Westlake tires

[J&HinMT]

Originally Posted by Pirate

I believe I have read, or heard, that some are moving to Light Truck tires that are rated for the load, but higher rated speed for their RV.

I am going to do that this Winter and get rid of the Westlake tires that are not wearing well.

Fortunately we have a son-in-law that is a Store Manager for Discount Tire and we'll rely on him for LT tire recommendation...and of course pricing.

Thoughts on this proposed move?

Thanks,

Pirate

I have wondered about this myself. I do a lot of towing on gravel road and I've never seen a trailer tire with a decent "all terrain" type tread patter that is rugged enough to really hold up well on nasty rutted up, rocky dirt roads.

I would love to put some Toyo M55s or Firestone Steeltex A/Ts on our 5er.
The extra speed rating would be nice too.....(here comes the comments from the peanut gallery on speeding) Just raised our interstate speed limits to 80mph here in MT. Would be nice to run the hammer lane without worrying about tires.

[Redtail cruiser]

Here is some info to corroborate your thinking,

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...jsp?techid=219

[Soccerloco]

Have Carlisle F rated tires rated for 75 mph.

[russ]

Pirate: I agree with your thoughts. I replaced mine with Michelin Truck tires that are load and speed rated. I don't ever want to go through that again.
My 2 tires just evaporated and caused so much damage it was unreal.

[Pirate]

russ,

Help me out, you mean the Michelin Truck tires evaporated and did a lot of damage to your RV? Or the original trailer tires evaporated?

Thanks,

Pirate

[russ]

The original Westlake tires evaporated

[russ]

Pirate: I started this thread as my factory Westlake tires did a meltdown with only a few miles on them and did almost 8 grand damage to my new RV

[hddecker]

Originally Posted by russ

Pirate: I started this thread as my factory Westlake tires did a meltdown with only a few miles on them and did almost 8 grand damage to my new RV

Russ,

Unless your dealer put new tires on your camper once it arrived in AB, the Westlake tires had a bunch more than a few miles on them.

I will absolutely guaranty that most of the way from the factory to AB your trailer travelled over 65MPH speed rating for ST tires.

I met a couple of "RV" delivery drivers at a gas stop. They were telling me that I should get into the business, the faster you get the camper delivered and turn yourself around back to Indiana the bigger the pay check.

As far as checking tires at gas stops, they don't do it. Were the tires inflated to the proper pressure? Most likley not.

The only legitimate reason that you could want to go to LT tires is to be able to tow at 75-80 MPH. Not for me 65MPH is plenty fast to be travelling with old technology for brakes, that are marginal at best. Even after upgrading to disk brakes on our trailer, I still don't travel over 65. But I still have faith in my Made in China, Gladiator ST tires. Even my bent axles couldn't wear the the Gladiators to the same degree that the stock Towmax tires that came on our rig.

Of course I'm comparing apples and oranges. The OEM tires were marginal, the Gladiators were one aspect ratio and two load ratings higher.

Said it before I'll say it again, if your going to be towing at 75-80MPH, let me know I'll stay home that day.

[russ]

HD: You could be quite correct. I have no idea if my trailer was towed from the factory to the dealer or put on a flat bed.
But I am afraid you are quite wrong that the only reason I went to the LT is to tow at 75MPH. I am never over 100 KLM or 60MPH. I went to the LT as I figured they were more heavy duty than what I had on there.
I am very skittish now about tires after what happened.


Regards

Russ

[lcv800]

I'm thinking I would like to go LT for a couple of reasons; easier to find a replacement down the road and maybe more heavy duty than ST, however I keep hearing about sidewall flex being greater in LT than ST, which concerns me. Not only going down the road, but also when backing in that triple axle it sometimes looks like the tire will pop off the rim. Sure would like a definitive answer on what is best. For what it's worth, I'm a 63 mph guy pulling 21,000 pounds as well. At the end of the day, what are you saving, an hour's worth of driving time. Not worth it as far as I'm concerned.
Rusty

[RVNevada]

I'm one of the lucky ones, I have about 20,000 miles on my Westlakes, I do check the tires after every move, and I do have the Tire Monitor on all 6 tires, I don't drive over 65mph, After this winter, I will be replacing the tires, as they are showing wear, and I don't like how they look when backing, or turning....I plan I getting Carlisle or Gladiators?

[Soccerloco]

Rich I used gladiators on my last toy hauler and the reason being is les schwabb carried them and they have presence most places we travel. Good thing. Never had to buy another gladiator at full price every tire eventually separated blew out etc. they looked good but more problems then I could have imagined.

[RVNevada]

Thanks Bill, How many miles on the Carlisle….

[Soccerloco]

Have at least 6,000 miles so far so good. Just going rotate. The tires are a bit taller which helped since my truck won't squat. Also the F rated has 75mph rating. Maybe 70 on an interstate for me!!

[RVNevada]

Bill, thanks again, forgot to ask, what size did you get and I know you got them close to me

[Soccerloco]

St 235 85 16 F. Interesting they say when they rotate they X the tires. Yay my chains will still work

[donzinger]

Originally Posted by lcv800

I keep hearing about sidewall flex being greater in LT than ST, which concerns me. Not only going down the road, but also when backing in that triple axle it sometimes looks like the tire will pop off the rim.
Rusty

Another reason I love my Continentals - zero flex even when backing into my driveway at nearly 90 degrees...

[lcv800]

Donzinger, I know 17.5 Continentals, but what exactly do you have? Thinking that's the way I'll go.
Rusty

[donzinger]

Those. I wasn't to day model A2T? I'll have to go look

[lcv800]

Take your time. Going to replace them when we get to Florida next week or so.
Rusty