OK, fair enough, but I thought we were talking about Maxxis ST tires, not bicycle, motorcycle, ATV, car, or truck tires.

Then let's just say that the last six M8008's that I have bought in the last year were all made in Thailand.

YMMV.

Pop

 

It IS the law that country of manufacture be noted on the tire. It will prob be coded, but it's there.

 

Let's have something clear on this thread. There is no way to validate that any tire meets the load specification on its sidewall. There are no generally accepted and published test standards to validate the load range claims. After discussion with one manufacturer's rep (and I cannot name by request) it seems that even within the majors the ways in which the load ranges are claimed is more by design than by a manufacture and material specification. Put another way, if it has X plies it will earn the D stamp or Y earns the E. Whether or not the construction will ensure that those plies will hang together at the designed inflation in the local climate and road conditions is not tested to a standard.

However with that said the existence of the plaintiff's bar in the US combined with the US population propensity to test every limit until it breaks has caused the US tire supply for trucks to be tested because the consequences of failure have proven expensive. But no one has admitted to testing ST tires and most people trying to make a failure claim are rebuffed because they cannot prove to the manufacturers operating specification.

If there is one thing I have learned from 20 years of towing a trailer at max gross, is to assume that nothing performs at it's advertised maximum and build a 40 to 50 percent margin. If plane tires were built the way trailer versions have become, no one would fly. And of course they did not when planes were built that way back in the 20s.

 

So are you saying essentially, buy whatever tire you want to, knowing there is no way to determine quality, except from subjective reviews from others?
That price really can't be a determining factor in deciding quality?
That e-rated tires won't necessarily make you feel better than purchasing d-rated tires?
Just Flip a coin?
With Gov regulations, this is what we have?
There must be a better way.

 

Pretty much! I would not go so far as to say that if you put a load that would max out a C rated tire, you will find that as dependable as a D rated tire. There is a Tire industry association with standards sett for load codes, plies and construction. So a C is coded 110 with a max load of 2355 lbs and a D is coded 115 and a max load of 2680. So if you are sure that your truck is balanced left to right and the weights are similar, what is the max load you should trust your truck to carry continuously for how many miles? I am saying it's not those maximums. And when you get to Chinese built ST tires the number is very far from those maximums. I would go so far as to suggest that you should never carry the max load on ST tires and never more than 75% of those loads for any sustained distance. Especially in Summer on Northern and Eastern roads where maintenance is neglected.

 

vlamgat,

Since your posts on tires seem to have been somewhat "professorial" in tone, can you share with us your credentials for making the somewhat disparaging assessments of ST tires in general.

If you are an engineer for a tire company, you needn't name names, but give us kind of a reference for your statements.

We always welcome, and highly-regard, the professional points-of-views of our fellow forum participants.

Pop

 

I am not a tire engineer nor profess to be an expert. My experience comes from 20 years of retailing aircraft tires for all types from 747 s to experimentals. In my personal capacity I have been racing sports cars for 20 years and towing for 30. In the last 3 years alone I have had to purchase 20 trailer tires because of failures and 4 truck tires. As a result I have researched the issue with other tire retailers, other web sites and other race teams that have bigger and smaller rigs than ours. My annual tire bill runs to the high 5 figures so it's a big part of what we spend. So I do not need the hassle of worrying about my trailers. As a point of interest, we towed a secondary bumper pull on Goodyear Marathons from 2001 through 2005 on a set of ST US built tires with the same load and same car at the same speed and 65 psi inflation until a failure. The tires were not new in 2001 and had been abused by a previous owner. The many Chinese repli tires we installed after that including E rated tires failed successively in 5 to 7K miles.

Asking around has produced no answers. No one will admit to any testing program on trailer tires that prove to the Load Rating. Nor can anyone point to a test program for Load Ratings at all. It seems to be theoretical. But even if the belts and plies are strong and sufficient for the load, if the construction is flawed because of the vulcanization, I know form the flaws we have seen in aircraft tires that they cannot carry the designed load.

That's my perspective.

 

I noticed that back in June you said that you were using a PressurePro TPMS and you had just changed to Bridgestones on your truck and Michelin LTs on the trailer.

Do you still have all those tires intact? Are you still using the same truck and trailer combination, or did you get a 2014? If so, what tires are on that, and does it have a built-in TPMS?

Are you still using the PressurePro TPMS on all tires on the ground, or just on the trailer? Or at all?

What did the use of a TPMS disclose to you insofar as failures are concerned?

For what it's worth, aircraft tires are not DOT-rated, either. Isn't THAT weird?

( They are, however, TSO'd. )

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You are indeed correct, not DOT compliant but then their job is so different that the word "Transport" might be a pure coincidence .

And yes the small rig is now running the set up you describe but I also changed the vN wheels to 17.5 inch Alcoas and the tires G rated. I am running them at Bout 80% of the retriever side rear loading which is 200 lbs more than the passenger side. Fronts are at 45% of rated load but I did not want to carry 2 spares. Trailer sits higher on 16 inch LT Michelin Ribs and protrude slightly beyond the useless fenders attached to the trailers. But I am way more comfortable with this set up. The trailer set up has been tested by a number of Airstream users and has had consistently good reports on their forum.

One thing I do not have is good Winter traction both from a design, tread and compound perceptive. But then the race cars do not either. But if I get caught in a Spring storm crossing the country up North, I will have to park. But hey that's no different from blowing tires every 300 miles which happened on new Carlisles last year.

 

Still using the TPMS?

Pop

 

Sorry forgot that part of your question - and yes still using TPMS on all 8 wheels of the small rig (aftermarket) and OEM installed on the Freightliner and Featherlite rig.

Its never had to function on the big rig but on the small one it has sounded off twice. The first time was on the last run that had the Carlisle ST tires on the trailer. I was driving the van, in the center of a 5 lane highway approaching Oklahoma City from the North; it sounded off and I thought it might be a false alarm but pulled off the highway at the next exit (1/4 mile) and pulled into the first parking lot (another 1/4 mile) and stopped. When I went back to inspect the tire at first looked ok (inflated) but as I got closer I saw that the tread had separated from the sidewall ( not blown out) and part of the tread had split away and was lashing the exterior of the trailer. IOW I just made it. A tire change onto yet another new Carlisle and the journey was completed. It was the last time I used ST tires.

The second time was a warning on the driver side rear van tire after the LRGs were installed. I pulled over after a couple of miles (I was not towing) and I was checking the air pressure as I was driving, Dropped my speed to 45 mph. When I pulled into a gas station I discovered that the valve was leaking because of the way I had done the TPS install. I replaced the valve, reinflated, and restored the TPS. No problems since.