ST Tire Manufacturers: Any Difference?

[Philip]

Hello Again Folks,

I thought I would let the forum know that my 2008 2720TM will require a lift kit in order to increase wheel size to 15" from the 14" wheels supplied. After recently purchasing 15" wheels(including steel clamp on valve stems - TR 416 as recommended by Bobby) with new 8 ply rated Goodyear ST225-75-15 (D load rated) tires, I checked the wheel well clearances and suspension system on my TM. With the 14" wheels I have slightly less than the 3" wheel well clearance recommended by Dexter. I also made measurments of the Dexter Torflex suspension system mounting bracket to find exactly which Torflex system I have. If you go on the Dexter website you can find Torflex Application Information which shows the mounting bracket dimensions for various capacity systems and the high and low profile versions of the bracket for each system. My suspension system is the one rated at 2300 - 3500 LBS. capacity. I have the Low Profile bracket which is probably why I need the lift kit.

I mention all this since it appears from the forum discussions that some members 2008 2720 TM's have been shipped with High Profile brackets which may not require a lift kit. Just be aware that some 2008 2720 TM's do require a lift kit to go to 15" wheels.

I am also surprised(and a bit disappointed) that the suspension supplied with my TM is only rated for a max. load of 3500 LBS. I would think that most owners are running close to or slightly above this limit. I can only hope that as with most engineered systems there is a fairly large safety factor built into this suspension system. The next capacity up from the one I have is rated at 3600 - 6000LBS. Trailmanor was caught on the margin of the two capacity ranges and chose the lower one.

Again, I appreciate all the comments from forum members.

Happy trails,

Phil Friess

[OneMoBear]

So, The Car Show recommends either the Marathons (hard to buy after our experience today but we'll admit they were too old) or Towmasters.

Thoughts? We can't seem to find new Maxiis tires (without paying a king's ransom from the manufacturer) which seems nuts since we are right on the edge of the Denver Metropolitan area.

Malinda

[Bill]

I've mentioned it before, but I'll do it again. We moved to 15" Load Range D Marathons in the spring of 2007 (thanks, Bobby!), and we have been thrilled with them. Even on our twice-a-year heavily-loaded cross-country trips, they run cool to the touch - cooler than the tires on our Explorer tow vehicle. Much cooler than the old 14" Marathons, which were never hot but always quite warm. We now have about 20,000 miles on those tires, with no problems whatever. Tread still looks good, too, though they are getting a bit long in the tooth.

We have clamp-in metal valve stems, as suggested by wmtire, and we balanced them when they were installed.

I was among the people who were VERY displeased with the 14" Marathons, and had a number of failures. But now you can count me among the folks who love the bigger Marathons. I'm convinced that a major part of the problem was in the load margin, though I understand that Goodyear has also moved their manufacturing plants out of China.

Never used Towmasters or Maxxis, so I can't offer anything there. But when I replace the current tires, I will buy 15" Marathons again.

Bill

[ShrimpBurrito]

Originally Posted by Bill

But when I replace the current tires, I will buy 15" Marathons again.

Bill - Out of curiosity, when do you plan on replacing them? They currently have 4 years of service, and are probably ~5 years old.

Dave

[Bill]

Good question. I was going to try to make it back to Maine in May before changing them out. But we went on a desert camping trip with some friends the other day, actually an excuse to try out our new-to-us Jeep Wrangler (as a wilderness geocaching tool, not a tow vehicle!), and on the way home I felt some very speed-specific rumbling. I blamed it on the tow vehicle - we hit a curb not long ago - but as soon as we got home and took the TM off the hitch, the rumbling was no longer present.

So we'll see what my common sense and my fear factor make me do.

Bill

[OneMoBear]

It was time to just jump so we ordered our stuff today. We went with Discount Tire just because they are EVERYWHERE, in case we have a problem.

We went with 15" alloy wheels, marathon tires, and the stems Bobby recommended. We're just going to pick them up and install them ourselves.

Thanks to all for the wonderful advice and information!

Malinda

[Philip]

Originally Posted by Bill

But now you can count me among the folks who love the bigger Marathons. I'm convinced that a major part of the problem was in the load margin, though I understand that Goodyear has also moved their manufacturing plants out of China.

Bill

Bill,

I just thought you might like to know that the new Goodyear 15" Marathons I just purchased are all "Made In The USA". Perhaps, as you say, they are back manufacturing in the USA again. If so, that is good news!. Nice to hear some manufacturing returning to home.

I tend to think like you - the extra load carrying margin of the 15" "D" rated tires over the nominal 14" tires hopefully will reduce my chance of a blowout due to tire failure.

Take care,

Phil Friess

Originally Posted by OneMoBear

It was time to just jump so we ordered our stuff today. We went with Discount Tire just because they are EVERYWHERE, in case we have a problem.

We went with 15" alloy wheels, marathon tires, and the stems Bobby recommended. We're just going to pick them up and install them ourselves.

Thanks to all for the wonderful advice and information!

Malinda

See if they also balanced them. Most dealers don't feel it is necessary on trailers. I must admit, I was one of those dealers till I joined these forums and learned better. I read where other members had their tires balanced and it helped so much in their travels by the trailer not bouncing and rattling stuff loose inside. It is now SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) that we balance tires being used on campers.....thanks to everyone here.

I think I read where even Trailmanor now has theirs balanced too, before installing them on new trailers.

[tgpmd1]

Originally Posted by pauloh

put on the ebay tire pressure monitors I just bought (Secutire wireless tire pressure monitors, 4 for about $25.), http://tinyurl.com/4dvwnw5

Are you using the TMS referenced above on the TM tires or the TV tires? The link says the item is for tires running at regular tire pressure of 35-50. Thanks!

[pauloh]

Originally Posted by tgpmd1

Are you using the TMS referenced above on the TM tires or the TV tires? The link says the item is for tires running at regular tire pressure of 35-50. Thanks!

I intend to use the ebay Secutire Tire Pressure Monitor ( http://tinyurl.com/4dvwnw5 ) on the TM tires (normal pressure 65 lbs.), including the spare, but I was able to adjust the pressure "alarm" setting from 28 lbs. (as set by the mfr.) to about 50 lbs. I HAVE NOT ROAD TESTED THE FOLLOWING AS YET. But it has worked well on my spare tire, as tested in my shop. As I add air to the tire in steps, and put on the TPM at each increase, the alarm stops going off around 55 lbs and up. If I let out air, the alarm goes off at 48 to 55 lbs (depending on which sensor I was testing after adjustment...the process described below is not extremely precise, but I was comfortable with this range of accuracy).

At the risk of giving you "too much information" for your simple question, here's what I did: There were 4 devices in the package, and I only need three, so I experimented on one. Through some hints located on the internet, I found that I could increase the alarm pressure by turning a screw inside the TPM, which is visible when you unscrew the top to activate/change the battery. In normal use, the instructions (well-written, but they do not mention this adjustment) state to unscrew the top, and remove a small piece of insulating paper so the battery will be activated when you screw the top back on (you can replace the paper, or remove the batteries when not on the road, to extend life, estimated at 3 years in the instructions). This would be your default 28-lbs. alarm setting.

While you have the cap and battery in one hand, your other hand is holding the base. The base has a sort of screw inside, as this is turned clockwise, it increases the alarm pressure. I found that about 1 full turn, plus maybe another one-quarter or one-half turn got me up to around 50 lbs. for alarm setting. Yes, you'll have to fool around with it (put it on valve stem, wait for alarm/no alarm for 15 sec. or so, take it off, remove the cap, adjust screw, repeat, possibly adding air to the tire at some point and checking the actual pressure with a gauge every time) but I thought for $25. this was OK. (And I admit I like to hack on stuff.) Note, the adjustment screw is not directly "controllable" with a flat screwdriver, the threads of what's below it come up and get in your way a bit (see photo). So you have to sort of push one side of the screw around to get that 1 turn plus 1/4-1/2 turn. Or find another spanner wrench of that size. In any case, before starting make an index mark with black pen so you can see how far you've turned the screw, it's easy to lose track at this small scale.

This may be more "screwing around" than some care to do! Just trying to save some dough here. There are of course more expensive TPM systems that are easier to adjust, or have other features. I still intend to check pressure the usual way at regular intervals (in my case, that'll be about every 5 miles for the first 1000 on my new tires!!).

I'll post a couple of photos. Note the mfr. includes 2 "spanner wrenches" (and cautions against losing them). These are used to attach the base of the device to your valve stem firmly; when you then install the battery and cap on the base, if someone tries to unscrew (steal) your TPM, it will just spin around on the valve stem, it won't come off. (The wrench also functions to really crank down the cap, but it doesn't have to be that tight to operate.) This could be a hassle if you want to check your air pressure daily with a tire gauge, as you have to remove the TPM to do so. So I intend to just screw the whole TPM on as assembled, which works fine but will potentially allow it to be stolen. (I'll have that 4th spare in the glove box, and one on the spare I could get if needed.)

The alarm part of this system does work well. It seems to respond in under 15 seconds to a loss of pressure; the "beep" from the receiver (which you plug into the cigarette lighter) is loud, it repeats, and goes into a 30-second cycle if you don't do something. One of 4 lights on the receiver tell you WHICH tire is going flat (each sensor has a sticker telling you which light/tire it is programmed for). It will indicate for more than one sensor alarm at a time.

I have one of those Peak portable 12V jump-starters, with a cigarette-lighter plug-in and air compressor, which made it easy to test all this out in my shop.