uzikaduzi

I'm not arguing against anything you said... ST's are better designed to handle lateral loads, can hold up better to months of sitting and not being used and have more UV protectant in the compounds.


LT tires are rated for trailer use though. many trailer manufacturers equip them stock (and many do not as well) they have better tread life and can handle speeds better.


you absolutely can get higher rated STs for your trailer and 4 3k tires exceeds the weight of many TTs, but that doesn't change the fact that most manufacturers equip their TTs with tires that cannot even support the load of the entire trailer (which, in fairness, the tongue weight is always subtracted from the trailer even parked)...


my point was that most ST's are run at their max pressure, at their max speed rating, and their max load and because of that, you see a lot of blow outs. If you are low on tire pressure, that's obviously an issue, but you generally can't over inflate them either without exceeding the tire recommended max pressure. upping your load rating on an ST can solve for 2 of those problems, but going to LT's can solve all of them.


you're right there are down sides to LTs too, but the real down side is cost... they cost more and if you don't use the trailer regularly, they don't hold up as well to being parked. The sway issue is largely exaggerated to the point of being inaccurate and the only other benefit to the stiffer side walls are in the lateral forced you mention, but those are only applied during tight turns and only on trailers with more than one axle.


the fact remains, ST tires were an economical solution/alternative to LT tires.

smokeywren

STOP Back up and start over. No spreading of "fake news" on F150Forum.


SOME very few LT tires are rated for trailer (or all position) use, but most are NOT! So don't even think of mounting most LT tires on a trailer. Check with the tire manufacturer's website and be sure the LT tire is rated for all-position service (all-position includes steer, drive, and trailer positions).


For example, if Michelin is your brand, then only the Michelin XPS LT tire is rated for all-position service. The excellent and popular Michelin LTX (or the new Defender LTX) are NOT rated for trailer nor all position service.


But the Michelin website for car and pickup tires won't tell you that.
http://www.michelinman.com/US/en/tir...s/xps-rib.html
Note the above link tells you about the XPS for light truck use, but doesn't mention anything about a trailer.


You have to go to the MichelinTruck.com website to see that the XPS is rated for all-position service.
http://www.michelintruck.com/tires-a...!/info/xps-rib


And note that the LTX nor Defender nor any other LT tires are included on that website - because they are not rated for all-position or trailer service.

gbynum

I don't think the Defender LTX nor the Premier LTX are "real" LT tires ... rather P-Metric which require the 1.1 derating for truck use.

I may be wrong ... won't be the first time.

I have the Defender LTX M/S on my F150.

smokeywren

I suspect you're wrong. Michelin makes the Defender LTX in both P-series and LT.

http://www.michelinman.com/US/en/tir...tail-sku-table

If my linking works, then the above link is for a Michelin Defender LTX in size LT275/65R18/E 123/120R

gbynum

I understand. MINE are P-metric. Thanks for the info.

charles_slc

First of all, 15yrs is way to long. Should have been replaced @ 5yrs...maybe push it to 6 or 7 if they are kept covered.

I'd stick with ST tires for reasons others have mentioned.

I'm running the Carlisle, mainly because unlike many ST tires, they are rated to 81mph. I was also able to go up 1 load range higher than I actually needed.

acdii

What if the tires are kept indoors?

charles_slc

It'd help, since they aren't in sunlight....but unless you're keeping them in a vacuum chamber...it doesn't stop the damage done by air (ozone).