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Tire replacement - Event Date: 18 Jan 2023

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jato View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote jato Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Calendar Event: Tire replacement
    Posted: 20 Jan 2023 at 7:06am
Originally posted by offgrid


BTW  I don't subscribe to the "China bomb" theory or feel the need to buy "name brand" tires. Others may differ, not starting a debate here  just my semi-educated opinion. By all means spend the money and get name brand tires if it makes you feel better. Just know there's more to selecting the proper tire for your application than just the brand. 

I think the China bomb reputation has resulted from FR and the other lower end trailer manufacturers' practice of using  the absolute minimum load rated tires (1750 lbs on the 179) they could get away with. Running marginal tires, especially at less than recommended tire pressures, is a recipe for blowouts regardless of the tire brand. 


+1  Our first two sets of tires were "C" load range, the first were Tire Kings, the second Hartlands.  The only issue with the original Tire Kings was that when thinking about replacing the tires in the future (after owing the 177 for 4 years) it was noted that FR installed tires that were already 2 years old when I picked up the brand new 177 in March of 2011.  So the originals went 6+ years w/o issue which was good.

OTOH, friends had purchased the all too publicized goodyear endurance only to have one blow out after 6 months and kindly removed the fender as well.  So even those expensive tires can have problems. 
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Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake
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lostagain View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote lostagain Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Jan 2023 at 7:24am
Under inflation and hitting potholes and debris on the road can destroy even the very best made tires.  Moral of the story, monitor the tire pressure very carefully and and try not to hit road hazards on the highway.  No tire is indestructible.  
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GlueGuy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote GlueGuy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Jan 2023 at 12:13pm
We had the OEM Westlake tires, which were LRC, but were rated for ~~ 2400 lbs. Never had an issue with them other than they were a bit squishy from only being inflated to 50PSI. When they aged out, we replaced them with LRD Carlisle tires. The LRD tires are a lot stiffer (65 PSI), and it seems like they ride with a bit less bounce than the OEM tires.
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seafans View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote seafans Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Jan 2023 at 2:40pm
Check the
 https://www.nhtsa.gov/equipment/tires
West Lake has several "bad" tires.  The one on the R-Pods are not on the list.
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hank*pod View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote hank*pod Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jan 2023 at 5:22pm
Originally posted by offgrid

 
BTW  I don't subscribe to the "China bomb" theory or feel the need to buy "name brand" tires. Others may differ, not starting a debate here  just my semi-educated opinion. By all means spend the money and get name brand tires if it makes you feel better. Just know there's more to selecting the proper tire for your application than just the brand. 
At the moment Goodyear Endurance tires are running about half the price of Westlakes (possibly due to the Goodyear ST225/75R15s being available through Tire Rack and the Westlake ST235/75R15s through eTrailer. $163 vs $337/tire). It sort of made the decision for me.

If you're aware of a better source for the Westlakes I'd appreciate it but I'm planning to pull the trigger on the Goodyears in a week or two.
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lostagain View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote lostagain Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jan 2023 at 6:05pm
Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
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hogone View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote hogone Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jan 2023 at 6:43pm
i have carlisle's and like alot.  jon
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote offgrid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jan 2023 at 4:47am
To be clear, If your asking, I'm not recommending Westlakes or Goodyears or Carlisles or any other particular brand. The brand I bought was Loadstar but I have no basis to recommend that brand over another. None.

My recommendation is to forget the brand. Ive taken a couple graduate level marketing courses. Buying anything by brand is a shortcut consumers afraid of making a mistake take when they don't have enough actual information to make an informed decision. Companies know that very well and play on those fears. So unless you have actual 3rd party data supporting the decision to buy one brand over another (not just a company's marketing BS or some guy who'd rather blame China for his blowout than check his tire pressure)   you're only doing that so you feel better. Which is fine if that's how you want to spend your money.

So my recommendation is to buy premounted ST tires and aluminum wheels on line from Eastern Trailer or wherever. Do the research to be sure that both the tires and wheels you buy have a load rating (in pounds not letters) around 25% above your axle rating. That choice, unlike brand choice, makes logical sense and has an actual engineering basis behind it.

Get wheels with a 5 x 4.5 bolt pattern. Get 15 inch wheels and tires and put on the lift kit if you don't it already.

Have the tires and wheels delivered to your home and put them on yourself. Good practice for when you have a flat later, and if it's time you can inspect your electric brakes and repack your bearings while you have your trailer jacked up.

Then sell your old tires and wheels on CL. Some guy who needs tires and wheels for an old boat or utility trailer he only uses for local towing will be happy to have them. Keep your new tires inflated to their rated pressure. Check them before starting out every morning when youre on the road.

That's my recommendation. Worked great for me doing it that way, and it's got an actual technical and financial basis justifying it.

If you dont have the time to do that (relatively minor) amount of homework then that's fine by me too, just buy by brand.
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lostagain View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote lostagain Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jan 2023 at 6:32am
If I understand your argument, there is no difference in build and component quality between a Fiat and a BMW; it's all just marketing.  Hmmm?

Buying pre-mounted tires makes sense, provided there is a price and quality advantage over buying individual tires and time and expense of having them mounted.  I checked the price at the place you suggested for the tire in this thread and an aluminum rim that would be similar to the ones I have.  It's $228 for a bias ply tire and rim, plus $55 for UPS shipping or $50 for FedEx.  When I replaced he defective Westlake tire and the punctured Carlisle, I paid $110 each for the tires and about $15 for mounting and balancing each.  So, the total cost, not counting the time driving to and from the tire shop, was $158 cheaper per tire for a radial tire of a relatively known  quality vs. a bias ply tire of on uncertain quality.  There can be an additional complication if you only need one tire; you'd likely end up with different rims and tires on each side of the trailer.  

The idea of selling stuff on Craigs list can be good, provided you don't get inundated with scammers trying to get your personal information or trying to do a phony purchase for the asking price that turns out to be a grift.  Oh, and then the people who call to schedule a time to see the tires, then don't show up.....  Selling stuff with Craigslist ads can be a really good deal, but it is filled with time wasters and risks too.  
Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
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Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote offgrid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jan 2023 at 7:45am
Good grief LA, please spare me the sophistry. You are not reading what I'm saying.

I said that unless you have 3rd party data demonstrating that one product from one brand is better than another then purchasing by brand is pointless. You can go to a 3rd party like Consumer Reports and evaluate a Fiat vs a BMW. You'd have to do that by model, not by overall brand, auto reliability can and does vary greatly by model within a brand. And of course you'd need to compare competitive models, I doubt anyone considering buying a BMW model would be looking at Fiats.

But for sure, Consumer Reports is a good 3rd party source for comparing reliability data between car models. I've not seen anything equivalent regarding trailer tire reliability and I've looked. Have you? It's all anechdote.

As for pricing, I wound up with installed 15 inch 2100 lb rated tires and wheels for significantly less than I would have paid for replacement "brand name" mounted 1750 lb tires. Hence my suggestion. I have no idea if that is true today or not, but I have confidence that hank*pod (who was specifically asking me if I had a Westlake alternative for Goodyear) or anyone else on this forum is smart enough to do that conparison shopping themselves for their specific situation, if so inclined. The fact that you took the time to do that yourself indicates to me that all you want to do is argue with me.

The brand argument isn't one I want to get into with you, yet again. I specifically said that it's just fine with me if someone wants to buy by brand, it's just not something I do, or would recommend. Enough on that already.

As for CL, if you don't like advertising there that's fine. There's also Facebook Marketplace and many other alternatives. I buy and sell stuff on both often, and know how to sift through the scammers and tire kickers, most of the time anyway. I like repurposing stuff someone else no longer needs, and vice versa, rather than sending stuff to recycling or the landfill. That's just me If CL or FB aren't your cup of tea, that's fully understandable and ok in my book.





   
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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