American made travel trailer tires

   / American made travel trailer tires #1  
Joined
Dec 15, 2009
Messages
44
Location
Colville, Wa.
Tractor
Kubota L3240 DT
From reading on line and my father's experience with Chinese made tires having blow outs, I know I need some good tires for our travel trailer. It takes ST 205 75 R14 and I can't find any made in the good ole USA locally. Does anyone know or recommend a brand? We'll be heading to Alaska in 6 weeks and I would feel more comfortable having some good rubber on the trailer.

Thanks in advance.
 
   / American made travel trailer tires #2  
IMHO-

Get some good LT tires and 2 spares, jack & lug wrench and hit the road :thumbsup:
 
   / American made travel trailer tires #3  
And remember that the $30 a tire you save when you buy them will look really cheep when you are stopped along side a two lane road 100 miles from the last stop with a blown tire and the side of the trailer all messed up.
 
   / American made travel trailer tires #4  
I've picked up Goodyear Marathons for my travel trailer and other trailers that said Made in the USA on them but apparently it's a toss up. Goodyear moved production to China then brought it back to the US. So some say Made in the USA and some say China.

Carlise and Tow Master are pretty good tires too.
 
   / American made travel trailer tires #5  
Dmace said:
I've picked up Goodyear Marathons for my travel trailer and other trailers that said Made in the USA on them but apparently it's a toss up. Goodyear moved production to China then brought it back to the US. So some say Made in the USA and some say China.

Carlise and Tow Master are pretty good tires too.
My experience with Goodyear Marathons were all bad no matter where they were built. Same with Carlisle. My best experience has been Greenball TowMasters and Maxxis.

Chris
 
   / American made travel trailer tires #7  
Current Marathons are all back in china per Goodyear anyway.

The Kumho 857 are popular with RV folks. However they show a 205r-14 in a load range D at 65 psi.

Maxxis U-168 Bravo LT has several 14" sizes.

A search on RV forums will show the Maxxis ST8008 are the most popular of all the ST tires.
 
   / American made travel trailer tires #8  
After having good luck with both US made TowMasters and Carlisles on my 30' Carri-Lite fifth-wheel, I had 2 blowouts and trailer damage with chinese made Carlisles. Last year, I converted from ST225/75R15 to LT225/75R16 Michelins (made in Canada). These are the same type of tire that my pickup has (only narrower) and I've not had any problems with LT tires on it. The conversion cost me about $2K and I consider it worth it.

My experience with trying to find 15" LT tires was that they are expensive and hard to find. That was the reason for going up to a 16".

Part of my investigation pointed to a general over rating on ST tires. Apparently because they are not rated to carry people, the manufacturers can rate them for up to 1000 pounds more load than a comparable LT tire.
 
   / American made travel trailer tires
  • Thread Starter
#9  
Well, I'm stuck in a quandry. Some on the sites I've read say the Goodyear Marathon is the one but others have had problems with them. After talking with Goodyear today, I have found out that their tires are manufactured both in China and the States (I don't know if there is a difference in quality). From what I've read all brands have issues except the Maxxis. I don't believe I've read anything bad on them.

I'd like to upgrade to 15" wheels but don't think I have the room for that.
 
   / American made travel trailer tires #10  
Baldyonthehill said:
Well, I'm stuck in a quandry. Some on the sites I've read say the Goodyear Marathon is the one but others have had problems with them. After talking with Goodyear today, I have found out that their tires are manufactured both in China and the States (I don't know if there is a difference in quality). From what I've read all brands have issues except the Maxxis. I don't believe I've read anything bad on them.

I'd like to upgrade to 15" wheels but don't think I have the room for that.

Maxxis is a great tire. My second choice behind the Greenball Tow Masters.

Chris
 
 
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