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RV Tire Issues


JimK

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19 hours ago, accumack said:

People who advocate and drive overweight vehicles make me angry. I have a class A diesel pusher and drive conservatively. Last year we were on I-40 in New Mexico and an overload vehicle passes me and about 100 feet past me he lost a rear tire. he came across my lane about 25 feet in front of me sideways. Because I leave space around me and try to keep the space along side me clear I was able to safely switch lanes and barely miss him as he went off the side of the road. Because he decided to or had no clue he was overweight he endangered everyone that was on the road near him. Please get a properly sized vehicle so innocent people around you are not endangered.

Sounds like an issue of driver skill here, like going too fast!! I would rather have a skilled driver in a loaded vehicle on the road than a unsafe driver in the safest vehicle made (driving teenager on phone!!). At least it appears you had the skill to avoid the accident which makes you a good driver. :) How do you know the vehicle was overweight? Losing a tire could just be loose lug nuts.

Greg

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10 hours ago, Big5er said:

I just read JimK's locked thread. I don't think I want to participate in his thread. I think he knows exactly what he wants to know and this thread is less about tires than it is about stirring the pot.

See ya

Biggest waste of 1s and 0s in this thread.

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I changed to new take off Firestone 18" from a dealer to get 700 - 800 lbs/tire of capacity margin on a won ton that is often sitting right at 6000lbs on the rear axle. 

If you want to keep your rims look at the load ratings on Nitto Dura Grappler 285 tires in the 17" rim sizes for a bit of capacity margin. 

 

"Are we there yet?" asked no motorcycle rider, ever. 

 

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Noteven, Unfortunately I just checked the Nitto webpage.  I am not sure if it would fit my rims but the load rating for that tire is the same as what I have: 3195 pounds.  This limitation makes no sense to me.  For 16 inch rims there are a lot of choices and available tires with higher load ratings.

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On 6/13/2017 at 6:20 PM, JimK said:

The GVWR comes from the manufacturer.  Of course, I cannot change it.  Nor would I want to.  I just want  to know if it is safe and reasonable to run tires at the tire manufacturer's load rating.

Which manufacturer's load rating? The vehicle manufacturer's load rating is on the tire label, it's called recommended cold inflation pressure. It's always the correct inflation pressure unless otherwise stated in the vehicle owner's manual. The tire manufacturer's load rating is the amount of inflation pressure needed for the tire to provide it's maximum load capacity. That inflation pressure is depicted on the tire's sidewall and when used is not considered to be over inflating the tire.

If you're asking about going over safe limits you're probably not going to get much advice about beating the odds. 

38' fiver - Dodge Dually

AKA: FastEagle

USN Retired - DOD Retired - SSA Retired

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7 hours ago, TireHobby said:

If you're asking about going over safe limits you're probably not going to get much advice about beating the odds. 

This is a very good way of putting it. What it really comes down to is the degree of risk that a vehicle owner is willing to take. There is no clear line of conditions under which you will always be safe while over that point you will have tire failure. No two tires are exactly the same and the ratings are the point at which the company stops standing behind them. Every time anyone takes a vehicle on the road he accepts some degree of risk and the point of load/inflation tables is to keep that risk as low as possible, as are the weight ratings of the axles and the GVWR. Some operators run over weight for years with no mishaps while others experience disaster. 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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19 hours ago, JimK said:

Noteven, Unfortunately I just checked the Nitto webpage.  I am not sure if it would fit my rims but the load rating for that tire is the same as what I have: 3195 pounds.  This limitation makes no sense to me.  For 16 inch rims there are a lot of choices and available tires with higher load ratings.

Hi JimK - see if this link works - there are 2 - 17" rim sizes with capacity up to 3970lbs Nitto Dura Grappler link

These are not off highway type tires - they are designed mainly for on road hauling and towing trucks as I understand. 

Yes the lack of decent capacity tire choices in 17" rim sizes is one of The Great Mysteries of the pickup truck world... 

LT285/70R17 E 126R 205070 16.9 32.79 11.49 7.5-(8.5)-9.0  3750 @ 80  55.27
LT285/75R17 E 128R 205370 16.9 33.86 11.61 7.5-(8.0)-9.5  3970 @ 80  67.23

"Are we there yet?" asked no motorcycle rider, ever. 

 

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I went to a Firestone dealer to have a TPMS sensor replaced.  I went over my tire concerns with the manager.  He did not seem especially concerned.  Basically he stated LT tires are designed to carry the full rated load for the life of the tire.  He also thought that an upgrade to 19.5 rims and tires would be an overly expensive and an unnecessary upgrade.  I was surprised at those of these comments.  Then he stated that if I really wanted to upgrade to 19.5, he would recommend lower cost, non-Firestone tires. 

I think I will keep with what I have for the next year or so, especially since all of my tires are low mileage and relatively new.  Later I might order Rickson rims and have the Firestone dealer install the TPMS sensors and suitable relatively low cost tires.  The reason for the low cost tires is my low mileage and need to replace tires in the future mainly due to age.  He did recommend replacing any tire more than 5 years old.

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So you are doing nothing about the real problem of being over GVWR! 

2011 Berkshire 390-rb-40, upgraded tires and front axle airbags, 2012 Jeep Wrangler 2 door, Blue Ox baseplate and BlueOx aladdin tow bar, Blue Ox Patriot brake system, wiring run through right frame rail and homemade led taillight bar.

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What problem?  I have upgraded the springs on my 2500 so it is equivalent to the springs on a 3500.  The brakes, steering, engine, body components and everything else except the wheels and tires are identical between the two models.  The 3500 is rated a GVWR of 12,200 pounds.  My camper is much less than that.  In addition, I bought the camper before the truck.  I had the recommendations of a truck camper dealer before buying the truck.  And that dealer set up the truck and did the modifications after I bought the truck.  I also reviewed the weight and load specs with the Dodge dealer before buying the truck.  On top of that I have had 7 years and 75K miles of experience driving this rig on the highways, on gravel roads, in the mud and even some snow.  I have no complaints or concerns about the handling, braking, or other aspects of performance. 

I fail to understand why this is difficult to understand.  Nor do I understand why some individuals want to ignore questions related to tires and focus on GVWR.  I have heard people on forums talk about the "weight police".  I have just never seen it before this unfortunate experience.   

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23 hours ago, JimK said:

I fail to understand why this is difficult to understand.  Nor do I understand why some individuals want to ignore questions related to tires and focus on GVWR.  I have heard people on forums talk about the "weight police".  I have just never seen it before this unfortunate experience.   

Your truck was manufactured to accommodate the specifications found in the vehicle owner’s manual and on the federal certification label. 

Upgrading specs to that of another truck is not authorized without certification. So, you’re overloaded and worrying about tire overloading. You can’t have it both ways. Sooner or later those overloaded tires are going to fail. If you’re not willing to conform to the specs of your current truck than bite the bullet and get some tire & wheel assemblies that will support your overloaded conditions and try to stay under your truck‘s GAWR limits.

38' fiver - Dodge Dually

AKA: FastEagle

USN Retired - DOD Retired - SSA Retired

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TireHobby, you seem to have  your own agenda  and nothing to offer in the way of facts or information.

I said I had my tires at 100 percent of load capacity.  I should have an exact weight in a few days and expect to be under by a couple hundred pounds for each of the rear tires and of course way under on the front tires.   So, despite your agenda, not overloaded.

What I have learned by asking questions elsewhere, is that LT tires but not passenger tires, are designed to operate at the rated load capacity for the life of the tire.  Since my current tires are new, I will probably run them another year or so which is likely to be less than 15K miles.  I have found a relatively inexpensive option for upgrading so I will probably go that route afterwards. 

 

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I will be happy to share.

Currently my tire expenses are pretty high.  Because I am close to max load, I have been buying top of the line Michelin tires.  I also replace them at about 5 years, or with any even minor signs of damage or excessive wear.

If I go to 19.5 inch rims and tires, the local Firestone dealer recommended lower priced tires.  He can get Kelly, Dunlop or the like for about $200 each instead of closer to $300 for the 17 inch Michelins.  That will mean going forward I will save considerably on replacements.  In addition it is likely that I would replace them a bit less often due to the higher load ratings and stronger construction.

I would still plan on getting wheels from Rickson.  Rickson makes high quality steel wheels at only slightly higher prices than the Chinese cast aluminum wheels.  In addition the Chinese rims do not have the correct offset and will stick out 1.7 inches.  The Chinese wheels are too large to safely mount 225 tires.  I would need a minimum or 245 or larger.  That would throw off the speedometer, odometer, and slightly alter the A/T shift points.  The full quote I got from Rickson was really high at about $3500.  They were going to sell me top of the line tires at about $400 each.  In addition they charge close to $400 to balance a set of 4 tires.  The charges for TPMS sensors and shipping also seemed high.

None of this is cheap, but if I go with Rickson for wheels and Firestone for the rest, the final cost will be about $2500.     

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JimK - I ran Rickson & 19.5's and was not happy with them except when running fully loaded. Empty the truck ducked around following parallel ruts and cracks in the road surface. The assemblies are heavy and are unsprung weight which affected the handling, braking, acceleration, and fuel economy.

With 5000lbs of water in a tank in the box of the SRW they ride and handle great. 

I took the 14pr Goodyear off and mounted 4 Michelin XZE smoothie tires, 12pr and they were an improvement in ride and were better in snow and ice with the teeth in the grooves of the tread. 

The 18" new take off fabric carcass tires work well and give 3720lbs capacity. My tire door sticker advises 40psi in rear empty and the truck rides nice (for a won ton) at those pressures on our busted roads.

"Are we there yet?" asked no motorcycle rider, ever. 

 

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noteven, thanks for the followup.  I have read similar complaints which is another reason I was hesitant to upgrade.  I drive almost no miles without the camper, but I understand the tracking in ruts can be bad even with a load.  I have read reports that some tires seem to break in within a couple thousand miles and for others the problem persists.  I have no idea which brands are better or worse.  If I do go to 19.5, I plan on going to the smallest and lightest option; i.e., 225/70/19.5.

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