Time for new Tires? USA-made tires now available!

wizard1880

Thought I'd share something I discovered while researching tires for my utility trailer.

If your T@B is between 4-6 years old, and you haven't yet replaced your original tires, or, you've had a blow-out and need new ones -- Goodyear has created a new ST (trailer-service) tire manufactured exclusively in the USA, just released this January!

This is a BIG deal, as it's been many years now that RV owners have only had the choice of trailer tires from China or Taiwan.  Search any forum dedicated to RVs or trailers and you'll find dozens (or hundreds) of threads of folks having tire blowouts on nearly-new chinese made tires, with almost everyone just BEGGING to have USA-made tires again.

Thankfully, NuCamp has done their homework and picked the best tire they can provide--even though they're chinese made.  I haven't heard of many blow-outs here, probably because our tires are amply over-rated for the capacity, giving us a decent safety cushion.

However, if US-made tires are important to you, or you tow your T@B in desert areas often, or if you plan to tow your T@B at speeds regularly above 65 MPH, the Goodyear Endurance tires are available to fit the bill.  And that's right -- they are N-speed rated allowing higher towing speeds.  (Check their website for tire pressure variances needed for high-speed operation)

They can be had at any America's Tire / Discount Tire, and ordered from various online sites.  They're still very new so they may be hard to find.

Here's their press release: https://corporate.goodyear.com/en-US/media/news/goodyear_launches_american_manufactured_trailer_tire.html

irvingj

Wow, that IS a big deal! Thanks for the heads up!

driftless

Had these tires put on our T@B about 3 weeks ago.  We will be heading out west Sunday for a 4 week trip.  Will be giving these tires a góod run.

Cyclonic

I replaced my tires with the new Goodyear Endurance tires last month.  Since I moved from bias ply to radial tires I decided to replace all three.  The main appeal is that they are American made, but also they have a very high load rating (just over 2000 pounds per tire) and a speed rating of 87MPH that I will never use.

So far they seem to ride great, but I have only towed about 100 miles total with them on.  The real test will be in June when I head down to Texas and New Mexico.

jkjenn

Great news!

marknjudy

Looks like Discount Tire has them for $108 each! For that price, it might be worth it for me to do a preemptive strike!

AldebaranJill

Would the Goodyear Endurance be better than TowMax? Am in the market for new tires.

wizard1880

I like that the Endurance is made in USA, and they're speed rated for above 65.  However, the TowMax can be had for much less money.  Honestly, you can't go wrong with either.  I hear the TowMax tires are actually clones of Goodyear Marathon's, or at least they look identical.

Another good brand is Maxxis, but they're even more expensive than the Endurance.

AldebaranJill

I priced the Endurance vs TowMax (quoted by Les Schwab)) and the Endurance was less expensive, so I'll go with that, thank you @wizard1880 for this tire thread!

AldebaranJill

I wanted to post that I've just purchased and  scheduled installation of the new Goodyear Endurance thanks to @wizard1880 's post. It was $255 total total (less than Discount Tire). I bought via Goodyear website, and selected a local place to install. They currently have a automatic discount and the install was less than Discount Tire. 

The tires are rated to 87 mph (versus 65 mph) and are "D" (versus C) and are radial. All is a huge upgrade to the tires I currently have, that are now four years old and show tread wear.

Thank you Brad!!!!!!! 

AldebaranJill

And a big THANK YOU to @JerryandVicki  for noticing my current tire treads and suggesting I look into new tires. :-) 

AldebaranJill

I just priced Discount Tire vs  GoodYear's website - and it was much less expensive to use GoodYear's website. Both were $110 per tire, but GoodYear has a $22 discount and the install was less, so overall it was significant (about $50  less)

marknjudy said:

Looks like Discount Tire has them for $108 each! For that price, it might be worth it for me to do a preemptive strike

wizard1880

Woot!  Glad to help.

clinck

Buying the best tires available and replacing them at the proper time is a life safety issue..
i never quibble about the cost of tires since my life, health and happiness is literally riding on them..I have replaced many tires before their time. It's for peace of mind and protection of my investment.

Ratkity

The young guys at the Harley shop didn't understand why I didn't want the stock tires. I gladly paid the money for a tire I feel safe with on the road!! 

Edit: the older dewds seemed to understand.. methinks I impressed a few from getting a few cute smiles.

ericnliz

@AldebaranJill, A BIG thanks for sharing this with everyone! 'Ya probably helped those folks that were "on the  fence" about their purchase. Nice info!

driftless

I have to say these tires are awesome.  We just completed a 5500 mile trip with these tires on our T@b and they performed beautifully.  We were able to travel at 65-67 mph with no concerns.  Gas mileage at these speed was better than when traveling at 55-60  with the bias tires even thru the mountains.  Traveled from Wisconsin to Nevada, Arizona,  Colorado, then back to Wisconsin.

AldebaranJill

driftless said:

I have to say these tires are awesome.  We just completed a 5500 mile trip with these tires on our T@b and they performed beautifully.  We were able to travel at 65-67 mph with no concerns.  Gas mileage at these speed was better than when traveling at 55-60  with the bias tires even thru the mountains.  Traveled from Wisconsin to Nevada, Arizona,  Colorado, then back to Wisconsin.

Again, many thanks to @wizard1880 for calling attention to these tires with this post. I too did about 500 miles and they towed so well I thought I had a new tow vehicle. Love them!

pthomas745

Tire Rack has them, too:  113 or so, but I didn't pay attention to shipping, etc...

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?zip-code=&width=205/&ratio=75&diameter=15&rearWidth=255/&rearRatio=40&rearDiameter=17

AldebaranJill

I put in my zip and Tire Rack waa $289 (I paid $255)

Apparently Goodyear is having a sale via website:

https://www.goodyear.com/en-US/tires/endurance

TerryV6

  Just wondering.. I see that on the Goodyear site, you buy the tires, pick a site nearby and they ship them there.  When notified, did you just drive over with the camper and they put them on?  Did you have to unhitch?  I've never used a jack yet on it, but I read concerns about proper placement too.  Do you caution the installers?
  Our T@b is a 2016 and it came with steel belt radials.  I think we have about 4000 miles on them.  Still plenty of life.  We try not to drive over 62 mph.  Still, the vision of a blowout is disturbing.  
Tapping forehead...  think.. think..  got a bit of fluff in my ear..

Verna

Yes, caution the tire installer to never put a jack under the axle. Use the frame directly in front of or directly behind the tires. I found out in AZ that the Tire Discount guy was very understanding as Airstreams have the same type of axle. 

TerryV6

Thanks Verna...

AldebaranJill

TerryV6 said:

  Just wondering.. I see that on the Goodyear site, you buy the tires, pick a site nearby and they ship them there.  When notified, did you just drive over with the camper and they put them on?  Did you have to unhitch?  I've never used a jack yet on it, but I read concerns about proper placement too.  Do you caution the installers?
  Our T@b is a 2016 and it came with steel belt radials.  I think we have about 4000 miles on them.  Still plenty of life.  We try not to drive over 62 mph.  Still, the vision of a blowout is disturbing.  
Tapping forehead...  think.. think..  got a bit of fluff in my ear..

I took a good long look at that spot where you're supposed to put a jack, as did the Goodyear tire fellow, and we decided the best thing was for me to put the trailer into the "change a flat tire" mode for them. I was way more comfortable with this than I was with them jacking up the trailer for me.

1. Unhitch
2. Lower front jack as low as possible
3. Extend rear stabilizer jacks as far as possible
4. Raise front jack until wheels lift off ground enough for them to remove the wheels
5. Lower two front stabilizer jacks for extra margin

When they need to tighten the nuts, you'll need to lower the wheels down just enough to make contact with road to offer resistance.

Note you will also need to specify the tire air pressure, and the lug nut torque settings for them.

Jill

DurangoTaB

Thx again to @wizard1880...I checked our local Discount Tire, Goodyear dealer, Sam's Club, and TireRack...all the same... $108/tire+ mounting. The Goodyear rebate is only if you get/use their credit card.

LauraRey

@AldebaranJill   I've never thought about lug nut torque settings.  How do you know what to tell them?

AldebaranJill

It was either 90 or 95 ft-lbs. I have 15" wheels. @LauraRey

Dptrit

Is the Max Tire Load rating per tire or for the pair? Some boat trailers would have 4 tires. My tires look to be 2040 lbs, plenty if times 2 = 4,080lbs but not enough if for the pair. Has to be per tire right?

AldebaranJill

Dptrit said:

Is the Max Tire Load rating per tire or for the pair? Some boat trailers would have 4 tires. My tires look to be 2040 lbs, plenty if times 2 = 4,080lbs but not enough if for the pair. Has to be per tire right?

Right, load index is per tire (diagram below is for 4 wheeled vehicle)

Dptrit

AldebaranJill thank you very much!

Leeh22

I've read all of these posts, all the posts regarding tire pressure and everything I can find on-line.  I'm now totally confused.  The tires that came with out 2015 T@B had a max pressure of 50.  We just replaced them with Good Year Endurance with a max pressure of 65.  But what I read about tire pressure says max 50 for this trailer and folks are recommending 35 -45.   Sounds like I should follow the trailer recommendation not the tire.  Am I understanding this correctly?  What pressure should these endurance tires have?

By the way thanks once again to the forum.   This whole tire replacement was the result of great advice and when we arrived at Goodyear they moved so quickly that they started to work before we were fully checked in.  The first words out of my mouth were "please don't put jacks on the axle".  The guy we were talking to bolted out the door and ran to the trailer where they were about to put the jack on the axle!