Blowout !

First topic message reminder :

I guess it was my turn for the blowout. I thought I did everything to help prevent a blowout. I always check the air pressure, as I did before leaving for Va. All tires at 70psi as indicated on the sidewall of my Duro tires. The valve stems have been replaced with high pressure stems and the tires were only four years old. Maybe I pickedup something on the road and the tire lost air and ran low before blowing. I really couldn't see the tire. It was the rear tire on the driver side that went. It also took out the fender but no damage other than that. I feel lucky. Guess I need to order a fender and get the CAT back in condition. I am going to replace these tires with 'E' rated tires. I bought an 'E' rated tire for a spare to get us home. Now I am looking for the best investment in new tires. I might wait until the winter is over and get fresh tires for the upcoming year. I would like to get something that is made in the USA. I just started chechink and so it looks like Goodyear is the only one made in the USA, but I am not sure they make a 225/75R 15 in an 'E'. I called one local dealer and he told me Goodyear doesn't make a Marathon that is 'E' rated. If anyone has any ideas please let me know. Thank you! Duke

jamesb wrote: Looks like Wildcat has been doing some thinking on tires. I'm glad to hear they are making the change to:
TIRES: ST225/75R15/E
RIMS: 15X6.0JJ
PRESSURE: 80 psi (550 kPa)
Wildcat Chris - Are these tires mounted on the standard white steel wheels or alluminum wheels?
Thank you for all your input in the forums.

All Wildcats come standard with 15" aluminum wheels. Some models and all Sterling Edition models are standard with 16" aluminum wheels.

Duke wrote:It does look like Wildcat is thinking. I hope they read this forum. If they do and make the improvements they read about here they will have a very nice product to offer. I wonder if the new tire and rim setup is available for purchase from Forest River?? Nice they are looking at a product made in the USA or Canada..

You should be able to order the new tires and wheels through your local Wildcat or Forest River dealer.

THEHIWAYMAN (aka Tim) wrote:Interesting what WC Chris was saying about the nitrogen tires...

I understand the reasoning, molecular size and all that jazz but very few places have nitrogen fill station across the US. and I certainly dont...

I dont really think thats really a long term answer...just use an "E" rating radial and life will be good...

Our tires are shipped to us pre-filled with nitrogen. It's a nice feature straight from the factory and is an immediate benefit to our transport driver and dealers. You don't necessarily have to refill with pure nitrogen (remember, our air is 78% nitrogen) and many people don't. Follow this link for more information:
http://www.nitrofill.com/nitrogen-filled-tires-faqs.aspx

Thats all great info thanks for that WCC...

I read that info from Discount tire, sound like ST tires do have their place in the world. I just assumed that they were inferior to an LT.

Still like the extra ability of an E range though...gonna have to look for a good one in a 15" though before the next AZ run I'm not planning on new rims but maybe I should they just sound expsensive...and do I really need them. remember I'm not trying to UP the GVRW of my rig just dont like coming close to the MAX on "D's"

again good info....Thanks

Larger wheels and tires with an "E" rating (higher pressure) also reduce rolling resistance (think fuel mileage). My mileage in 2008 was 12.0 mpg in 2009 after adding 16 inch wheels and E tires it went to 12.6 mpg. The tire/wheel changes had to be part of the reason why, IMO.

That is why I was wondering why FR does not put 16 inch rims on all trailers. I got 18inch rims on my new car for the same reason.

The increase in mileage sounds reasonable. I think my 29RLBS would be more level. It isn't bad but it is alittle low in the rear. I believe the more level the trailer is the better everything is. The weight is more evenly distributed, I would think the ride would be better also, more even pulling rather than pulling against the slant of the higher front. 16" wheels sound good, don't know if I can scrape the money together for the change.. Sure would like to do that. I would have ordered the 16" rims when we bought our trailer if I knew what I do now..

Cool. I slant forward.

I was wondering how many of us have had blowouts with 15" load range 'D' tires? And if anyone has had a blowout using 15" load range 'E' tires. Also if anyone has had a blowout using 16" wheels and what load range tires they had at the time.. Would also help to know the model of the Wildcat..Just thought this would be nice to know.
I'll start: mine was: 29RLBS with three year old Duro 15" load range 'D' tires.
I started a new topic. After posting this I thought it might be better in a seperate topic.

THEHIWAYMAN (aka Tim) wrote:Good year makes a G614 RV tire....It has a "G" load rating thats huge! probably has a huge price to go along with it...

Oh that goodyear tire is only in a 16" BTW...

I put the G 614's on my Cameo after the factory Duro's kept letting me down with sidewall bubbles. They were ~ $230 a piece at Sam's but trust me when I say that tires are not a concern for me anymore. It is hard to find a compressor that will blow them up to 110#'s that I run them at (Cameo weighs in at 15K). The piece of mind is worth it to me.

When we purchased our unit I made 2 trips 1) from the dealer home 2) from home to the tire store. We bought Hercules and have not had any problems. We bought the size recommended on the trailer sticker.

JSK, what size and load range Hercules tire did you buy! Why did you go with Hercules tires? Do you have a reason for the Hercules tires? Thanks! I just finished installing my frnder that got wiped out. The job came out nice. The new fender does not have the Forest River logo in the middle but other than that it looks nice..

Duke - ST235/80R16-E (size on trailer sticker). The guy I buy all my tires from does mostly heavy duty tires for commercial industry and farmers. He recommended these. They are a little cheaper then Maxxis. We have only put about 1.5k miles on them and have done nothng more than check the air pressure before each trip. The Maxxis were on back order (several weeks) which is also why we went with these. Hope this helps some.