Just stay away from Chinesium tires

I spent nearly a year reading through RV Forums and a forum used by folks who use light trucks and trailers to transport goods. Two tires seemed to be the favorites. Michelin and Maxxis.

The transporters reported they were so satisfied with Michelin they continued to buy them each time they needed replacements. Keep in mind some of the transporters drive up to 300,000 miles per year so they go through a couple of sets of tires each year.

Many of those who use Michelin commented they got more miles out of the Michelins with less problems than any other tire brand.

I chose to go with Michelin XPS RIBS tires.

We ordered our new tires through this company last year, saved about 1/3rd of the price quoted from a local tire company.

www.trailertiresandwheels.com/

cannot seem to find a Michelin tire for our TT at the above site, this is what is on sidewall of tire: ST 205/75 R14. Max Fill 50 PSI. I would like to find the best tire for this camper. Thanks for the info. P.Kuehne

Found out that Michelin does not make a TT tire in the size that we need. So back to square one.

To start you will find most "ST" tires are Chinese made. It's just a simple fact and there few other choices. Michelin does not make a "ST" tire and most people who utilize Michelin are moving into "LT" tires. You can use a LT tire although they do have deeper tread depth which can create a squirm until the tread wears down (think in terms of a brand new eraser on a pencil, it sheds lots of material when new and it can tear off easily ( not saying a LT tire will do that but it's a good visual)).

Everyone has their "pet" brand based on experience and/or tribal knowledge (which many times is a lot of misinformation.

So my first question to you is this, what was the brand of the tires you are replacing? Second, how many miles/months of service did you receive from them? Thirdly, my suggestion is if you have had decent/good service why not replace them with the same brand?

There are pros and cons to increasing the size of the tire. First is, does the wheel have the rated weight capacity that equals or exceeds the larger tire ( the information is stamped on the wheel sometimes requiring you to dismount a tire from the wheel to check. Second, what is the width of the wheel and does that fall within the specs for the larger tire. Third, is there at least 1/2" clearance around the tire (this is critical because if it's too tight you could have a catostophic failure if the tire rubs the frame, springs, or body.

Finally, I have given you just a few of the items you need to think about. I was in the tire industry for almost 40 years so I just sharing some of the things I have learned first hand. Feel free to ask questions it's the best way to gather information to make an informed decision.

Have found a Maxxis and a CE Smith Tire that will fit our trailer. Anyone have any idea what the charge would be to have them mounted when received by us? I don't know anything about the CE Smith brand, but have read that the Maxxis is a good tire. P.K.

If I were you I would assume the CE Smith tire is the retailer, not the tire.

No, CE Smith is the name of the tire, only trailer tires and no radials.

I think you need to do a search on CE Smith. They do not manufacture tires, but rather source their tires through a Chinese manufacture that more then likely stamps CE Smith on the sidewall. Not too sure which plant code they are.

I would again ask why if your original tire manufacturer worked ok why you wouldn't consider them again unless you are only looking at a price point. There are very few retailers/wholesalers that brand their own tires anymore. Discount Tire along with Sears are about the only ones that come to mind. It takes a huge quality of tires to make it worth while to brand a quality tire these days.

I understand what you are saying, but the tires on my TT are of Chinese making. And CE Smith tires are chinese also, just looking for what I can find that fits mine that is NOT Chinese. Thanks for the info. PK.

You will be hard pressed to find a "ST" that wasn't built in the western pacific area. Most are Chinese with some Thailand or India. Quite frankly the Chinese are better quality then the other two.

There are some Chinese brands that have worked well as long as they are maintained and driven correctly. I see many trailers flying down the highway well over their 65 mph rating (std for many "ST"). I have ordered a Grand Design Solitude which comes with Westlake's. On the grand design forum there has been few failures and the ones that have happened could probably be traced back to other root causes outside the manufactures fault.

I'm not saying that there aren't tire conditions that fall under a workmanship or material issue, every manufacture has them, every the over hyped Michelin. (They just don't believe they make a bad tire (a company I worked at for about 3 years))

Have a set of Maxxis tires ordered. Thanks everyone.