tires

[BeerCan]

C130 not to pile on but I agree with FE and Javi totally on this one. Just to add some info for you to have in the future, there are LT tires available that will fit your rims and cover the load rating. Anything in an "F" or "G" rating will work. I think your tire guy did you a disservice by recommending those tires from both a safety and a regulation standpoint.

Goodyear makes an excellent "G" rated tire but it is very expensive. Some alternatives are the products from Sailun and Geostar. Although they are mfr. in China they are so far getting good response in the field. I have the Sailun on my 5er and so far I am totally happy.

If you knew this info already then sorry but perhaps it will help someone else.

[mach22]

I replaced my 15" ST load range D chinese tires with Michelin Rib 16" load range E. I did it for safety but there was a n0ticable towing improvement. The ealer did tell me to set pressure at 65-70. No need to go to the max pressure.

[Jim W]

Originally Posted by C130

Thanks, appreciate all of the information. Aircraft weight, well, that's about as estimated as anything I've ever seen in my life. Average weight of passengers, average weight of baggage, I'd bet they are off by several thousand pounds every takeoff. Military aircraft are probably more accurate than civilian but still not entirely accurate. Now, I know we are talking 155,000 pounds vs. 15,000 pounds so the variances are more important in the 15,000 pound range.

Getting way off topic and thanks for your service. I was an Air force guy, C130 pilot, hence the name. I've always used it on every forum and always available. I know exactly what you're saying and understand the concern with the LT tires and the weight limit of the XPS Ribs. I debated on it and basically couldn't get anyone to agree on which was the best tire, including the tire shops. I went with the one thing most agreed upon, the XPS Ribs being the best tire. We discussed the weight limit in detail and they agreed that even thought it was a lower rating tire they thought it was a much safer tire, even if loaded to the max of the 3500 pound ST tires. I spoke to the manager who sells this tire to lots of horse trailer owners and other people pulling trailers. While I don't know their axle limit I do know we discussed my axle limit in detail and the tires I installed. Thanks again and I always welcome constructive feedback and can always learn from others that have been RV'ing way longer than me.

Thanks for your service to the Good old US of A.

Now I too use the Michelin XPS Ribs tires on my trailer, I am on my second year of use on them. They were installed on a 318SAB Cougar that was bought new in Feb 2010. I special ordered the trailer with 16” tires thinking the 16” St tire would be better than the Standard 15” ST tire that was being offered in 2010. Will in the summer of 2011 I had a tire failure, at the left front driver side that cost over $3K to fix, insurance covered most of it.

After the tire failure, I did a lot of research on what tires to buy for replacement coming to the conclusion that the Michelin XPS Ribs where the best option for me. These are an all position tire and can be used as a drive tire or a trailer tire and will provide superior service life. I had the tires mounted and balance and the trailer towing experience improved tremendously over the 16”St tires that were on the trailer.

I also heat check them with an IF gun at ever rest stop and I believe they run between 5 and 10 degrees cooler than the ST tires did on the 318SAB regardless of ambient air temps. I have also notice that the tires tend to retain the set air pressure longer than the ST tires did. Over winter storage I only lost 5 PSI of air pressure in 7 months. Retaining air pressure and running cooler will always improve tire life, so for me the Michelins Ribs are the best option to use if you can.

Jim W,