Hi My 12K 5th wheel is going to need new tires soon. They have low miles but are now 9 years old and I do not want to take any chances on my next long trip. The old ones are Goodyear wrangler E rated 10 plies. I was wondering if anyone out there knows of any other brand that may be as good or better. I can get wranglers but they cost alot more than the BFG comercial TA that I have on the truck.
Thanks.

The Commercial's would be more than adequate for your trailer. I use the Commercial's on my tow trucks (F450's) and they work great. Never had a failure on any of them, not a one in over seven years of using them! Only time we need new ones is when a driver curbs them hard or they wear out.

You can find cheaper ones out there than the BFG's that are 10 Ply, and they would likely serve your purpose just fine. I just bought new tires, a brand called Treva and thus far they are holding pretty well. I only have a few hundred miles on them so I will report on them after 10K.

Tony

what is the tire size? i'm having good luck with titan II E rated tires. my trailer uses 15" wheels, so E's are hard to come by. the marathons / carlyle's seem to have lots of problems, and the place i got my titan's from says they are the only trailer tire worth buying. as they deal mostly in heavy equipment, i'll take their word for it. you can find sizes / dealers here:

http://www.titanstore.com/search/56/3000

http://www.titan-intl.com/content/dealer-locator

ahm

I just bought a set of Maxxis will let you know after the trip.On RV net the guys talk about some Michelin tire but they really sound expensive.I have had expensive tires blow-out as well.
Problem where I am at the heat really does them in.I bought a set of tire pressure/heat monitors I am waiting for them to arrive.That way can watch them a bit closer and hopefully prevent damage or complete tire failure due to road hazards.

I'm going to all 14ply on my trailer. Tired of blowing 10ply tires :mad:.

what is the tire size? i'm having good luck with titan II E rated tires. my trailer uses 15" wheels, so E's are hard to come by. the marathons / carlyle's seem to have lots of problems, and the place i got my titan's from says they are the only trailer tire worth buying. as they deal mostly in heavy equipment, i'll take their word for it. you can find sizes / dealers here:

http://www.titanstore.com/search/56/3000

http://www.titan-intl.com/content/dealer-locator

ahm

I have had two blow-outs with this brand above(e-rated).They were hard to find in my area.Had to order them from Vegas,then when I tried to get the warranty coverage(from the blowout) I finally gave up, it wasn't worth the hassle.
But like said all tires will have problems.I just had a bad experience with these guys and it rubbed me the wrong way,so I am one of those guys who will never go back.

Maxxis,and you do want to stay with an STtrailer tire.

I have had two blow-outs with this brand above(e-rated).They were hard to find in my area.Had to order them from Vegas,then when I tried to get the warranty coverage(from the blowout) I finally gave up, it wasn't worth the hassle.
But like said all tires will have problems.I just had a bad experience with these guys and it rubbed me the wrong way,so I am one of those guys who will never go back.

Fair enough. I've got about 20K miles on mine with no issues, but one person's experience does not mean a whole lot.

That being said, I'm convinced the Marathons are junk. When I bought this trailer it had them on it, and two had golf-ball size bulges and another was showing the beginnings of tread separation. I picked it up and went straight to the Titan dealer. At least I've got a dealer pretty close - that would make a big difference for me.

ahm

Far and away the best tires you can get for a trailer are the Michelin XPS and the Goodyear G rated 614 RST trailer tires are even better- both require a 16" wheel. The Michelin will work on a wheel rated for 80 psi and the Goodyears require a 110 psi wheel.

ST tires are junk and I would avoid them at all cost.

A 12k fifth wheel is not that heavy especially since the truck is carrying a significant portion of the load. But get the best tire you can afford for safety and convenience.

Far and away the best tires you can get for a trailer are the Michelin XPS and the Goodyear G rated 614 RST trailer tires are even better- both require a 16" wheel. The Michelin will work on a wheel rated for 80 psi and the Goodyears require a 110 psi wheel.

ST tires are junk and I would avoid them at all cost.

A 12k fifth wheel is not that heavy especially since the truck is carrying a significant portion of the load. But get the best tire you can afford for safety and convenience.


I agree with you on the XPS Michelins. I've used them a lot to tow skidloaders and equipment and they serve the purpose well. Also used to use them on my tow vehicles. Will go back to them when my OE tires wear out.

If you go to the RV forums and search for "China Bombs" you will find more info than you can read in a month. Stay away from trailer tires made in China. I bought my fifth wheel last Sept 21. Within 800 miles, 3 out of the 4 tires developed bubbles in the sidewalls. They were Goldways, a chinese made tire. I stopped at a tire store in Dodge City, KS and bought 4 new tires. They were Chinese tires also. I told the dealer that I wasn't very comfy putting chinese tires back on my trailer. He told me that he put hundreds of tires on the trailers around there without a problem. Mostly stock trailers carrying more weight than I do. So I put them on. Less than 1200 miles later, a blowout, causing $2400 worth of damage to my trailer. The next day, another tire blew, luckily, no damage. Went right out and bought Goodyear G614s. Paid a good penny for them, but haven't had a problem. Should have done that in the first place. Over $2000 in tires and $2400 worth of damage, all since Sept '07. My advice is to stay away from any trailer tire made in China. If you need an "E" rated tire, go with the XPS Michelins, if you need a "G" rated tire, the Goodyear G614s are the only way to go. I know many many people that have had problems with the Chinese tires. I only know of 2 people that have had problems with the Goodyears and in both cases Goodyear stepped up and covered the tires and any damage to their rigs. I have not heard of anyone having trouble with the Michelins. If Michelin made a "G" rated tire, I would have them in a heartbeat, but they don't, so I went with the Goodyears. I am still hasseling with the distributer of the China Bombs that blew up on me, for compesation, will probably lose the battle. Lawyer would cost me more than it's worth, and they know that.
Fred

Fred I think a lawyer could just write the company a letter for you on his stationary and it should not cost much. That will get their attention and you could be reimbursed your expenses. At the very least they will know you mean business.
Another idea would be contact your insurance company and have them write a letter also. Give the lawyer and the insurance company your best rough draft of what you want them to say along with copies of receipts.
I had to do exacty that a number of years ago and had enough $ left over to get
another set of the tires of my choice besides all repairs covered. Good luck!

I think I will go with the TA's. I heard they are made by Michelin. It is hard to take off perfect looking set of tires though. I do not want to gamble with a blow out on a long trip though.
Maybe somebody would want the old tires, lots of tread left and sidewalls look perfect. Maybe put them on a half ton truck that can burn up the miles they have left.
Thanks for the replies.

Several years ago, I replaced the Goodyear ST Marathons on my 5th Wheel with the Michelin XPS Rib commercial tires. They have worked great so far.

Several years ago, I replaced the Goodyear ST Marathons on my 5th Wheel with the Michelin XPS Rib commercial tires. They have worked great so far.

They are a great tire. If they made them in a "G" rating I would have them, on my fifth wheel, in a heartbeat.
Fred

Rogeled, you are really pushing your luck on the present Goodyears (which I generally like and owned). I installed the Michelin XPS Rib Traction due to the anti-chunking compound in them for the rocky Forest Service roads we frequent. The Michelin XPS is a steel belt read and steel sidewall as well. I replaced my Goodyear 10 ply Wranglers (not steel sidewall) though they looked perfect. Turns out that after 21K and 6 years, they had serious cracks between perfectly good looking tread — visible once you had them off. I searched and researched before settling on the Michelins. BTW, the Goodyear Marathons are 65 mph limited.

I put on four Denman tires on our 34' TT and they have worked great. I have read a lot of good things about them. I went from D load Carlisle crap tires to E load Denmans.

I hear st tires are rated 55 mph max. I read till my eyes bled and still dont know what type or size to replace my 205/75R15 (1820lb. C range) 7 yr old Carlyle's with 2500 miles that look fine. My 30 ft fifth Rockwood only weighs 8k loaded. Thinking bout 225's D range if they will fit the rims. Any thoughts?

It's not the miles but the age and sitting unused. Check Michelin XPS is they are in that size.

I run carlyes on 4 trailers. We have blow out but its our fault from curbbing them or hitting them with a machine loading the trailers. My only concern is my back tires on the trailer are wearing super fast.

I have about 40K on Firestone 10 ply Steeltex with no problems on my 13,000 5er.

I am an older RVer and I am presently towing my 5th trailer which is a 5th wheel weighing about 14 K. With about 110,000 miles on this one I have experienced 8 catastrophic, premature tire failures with Goodyear Wranglers in size 235 85 16E. The tread and the steel belt separates from the casing anytime after 20K often with 80% of the original tread remaining, some still holding air. Believe me they were never overloaded nor were they overheated or run with low pressure. I will say that Goodyear compensated me for these premature failures and the damage they caused to my trailer. But I just hate dealing with tire failures. They just ruin the day! During this period I successfully wore out a set of Generals, a set of Bridgestones, and a set of Michelins on my tow trucks (2 Cheveys ) The last set of Michelins on my truck went over 93,000 miles with no problems. Needless to say I am running michelin LTX A/S on both my truck and trailer now. On my previous trailers I had poor results with Goodyear Marathons, good rusults with Uniroyals and fair results with Firestones.