Tires - I'm confused

I had a blowout on my wildcat. It's actually my 3rd in the last few years. I'm wondering if maybe i need a better tire?

They have towmax LT22575R15 8PR tires on them. That's what I replaced them with when they blew before.

Someone told me I should get a 10 ply tire but when I read about them it said I need a wheel rated for that pressure (80psi?). I looked on the wheels but I don't see any kind of marking on them. I know they're white and they came with the trailer originally. It's a 2k7 32QBBS, the old style cap.

I called around for some 225R15's and a guy said he had 10 ply tires. I wanted to make sure I can use them.

Carlisle for $117 mounted (ea). Nationals for $99 mounted (ea). He said there wasn't much difference, just brand name.


Does anyone have any advice or info on what I should get?

I can tell you the Carlisles were disaster for our trailer. We now have Maxxis and haven't had any problems so far. We've also purchased and installed (simple installation) tire sensors for all 4 tires on the truck and all 4 tires on the trailer. These should give us a warning that a tire pressure has dropped, and hopefully we'll get off the highway before it blows.

A couple of our original wheels had tiny cracks that might have caused some of our tire problems. We replaced them with aluminum wheels. I know they are size 15, but don't know any details about the tires.... what rating. Scruffy isn't in the house right now, so I can't ask him.

Tater

Tater, my truck has tire sensors but I'd like to have them on my Cat. What brand did you purchase? Any info would be much appreciated.

love4God,

Make sure your wheels are rated for the higher psi. The wheels that came on your Cat with 15s are rated for Ds, not Es.

You can't go wrong with Maxxis 225 75R15 Es. Gonna be closer to the Carlisle price quoted, and the cast aluminum wheels will set you back as much as the tires.

4 tires plus spare with metal valve stems: Maxxis 225 75R15E + cast aluminum wheels (e rated) = approx $1250.00

After you have them though, you won't regret the investment!

TC

love4god - I have the same white wheels, and I installed the Maxxis 225 75R15 E, and man my life has been stress free. After months of research on tires, I'll have to say that majority favors Maxxis. I have 2,150 miles on them now and they still look pretty new. As far as finding a psi rating on the wheel, I never did find anything. Since several people had already tested the water, I went ahead and went for it. Many of the local tire dealerships stated that it was not an issue, but who knows for sure. I don't want to mislead you, just wanted you to know that I have the "E-rated tires", and I will replace them with the same. If you do not see the psi rating for the wheels in writing, basically you are just listening to opinions, IMO. We like your username, welcome to the forum.

The rims that my Cat came with are rated at 2,600 lbs and 75 psi, they are Dexstar 15x6JJ with a 6-5.50 bolt pattern and zero offset. I put Denman Express ST radials (load range E) on those rims and only inflate my tires to 70 psi. At 70 psi, the tires are rated @ 2,620 lbs v the 2,830 lbs they are rated for at 80 psi. I've had them since November of 2008 and have put about 7,500 miles on them.

BobnPi wrote:Tater, my truck has tire sensors but I'd like to have them on my Cat. What brand did you purchase? Any info would be much appreciated.

We have TST (Truck System Technoligies) http://www.tsttruck.com/Home_Page.html . The unit will monitor up to 34 tires. We got the set that had 8 sensors. Additional sensors can be purchased in sets of two. You set the individual limits, and the unit will show the pressure and temp of each tire, rotating through them all usually in a specified order. I think if there is a change in one, the unit will go back to show the change... that happens mostly when we first start up and the tires are warming up.

The batteries last a long time (years), but when they run down, they have to be sent back to the manufacturer for replacement. And, the batteries will last longer if you take them off when you aren't using them (when the trailer is in storage, for example). I think Scruffy will even take them off if we are going to be in a campground for a week or so.

Having them has given us some peace-of-mind.... but we are always aware that something could happen in just a moment. Hopefully, it will be a long enough moment for us to be warned.

Tater

My first question would be: how fast do you run? I have never blown a tire in 7yr and 65K miles, but I also keep them inflated to the recommended 65lbs and keep under 65mph. I have seen numerous FW's pass us going 75-80 mph and soon or later I see them at the side of the road with a blown tire.

You know, I was driving probably 70mph and it was during that super heat wave a few weeks back that I had my last blowout. I told my wife that 65mph is going to be our new RV max speed.

I like the sound of putting E rated tires on, I'm just unsure of my wheel rating and I just don't have the money to upgrade all the wheels right now. I'm actually looking to just replace 2 (fronts) of the 4 right now (matching the axles) since my other two (rears) don't have many miles on them since they were replace after my last blowout last summer. Maybe i'll get the E's and just keep the pressure at around 70 instead of 80.

I found a sticker on my wheels. They say

DEXSTAR
017-233
15x6JJ

I called Dexstar and they said those wheels are rated for
2830lbs at 80psi
They'll work great for E rated (10 ply) tires.

The only place nearby where I can get Maxxis tires has 2 ($146/ea mounted) but they'll take a few days to get here from the warhouse.

I was trying to get tires on tomorrow in case I need to get out of dodge. Irene is looking worse and worse and I live in Central NJ. We may want to get out of dodge and I am short a tire.

My other choices are...

National Brand $99/ea
Carlisle $119/ea
Interco $119/ea but these take 3 days and would be too late.

I have heard lots of bad stories about Carlisles. Anyone have Nationals?

I would wait for the Maxxis out of the options you are looking at. You could put the National on a rim and have it as a spare if you need it so that you can head out of town. If you are only planning on a couple hundred miles, you can always just use your spare.

TC - ST or LT tires.

75 my max speed but we are going downhill. Try to keep her at 60 or 65. The old Ford runs better.

Portagie1968 wrote:TC - ST or LT tires.

ST on the Maxxis

TC

Thank you.

Thanks for the info Tater.