tires again - Montana Owners Club

gregg-bean · 08-21-2010, 11:52 PM

i just dropped of my mountaineer to get insurance est on damaged wheel wheel etc.I mentioned to the guy about Lt tires he didn't think that they would be good.What is the deal??? Also would I get a tire store to put them on or would they be afraid?? I need help to decide.Thankyou!

camper4 · 08-22-2010, 12:01 AM

LT tires can be put on your camper. Tire shops will install them. It is a common accepted practice.
You can not put ST tires on a tow vehicle. The are for trailers/5ers only.

thor · 08-22-2010, 12:23 AM

speng the extra money and get goodyear g614 tires they are really good.you will noy have any worries with these tires

NCFischers · 08-22-2010, 01:17 AM

Goodyear G614 tires have a minimum rim width of 6.5 inches. The rims on our trailers are 6 inches. To be safe and remain in specs, the rims would also need to be replaced. I just replaced my Marathons (what was left of them) with BF Goodrich Commercial TA tires.

PapaBeav · 08-22-2010, 01:26 AM

There are a lot of good LT tires out there that people are putting on there Montys. I have the BF Goodrich Commercial T/A's on ours.

ols1932 · 08-22-2010, 02:18 AM

LT tires are probably the best. If they are good enough for the tow vehicle, they are certainly good enough for the trailer. I believe the tire experts will tell you that. I have Bridgestone Duravis LT tires on our Montana. If the guy you talked to says LT tires are not good, he needs to go back to school. ST tires are good for some uses, however you can't get them everywhere--LT tires are readily available.

Orv

akf15e · 08-22-2010, 02:51 AM

Maybe he meant that (unless you go with the 614s), you will probably be dropping the weight rating on each tire from around 3400 lbs to 3042 lbs. Of course when a 3400 lb rated Mission/Marathon explodes (which it will), the weight carrying capacity goes to zero!

I have weighed my axles multiple times (loaded for a weekend, loaded for a week with the kitchen sink) and the most I've seen is 11,300 lbs. With the new LTs I put on this week (same ones as Jim (NCFischer), I am still well within the limits of what I need to tow with.

I've had Marathons/Missions fail on 3 campers, damaging 2 of them. I caught this last one right before it blew.

CamillaMichael · 08-22-2010, 03:01 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by akf15e

Maybe he meant that (unless you go with the 614s), you will probably be dropping the load (weight) rating on each tire from around 3400 lbs to 3042 lbs. Of course when a 3400 lb rated Mission/Marathon explodes (which it will), the weight carrying capacity goes to zero!

I have weighed my axles multiple times (loaded for a weekend, loaded for a week with the kitchen sink) and the most I've seen is 11,300 lbs. With the new LTs I put on this week (same ones as Jim (NCFischer), I am still well within the limits of what I need to tow with.

I've had Marathons/Missions fail on 3 campers, damaging 2 of them. I caught this last one right before it blew.

Good point, wouldn't want to end up with tires that would only carry 75 percent of your rig's weight!

8e3k0 · 08-22-2010, 04:30 AM

Simply stated and identified in specs; ST tires are only for trailers and not to be used on any passenger vehicle; Why? Because the ST tire will and does not meet the strict safety specs that LT tires must meet and attain. ST tires are of a lower quality tread construction plus sidewalls are stiffer which restricts speed of rotation. ST tires will develope more heat with the higher speeds of trailering today; air pressure must be maintained at max to keep the ST tire temps down when loaded at or near max ratings.
We removed the Goodyear Marathons immediately when our Monty was new and installed new Delta LT tires (made in U.S.A.). Have at least 6000 miles on the LT tires now with no temperature problems and very low tread wear.
We made this decision based on our experience with tandem dually trailers and (made in China) ST tires literally separating on the traed face and then blowing into pieces!! Quality?? At least on a large hauling trailer there was no damage to axle, frame, or deck.

Sheepdog · 08-22-2010, 05:22 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by NCFischers

Goodyear G614 tires have a minimum rim width of 6.5 inches. The rims on our trailers are 6 inches. To be safe and remain in specs, the rims would also need to be replaced. I just replaced my Marathons (what was left of them) with BF Goodrich Commercial TA tires.

Jim is correct that Goodyear recommends a 6.5" wheel for their G614.
I mounted mine on the stock Tredit T04 6" wheels as did one other MOC member I checked with. For peace of mind I called Tredit Tire and Wheel company this past Friday. Their tech person said no problem, that they only sell the G614 tire on both a 6" AL and steel wheel package and that they do not have a 6.5" wheel. The 1/2 inch difference is not a problem.

thor · 08-22-2010, 07:53 AM

i have goodyear g614 on my 3400 with steel rims and have no problems

TLightning · 08-22-2010, 07:57 AM

The Keystone manual will tell you LTs and STs are okay for trailers. The problem is, you cannot find any STs in the size we need (ST235/80R16) made any where but in China. I have the same tires on my Montana that Orv has and that Lonnie has (our tire guru)...Bridgestone Duravas 500 HDs, LT235/85R16.

gregg-bean · 08-22-2010, 08:55 AM

Another rv dealer told me that the side walls of st tires is stronger than the lt's.He said that it's important when backing up ,turning etc that the side wall is strong .That could possible create a problem.

LonnieB · 08-22-2010, 09:10 AM

Quote:

quote:By gregg-bean

i just dropped of my mountaineer to get insurance est on damaged wheel wheel etc.I mentioned to the guy about Lt tires he didn't think that they would be good.What is the deal??? Also would I get a tire store to put them on or would they be afraid?? I need help to decide.Thankyou!

In my not-so-humble opinion, as long as the LT rated tires meet the maximum load requirements of the trailer, the LT is the better choice. No tire store that knows anything about tires would be afraid to install LT tires on a trailer, I do it all the time at my store and every tire dealer I know does too.

LonnieB · 08-22-2010, 09:24 AM

Quote:

quote:By gregg-bean

Another rv dealer told me that the side walls of st tires is stronger than the lt's.He said that it's important when backing up ,turning etc that the side wall is strong .That could possible create a problem.

The key words in this post are "rv dealer". Go to any tire dealer and ask them about sidewalls on ST rated tires, your "rv dealer" has it backwards. The LT tires have a much stronger sidewall than the ST rated tires. The sidewalls of the ST rated tires are lighter and more flexible to ease the stresses on the tread belts when cornering sharply, such as jack-knifing the rig into a tight parking slot. The sidewalls of the LT do not flex as much, and it sometimes makes it harder to back into a tight spot, but the tread belts still hold up better than those on the cheap made ST rated tires.

TLightning · 08-22-2010, 01:57 PM

Lonnie...you should be paid a consulting fee...thanks for the good and correct information.

gregg-bean · 08-22-2010, 02:18 PM

thanks for all the help once again!!

Clemson1881 · 08-22-2010, 02:40 PM

The forum used to have another great tire expert as well as Lonnie. What happened to Fast Eagle???????????

gregg-bean · 08-23-2010, 12:09 AM

hey Lonnie my mountaineer weighs 10,735 dry ,hitch is 2225 and load capp is 3490.I never weighed it loaded.Do you think that those LT tires are still a good choice??
.

NCFischers · 08-23-2010, 12:58 AM

Gregg,
With Lonnie's guidance, I just replaced my Marathons with BF Goodrich Commercial TA's. I just finished making temporary repairs on the trailer until I can get it to Keystone or my dealer and I would much rather have LT tires on my rig than exploding Marathons with a higher weight rating. Trailer tires are only rated for 65 MPH and even though I keep my speed to about 62 MPH, one literally exploded and another one had broken cords and was ready to fail.
If you weigh your TV without the trailer and a full tank of fuel (remember to add DW's weight)and then weigh truck and trailer at a CAT scale, you can do the math to find your loaded pin weight. Last year I was about 500# under max but I need to do it again since I've added and subtracted things.
Sorry that this is such a long answer but I feel so much better with my new tires. I will never put trailer tires on the rig again. If I could have afforded Goodyear G614'5 and new rims, I would have gone that way. That's not in the budget right now.
Jim

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