Eye Opener

[Tom S.]

Luckily, at this year's Fall Rally, we had a couple who were able to weigh both our truck and trailer. I'm posting this directly to those of you who have or are considering putting LT tires on your unit.

The results of our weigh in showed our 3625 to have a total weight of 15,125 pounds. Minus the pin weight, it weighs 12,025. If you take the weight rating of a comparable LT "E" range tire of 3,080 pounds and multiply that by 4, you will see that the LT tires have a combined weight capacity of 12,240 pounds. So that means we're OK, right? WRONG! One axle on the trailer is carrying 3,450 pounds while another on the same side is carrying 3,300 pounds so both tires on that side of the trailer would be above their rated capacity. Looks like "G"s are in our immediate future!

This is why I have been adamant in Light Truck tire threads about people getting their rigs weighted before putting them on their trailers.

[dieselguy]

Unless you don't own one of the "mega trailers" and barely push 12,500 ready for the lake. I'm just as adamant LT's are fine. I get your drift though ... weighing your rig is key.

[jcurtis934]

Good job Tom. Tires need to reflect what is the heaviest loaded tire position. Going to a g rated tire is appropriate for your rig. John

[mlh]

And don't forget that 3040 pounds is at 80 pounds inflation any thing under that and the load carrying capacity goes down. I'm lucky my HC only weighs 9200 with 1700 pin weight empty.
Lynwood

[scott-pati]

I agree 100% with Tom too! You really have to do a proper weighing of everything before going to an LT or even load range E. I'm lazy and went right to the G614's. I still got weighed after I purchased the tires, just to see were the weight is, in regards to the axles.

[DQDick]

Even running 614's we weigh every so often. We always have a heavy side, but we can affect how much difference there is by how we load. You'd think full timing it would stay the same, but what we carry does change somewhat as well as how we arrange our stuff for ease of access.

[pvcoach]

We also weighed our Monty and Truck at the Fall Rally. Just over on one tire on the Monty. We will be redistributing our load. Not being full timers, our load distribution is made before each trip. The kitchen and pantry are the problem locations (front left) so we will change the way our consumables are loaded. Running Load Range E LT's all around.

[1retired06]

Whatever is chosen, get rid of the stock ST tires as soon as possible. Shame on Keystone for even putting them on as OEM.

[Tom S.]

In keeping with the theme of this thread, I priced G614's today. Discount Tire (my favorite tire place) quoted me a price of $370 each installed. One question I have, does anyone know if the wheels are hub centric or lug centric. We have disk brakes if that makes any difference. I believe they are lug centric but not 100% sure.

[scott-pati]

Should be lug centric, but not many places are setup for that. I'm sure many of us has had them hub balanced.

Another point of concern is if you have a TPMS, I would think you would want the sensors on the stems at the time of balancing to offset its own weight.

Tom - Keep an eye on CW ads. Every few months they have a 15% off the tires. That would bring the price down to less than $320 a tire. That's how I got mine.

Scott

[richfaa]

Being weighed for the first time is usually a eye opener. It was for us when we weighed our 06 3400 at the fall rally some years ago and was 1200lbs overweight. Of course that thing had 6K axles under it. Mor Ryde Is corrected that problem along with better tires.

[steelpony5555]

If your trailer had 6k lb axles then Keystone cut corners there too. At 15k lbs it should have had 7k lb axles and G rated tires. But then I believe in over kill. But still that is cutting it close. I have always thought that trailers over 13k lbs gvw should go to G rated tires.

[Tom S.]

quote:Originally posted by scott-pati

Should be lug centric, but not many places are setup for that. I'm sure many of us has had them hub balanced.

Another point of concern is if you have a TPMS, I would think you would want the sensors on the stems at the time of balancing to offset its own weight.

Tom - Keep an eye on CW ads. Every few months they have a 15% off the tires. That would bring the price down to less than $320 a tire. That's how I got mine.

Scott

Thanks Scott, The price I was quoted was actually $319 per tire, but then with the excise tax, mounting and sales tax, the price went to $370. Does CW do lug centric balancing?

[bethandkevin]

Tom, I sent you a PM.

[richfaa]

The early build 06 3400 had 6K axles later in the build year they went to 7K axles. With the 6K axles the GVWR was under 14K.

[Tom S.]

quote:Originally posted by bethandkevin

Tom, I sent you a PM.

Thanks!

[fauch]

REMEMBER THOUGH
That the 3080 pound rating on an LT tire is probably at 106 mph!
This is where the misunderstood "reserve" capacity comes in
Load capacity increases as SPEED decreases
look closely at the info in this link:

http://www.bridgestonetrucktires.com...4/v3i4Tech.asp

[Tom S.]

quote:Originally posted by fauch

REMEMBER THOUGH
That the 3080 pound rating on an LT tire is probably at 106 mph!
This is where the misunderstood "reserve" capacity comes in
Load capacity increases as SPEED decreases
look closely at the info in this link:

http://www.bridgestonetrucktires.com...4/v3i4Tech.asp

Interesting post! However, one should check the speed rating as not all truck tires are rated at 105mph. I've seen them as low as 85mph. Additionally, the article says the benefits don't start showing up until speed are 50 or below, so at 65, will the 'reserve' still be enough for a unit 400 pounds over the weight rating of a ST tire?

[bethandkevin]

I guess the common man does use algebra in real life situations!

[Tom S.]

quote:Originally posted by bethandkevin

I guess the common man does use algebra in real life situations!

I really try not to since I retired!