Tires Ain’t pretty but they are pretty important. Seems to me there is an awful lot of discussion about which tires should be on your RV. It matters not what vehicle we are talking about the manufacturer should know best.
Although it is true that all tires made for trailers have the designation of “ST”. It is not true that all “trailers” use ST rated tires. For the purposes of this article I am only concerned with RV trailers. Each manufacturer has a recommended tire for each of its trailers. There is a plate attached to the RV with the recommended tire listed on it.
In my case the tire listed is a 16 inch tire rated E (for weight around 3000lbs) and with the designation of LT (light truck).
These are some of the things that I do to maintain my tires:
1. I check my tire pressure when the tires are cold.
2. I keep the tires inflated to the max pressure listed on the tire.
3. If I change altitudes or temperatures I adjust the pressure for that climate.
4. I keep my tires clean and use a UV protectant on them.
5. Keep a watch for cracks in the sidewalls.
Tire under inflation is the main cause of tire failure. Under inflation allows the sidewalls to flex more and this builds up heat. This in turn builds pressure and then BANG.
Here is a tip. Every time you stop while you are traveling check the temperature of your tires. The easy way to do this is just run your hand over the tread of each tire if they feel warm it’s ok. If you can’t touch it you got a situation you need to look at. One more thing while we are checking tires also feel your axels these again should not be hot to the touch. If you want to go one step further use a club to hit each tire as a quick pressure check. If you have a tire that is low the sound will be different when you hit it. This takes a little practice but it does work.
This probably should be another article but if you are going to get your vehicle weighed consider these weighing options. Rather than just knowing how much your rig weighs you really want to know…
1. How much weight difference side to side.
2. Weight difference on each axel.
3. Weight on each wheel
All and each of the above will affect tire life. These weights are not easy to come by but the more information you have the better you can maintain your tires.
