Firestone Trailer Tires - Montana Owners Club

rames14 · 08-13-2007, 01:55 PM

Has anyone had any experience with Firestone trailer tires? I need new tires for my 3400 and the tire place that the dealer recommended is telling me that they can get Firestone tires in Load Range E. We got good wear from the original tires. They lasted over three years and somewhere around 15,000 miles. I also noticed that the rear tires wore badly on the inside. Is there any alignment that can be done. Also, dealer says they do not typically balance trailer tires. Just some questions. Thanks in advancce.

bsmeaton · 08-13-2007, 02:13 PM

Rames14 -

That Dealer is either in-experienced or fell of a turnip truck! By not balancing your trailer tires, you are exposing the trailer and all of it's contents to the typical vibrations associated with out of balance tires, not to mention the premature wear it imposes on the tires (bouncing). You'll be picking up broken dishes at every rest stop if the tires are way out of balance

.

Yes - alignment can be done and should be done if you have unusual wear on the tires. It can be a little tough to find a shop that can actually do it.

The only experience I have with Firestone tires are continuous recalls, dating back to the 70s with the F-32s and more recently the vehicles rollovers (still makes me think twice about parking next to an Expedition for fear it will blow the tires and fall over on me for no reason

). I have never owned their trailer tires.

daneboy · 08-13-2007, 02:21 PM

Brad is right on, be sure to balence your trailer tires. I recently had my 2599 aligned because the rear tires we wearing on the inside. Alignment and two new load rage E tire were a little over $500. Front tires are still good with around 20K miles.
Jerry

Steve and Brenda · 08-13-2007, 03:30 PM

Which brings a question - how long should the OEM tires last? 20K miles?

ols1932 · 08-13-2007, 04:56 PM

Wow! That dealer sure doesn't know what he's talking about unless he's talking about farm trailers that you pull behind a tractor. Of course those wouldn't need balancing. But RVs are a whole different animal. Ask LonnieB or Glenn about it. I always have mine balanced because it makes for a whole lot better wear, not to mention the peace of mind I get knowing my rig is riding as smooth as can be.

Orv

ole dude · 08-14-2007, 12:39 AM

In 2000 I purchased a new 5th wheel, had Firestone tires, in a short time after purchase I noticed a crack on both sides of the sidewall on each of the six tires.This crack went all the way around the tire. Took a couple of the tires and wheels off to show to a Firestone dealer, then another and another, no answer other than should not be a problem. When the second tire came apart off came the Firestone tires. I bought all new Cooper tires to replace the Firestone, second real bad mistake, every one of the Coopers came apart (6). Maybee things have changed for Firestone in that time. Just my experience.

Bill and Ann · 08-14-2007, 01:19 AM

Had my tires balanced. Now have over 20,000 miles on them with only a little wear on the outside.

ken · 08-14-2007, 02:30 AM

We replaced our Tyco tires with BF Goodrich Commercials and had nothing but praise for them. But again, I am not a Firstone person having to replace all four tires on our truck with two blowouts and all four on our Mountaineer in a recall...........

Glenn and Lorraine · 08-14-2007, 03:08 AM

Ron,
NO they don't typically balance trailer tires but as a tire dealer we always recommended balancing ANY and ALL hiway tires. Why they say not to is beyond me. An unbalanced tire is not meant to be traveling down the hiway at any speed.
For all the reasons previously mentioned, when replacing ANY tire have them balanced.

If your trailer still has the 235/85R-16E tires on it here is something you may not be aware of....

From a previous post...

Did you know that the LT245/75R16 E on our TV is almost identical to the LT235/85R16 E on our Monty. At 80 PSI they are both rated at 3042 pounds each. The only difference is in the height. The 75 or 85 within the size marking is called the aspect ratio. The aspect ratio deals with the width of the tire verses the height. This number tells you the height of the tire, from the bead to the top of the tread. This is described as a percentage of the tire width. In the case of our LT245/75R16 on the TV the aspect ratio is 75, so the tire's height is 75 percent of its width. The smaller the aspect ratio, the wider the tire in relation to its height. That's it and in the tires mentioned above the difference is negligible. The tow vehicle tires are interchangeable with the trailer. The only other thing in the way is the wheel width and after some research found that not to be a problem.

The odds of anyone wearing out their trailer tires before age sets in on them are slim. But the odds of wearing out a few sets of tires on the tow vehicle are great. In fact I wore out 2 sets on my previous truck and will probably wear out the tires on my new GMC at about 40,000 to 50,000 miles AND I still have the original tires on the trailer. The trailers tires will soon be showing the signs of age and will be in need of replacing.

My money saving plan is simple...
When the tires currently on the GMC are approximately 1/2 worn I will purchase a full set of 45 new replacement tires and have them installed on the truck. I will than have the 4 approximately 1/2 worn tires from the truck installed on the trailer and I will be good to go for at least another 2 years.

I'll be paying for 4 new tires plus the mounting/balancing of the trailer tires. That will be a lot cheaper than replacing all the tires on the TV as well as the Monty.

rogue · 08-14-2007, 06:58 AM

I am going to preface this by saying I am no tire expert, but checking with Les Schawb tires here in Oregon I have been told: The tires on the 5th wheel (ST tires vs LT tires) are build with a better side wall to help with the twisting and turning of the tire when the 5th wheel is turning. LT tire do not have the side wall strenth that the ST tire has.

I would not put LT tires an the Montana myself, maybe someone can add to this or correct me if I'm wrong.

bsmeaton · 08-14-2007, 07:07 AM

Our 2003 Montana had factory LT tires. Our 2007 has ST tires. It is truly a mystery out there!

Eagle Man · 08-14-2007, 09:51 AM

Tires are like lots of RV issues, if you pose the same question to five 'experts' you get five different answers. My Dexter manual says to use either ST or LT tires on the RV.

Glenn and Lorraine · 08-14-2007, 05:15 PM

Many Montanas and other SOBs came through with LTs than the tires can be replaced with LTs without a problem.
As far as STs are concerned they may or may not have more flex in the sidewalls but the STs on the newer Montys do have a greater load capacity. For that reason and ONLY that reason I would not use the LT245/75R16 E to replace the STs on my 3485SA.

rames14 · 08-14-2007, 05:15 PM

My Montana came with the LT tires on it. So, I will probably match the tires with what came on them. I will call tomorrow to make sure they balance them. Thanks for the input. I keep the tire pressure checked and use the optical pyrometer to check tire temperature on a regular basis. I need to make sure I get my torque wrench handy so I don't lose the tires on the way home.

LonnieB · 08-14-2007, 05:24 PM

rames14,
I believe Brad pretty much hit the nail on the head when he said your dealer just fell off the turnip truck. I, like Glenn, as a tire dealer always recommend balancing ALL highway tires, regardless of what they are on. This is a service I offer free of charge, and when it comes to travel trailers, or fifth wheel trailers, I won't take NO for an answer.
The difference between ST and LT rated tires has more to do with an extra nylon belt in the ST, than it has to do with the sidewalls. This extra belt is supposed to give more strength to the crown belts when cornering sharply to decrease the possibility of belt separation. I'm not trying to discredit Les Schwab, and I'm not a tire expert, or engineer, but I have spoken to one or two

.
As a Bridgestone / Firestone Dealer, I don't know that I can answer the Firestone question without being a little biased. I will just say this, I have 5 new Bridgestone LT235/85R16E DURAVIS R500 Commercial tires waiting to be mounted on my Montana.

sailer · 08-14-2007, 05:40 PM

I feal if the rear axek tires a wearing on the inside check the rear axel as it is going straight as mine did , thats hell on tires , if it goes straight its probly overload or just fatuge from travel as it was tooooooooooooooo lite to start with a 5200 lb axel can not carry 5200 lbs as each bump is now 6000 or 7000 lbs on that axel so you need bigger and heaver axels as my 3000 rk now has 6000 lb axels on ,, not 5200 john

bigred715 · 08-14-2007, 06:21 PM

I just had my first major blowout on the Montana. Right rear blew going downhill about 60mph and it completely shredded by the time I got it pulled over. Wife said she saw black smoke and "little" pieces flying off the tire. Didn't hear or feel a thing.
Since Les Schwab was about 5 miles away, thanks to the sheriff who stopped and checked on us, that is where I replaced the tire. I went with a LT235/85R-16/10 Open Country H/T all position tire. $178 with balancing. I plan on replacing the other 3 back in Eugene Oregon where I live before the end of the year. These are the original tires on my 2001 rig with very few miles on it.I've used Les Schwab tires before with good results. Before the blowout I had been considering Michleins.

rames14 · 08-15-2007, 05:06 PM

Our 2005 has the 6000 lb Dexter axles. They made a change right before we bought ours, as I recall. We actually got the Elko brochure as well as the Dexter brochure. I figured balancing was a good idea and plan on having that done. Also, I think Glenn posted a link on tires. It said that tires should be changed by age and not mileage. Three to four years is the recommended change interval. We are into our fourth year, but have traveled a lot of miles as well (for working folk). I shudder to think how many miles we would put on if I was retired.

bigmurf · 08-15-2007, 05:28 PM

Balance tires? Don't have a weight on the trailer or the truck (dually). 75 K on the truck and 21 K on the trailer. Check signature for the secret.

quarrles · 09-14-2007, 07:03 AM

Our 2008 3400RLQ Montana Big Sky came with 'Mission' tires. We refused delivery until the dealer changed them out for Toyo LT's E rated ten plys.
There are some, major brand name tires being made in China. For me "made in China" is a WARNING label. Please be sure you do not run Chinese tires on your F/W, they are hazardous! Woodalls' forum used to be full of the horror stories about Chinese tires on RVs.
Best..John

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