Kumho 14 tires

[trailbiker]

Is anyone using Kumho 14 tires on their TM. I have a 2006 2027 SL with Goodyear Marathons. As far as I can tell these are the original tires and the spare has never been used. I have seen lot of bad reviews about these tires. Part of me says " If it ain't broke don't fix it" , but so many of the the people on this group (much more experienced) have installed the lift kit and 15" wheels. I don't have a good space to do major work on my TM so I would rather not get into the upgrade. It seems like there would be less chance of exceeding the weight limit with the Kumhos and I have not seen as many bad reviews for these tires. I have been reading the post on this forum, but still cant decide. I would appreciate hearing what your experience with Kumho tires are.

P.S. I have become really addicted to this forum. I would rather be camping, but for the time being I will have to live vicariously on the forum.

The good news is you probably have a little time to decide as unless you like camping in the snow, you will not be using your TM for a few months. You definitely need to replace your tires if they are original. Trailer tires almost never wear out. They deteriorate internally and come separate causing additional damage. 1st check your axle to see if it needs the lift kit. There is a great thread with pics showing how to do this. The newer axle has the axle arms angled down some to provided the additional lift. If you have to add the lift kit, it is not a big deal to do. You can get away with 14" tires, but the additional margin of safety and peace of mind is worth the effort to upgrade.

You have hit upon perhaps the most popular topic on this forum. Use of the 'search' function wil keep you busy for hours! With regard to tires, the saying mentioned "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" should probably be replaced with "if it ain't broke, it will be". Consensus seems to be 4 years is the max safe life for tires and 15" is significantly better than 14".

I'd suggest there are too many variables to give a specific length for how many years tires are good for. A tire that is subjected to a number of worse case scenarios like being subjected to harsh sunlight, under inflated, cheap tire to begin with etc may be darn lucky to make it 4 years. On the other hand tires that are properly maintained, stored inside, better rubber compound etc could easily go longer according to info on tire manufacturing web sites.
So might be better to suggest a range of life say 3-6 years depending on the variables. Of course always better safe than sorry as in eating leftover food and riding on questionable tires.

[trailbiker]

Originally Posted by Scott O

You have hit upon perhaps the most popular topic on this forum. Use of the 'search' function wil keep you busy for hours! With regard to tires, the saying mentioned "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" should probably be replaced with "if it ain't broke, it will be". Consensus seems to be 4 years is the max safe life for tires and 15" is significantly better than 14".

Scott,

I will replace the tires, the question is whether or not switch to 15" wheels.
If it lowers the chances of a blowout, then i guess it is. If most of the blowouts were a result of improper maintenance or defective tires then I might stay with the 14'" wheels to avoid the expense of changing everything over.

[ELM-JLM]

Hi Dave & Holly,

My so called 2008 2619 was manufactured April 2007! I didn't need a lift kit! 225/75R15 Maxxis Load Range D radials and a nice set of used wheels fit perfectly! I was lucky to have a neighbor let me try the same size spare from his trailer to verify!

Originally Posted by trailbiker

Scott,

I will replace the tires, the question is whether or not switch to 15" wheels.
If it lowers the chances of a blowout, then i guess it is. If most of the blowouts were a result of improper maintenance or defective tires then I might stay with the 14'" wheels to avoid the expense of changing everything over.

Again there is no definite answer. The load margin in the older TM's is very small. If the tires are good and properly maintained and you very lightly load your TM ( minimal stuff, water tank empty, grey and black water tanks empty, you should be OK. If you travel with a full water tank, as well as full or partially full black and grey water tanks and lots of stuff, it is easy to exceed the load limit of the 14" tires. It costs about $150 - $200 more the make the change the first time when you are buying new tires. A blowout can easily cost that much in damage repair to the waste water system and TM body.

Folks, correct me if I am wrong, but I seem to remember that TM switched to the new lifted axle sometime during the '06 year. This made the lift kit unnecessary. As far as 14" vs 15" blowouts, there is no scientific data that I know of. It just seems to me that when people began the size switch a couple of years ago the reports of blowouts lessened. I figure the peace of mind I got by switching from 14" to 15" was worth the expense. And as rumbleweed pointed out, there are several things you can do which will lessen your chances of tire failure.

[wbmiller3]

I agree that it is all about the margin. The lift kit is not hard to install and only takes a few hours. Most of the work is cranking the trailer up and down. Getting the the lift kit from TM may be problematic at this point though. I got mine right before the trouble started.

As I recall, the improvement in tire life has more to do by upgrading the load range than from increasing the tire diameter.

I can not use any tire that is taller than the 14 inch. I had Marathons and now use TowMaster.

Switching to 15 inch wheels will cost me around $100.00 per month. I am not willing to pay that. With 14s I can park it in the garage. With 15s I have to rent space somewhere.

Apparently it is almost impossible to find load range E ST tires in 14 inch. I may hve to go to LT next time.