ExRocketScientist wrote: John -- Unless you have only 3" of clearance in your wheel wells, if you don't mind getting new wheels, you might consider the BFGCTA in LT225/75R16 Load range E. It is about 29.6" in diameter. Your current tires are about 28.3 inches. If you have about 3 and 3/4 inches of clearance now, these would probably work for you. You could get a tire and wheel package from trailertiresandwheels.com in Edon -- the shipping shouldn't be too bad for you since you are in the Columbus area.
I put that exact sized Commercial TA on our trailer last year, upgraded from 225/75R15 "Mission" tires, so far so good.
06 Dodge Ram 3500 Cummins 6 spd std with a few goodies.
ExRocketScientist wrote: John -- Unless you have only 3" of clearance in your wheel wells, if you don't mind getting new wheels, you might consider the BFGCTA in LT225/75R16 Load range E. It is about 29.6" in diameter. Your current tires are about 28.3 inches. If you have about 3 and 3/4 inches of clearance now, these would probably work for you. You could get a tire and wheel package from trailertiresandwheels.com in Edon -- the shipping shouldn't be too bad for you since you are in the Columbus area.
I don't see an LT225 on their web site.
2010 Eagle Super Lite 315RLDS
2009 GMC Sierra 2500HD 6.0L
1983 DW (love of my life)
2010 Pit Bull Terrier (Jake)
ExRocketScientist wrote: John -- Unless you have only 3" of clearance in your wheel wells, if you don't mind getting new wheels, you might consider the BFGCTA in LT225/75R16 Load range E. It is about 29.6" in diameter. Your current tires are about 28.3 inches. If you have about 3 and 3/4 inches of clearance now, these would probably work for you. You could get a tire and wheel package from trailertiresandwheels.com in Edon -- the shipping shouldn't be too bad for you since you are in the Columbus area.
I don't see an LT225 on their web site.
This is one of those things you have to call them about. A number of people have done it, and those folks usually put together a package for them that saves them a little bit of money, even though the tires are not listed on their website.
JBarca wrote: I had asked about tire cracks before and did not get a definitive answer on what is tolerable and what is not. Today when I had all 4 tires off and I looked real good at them.
Here is one from the right side. This is not the problem bulging tire in the reply above. I am starting to get fine side wall cracks and a few splits in the tread.
Here is the DOT date snisnip 2108
Some of the side wall cracks. They are real fine at this point but at the 4 year mark they are showing up.
The cracks seem to still be small
snip
close up
These tread "cracks" look to me more like cuts with some of the steel belts being exposed to water and rust.
When does one start getting concerned about these and start a change out? I was hoping for 5 years but don't know any more.
Any thoughts on when to start the change out process?
Thanks
John
Removed some of the pictures to save post space. The tread cuts would be the biggest concern so far as I believe the steel is starting to rust. I can see small areas of deposit around the cuts and what looks like a broken steel filament. This will just get bigger and you need to keep an eye on the tread area for any signs of distortion or non uniform curvature.
Tou might consider replaceing the two worst tires this year and the other two next year to spread the cost.
Roger,
Trying to catch up on the good comments and questions.
That zoomed in pic, I can see more in the pic then I can by human eye.... That slit is on a good tire of mine on the other side of the camper. The right rear position. It is not the tire that has the bulge which is left rear.
Some added background. The white dot needs more investigation on my end. It "might" be a stone chip or concrete dust from my driveway.
I will have to inspect further. Approx how deep under the surface are the steel belts that I would be looking for?
Another question. As you can see from all my pic’s, these tires have many "cuts" as Barry and you have noted. The "camper" goes camping. And CG's have a variety of surfaces. Some blacktop, some fine stone (~ 1/8" cinder almost) some have crushed stone (~3/8" stone) some have bigger stone, (~ 1/2" to 3/4" stone) and then there is my gravel/stone driveway... And there are 90 to 180 degree turns of a camper on a tandem axle setup on stones, concrete and black top. These are normal ways of life for a travel trailer. The new spread axle campers must really scrub in a turn so what ever is occurring on mine can be worse on theirs if this is an application problem.
I have never looked this close at a tire before…this is new learning for me. And I’m making an assumption here, the average RV’er does not look in this kind of detail at a tire either… My truck with LT tires on it goes in the same places as these ST tires. I will have to look to be sure however I do not believe they are as scared up as these. Is there a rubber durometer and or compound make up that is better in LT tires then in ST tires? I know, most likely a simple question for not a simple answer. I have 30 year old Goodyear tractor tires on my tractor that live in the dirt, pull large loads of torque churning in rocks and dirt and feel harder in rubber then theses trailer tires. I have more scares in a set of 4 year old TT tires then I do in my 30 year old tractor tires.
I am trying to learn what I did wrong , if anything to cause my tire bulge and now the potential of creating enough cuts in my TT tires that we are considering replacing them within 4 years of purchase. My tires came from a reputable company who built heavy equipment tires for a living and I had thought made a good quality tire. So in my mind this is either I am using them wrong, the application of the tires has issues or something else.
I am not a tire engineer but I know machinery and that is my living. As part of my job I troubleshoot failing machinery like you troubleshoot failing tires. I am very open minded and always looking at my own equipment for keeping problems at bay and the TT is my hobby. This instinct of mine may be what may have saved me from TT fender destruction and or worse an accident while towing as I look at the tires, hubs, hitch etc all the time to catch a breakdown before it happens.
It appears sooner then later I am going to need new tires. The money is always a factor but in my case I will pay more for the better product and heavier duty to avoid breakdowns. I have learned long ago that before I can fix a problem, I must understand root cause so I fix the right problem.
There is one thing I can add that may help the cause, I do on occasion (maybe 3 to 4 times a year) have to do a 180 turn in my driveway to turn around as the lawn is muck. We camp year round. The drive way is stone/gravel (round wash stone ~ 3/4” dia) and there is a portion of concrete. The tire that bulged was on the left front position of the camper for 2 years and when it failed it was on the left rear position of the camper for about 1.5 years of service. By nature of being able to see, I turn shaper left then I do right. While I have cuts on all 4 tires, does turning on a tandem axle set up create or aggravate this tire bulge?
Last night I put the spare on and the rest of the tires to get the camper off jack stands. I have my own tire machine (old, but it still works) and I can demount this bulged tire and look inside. And I will take pics. Is there anything I should look for specifically?
Before I buy anything new, I need more research into why my tire failed and what to buy to help not have the same problem then next time.
Thanks for all your help and everyone else.
John
John & Cindy
2005 Ford F350 Super Duty, 4x4; 6.8L V10 with 4.10
CC, SB, Lariat & FX4 package
21,000 GCWR, 11,000 GVWR
Ford Tow Command
1,700# Reese HP hitch & HP Dual Cam
2 1/2" Towbeast Receiver
2004 Sunline Solaris T310SR
(I wish we were camping!)
JBarca wrote: ......Before I buy anything new, I need more research into why my tire failed and what to buy to help not have the same problem then next time.........
To do that you'll need to take the tire off the vehicle and PAY a tire forensics specialist about $2K. That's the going price.
But if you are willing to accept educated guesses that are worth the price you paid - tire is too small (based on my analysis earlier)
JBarca wrote: ......Before I buy anything new, I need more research into why my tire failed and what to buy to help not have the same problem then next time.........
To do that you'll need to take the tire off the vehicle and PAY a tire forensics specialist about $2K. That's the going price.
But if you are willing to accept educated guesses that are worth the price you paid - tire is too small (based on my analysis earlier)
What do you think of replacing it with the LT225/75R16 LRE BFGCTA?
Before I buy anything new, I need more research into why my tire failed and what to buy to help not have the same problem then next time.
Here're a couple of links that I think very informative...much of the research has been conducted on over-the-road big trucks, but the principles/conditions described are often much the same as those encountered by any highway tires. No brand recommendations, of course. But diagnosing the cause ought to make the choice of new tires easier, especially if as it sometimes turns out the culprit is something other than the tire itself.
Before I buy anything new, I need more research into why my tire failed and what to buy to help not have the same problem then next time.
Here're a couple of links that I think very informative...much of the research has been conducted on over-the-road big trucks, but the principles/conditions described are often much the same as those encountered by any highway tires. No brand recommendations, of course. But diagnosing the cause ought to make the choice of new tires easier, especially if as it sometimes turns out the culprit is something other than the tire itself.
Sometimes these things get just too deep into mechanics and the simple answer is overlooked. Ask the vehicle manufacturer for approval. If they recommend using a smaller tire or one with less load capacity, get it in writing and find the tires.
Offline
.jpg)
