More on Tires

+1 Add me to the list of Westlake haters. Actually the tires weren't as bad as some I have used elsewhere. My two biggest gripes are they lose air pressure (5psi every 30days) and they wore quickly. Can't say enough about the WildPeak AT3 LT I have now.

Our other two Westakes, like gpokluda's, wouldn't maintain air pressure.  It had something to do with rolling as they didn't lose air when they sat parked. I checked the pressure at the start of each day and by the end of that day's travel, they were down in the 50 lbs range.  The tread didn't make it 10K miles before I replaced them.  

That's a good point that I'd not thought of before. The OEM Westlake tires (that I know of) are load range C, but they also had a relatively high load capacity (around 2400 lbs IIRC). However, because they're LRC, they run at 50 PSI, and LRD up that to ~~65 PSI. That would certainly make a difference in high cross winds.

The OEM Westlakes in the mid sized rpods in the 2015 timeframe were 14 inch LRCs only rated for 1750 lbs. Very marginal, which helps explain why folks were having so much trouble with them back then.

I replaced mine with pre mounted 15 inch Lodestar LRDs rated at 2500 lbs which provided a nice safety factor. Stable ride with no overheating.

Even so, I check my tire temps at every fuel stop with my ir thermometer when I tie.   Very quick and cheap insurance. Checked brake and bearing temps too. Doesn't add any more time to my walkaround. You can also get a tpms that reports tire temps as well as pressures.