Just got back from our spring break trip to Lake Ouachita State Park in Arkansas.
About 1k miles pulling out 15.5k# 5er, and all I can say is, wow.

The big girl made the trip downright boring as she pulled our 5er with such ease. Averaged 10.4 mpg via the computer (didn't hand compute this time around).

Although I only had a few decent climbs and descents, but never had a want for more power. Absolutely effortless. Just used tow/haul mode, mostly just stayed in 6th and let TH mode handle the details.

The other family camping with us also had a 6.7 and he was pretty enthused with his truck's performance as well, pulling a 15k toy hauler. He got low 9s mpg, but runs 75 mph vs my 65 mph (worry over the OEM tires on my 5er has me limiting my speed).

Very pleased with this truck!

 

Sounds like a good trip as far as the Truck delivering what you expected when you made the purchase.

I assume you are running the ST tires that came on your 5th wheel?

 

65 mph is about all I would run on Arkansas roads.

 

Great report! My camper weighs in at 15.5 too. I keep hand calculating my fuel usage and keep checking the pump to see how much fuel I put back in it, and the truck is within 1/10 of an MPG and within 2/10 of a gallon when filling it up. I'm not sure we can call these "lie-o-meters" anymore!!!

 

awesome! Personally I wouldnt go over 65 with any tires on my fiver.Just me though,I error on the side of caution when it comes to speed and 14-15 k behind me.

 

Yeah, the stockers. TowMax or some such. Have about 1500 miles on them and am just looking for an excuse to ditch them for something better...

Might just do that before my next big trip.

 

A little off your original post:

I almost waited too long to get the lousy made in China tires off my 5th wheel. At a stop for fuel the wife noticed one tire was low. On further look, three more were starting to separate the tread from the tire carcass. The timing was VERY lucky. Only three days later a man pulled in next to us in the campground. He had several thousand dollars damage to the side of his 5th wheel caused by a tire separating or unraveling and by the time he got stopped the damage was done.

I replaced all four with Goodyears including the spare. Just hope to keep someone else from the same fate.

Jim

 

Good info, thanks for taking the time to post this. Sucks to drop decent $ on the 5er to have to deal with cheap rubber, but it is what it is I suppose.

Which GY did you go with? G614? That's one of the tires I'm looking at for sure...

 

I think all trailer tires are made in China. I tried to find one made in the USA and found out that Goodyear imports them out of China.

I found replacing the tires every 3 years helps.

 

A little more info:

I know some of the tire manufacturers are using overseas tire sources. When my tires all went bad, we were getting fuel on I40 in a small town in Oklahoma. The gas station owner suggested a tire store that would be closing at noon. And of course it was almost noon. He called the store, they stayed open and we bought $1200 worth of tires. I would have preferred ST tires, but not available for several days. I went with commercial "E" rated LT tires and they have been great. I was a little worried about the bias ply tires but there have been no issues. Even in the strong side winds across I40 to California. By the way, all these tires were stamped in sidewall USA as place of manufacture.

Sorry, all of that info is probably "BS" to most. I'm just hoping no one waits too long to get the lousy tires off their 5th wheels. I've seen the damage done to the sides of the trailer and it is pretty sad. I sure don't want to start a discussion on brand or type of tires!!!!!!!

Jim

 

Ditto on Donovan's post on the tires made in China!!!! Seriously thinking on going against ST's and finding a quality 10 or 14 ply rated LT and from one of the quality manufactures and rolling the dice.. Add damage money to the Chinese tires and they cost way more per mile than LTs.......Sonny

 

I replaced my ST tires with LT Goodyear G614s at about 1000 miles on the trailer. I just couldn't risk it. Yes they are expensive, but I look at it as preventative maintenance... I change them at the expiration of the manufacturer code on the tires. I won't go back to ST tires for my 5th wheel.

 

I upgraded out of the stock trailer tires to these Bridgestone Duravis R250. The Goodyear Marathons that were on there were craaaaaapppppppppy. The trailer is much more stable and I never have to fear when I go off road or over rocky surfaces.

 

I like the Duravis, but they aren't rated heavy enough for my trailer. I'm pretty much stuck with the G614 when the time comes. The China specials that came on it are rated 3750 lbs.

 

I don't think I'll ever understand the tire manufacturer's ratings. The Marathons I had on before were actually rated higher than the Bridgestones. One quick glance at the side-by-side photo and you can see they are not even in the same class. If you pick up the tires, the Duravis is twice the weight of the Marathon. My experience is simply that the Marathon cannot roll over good or bad surfaces as well. It also can't handle the occasional downhill high speed either. I also religiously check temps when I pull over and the Marathons were almost always just plain hot which is not the case with the Duravis. The ratings are fine and all, but I just don't get them.

And yes, my trailer regularly runs at 18,000 lbs so I need every pound of the 3,040 lb rating.