/trailers-toy-haulers-towables/radial-trail-hd

[CWtheMan]

Carlisle trailer tire warranty = two years from date of purchase.

Maxxis trailer tire warranty = five years from date of mfg..

[Tbos]

Sounds like I want to go with Carlisle or Maxxis.

Just poking around online, I don't really see a 205/75R14 or 215/75R14 that is Load Range D. They are all C.

The Carlisle Radial Trail HD's are C also.

I'm going to stop by my local tire store this week and see what they can get.



Thanks for all the help!



The Carlisle website (Carlstar) shows the HD also comes in load range D as a ST205/75R14. That will be my next set.

[NotyetMHCowner]

On our last TT, I purchased Kumho Radial 857 tires and loved them. I bought them from Tire Rack and had them mounted and balanced at Discount Tire. They have a 205R14C that is D range 8 ply with load rating of 2271@ 65 psi. They are also rated for 75mph. Maybe give them a look.

[T_Clark]

Hankook actually has better specs and are priced better than Carlisle or Maxis.

D rating, 65psi, and 106mph speed rating. Available at Discount tire for $106/each. I just bought some myself after doing extensive research on trailer tires. The RA08 Hankook.

14" Tire Specs to help you shop
Tire Max Load per Tire1 Max Speed Diameter Max Pressure Maximum Safe Rig Weight for Single Axle1 Maximum Safe Rig Weight for Tandem Axle1
Kumho 857 205R14 2271lbs 99MPH 27" 65psi 3634lbs 7267lbs

Kumho 857 185R14 1874lbs 99MPH 25.6" 65psi 2998lbs 5997lbs

Kenda Karrier ST205/75R14 2,039lbs 65MPH 26.3" 65psi 3262lbs 6525lbs

Hankook RA08 185R14 1984lbs 99MPH 25.6" 65psi 3174lbs 6349lbs

Hankook RA08 195R14 2094lbs 106MPH 26.3" 65psi 3350lbs 6701lbs this tire is the same physical size as the 205 of other brands

Maxxis Bravo UE-168 205R14C 2270lbs 99MPH 27.1" 65psi 3634lbs 7267lbs

Maxxis Bravo UE-168205/70R14C 1874lbs 99MPH 25.4" 54psi 2998lbs 5997lbs

LANVIGATOR Mile Max 195R14 2094lbs 106MPH 26.3"2 Unknown 3350lbs 6701lbs

Taskmaster TRTM2157514D 2200lbs 81MPH 27" 65psi 3520lbs 7040lbs

Carlisle Radial Trail RH 215/75R14 1870lbs 87MPH 26.8" 50psi 2992lbs 5984lbs

Goodyear Marathon ST205/75R14 1760lbs 65/75MPH3 26.1" 50/60psi3 2816lbs 5632lbs

Goodyear Marathon ST215/75R14 1870lbs 65/75MPH3 26.7" 50/60psi3 2992lbs 5984lbs

Power King Towmax ST205/75R14 1760lbs 65MPH4 26.1" 50psi 2816lbs 5632lbs

Power King Towmax ST215/75R14 1870lbs 65MPH4 26.7" 50psi 2992lbs 5984lbs

Greenball Towmaster ST205/75R14 1760lbs 65MPH4 26.0" 50psi 2816lbs 5632lbs

Greenball Towmaster ST215/75R14 1870lbs 65MPH4 26.7" 50psi 2992lbs 5984lbs

Maxxis 8008 ST205/75R14 TL12460000 1760lbs 65MPH 26.1" 50psi 2816lbs 5632lbs

Maxxis 8008 ST205/75R14 TL12462000 1430lbs 65MPH 26.1" 35psi 2288lbs 4576lbs

Maxxis 8008 ST215/75R14 1870lbs 65MPH 26.7" 50psi 2992lbs 5632lbs



1. Determining the weight of your rig is a little complicated. What you really need to know is the weight that the tires are supporting. If you weigh the loaded trailer while hitched to a tow vehicle, you will get the weight the tires are supporting. If you weigh the loaded rig while unhitched and on the tongue jack, you are including the tongue weight that is normally supported by the tow vehicle so you need to subtract 10% of the scale reading. Having the rig loaded with gear, fuel and anything else you normally haul is important.

Some manufacturers recommend that the combined capacity of all of the tires should exceed the loaded trailer weight by 20 percent. That's what I used in the above table. Your tolerance for risk may be higher. I think you can be pretty confident if your rig, loaded for fishing, scales less than the numbers in the appropriate column on the right you are in pretty good shape with that tire.

These weights all assume maximum trailer tire pressure.


2. Calculated. They didn't publish this data.

3. Goodyear has published a bulletin regarding high speed operation of Marathon tires. In short, if your rims and valve stems can handle it, you can increase the pressure by 10psi if you need to operate at speeds up to 75MPH. http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires...plications.pdf

4. I was unable to find the speed rating for these tires. Industry standard is 65MPH, so assume so unless reliable information shows otherwise.



Note that some of these tires are available in lighter capacity tires with the same name. Maxxis especially! Be sure of what you are getting if you order tires.

This is the result of my own search for tires. I went with the good ones I found, and I added a few that other people here have talked about for comparison. Don't trust my information without checking for yourself. I've been known to do stupid things and make typos. More often than I'd like. If you find an error or you know of another tire that could or should be included, let me know and I'll add it to the table.

The scariest takeaway from the chart is that with a tandem you can hardly go wrong, but with a single you can hardly go right.

The "Maximum Rig Weight" Column gives the most your rig can weigh when scaled with just the trailer tires on the scale while the trailer is hitched to the tow vehicle. This gives you the weight on the trailer tires. That includes outboard, trailer, batteries, tackle, fuel, cooler and everything else, including that box of Twinkies in the rod locker. This takes the 20% cushion into account as well as the number of tires.

The "Max Speed" is the manufacturer's maximum speed rating for this tire. If you go faster, you lose load capacity. How much you lose I can't tell you, but if you are close to the weight limit, you'd better watch the speed rating.

[Tbos]

T_Clark, thanks for all the research. Good info.

[RLM5150]

The scariest takeaway from the chart is that with a tandem you can hardly go wrong, but with a single you can hardly go right.

I'm not sure I understand. After looking at your chart I may know why.

You label one column "tandem axle". Is that term actually used in your research? Or did you change the term "dual axle" to mean "tandem".

As I understand it , dual axles means dual tires on an axle (like the dually trucks). For tandem axles, you still use the weight rating for "Single".

Thanks for compiling that information. It's great information to have. I'm only questioning that one column heading and it's meaning.

[T_Clark]

tandem meaning dual axel. sorry

[CWtheMan]

Here is another very popular European tire to add to your list.

http://www.continental-tires.com/car/tires/van/summer-van/vanco2

[bradandleslie]

Just to finish the story...
I decided on the Load Range D Carlisle Radial Trail HD.
My local tire shop was not able to get them.
I ordered them from Discount Tire and they should get here this week.

Thanks so much for all the help/info!