More Marathon blowouts

[rtcassel]

Originally Posted by PopBeavers

Can you share with us the brand of tire that you found that is 14 inch, D rated and ST?

Multi-Purpose Design For Light Trucks, Minivans, And Utility Vehicles.

Not designed for travel trailers. This appears to be an LT tire.

For where I go, I see no advantage of an LT versus an ST. I am already bouncing a lot. Converting to stiffer sidewalls for miles of unpaved fire roads jsut does not seem like a good idea.

I know there is a lot of debate of ST versus LT. I am presently on the side of ST for trailers.

I'll keep looking for a 14 inch load range D ST tire. Not likely going to find one.

As far as I know there is no such thing as a 14 inch Load range D / ST. Mine are LT's and a little stiffer than the Marathons that came with the trailer. And that info is only from observation from the cab of the truck and from the wife following behind one time. Two years and about 6K miles later the extra stiffness has not caused any problem that I am aware of. One thing I did notice that was different about these tires VS the Marathons. The tread dept. These LT tires have a deeper tread on them. Maybe a little more rubber between the TM and road is a good thing. Can't say what if any damage the extra bulk and stiffness has caused, but I know this. The Marathons just shed their skin like a snake. The TPMS never went off because the tire carcass was still inflated. Too bad that the tread took out the plumbing. I will keep the group informed on these LT's. Fingers still crossed!

You are right. The 195R14C Load range D Triangle TR645 tire is not designed for TT's. Used mostly in Europe on delivery vans. Most of my driving is freeway getting to the Forest Service Roads. I am not real crazy about taking the TM long distance on a FS road. Too rough and too dusty. My TM seals at the bottom when closed are not the best in the world. So the LT's work fine for me. I got kind of spoiled from my old Coleman popup. That thing would go anywhere my 4x4 towed it. The TM.... well..... a little fragile. But the hard walls and bathroom are nice and make up for it. Compromise. As you say the ST's would probably suit you better. I plan on moving up to the 15's in a year or two. If I can get the check book away from DW that is!

These are not ST, but they are 14" D range tires.
It appears from the description that there may be 2 versions of this tire with different load ratings, one with a 107 load index, and one with a 109. Also, while passenger tires are rated to carry 100% of the load max, truck tires are actually rated to carry 91% of the max load rating, and the same may be true of trailer tires. So calculate that into your purchase decision.

Tire Rack (copied from tirerack.com website, bad formatting)
Kuhmo radial trailer tire 205R14
Load Index 109 = 2271lbs (1030kg) per tire
Load Index 107 = 2149lbs ( 975kg) per tire
Speed Rating “Q” = 99mph (160kph) 109/107Q D Trailer Use Only Not required for
this tire.None 2271 lbs.
65 psi
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....4857&tab=Specs

Discount tire says the following re the ST rating:
""All "ST" tires have a maximum speed rating of 65 mph.""
these have a 99mph rating.

Originally Posted by KevinP

These are not ST, but they are 14" D range tires.
It appears from the description that there may be 2 versions of this tire with different load ratings, one with a 107 load index, and one with a 109. Also, while passenger tires are rated to carry 100% of the load max, truck tires are actually rated to carry 91% of the max load rating, and the same may be true of trailer tires. So calculate that into your purchase decision.

Tire Rack (copied from tirerack.com website, bad formatting)
Kuhmo radial trailer tire 205R14
Load Index 109 = 2271lbs (1030kg) per tire
Load Index 107 = 2149lbs ( 975kg) per tire
Speed Rating “Q” = 99mph (160kph) 109/107Q D Trailer Use Only Not required for
this tire.None 2271 lbs.
65 psi
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....4857&tab=Specs

Discount tire says the following re the ST rating:
""All "ST" tires have a maximum speed rating of 65 mph.""
these have a 99mph rating.

I'm saving this link.

I replaced my factory installed Marathons and when one of them blew out I replaced all three tires.

Due to time constraints and availability I now have Tow Master. I have no complaints, but I have a feeling that they are not quite as good as the Marathons were.

I'll check the tire date this weekend. Maybe I will replace them now. I think they are now three years old.

'not as good as the Marathon's'? ouch. if you can, buy the 15" setup, and sell the 14"s to recover some of the cost. There's a ton of cheap, good quality D and E rated 15" tires.

I wish I could switch to 15 inch wheels. But if the diameter of the tire increases by 1/4 inch it will no longer fit in the garage.

I could let the air out to lower it, but with the TM up against a side wall I can not get to the tire to re-inflate it after parking it. And it would be a real hassle to change the air pressure down and back up every time it goes in/out of the garage anyway.

Alternatively, I could convert the garage door to make it a foot taller, but I don't think I would like the cost of that project.

Parking the TM outside is not an option. Parking it on a storage lot is more than 1200 per year. The selling point of the TM is to avoid that expense.

I wonder if it is cheaper to lower the garage floor than it is to raise the door height?

Wayne, my neighbor with a frame house did raise his garage door by over a foot and the biggest cost was replacing the door but that was somewhat dated anyway. It was a fairly easy mod and you wouldn't even know he had done so to look at the house. On the other hand, I have a brick house so the mod would not be economical for me. Besides, we currently use the space above the doors to store 4 canoes. - camp2canoe