Tire rotation

[Corcomi]

ok so I just thought of something and I am asking the fellow bloggers for help.

 

i will soon need to rotate the tires on the Oliver and since all 5 tires ar the same size I thought that I should rotate them all..

 

But WHERE? I don’t think I can pull up to my Walmart tire store and they can take the trailer to rotate the tires. So where do you suggest? And no, I’m too old to do that myself!

[John E Davies]

A good tire store that  has a decent sized parking lot can do it, just tell them that you can raise all the tires off the ground for them using the jacks.

 

Or an RV shop can do it..

 

I would pick Discount Tire if one was close.

 

Before you go, pull the cover and inspect your spare wheel to see if it matches. Mine did not - it was a different model entirely and I had to get a replacement from Oliver.

 

http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/mis-matched-spare-wheel/

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[Mike and Carol]

Is tire rotation really necessary?  Mine are 2 years old with about 22K miles. They still look new. My plan is to replace all four tires after about five years, leaving the spare alone.

 

When I installed my TPMS I went to my local tire shop to have the rubber stems replaced with metal stems and to rebalance each wheel. I used the trailer jacks to lift each side to remove the tires. Mike

[John E Davies]

Tire rotation IS necessary. Your tires wear out through age and UV/ ozone exposure even if they are not used. You may find your spare dry rotted in ten years and useless, you might as well get some use out of it.

 

https://www.discounttire.com/learn/tire-aging

 

There is a lot of wear on a II due to tire scrub when turning, hard backing especially. On a single axle trailer this does not happen.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

 

 

[Corcomi]

Mark

 

Thanks for the link. Only to let you know I live in Morganton,Georgia!  But still works when I changed the state!

[DavePhelps]

What many don't realize (myself included until a few years back) is that tires can "age out" and still look like new or have decent tread left.

 

There is a date of manufacture stamped right  on the tire. It's a 4 digit number, the first two numbers are the week of manufacture and the second two are the year. I had a 10 year old snow tire explode in our basement while in storage. It looked almost new (until it blew up!). Where I now volunteer, all tires for the trucks are retired after 6 years no matter how "good" its tread condition. This is the rule I now follow, after 6 years, the tire is replaced. Here's a good bit of info if interested:

 

https://www.edmunds.com/car-care/how-old-and-dangerous-are-your-tires.html

 

Dave

[Rumline]

Would there be an issue putting the spare "into rotation"?  I mean with having 3 tires with one diameter and one slightly larger?  I've never put my cars' spare tire to use even when it was a full sized spare.

 

Even if the difference isn't great enough to impact anything I think my OCD would have issues with it lol.

[John E Davies]

Would there be an issue putting the spare “into rotation”? I mean with having 3 tires with one diameter and one slightly larger? I’ve never put my cars’ spare tire to use even when it was a full sized spare. Even if the difference isn’t great enough to impact anything I think my OCD would have issues with it lol.

The only situation where tire diameters are a concern is with awd vehicles. Tires with significantly different rolling radius on the same axle can really mess up the differentials - Subarus are especially vulnerable to drivetrain damage - and it can cause the electronic nannies like Stability Control to completely freak out.

 

For independently operating trailer tires, it is simply a non issue. Nobody will notice if one tire has marginally greater tread depth, except you.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[KarenLukens]

What many don’t realize (myself included until a few years back) is that tires can “age out” and still look like new or have decent tread left. There is a date of manufacture stamped right on the tire. It’s a 4 digit number, the first two numbers are the week of manufacture and the second two are the year. I had a 10 year old snow tire explode in our basement while in storage. It looked almost new (until it blew up!). Where I now volunteer, all tires for the trucks are retired after 6 years no matter how “good” its tread condition. This is the rule I now follow, after 6 years, the tire is replaced. Here’s a good bit of info if interested: https://www.edmunds.com/car-care/how-old-and-dangerous-are-your-tires.html Dave

+1 change out the tires every 5 years is the norm... We did this on our Casita, single axle, because who wants to wait for a blow out!

[Mike and Carol]

I balanced after having the rubber stems replaced with metal stems and with the TPMS sensors mounted. I checked them this afternoon (leaving for Quartzsite in the morning) and there was no sign of abnormal wear and no wear difference between the four tires. 2 years and 22K miles.

 

My trailer started out as a 2015 so has the BF Goodrich tires. My plan is to replace them in about 3 years. I’m sure they will have plenty of tread left. No plans to rotate.

 

I do rotate the tires on my Ram and Audi S3 on a regular basis. Mike

[John E Davies]

Balancing trailer tires is never done by the manufacturer, they just don’t care; it takes time, which costs them money. Most buyers don’t know enough to ask for it, and the vast majority don’t care.

 

The only way to know for sure that your tires are NOT out of balance is to spin them up on a balancing machine.

 

We hung around TN for a week, camping and visiting family, then on the long haul back west I had them balanced (including the spare) and it made me feel a whole lot better. Did the trailer tow any different? Not that I could tell. My wife was amused more than anything.

 

For $50 it is a no brainer. Do it, then don’t worry. There are too many aspects about towing that you have little or no  control over. Why worry about one simple task that you can do something about....?

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[bradbev]

Can't explain it, but mine seemed to be balanced on delivery.  After we got it home, I took it to Discount Tire to be balanced after the factory said they don't do it.  The tech crawled under the trailer and said there were weights on the tires so he assumed it was balanced.  So, we took it back home.

 

Brad  (Sitting near Dome Rock at Quartzsite.)

 

 

[Mainiac]

When we picked up #211, we were told the wheel/tires arrived at the factory on a pallet. We were concerned about the tires as the tires are truck tires, not ST rated (trailer Service), tires. They were told the engineers had figured out the E rated tires were more than adequate. We do know they sure ride smooth, and that they match what is on my truck is a bonus. We were told the wheels have a valve put in, tires mounted, filled with nitrogen, and balanced. They then put a certain amount on a pallet and ship to the factory. We were, at the time, more concerned about the spare they had been using. They were putting a previous used tire (different brand and size) on as a spare to use up their inventory. Ours had the new same rim, tire, and new bigger spare tire cover as we had been discussing before pick up. We moved on to other issues, like a wrong color awning...

[Rumline]

as to messing around with your spare not matching the other four tires. I sincerely hope they have this issue figured out. I’m paying for 5 ea, new wheels and matching LT tires. Take your left over “New Old Stock” elsewhere please.

 

Indeed.  It's been a while since #211 so I'm sure that stuff has moved out by now.  Still something worth noting.  I really need to start a delivery inspection checklist with all this info.

[PAndrews]

Good Morning from Oliver Travel Trailers.  Just wanted to put any concerns to rest about our wheels and tires.  They are in fact weighted and balanced.  The spare tire and wheel  is the same size and style as the 4 main tires and wheels.  I hope this puts all worries at ease.  We strive to be better than other manufacturers in every way and your input and ideas on this forum are always welcome.  As most of you know we have always listened to our customers and in a lot of cases, actually implemented things on the production line as a result.  Thank you all for choosing Oliver Travel Trailers!

 

- Phil Andrews

[John E Davies]

Phil, is there any reason Oliver continues to give zero guidance about ideal tire pressure, and also why are they delivered with tires inflated to max sidewall pressure? For storage that may make some sense, as a manufacturer, but it is doing a disservice to the buyer to not adjust them to a reasonable value like 60 psi for an Elite II.

 

Tire pressures should be a tech bulletin. I have requested this in the past and still haven't seen one.

 

Thanks.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[Overland]

I wouldn't go that high.  Michelin recommends 45 psi for our tires at the max GVWR of an elite 2.  Most could go with 40 psi, which Michelin rates at 6600 lbs for twin axles.

 

 

[Corcomi]

Well when i picked up my Olliver in Nov 2017 was told that they were inflated to 60 psi when i left that day. I have installed the TPS system and when i am on the road they are running at 80 psi. So i concur with John Davis can Oliver give us a DEFINITE answer please

[Overland]

They also told me 60, but I use a 60psi gauge and it was off the scale with the factory pressure, so I assume my tires were at least 70psi.  It took quite a while to deflate them down to a normal pressure, so they could well have been inflated to 80.

[BorninPalatka]

Thought we were never to support the Ollie with its jacks?

[Raspy]

As far as rotation goes, there is no good reason to rotate the tires on an Oliver.  This statement assumes the tires will time out before they wear out.  Unless you put very high mileage on your trailer and do actually wear the tires out within 5 or 6 years, don't bother to rotate them.  It gains you nothing.  Rotation is not the same on a trailer as on a truck.  Trucks carry a heavy and constant load on the front tires that also must force the truck around curves.  The rear of trucks apply all the driving force to the ground and have variable loads from cargo.  The fronts do wear different than the rears.  But not on trailers.  And usually, trailer tires will time out before they wear out.  If they are all wearing the same, forget rotating them.

 

60 PSI is a good operating pressure for an Elite 2.  It allows for a very hot summer driving without going beyond the rated pressure, it rides well and lower pressures make the tires run hotter.  Hotter is not a good plan as it stresses the tires more and means there is more drag.  I'm sure they can carry the weight at 45 PSI, but they will definitely be running hotter on the highway.  I've measured the temps on mine and seen the difference.  Off road, they can be run much lower, but for extended highway service, 60 PSI is a good number to start with when cold.

 

Oliver used to run a smaller spare.  I don't think this had anything to do with using up old stock or some kind of conspiracy to trick anybody.  The lower body shell and the spare tire cover fiberglass molds were designed for the smaller tire.  They would not accommodate the larger size.  I know this because I went to a full sized spare on my hull number 92 and I had to not use the fiberglass cover.  The molds were changed sometime before hull 200 and all five tires and wheels have been the same size since.  Running a slightly smaller tire on a tandem axles trailer works fine, but I wanted the full size in case I got a flat when off road and needed the best I could get in the sand or rocks.  Either way, the wheels were identical.

 

LT tires are not just adequate, Oliver is not cutting any corners here, they are superior to trailer tires in a number of ways.  LTs are also considerably more expensive, so there would be no reason for Oliver to use them unless they offered better performance, and they do.   This has been discussed at length and is one of the reasons I chose my Oliver.

 

 

[KarenLukens]

My tires when I picked it up were inflated to an average of 78psi and personally I think that this had a lot to do with the drawers falling out and things getting broken. We're living in Arizona now and driving more on dirt then on pavement, so I have them set at 52psi and haven't had an issue here in the Winter. So one important item to add to your pick up day check lists should be to set the tire pressures all the way around. Just be sure to pick a pressure that matches your driving style, time of year, and destination. I've thought about lowering mine down to 35lbs for the dirt road that we live on, but we are here for another week and getting ready to head to Quartzite for the Rally. This time of year, 52psi will work for me.

 

Reed

[Mike and Carol]

The BF Goodrich tires on the older models have a max inflation of 80 PSI. Mike

[Hap]

Our tires are the Michelins that were put on at the factory and I’ve always set them at 75 psi summer and winter and never had a problem. I would also recommend the TPMS sensors.  I haven’t had any problems with drawers opening or seeing doors popping open or any other damage etc. Also, our tires don’t seem to be showing any wear. I believe that I’ll have to replace them due to age not wear.

 

I've just had our trailer serviced at a local RV dealer that is highly respected and questioned them about psi and they set them to 75 psi. I've tried lower psi pressure and I believe it decreases fuel mileage and causes a sluggish feeling while towing.  All of us have our opinion about psi, but after two OTTs, thousands of miles and weather temps from 15 to 100 degrees that's the psi that I use.

 

Each to his own.

 

Hap

[Overland]

We can all have opinions, but in the end Michelin's is the one that counts.  They determine their recommended inflation pressures according to what pressures give the tire it's correct shape for a given load.  If you're over inflating their tires by 15 - 25 psi, you're significantly reducing their contact patches and lowering their grip.  And you're also making the ride significantly rougher for your trailer.  You may think it rides fine, but then you aren't in there feeling the bumps.  Try over inflating your truck tires by 15 psi and see how it feels and handles.  Mine will hop and skip all over the place with just 10 psi over - I know because the dealer forgot to lower the pressures from their shipping specs when I picked it up.

 

Anyway, point being that you guys wouldn't purposefully over inflate your vehicle's tires by 15+ psi, so why would you think it's O.K. to do it with your trailer's tires?

 

As far as Oliver's recommendation goes (assuming their delivery pressure is their 'recommendation'), saying that the tire's maximum inflation pressure is it's recommended one is like Ford saying my truck's maximum speed is 117mph, therefore that's the speed I should always drive.  For me, the debate is settled by Michelin's chart.  Oliver's recommended pressures shouldn't be far off that, if any at all, since the suspension setup means the trailer's weight will always be equally distributed among all four tires.  In fact, if their recommendation is any different whatsoever, I'd like to know why, since it's not like Oliver is out there track testing these things, measuring tire deformation, dynamic loading, temperature, wear, etc.  They'd need to have a really good reason for exceeding the manufacturer's specs as much as they do.