[quote author=Storm Trooper link=topic=764.msg6474#msg6474 date=1307015408]
S. Sanders,
Please remember that most ST trailer tires are only rated for a max 65 mph.
Some ST tires now have a max 60 mph.
There are too many instances of defective tires causing blowouts recently and there is no need to endanger your family and others around you by exceeding those maximum limits imposed by the construction of the trailer tires.
I've read and participated in several debates on this topic. I've also read lots of conflicting information about it from a variety of tire retailers and manufacturers. I even used to work in the tire industry, so I've had industry training. I don't buy the universal 65 mph max that you're claiming. There may be some ST tires that have max speeds of 65 mph but I wouldn't own them.
While I was working at a tire store and handling tire warranty claims, I learned that the vast majority of the "defective tires causing blowouts" are not defective tires at all. When you dismount and inspect the tire, you find a nail or something in the tread and an obvious wear ring on the inside and outside of the sidewall where the tire was driven for a significant distance with the sidewall folding over on the inside and touching the pavement on the outside of the tire. It doesn't take long for a perfectly constructed tire in this condition to blow out.
There's more to tires than fixed rules and too many people just don't understand enough about them. Many claim that you MUST run trailer tires at maximum pressure. This is NOT true. The pressure required depends on the load placed on the tire. The speed limitations are all about heat buildup caused by friction that results from deformation of the tire as it rotates. The deformation is related to the load on the tire and the air pressure inside the tire to support the load. If you don't have enough pressure to support the load, it will deform.
Most RV trailers are equipped with just enough tires and axles to carry the fully loaded weight of the trailer. This means that most trailer tires are running close to maximum load. In this situation, they will need maximum pressure and lower speeds. I'm towing a 650 pound (empty) trailer on tires that can handle 1,045 pounds each. Fully loaded, my camper can't possibly weigh more than 900 pounds, so I'm running at less than 50% of the tire capacity. I have very even and minimal tire wear, no heat buildup, or anything. I don't inflate them to the 80psi maximum pressure either because the tread will be convex instead of flat at that pressure. The closer you are to maximum tire load, the more pressure you need and the more you have to worry about speed, heat buildup, and tire failure.
I've personally towed three different lightweight campers many thousands of miles on interstates at speeds above 65mph. I have never had any problems of any kind with any of my trailer tires. If trailer tires really couldn't handle speeds above 65 or required maximum pressure regardless of load, I would have had problems by now.
Sorry about the rant, but don't accuse me of endangering my family and/or those around me when you don't have all of the facts.
[quote author=Tonyride link=topic=764.msg6475#msg6475 date=1307015889]
Glad to see we have another Quicksilver owner. As for me, I barely notice any change in MPG when I pull my PUP. The Livin Lite Quicksilver 8.1 has a dry weight of 865 lbs. so it's quite light. I averaged about 25 mpg pulling it up to Canada (500 miles each way) last August with the A/C on. Then a few months later we drove up without the PUP and we averaged just under 26 mpg with minimal A/C use.
I really like the 8.1 design. If we needed more room, that would be my next choice, but since there's just two of us the 6.0 is big enough.
You know, I was going to get the 6.0 because at the time there was just me and my wife also. Without going to a long story, we thought it was just going to be the two of us. Despite lots of researching and phone calls to dealers I couldn't find a 6.0 available anywhere... new or used so I decided to order one. While I was on the Livin Lite's website and was just drawn to the 8.0 model. I went over it with my wife but she thought the bed was too small. Lucky for us there's the 8.1 model with a queen size bed and a twin. So for some reason I decided to order the 8.1 instead of the 6.0. Two weeks after I placed the order with the dealer and put down my down payment, we find out that my wife was 3 months pregnant. Totally unexpected. So somebody up above knew and guided us to the larger 8.1. So in less than 2 weeks we'll be camping with our 8.5 month old son in the 8.1 on his first camping trip.
S.Sanders
Sorry about the rant, but don't accuse me of endangering my family and/or those around me when you don't have all of the facts.
For someone who seems to have the ???Facts???, please enlighten me with an ST tire manufacturer that does not have a max speed limit of 65 mph or 60 mph imprinted in the sidewall of the tire. I seriously would be interested in buying those tires if you can show me one.
As for my not having any experience with working in the tire industry, I would expect it should be no problem for you with your experience to show me an ST tire that doesn't have a max speed of 65 mph or less imprinted on the tire.
I'm sure many of the members here would appreciate finding out about a higher speed ST tire manufacturer as well.
Please include some pics of the those ST tires sidewalls too.
From carlisle
http://www.carlisletire.com/pr.....poster.pdf
From Maxxis,
http://www.maxxis.com/Reposito.....08load.pdf
From goodyear,
http://www.goodyear.com/lehigh.....lation.pdf
You will notice that goodyear has some ST tires that have a max 75 mph, but they are not sizes I've ever seen on any pup, HTT or TT.
Typically, those larger sizes with higher ratings are on Class A, B or C motorhomes. And they are limited to 75 mph...
Storm Trooper,
That got my curiosity up so I went out and checked my tires. Neither the Hercules or Goodyear Marathon have a max speed imprinted on them. My spare is a bias ply, and it does not either. If it makes a difference mine are 175-80R-13, C.
I tend to run about 65 on the hi-way as that seems to be the sweet spot for my rig.
S_Sanders,
My 2nd car is a 02 Jetta tdi, gotta love the mpg. I have not towed anything with mine though. They say the aerodynamics are better with the windows closed so you get a little better mpg. My compressor failed earlier this year, have not had the coin to replace it yet so without a/c I get 43-45 mpg avg per tank each week. My commute is a total of 550 miles a week, ot one tank of diesel.
Storm Trooper,
Not all trailer tires are Special Trailer (ST) tires, and I never said that mine are.
My trailer tires are Tow Master 5.30-12 6 ply rated (load range C) nylon bias ply trailer tires. They absolutely do not have a maximum speed anywhere on the tire. They also do not have any reference to "ST" or "Special Trailer". I would be glad to provide a picture, but I couldn't figure out how to take a picture that would clearly show the embossed print in the rubber.
Several months ago, I found a federal government website that referenced a DOT regulation that said that any tire rated as "Load Range C" must be capable of safe operation at speeds at or above the 70 MPH interstate speed limit. I tried to find that page today, but wasn't able to locate it again. It is also worth noting that all tire speed ratings are for sustained speeds. As I recall, they are three hour sustained speed ratings.
Nimrod,
My sympathies for the current lack of A/C. That's brutal in this part of the world! High temps have been around 100 degrees here in central Alabama for most of the last week.
I'm familiar with the open windows air drag issue, so my comparison was with the windows closed and just the back of the sunroof slightly opened. (Not the entire hole in the roof open.) I'm still surprised that the raised back edge of the sunroof would create more drag than the A/C compressor. My father has a '02 Jetta TDI.
Tonyride,
Congratulations for the new member of the family, and the camper too!
Nimrod,
The Goodyear tires on your pup are listed in the goodyear link I provided in the prior post to yours and the max mph according to goodyear is 65 mph.
S.Sanders,
I did a little research on your 5.30-12 6 ply tires and it seems a number of those are listed as highway speed tires, then a footnote of 45 max mph listed as the highway speed, but not the Greenball tires as they don't list anything I could find. I am looking into Greenball (Taiwanesse Maker of the Tow Master tires) a bit further to get a specific answer.
Also, that note about load range C being required by the DOT to be capable of 70 mph or more. I'd like to see that one as many, many, many trailer tires I've seen in that load range are limited to 60 or 65 mph by the tire manufacturer.
StormTrooper,
I am not trying to cause a rift but, I responded to your comment:
"please enlighten me with an ST tire manufacturer that does not have a max speed limit of 65 mph or 60 mph imprinted in the sidewall of the tire"
None of my trailer tires have this imprinted on them.
Thank you for the website info as I will make sure to check that before buying my next tire.
I have been very disappointed in the Goodyears for sure.
Nimrod
[quote author=Storm Trooper link=topic=764.msg6517#msg6517 date=1307368718]
S.Sanders,
I did a little research on your 5.30-12 6 ply tires and it seems a number of those are listed as highway speed tires, then a footnote of 45 max mph listed as the highway speed, but not the Greenball tires as they don't list anything I could find. I am looking into Greenball (Taiwanesse Maker of the Tow Master tires) a bit further to get a specific answer.
Storm Trooper,
To be quite honest, I'm really tired of this argument, and I really don't care what you find.
Two days after I bought my camper, I towed it 650 miles at 70+ MPH to get home from Bremen Indiana. On another trip, we pulled the camper to Disney's Fort Wilderness (540 miles in one day each way), at 70+ MPH both ways. Then there's Gulf Shores, AL (4 times); Atlanta, GA; Enterprise, AL; Huntsville, AL (twice); Gatlinburg, TN (twice)... all above 65 MPH. From my personal experience of several thousands of miles, these tires are either quite safe at highway speed or I'm incredibly lucky! Given that I haven't won the lottery, we can eliminate the incredibly lucky option.
Do whatever you want, but don't try to convince the world that this is a safety issue, because it simply is not. It's just like the 45MPH speed limit posted on every U-Haul trailer. It has much more to do with the legal department than the equipment!
Drive safe and enjoy camping.
For those of you who do care, I did get an answer from Vickie Curlin Customer Service Rep at Greenball that in fact their trailer tires including 5.30 - 12(not labeled ST) do have a maximum speed of 65 mph.
One of the interesting things I found out about these tires was that one of the major tire companies has been involved in a number of lawsuits regarding accidents that involved those larger size ST tires that they increased the max speed to 75 mph. Mainly Coach RV tires have been failing at those higher speeds.
An additional item that I've picked up was the description of construction in that trailer tires haven't changed significantly for more than 50 years. They do make radials now in ST tires, but the basic cord construction has not changed significantly.
Very much unlike the changes in cord construction in passenger car tires in the past 50 years.
Info is in......3070 miles traveled. MPG while towing with a low of 8.9(mountains through PA to Virginia) to 11.3 (Flatlands of Georgia to Florida) Overall average was 10.1. Maximum MPH was 68 with the majority about 63, this seemed to be where the van was most happy and didn't shift to much. I also kept it in manual in 5th gear for the same reason. Had 1 tire blow out on the trailer in the extreme heat last week. Not sure why other than old age and the heat.
During our recent trip to Rocky Gap in Maryland I checked my MPG
570 miles round trip about 100 miles local with out the camper.
This includes 2 kayaks on top of my Jeep Liberty and 2 bikes on top of the camper.
I figure the loaded camper weighed in at around 2900 lbs
Owners manual says to use 89 octane when towing.
Average MPG = 14.1 ( can't complain ) 🙂
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