More on Tires |
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lostagain
Senior Member Joined: 06 Sep 2016 Location: Quaker Hill, CT Online Status: Offline Posts: 2595 |
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Topic: More on Tires Posted: 20 Sep 2022 at 5:37pm |
The issue of tires came up again for me these last few days. I was all set to take off Sunday morning for the woods of NH, but when I double checked the air pressure in one of my tires, it was not holding pressure. I took the tire off and discovered a tiny 18 ga. finish nail right at the edge of the tread. It was too close to the sidewall to allow a safe repair, so I ordered a new Carlisle tire on Amazon.
Thankfully, Amazon messed up the order and the shipment got delayed, so I arranged to buy another tire from a local tire shop. Since I gave my word on the purchase to the local shop, when the Amazon shipped tire unexpectedly arrived, I found that I had two nice new Carlisle ST 205/75r15 HD LRD tires, nice and fresh. Before calling Amazon to come pick up the extra tire, I thought it might be a good idea to check the date on the Westlake OEM. It was about eight months from its Cinderella date. I decided that I'd keep the extra Carlisle get rid of the Westlake. When I took off the spare to load, along with the other tires and rim, into my truck, I noticed something very disturbing. The Westlake tire had hardly ever been used, having traveled maybe 500 miles, but when I loaded it I noticed that there was a huge bubble of tread separation on the tire that I had not noticed when I periodically checked the pressure. Had I been out in the middle of nowhere, I'd've been up the proverbial creek with no paddle. A couple lessons I have learned: My 3 in a row experiences with Westlake tires is that they are garbage, not fit for the sole of a pair of huaraches. The second, keep a lot closer eye on the condition of the spare tire. If it becomes unusable Murphy's law will ensure that you will need it at the most inopportune time.
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
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gpokluda
Senior Member Joined: 11 Nov 2018 Location: NM Online Status: Offline Posts: 327 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 21 Sep 2022 at 8:42pm |
+1 Add me to the list of Westlake haters. Actually the tires weren't as bad as some I have used elsewhere. My two biggest gripes are they lose air pressure (5psi every 30days) and they wore quickly. Can't say enough about the WildPeak AT3 LT I have now.
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Gpokluda
2017 Rpod 179(sold 2023) 2022 Escape 5.0TA 2022 Ford F150 4X4 3.5EB Kawasaki KLR650 |
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GlueGuy
Senior Member Joined: 15 May 2017 Location: N. California Online Status: Offline Posts: 2653 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 22 Sep 2022 at 10:39am |
Maybe just because I'm a contrarian, or I don't know what. We had zero problems with the OEM Westlake tires until we replaced them in early 2022 (6-year end of life). They did not come apart, leak, or show any other types of poor construction issues.
We replaced them with Carlisle tires because our regular tire place only carries a couple of brands of trailer-type tires.
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
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lostagain
Senior Member Joined: 06 Sep 2016 Location: Quaker Hill, CT Online Status: Offline Posts: 2595 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 22 Sep 2022 at 6:25pm |
Our other two Westakes, like gpokluda's, wouldn't maintain air pressure. It had something to do with rolling as they didn't lose air when they sat parked. I checked the pressure at the start of each day and by the end of that day's travel, they were down in the 50 lbs range. The tread didn't make it 10K miles before I replaced them.
I suspect the bonding agent between the tread and the carcass was either bad or the surface was not properly prepared when they applied the tread rubber and it lead to the tires squirming too much on the pavement and heating them up. Excess heat is very hard on tires.
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
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jato
Senior Member Joined: 23 Feb 2012 Location: Kewadin, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 3252 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 24 Sep 2022 at 8:27am |
Our first 2 sets of tires were "C" load tires, our 3rd set we went with Carlisle Radial HD in a "D" rated tire. Huge difference when traveling especially when encountering cross winds, much more stable and much less flex in the side walls noticed.
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God's pod
'11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
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GlueGuy
Senior Member Joined: 15 May 2017 Location: N. California Online Status: Offline Posts: 2653 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 24 Sep 2022 at 9:52am |
That's a good point that I'd not thought of before. The OEM Westlake tires (that I know of) are load range C, but they also had a relatively high load capacity (around 2400 lbs IIRC). However, because they're LRC, they run at 50 PSI, and LRD up that to ~~65 PSI. That would certainly make a difference in high cross winds.
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
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lostagain
Senior Member Joined: 06 Sep 2016 Location: Quaker Hill, CT Online Status: Offline Posts: 2595 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 24 Sep 2022 at 10:58am |
Our OEM Westlakes on our Sonoma were LRD's with 15" rims. I noticed a tremendous difference in stability when I replaced the LRC tires on our 172 with LRD's.
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
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offgrid
Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 24 Sep 2022 at 1:08pm |
The OEM Westlakes in the mid sized rpods in the 2015 timeframe were 14 inch LRCs only rated for 1750 lbs. Very marginal, which helps explain why folks were having so much trouble with them back then.
I replaced mine with pre mounted 15 inch Lodestar LRDs rated at 2500 lbs which provided a nice safety factor. Stable ride with no overheating. Even so, I check my tire temps at every fuel stop with my ir thermometer when I tie. Very quick and cheap insurance. Checked brake and bearing temps too. Doesn't add any more time to my walkaround. You can also get a tpms that reports tire temps as well as pressures. |
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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Linda&Gino
Newbie Joined: 04 Jun 2017 Location: New Mexico Online Status: Offline Posts: 32 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 25 Sep 2022 at 4:20pm |
It sounds like FR used whatever they could get as long as they looked the part of a rugged offload capable tire. The Westlakes on our 2017 179 were of the 15" variety but LRC with 50psi max.
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gpokluda
2017 Rpod R179 SOLD! 2022 Escape 5.0 TA 2022 Ford F150 4X4 EB3.5 Triumph T120 Bonneville |
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