RV Tires - Hercules and the odd specs

I'm going to put new front tires on my RV, a 31' Class C funmover. Currently it's got aged out BF Goodrich Commercial T/As, LT225/75R16. Local shop is recommending Hercules for it, did some digging and found a bunch of positive discussions of the Herc Terra-Trac CH4s, in particular their Load range E tire is rated for 3197lbs at 83PSI vs the normal 2680lbs rating, a bit more margin for a likely chronicly overloaded rig is good, right?

Well, I got looking at their specs again:

225/75R16C/10 - 3197lbs @ 83PSI - weighs 33.34lbs
LT225/75R16C/10 - 2680lbs @ 80PSI - weighs 42.90lbs

Wha? Am I wrong in thinking no way the significantly lighter tire is going to be ruggeder than the heavier, LT version?

The shop is suggesting the Terra-Trac HTS as one they recommend for RVs, the numbers there make slightly more sense:

225/75R16 - 1984lbs @ 44psi - weighs 33.73lbs
LT225/75R16/10 - 2680lbs @ 80PSI - weighs 37.35lbs

What's the Beeb's thoughts?

 

China Bombs...

 

I am dealing with the same on my 32' Funmover. After recent blowouts on one year old tires, I'm ordering 6 new ones today. After a lot of research, I have settled on Nexen Roadian CT8 HL. All Load E tires aren't equal, make sure you look at the load rating. OEM tires had load rating of 115/112. If you check the weights, you'll probably find you are at the max (or over) for a tire like that. There are a few tire manufacturers that make a 225/75r16 with a load rating of 121/120. I found Michelin, General, Continental Vanco, and Nexen. The Nexens are OEM on promaster Vans and have a dual weight rating of 3085lbs. The Conti Vanco are OEM on transit 150, but we're a lot more $$$. Most light truck (LT) tires are around 2470lbs for dual.

 

Right, so I see the same oddness with the Nexens: https://www.nexentireusa.com/files/documents/Roadian CT8 HL_Tire Data.pdf

225/75R16 - 3195lbs @ 83PSI
LT225/75R16 - 2680lbs @ 80PSI

Seems wrong to put a non LT tire on when the rig calls for them? Even if you apply the 9% derate the P is rated higher but still...?

 

Have you looked at Bridgestone Duravis R238 and M700?

Bridgestone have finally come out with commercial tires for the Class C.

 

Just because it doesn't have LT in front of the number doesn't mean it's a passenger tire. There is actually a C after the wheel size, signifying it's a Commercial tire. Also, from what I found Load E simply means it's 10ply (weights can vary within load E). The commercial load e's have a higher capacity than the light truck load e's.

 

My thought?
Your choice better not be about saving a buck or two.

 

Saw the Bridgestones, looks like they only claim the base 115 E load rating (2680lbs single) for both models. TJ, good tip on the C, I didn't realize that actually had significance, hadn't heard of PMetric commercial tires, always assumed PMetric meant car/light duty. Still can't believe a tire 10lbs lighter has that much more load capacity in the same make/model though? Going back to the Nexens, the PMetric shows as slightly heavier than the LT, so that makes sense.

 

Load range markings are confusing, depending what type of tire it is. Having the “C” after sizing denoting “commercial” appears to only apply to the euro-metric commercial tires. I’ve no idea where the term “euro-metric” came from, but, it just adds to the confusion.

Here’s what Tire Rack has to say:
https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=55

 

You could swap out the wheels to 17.5's and then get some real commercial duty tires. I used to always read about the Michelin xps rib I think it was called when I had a C. Seemed to be the most popular on the RV forums

 

The big issues are they ride horrible and they’re expensive.

 

That's on my radar, but it's NOT inexpensive and depending on who you ask the RV will not drive as well after due to differences in tire construction.

 

Im no expert but i was gonna say Michelins are durable as hell. And if the tire is really heavy duty i would expect the ride to suffer some....

 

Our commercial trucks only get michelin, i dont care what they cost because breaking down once costs me way more. And they last. Btw, unless you really put miles on put new tires on every 6-7 years regardless of tread.

 

Where I work, there are ~1400 power units and ~2000 trailers. They run only Michelin for steers and wide-based drives. Their data shows only 5-6 blowouts per year and claim it’s the best performance of any tire in those positions they’ve run. For drives, they’ve started spec’ing Bridgestones, as they’re showing 40K-60K more miles over the nearest, first-run drive they’ve tried. However, they’re having roundness issues with them. I used to work for a company that used only Bridgestone, in all positions, and have never seen a round Bridgestone truck tire. Haha.

 

Bridgestone factory must be in canada.

 

I chose to put the only usa manufactured trailer tire in my size on my work and play so it got goodyear endurance's on it. only one trip to the track so far so good.
I did up from load D to load E for extra insurance. i never ever seen a tire blow out from being under loaded

 

is there a toyo option?

 

Michelin Defender LTX M/S, LT235/85R16 (120/116R), 80psi/3042lbs on my F350 diesel fronts.
The whole truck doesn't weigh 7650lbs empty, max is 11500 and, maybe, 1000lbs of that cargo weight goes on the front axle...well within the tires' capabilities.
Quiet, smooth, happy. Get 'em “road force” balanced.
They may have a size for ya and I doubt any rational mind could fault you for going that route.
Don't remember the price but it wasn't outrageous.

 

Wanted those. N/A in my size/rating. Went with Maxxis M8008s. The other choice in a trailer tire was Kenda's Karrier Loadstar...zero issues with that tire for 15-ish years.