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  1. #31
    Seasoned Camper
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    Quote Originally Posted by Airrace View Post
    Over the years I have shredded or blown up at least a dozen tires. All were "E" rated ST235/85-80R16.If you look at the weight rating of an E range tire, normally around 3,100 lbs a tire (= or - a bit) you soon see that you are running about 98% of rating. The G rated tires are much higher. Westlake being 4400 lbs a tire at 110psi which is about 60% of weight rating. Not sure where they get speed rating from but @BB&LAB is right, tires are rated for 65 mph ONLY. Two years on my "G" rated Westlakes so far and going good. BTW I have see the front tires of my F-350 go from 75psi to 90psi+ I don't let air out as when they cool off they would be under inflated
    I have a 2020 Reflection 337 and here is the info on the tire
    ST235/80 R16 124/120L
    80 PSI cold
    3520 pounds at 80 psi
    Speed range L, max speed 75

    In some of my research I found that if a ST tire does not have a speed rating then the max speed is 65mph.
    Last edited by J&J___; 11-05-2019 at 11:41 AM.

  2. #32
    Fireside Member
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    Mar 2019
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    Quote Originally Posted by WhittleBurner View Post
    E-rated tires period should not be run on such a heavy trailer. There have been plenty of posts on here saying that. On light weight trailers people have had success with them. We did change out the E-rated tires on our 303 when we got it, not just because of problems people were having but because there is a better and larger choice of tires with the G-rated tires. Since GD has started using the G-rated tires on the larger trailers I have not read of anyone having a problem with the G-rated tires.
    I couldn’t agree more!. As a first time 5er owner I didn’t have the full picture. I had read some of the warnings but I thought I might be worrying needlessly. That’s why I took the precaution of a TPMS. My trailer is a 2017 and I later discovered that GD put G rated on the 18s. After my mishap I immediately switched to Sailun S637 235x85x16 for a little more trailer height .
    Chuck & Trish
    2017 350M
    2018 Ram 3500 DRW
    2014 HD Roadking

  3. #33
    Seasoned Camper Airrace's Avatar
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    I know that the tire manufactures claim to have ST tires speed rated at 75/80+ but if you check with the inside people it's not so. Remember one thing: Cars and trucks carry people and the NTSB frowns on tires not being what they say. Trailers only carry cargo so no big deal if a tire blows up at 75 mph. Besides it is cheaper to make the tire that way.
    Lyle & Judy and Annie the Westie
    Retired (Government employee/USMC/USAFR, Ret) & Retired (insurance industry)
    2018 F-350 CC LB DRW 4X4 6.7 (3.55)(Reese 18k "puck system")
    2018 Solitude 310GK (5500 Onan Genset)
    2020 F-150 SCSB XLT 2.7L 10 speed

  4. #34
    Seasoned Camper
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bamaman View Post
    I switched to Bridgestone Duravis R250 ribbed tires the day after delivery to our campground--16" E range.

    You wouldn't believe the difference in total weight of the tires and the thickness of the sidewalls vs. Westlakes.
    Switched to Carlisle tires very quickly after purchase, just not worth the risk.
    2019 Reflection 312BHTS TT Sold

  5. #35
    Long Hauler
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    May 2014
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    NW AL/NE GA Mountains
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    Look on your sidewall. If the tire is from China, I don't want it unless it's a Sailun. I don't care what the ratings are. They're still of poor quality across the board. And I also question the NHTSA for not doing a better job of looking out for the safety of U.S. citizens.

    It's bad enough for a 70 year old man with no trailer experience to be driving a 55' long tow truck and fifth wheel--much less with junk tires.

  6. #36
    Fireside Member
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    Jun 2018
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    Quote Originally Posted by BB&LAB View Post
    While I agree that the Sailun are a much better tire, ie. 14-ply commercial tires and why I will be going to them does not make the Westlake a bad tire, or as bad as they are made out to be on the web unless you are talking about the E-rated flavor for loads very close to the E-rating, in which case the fault lies with either the trailer manufacturer for not putting a higher rated tire, or the owner if they put E-rated tires on a trailer where G-rated would be the correct choice. There have been many people like myself who have or are getting good service out of Westlakes. Again while Sailun makes a better, likely in the "Best" category, Westlakes likely fall in the "Good" category and may be a good option for someone who may not have, or does not want to spend the higher premium price for a Sailun. Another consideration often over looked in the lousy tire threads are a couple other factors - correct tire inflation and driving speed. It seems obvious that tires should be checked regularly and kept to the proper PSI, yet too often there are those who say, they rarely check the tire pressure and some who fail to keep their speed when towing a trailer with ST tires under 65-mph, the max rated speed for ST tires. As an example, I new a guy who had a blowout and blamed "crappy tires" so replaced them with one of the reported better brands, had a second blow out, replaced with still another so called better rated tire and had a third blowout. I asked him if he maintains correct tire pressure, to which he said usually he does, I asked a second question, how fast do you generally drive to which he said he drives 75-80 mph... BINGO! Any tire, properly rated for the load of the trailer, properly maintained and driven under the rated 65 mph should give good service, in absence of those conditions any tire is likely likely to fail.
    Wish that was my case, going to fast and not checking the tires.
    When you do everything you can and its still not enough then you will understand its just not worth it. Lives are more important.
    Also the cost of the repairs to the camper add up to the cost of new tires almost.

    Called GD and they had a speech prepared by their attorney saying they don't get enough failures for the amount of tires they use so there are no issues.

    My thing is a tire should hold up better and not fail like this one did. I've had flats over the years but never had a tire fall apart like this one.
    Westlake = p.o.s.

  7. #37
    Seasoned Camper frank4711's Avatar
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    Picking up new S Class in 2 weeks ... I am reading the G rated tires seem OK?? 5ver I am trading I changed to Endurance as soon as I got the rig home but they were E rated ... later Frank
    Frank & Cindy --- S Class Solitude 2930RL-R ---2019 Ram 3500 Cummins 6.7 SRW 4x4 8' bed---Remi & Sage traveling Pomskies ---TST 507 TPMS ... B&W Patriot 18K---3.73 axle ... Predator 3500--Backflip MX4---48 days 2019---51 days camped 2020---***Payload 4394***

  8. #38
    Site Team WhittleBurner's Avatar
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    S-class should have G-rated tires on it from GD. I haven't heard of anybody having problems with the G-rated Westlakes. The problems that have been reported on here have been about E-rated tires on the heavy trailers.
    Marcy & Gary
    2014 Grand Design - Reflection 303RLS
    2022 GMC 3500 Denali Duramax Longbed SRW
    2015 GMC Denali 3500 - Retired
    2003 F350 - retired
    Michigan
    We're in trouble now, the dog are bloggin'!
    https://3dogsandatrailer.wordpress.com/


  9. #39
    Setting Up Camp
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    May 2019
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    Where did it say he was using a Anderson hitch

  10. #40
    Left The Driveway
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    I always hate to hear about these tire failures and sorry to hear about the OP's incident. Always makes me wonder when it will be my turn?

    I'm one of those lucky owners that you don't hear about. I currently have the original E-rated Westlake tires on our 348M that came with the camper when we picked it up in Oct. 2015. We've kept an eye on the tires and the speed generally around 65mph max. We are one of the survivors and are currently shopping for new tires before we head out on our first camping trip of the season. The 348M has 7,000# axles and a 16.5k lbs max load capacity, so theoretically the E-rated tire is just barely sufficient. As such, I am looking at the GY Endurance E-rated tire or the Sailun G637 G-rated tire. Decisions, decisions...

    Thank you to everyone that frequently posts. As anyone can tell by my post count, I'm not one of those. Happy Camping!

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