Wheels & Tires

[hellsbay]

Has anyone put 16 inch wheels and light truck tires on their Oliver?

[SeaDawg]

I think at least one person put LT tires on their Oliver, but I'm not a fan of the idea. LT tires are not truly made for trailering.

 

We have 15 inch tires, load range E ST (trailer) tires. Maxxis brand We've been very happy with them so far. A few other forum members have the same tires, and have had them longer. I'll look in the log, but I think we got them about a year and a half ago. Maybe longer.

 

Our old Duro load Ds did very well (over 25,000 miles), but we couldn't get Duros locally when we needed them in preparation for a long trip. I'm not sure they're sold anymore.

 

There have been a lot of discussions here, and on other forums, about tires. We stick with trailer tires, as they're built for the needs.

 

Sherry

[hellsbay]

Thanks Sherry. The other forums I am looking at seem to have arrived at the consensus that ST tires are old school and still made to keep old machinery and plants working. They are saying that an LTX tire rated for high speed and the proper load rating is far superior to the old ST tires. There are even some tire engineers in those discussions. After you read what they have to say about ST tires vs LT tires, it would be hard for me to put another ST tire on an RV. One of the things that they bring up is that the ST tires are not certified above 65mph because they have inferior design and materials. Since they are made for trailers without passengers, they have to go through way less testing and regulation. On the websites of these ST tire manufacturers, they warn you that after three years, these tires have lost one third of their integrity. If they were marginal when new, think about what they are like after loosing one third of their integrity. It's like rolling the dice with your RV trailer. Considering the residual damage they can cause to your trailer when they fail, it seems like a very small price to pay to upgrade to LT tires.

 

Airstream has as an option for LT tires and 16 inch wheels. They are retrofitting these on many of the Airstreams in use, as their owners are getting fed up with catastrophic tire failures and tires that become deformed after a few thousand miles. Some of these tire failures have cost thousands of dollars in residual damage to the trailers.

 

From what I can gather from all of the input on this subject; If you pull between 55-65 mph, and not during the hot part of the day, you will probably be OK with the ST tires. If you are not able to keep within these parameters, think about LT tires and maybe 16 inch wheels.

 

One of the reasons some of these ST tires are hard to find or not made anymore is because the plants that made them were outdated with old machinery. Most of the ST tires are made in China now.

 

According to some of the forums I have been reading, Maxxis 8008E ST tires are some of the best out there for a trailer tire.

 

I am trying to get this all figured out because I know the trailer I bought and will pick up soon has the orgional tires, which, depending on when they were manufactured, should be about 6 years old now.

 

Steve

[SeaDawg]

Scubarx put the lt tires and 16 inch wheels on his Oliver almost two years ago. If he doesn't see this post, you might want to send him a pm about his feelings, two years later. Last time I saw him, the tires were new. Since then, I think they've been out west once or twice.

 

You can see some lengthy discussions on tires on almost every forum, including this one. If you haven't already, you might want to read this thread:

 

Interesting that Airstream is offering light duty truck tires as an upgrade now. I'm sure that decision was made with some careful consideration and research. I too have read many horror stories on cheap Chinese trailer tires.

 

Sherry

[hellsbay]

Thanks for the input Sherry. I have about two weeks to make up my mind weather to stay with the 15 inch wheel and go for the Maxxi 10 ply, or 16 inch LT tires, probably Michelin LTX M/S2's.

 

How fast do you guys tow and do you do 500-600 mile days?

[SeaDawg]

Steve,

We tow at highway and interstate speeds, with the traffic flow, with a Dodgen Ram half ton Hemi 4x4 most of the time . Sometimes, we'll do 650 miles in a day; other times, 65. Depends on where we want to be at the end of the day.

 

We don't go west into the heat, though. We chase the cooler weather, as much as we can, and I'm not a fan of the deserts. Going thru South Carolina and Georgia are usually the hottest parts of our drives--not the kind of extended heat you could be possibly dealing with in the western highways. About two years ago, we installed tire monitors on our valve stems to alert us to a blowout/sudden drop in pressure. They are made by TST (I think), and we changed out the valve stems to quality metal stems at that time. Fairly inexpensive, and we had them in about a week's time ordering direct on line from the manufacturer.

 

I talked to Pete today. He recently changed to the 16s and LT tires. Next time around (which could be a few years), we'll relook the sts vs new rims and lts, and see what the options are. We haven't been able to travel that much the last two years, so the newest Maxxis probably have around ten to twelve thousand miles on them, I think. Florida to New York a few times, Florida to North Carolina/DC/Virginia a number of times.

 

I'm curious if the 16s/LTs required a modification to the spare tire cover. I hope Pete and Steve, and anyone else who has changed rim size and tires to the LT, will chime in, as well as the folks with Maxxis who have driven in the west.

 

It's an investment in safety, three tires, or three tires and rims. We had a tough time even finding the Maxxis here in Tampa Bay. That's probably another point in favor of LT tires: more choices, and availability, if you're ever stuck in an odd spot. We had a nail in the right rear tire on the truck in Quebec in a very small town, and were lucky enough to be able to a: find someone who spoke much English better than I speak French b: find a really honest tire mechanic who plugged the tire and c: discover that he had a used one that matched our tires in case the plug didn't hold.

 

Have you checked locally on availability? I'm guessing you'll want to take the rims and tires with you to pick up the trailer, if that's your decision, or be assured that they're on had at the pickup location when you arrive.

 

Sherry

[charliep]

I am also planning on changing from 15"ST to 16"LT tires on my Oliver. Can anyone who has done this please let me know what size tires and rims they used.

[bugeyedriver]

This year, I made the switch to 16" wheels and Michelin LTX tires and couldn't be happier in the appearance and ride. Here are the specs of What I purchased:

 

Wheels from Discount tire:

MB 72 - size 16 X 7 6-139.7-16MMS

 

Tires from Discount Tire:

Michelin LTX M/S LT225/75R16E1 115R B

 

It's my understanding that ST tires have beefed up sidewalls for the unique stresses that happen with double or triple axle configurations when the trailer makes turns. All of that is moot on a single axle trailer. My reasoning for going with the 16" Michelin LTX M/S tires was dependability, longevity, speed rating, availability, yda, yada, yada.

 

They look good too!

 

Combining these wheels and tires with a TST pressure/temperature monitoring system gives me HUGE peace of mind as I wander around this great nation.

[charliep]

This year, I made the switch to 16" wheels and Michelin LTX tires and couldn't be happier in the appearance and ride. Here are the specs of What I purchased:

 

Wheels from Discount tire:

MB 72 - size 16 X 7 6-139.7-16MMS

 

Tires from Discount Tire:

Michelin LTX M/S LT225/75R16E1 115R B

 

Thanks for the info Pete, I just ordered a new set for my Oliver.

 

Charlie P

[DCKiefer]

I put Maxxis on our Oliver in 2009 and got about three years out of them. Had plenty of tred, but one starting going bad, caught it just a few miles from home at a stop in Ocala. I don't know the exact milage they had, but it was about 8000 to 9000 miles. I will say I am a little disappointed, but I think I may been pushing the trailer tires to there limits. When we do our three week trip, we often will drive two 700 miles days in a row, running at 60 to 65 mph.

 

I will say that just the same I bought two new Maxxis replacements, since they still have the best reputation I have heard of in trailer tires. I kind of wish I read this post about the LT tires before I did that, since I have been wondering why I couldn't use LT's.

 

I will tell you that after having one blow-out three years ago, a second tire failer later one, I have learned how to read tires and this is how I caught the recent tire going bad before it caused a problem. I don't have the tire sensors and really have some doubts about how useful they would be in our single axle situaiton. I think the pressure loss is going to be rather sudden and you will likely know you are introuble at the same time the sensor warns you.

 

Every time we stop for gas or after an significant period driving I do a complete walk around the rig, just like the truckers do that have good habits. I visually inspect the tire tread on each tire partcularly noteing if one tire is wearing dirrently than the other. They should both show the same amount of wear if replaced at the same time, particularly noting excessive wear on the outside edges of the tire. All this is presuming that you have your tires properly inflated. At the same time I put the back of my hand on each tire, not really feeling for heat, but more that both tires are the same temperature. Yes, I am betting that I am not going to have two tires begining to fail at the same time, but I think the chances of that are rather slim.

 

As far as finding Maxxis in your local area I pretty much have given up on that. I order them online and take them and the rims to local tire shop for mounting. This does help when your on the road, where event finding a load range E tire is difficult. I had to settle a C on that trip when I had the failure, but luckly I was only a couple hundred miles from home. LT's would be much easire to replace.

 

Sorry for rambling, but where the rubber meets the road is a pretty big deal.

[JuniorBirdMan]

Hey Pete! I've been thinking about going to the LT tires also. I was wondering why the switch to 16" wheels instead of just putting LTs on the 15" wheels. Obviously (again), you've done more research than I have.

 

Aubrey