Tires

[Shadow Catcher]

The tires on Compass Rose aged out and are showing cracks. Time to replace.
When I started seeing catastrophic failures (with damage) from blowouts here on grossly under-loaded Goodyear Marathon (made in China) tires, I stared looking into failures and testing standards.
Good Sam did a survey with better than 70,000 respondents, so statistically significant. They found roughly one third of RV's had failures/blowouts. There are skewing factors, neglected tires, aging out, overloaded, under inflated... Taking part in a survey however implies you care enough that this may not be a big factor.
Testing standards are less for a ST/trailer tire than they are for a passenger vehicle tires. I had in inside source, some one who worked for Goodyear and who when I asked said "tires made in China are junk". I replace our Goodyear Marathon, (made in China), with Michelin passenger car tires (each with a weight capacity of the entire trailer and no longer made).
Finding 14" tires has gotten to be a problem and I have just ordered a set of Goodyear Endurance, (made in the US) trailer tires with a speed rating of 87 MPH (we do not go that fast).

[twisted lines]

I am struggling more and more with wheels & tires then anything, Racks are close.
As mentioned 14" was my first choice but found 15s can have the same circumference I am looking for, I am leaning away from trailer tires, seen to many short lived / limited to 55. As Sammi says I cant drive 55

[working on it]

The tires on Compass Rose aged out and are showing cracks. Time to replace....
Good Sam did a survey with better than 70,000 respondents, so statistically significant. They found roughly one third of RV's had failures/blowouts....
Testing standards are less for a ST/trailer tire than they are for a passenger vehicle tires. I had in inside source, some one who worked for Goodyear and who when I asked said "tires made in China are junk"....
Finding 14" tires has gotten to be a problem and I have just ordered a set of Goodyear Endurance, (made in the US) trailer tires with a speed rating of 87 MPH (we do not go that fast).

* When I finally accepted the fact that my 12+ years-old Carlisle bias-ply ST tires (with multiple repairs on each, and with cracked/hard rubber) were untrustworthy, I looked for suitable "non-Chinese"-made replacements (preferably bias-ply, with stiffer sidewalls than radials) and found none. I was looking for 14" tires, also, and that size is slowly becoming less well-represented in the tire market, anyway, so the selection wasn't large overall.
* I decided that the best (read: judged the best for my planned usage, best type "in my experience") tires were LT (light truck) tires, with a C load rating, deep all-terrain tread (for many road conditions), and with stiffer sidewalls than ST & passenger car radials (my 4x8 weighs over 2k lbs). I bought General Grabber AT2's in 27 x 8.5 -LT14 size, two from Amazon, and later one (for use as a spare) from Tire Rack. I run them @ 50 psi, and they are all that I'd hoped-for, after 2k miles (absolutely no treadwear or scuffing).
* At the time, I could only find two 14" LT tires offered, the AT2 all-terrain, and a mostly off-road Kumho mud tire, so I opted for the on/off road AT2. Now, General offers an improved version of the AT2, the A/TX, which is made in the US (AT2 is made in central Mexico). That fact alone would've made it my choice, but the Mexican factories seem to make a good product (heck, my '09 Chevy HHR Panel, which was bought to fill a specific niche/need at the time, is 40% Mexican-made, assembled there, and it has 170000 hard miles on it...).
* I looked at a tire comparison/customer survey on Tire Rack's website, which highlights details of the three aforementioned tires (in three screen snips):

Capture1.JPG (203.07 KiB) Viewed 689 times

Capture2.JPG (167.05 KiB) Viewed 689 times

Capture3.JPG (148.69 KiB) Viewed 689 times

* But, you've already made your purchase of new 14" ST tires. Good luck with them, I'm sure they'll be fine. I am just offering this info as an alternative to others also in need of replacement tires, seeking something other than unreliable Chinese-made products.

[bdosborn]

Wow, there really isn't much choice in 14" wheels anymore. My tires have a load limit of 2,200#, which is a nice safety factor given the trailer weighs around 2,500# loaded. Most of the 14" LT only had a load rating of 1,500#, which is a little closer than I'd like, with the exception of Goodyear ST tires. Looks like I'll have to step up to 15" wheels when it's time for tires to get the load rating I want. I simply won't ever give Goodyear any money, their tires have killed people and they covered it up.
Bruce

[martymcfly]

I deliver for the USPS. My mail truck (LLV) uses a 195/75r14 Goodyear Wrangler 6 ply tire. The sticker on the fender of the LLV says to inflate to 50 psi. I don't know where they get them, but they go through a bunch. Since the government is buying them, I am sure that they are paying top dollar.

[gudmund]

I again will be buying the "car" tires to replace the "stiff-sided" trailer tires on my present teardrop when they need replacing - used them before on my last teardrop and per the load requirements along with the size needed (205-75R x 14), they worked just fine! And YES, they even 'ride' wise, they ride "GREAT"!! The trailer weight total is right at 1500 total and this tire is load rated at 1420 lbs 'each' at 35 psi - About $55 each at W-M - Douglas brand (made in USA by Goodyear for W-M) Same tire I have been using on my Geo Metro/Suzuki Swift's for the last 10/15++years (my 'main' daily driver since 87' - 'driver' #7 now = 25/30 thou miles per year) getting at least 50 thou miles out of each tire and have held up just fine. (PS - there is -NO- 'off-roading' being done here!! tow-vehicle is a "slightly lowered" 2-wheel drive PU truck = drive on 'pavement' only - for me!!! )

[working on it]

I deliver for the USPS. My mail truck (LLV) uses a 195/75r14 Goodyear Wrangler 6 ply tire. The sticker on the fender of the LLV says to inflate to 50 psi. I don't know where they get them, but they go through a bunch. Since the government is buying them, I am sure that they are paying top dollar.

All Goodyear tires are priced way up there, compared to most other brands, anyway. I looked up the tire you mentioned, and it is listed as an all-terrain LT tire, for between $225 and $285. I think that my General Grabber AT2 tires (two bought from Amazon for $106, and the spare from Tire Rack for $112-at that time-) will probably serve me well in their limited-use role, just as well as the Goodyears.