I agree with that if you’re doing cross country trips or very long trips (4+ hours) every year. But MOST don’t (at least the people I know and camp with). Most travel 1-2 hours (MAX) a few times a year.
My race trips were normally about that long with some stretching to 4-5 hours. I still had issues.
But I do agree with you that the casual camper is likely to have far less issues.
I think the bigger difference would be weight carried. My trailer was a 10K rated carrying 8300 on the tires. I was at about 80% of the load rating of the load range E tires I was using.
Most RV trailers don’t get that close. A double axle RV rated at 7500 lbs max is likely still sitting on load range D trailer tires carrying 55 to 65% of their rated load. Load range E tires, even better at less than 50%. Makes a big difference.
@CapriRacer helped me understand the science and marketing politics behind trailer tires. Very enlightening!
Although the toy-hauler category probably does. I’ve seen people stick minis in the backs of those things. You load a car, or 2 ATVs, or 6 motorcycles, plus clothes, food, and beer, plus a lot of people fill the fresh tank before leaving home for some reason, and you get heavy right quick-like.
The frightening thing about RVs is that most of them, generally with the exception of the bus-conversion class-A motor homes, are grossly overweight and their drivers don’t even know it. Even assuming they put the right load-range tires on it for the GVWR of the trailer, they might still be overloaded.
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That could very well be. Heaviest trailer I’ve ever owned was 3,000lbs. Never had an issue with tires. And I go camping a lot. Every once in a while I’ll take a long trip (5+ hours).
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And it is sooo easy to check! Public scales are everywhere!
Most of the early toy haulers I saw were 12K or 15K triple axle jobs towed by 5th wheels. Lately I have seen double axle trailers being pulled by 1/2 ton trucks or SUVs. Scary.
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[quote=“Mustangman, post:22, topic:178896”]
@CapriRacer helped me understand the science and marketing politics behind trailer tires. [/quote]
First, I’m going to talk about the tires on travel trailers and the like - NOT the tires on Semi trailers… DO NOT draw any conclusions about other types of tires based on what I write below.
And just so everyone understands, I am referring to ST tires. These are a uniquely US issue as no other place in the world has these types of tires. Those places use a different type of tire for trailers.
ST tires are based on a 65 mph speed restriction. As a result, they are rated to carry about 20% more load than comparable LT tires - which is why they were/are popular with so many trailer manufacturers. That was fine when they were first introduced back in the 1960’s.
There was a time where some trailer manufacturers severely under estimated how much load carrying capacity was needed in the tires they supplied. - that is, the tires SHOULD have had way more load carrying capacity. Keep in mind I said some, not all. In particular, they didn’t account for side to side and front to rear weight variation.
Further, they underestimated how much stuff people put in their trailers!.
To make matters even worse, trailer manufacturers and dealers didn’t inform their buyers that the tires were speed restricted to 65 mph.
And to make matters even more worse, there was no feedback system within the trailer manufacturers to deal with tire issues. The trailer manufacturers succeeded to ignoring the problem for a long time!
Second, the lessons learned from the Ford/Firestone situation back in 2000 didn’t progress rapidly to trailer tire manufacturers. Many trailer tire manufacturers were off shore - cough! China cough! - and they did NOT understand how the American market works - that is, the government regulations on tires aren’t good enough to assure that there aren’t issues with tires - and in particular, passing the government minimums was NOT adequate for good performance.
What is really odd about the US regulations on tires is that if a tire barely passes the minimum tests, the tire is NOT going to perform well enough to avoid a recall - even NOW!! - and that is true for EVERY type of tire, not just ST tires. And since ST tires are such a tiny part of the tire market, problems with tires on trailers took a long time to address.
But things have changed. Not only have trailer manufacturers stepped up and rethought their tire sizing, they’ve become aware that government regulators are watching!
Plus, the better tire manufacturers are not only making ST tires with higher speed ratings, they are incorporating the technology improvements developed due to the Ford/Firestone situation. It’s not that the problems have disappeared, but they are SOOOOO much better than they were.
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You’d probably know better than me - I vaguely recall another somewhat-scandal awhile back with low-speed tires being put on motor homes as well, and owners being unaware that going the speed limit was severely overspeeding the tires. That ring a bell with you?
Dad punctured his motor home tire. Had roadside replace it with spare. I looked at rear mounted spare a few days later and there was a piece of metal poking out as big as my thumb. He said tech did not mention it. Guess he was in a hurry.
CR just ran a big article on them:
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There is more to the story than the news media is reporting - including Consumer Reports.
First, the tires in question were NOT supplied by Goodyear to the RV manufacturers. Those RV manufacturers bought bare chassis’s from the chassis manufacturer and put a box on the back. The problem was that those chassis’s are usually used for local delivery trucks, so the chassis manufacturer builds them with appropriate tires for local delivery. The RV manufacturer should have changed out those tires BEFORE delivering the RV to the RV dealer. Goodyear didn’t know about those chassis’s.
In other words, the RV manufacturer was the one at fault! The appropriate party to do a recall would have been the RV manufacturer - who are notoriously bad about such things.
Second, the tires in question were out of production for over 10 years when this came to people’s attention. They should have been off those RV’s by then.
Yes, they were inappropriate for RV service. But since there would have been quite a few RV manufacturers to sue, it was easier to sue the tire manufacturer and gloss over the legal problems with that.
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By default I hold the end manufacturer accountable for problems with their product. It’s their job as the assembler to make sure the stuff they assemble works and isn’t a death trap. I never felt it was Goodyear’s fault, because Goodyear just makes the tire. The tire manufacturer has no control over what happens to the tire once it ships.
In that vein, I know LG screwed up with the manufacture of the Bolt’s batteries, but GM put the batteries in the car and is therefore responsible for fixing the problem. Which, to its credit, it’s doing. GM can then (and apparently is going to) go marching over to LG and hold them responsible for the flaw, but as far as the consumer is concerned, the buck stops with the end manufacturer.
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just my opinion but,
I think part of the problem is not enough product testing before its sent out the door. send it out and if there is a problem then its recalled. just about every vehicle lately has a recall. it seems penny wise, dollar foolish.
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Often a large manufacturer like Goodyear will be named in a suit because the have deep pockets, whether they had any real fault or not.
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