Tires....opinions please

[wintertree]

Hello Everyone....still a week before we pick up our new (to us) 2015 38RL....Doing some digging here with plans for any upgrades needed for our future plans....I went back to see the unit twice before we made the deal....the last time it was hoovering around -25....wind chill was - a million.....so I am guilty of not seeing every detail as well as I normally would....however my RV tech background did kick in and I was happy with what I saw...
Tires....a topic that stirs up as much feedback as the great gas or diesel debate !
I did notice the RW has a set of Westlake tires installed....not original tires....they looked new-ish....However I believe these are Chinese tires...upon investigation thru a 2015 brochure I down loaded.....it mentioned that these trailers come with Goodyear G614 tires (16")....I had a hard time finding a rock chip on our trailer....and I would notice if it were touched up....Did the G614's have issues ?
I found good reviews on line....but that might not be the whole story.....so thoughts on these tires please.....Our unit will be hauled to the West coast (about 1100 miles) where it will be parked most of the time and used as a home base....we also have a large truck camper for our Dually which we use for exploring.....and our 43' trawler is moored at a local marina for our coastal explorations from Vancouver Island to Alaska....so we don't plan on moving the RW that much...maybe a few different places within a hundred miles or so from the marina.....I explained that information so we don't have to hash out the benefits of upgrading to 17.5" running gear (which I agree is better)...but have no desire to spend more $$ for a trailer that will sit...
In saying that....I still would upgrade "out of" Chinese rubber.....I had some westlake tires on one of our 1 ton flat deck trucks here on the farm....and never had issues.....but they were not loaded all the time.....
So for good 16" rubber....What are your thoughts ?...Thankyou everyone...Wes

[Ford truck guy]

Our "16" 38RL came stock with Westlakes.. I had a set of Goodyear G114 17.5's with less than 500 miles on them on the old trailer..

Part of my deal with the dealer was to swap rims and tires from one to the other..

I do not recall any issues with Westlakes, but if upgrading $$$ is an issue, I would NOT hesitate in putting a new set of Sailuns on.... Great quality and a great price... Kind of like the best of both worlds...

[wintertree]

Thanks for the heads up on Sailun tires.....did quite a few searches and could not find any real negative data anywhere....There is always those whom purchase the "Uber best" and nothing else will do.....Thats their option....I purchase a set of G114's.....spend almost twice the coast of Sailun S637 ST.....then leave the trailer parked for the vast majority of the next 5 years.....and the tires get on in age...kind of a waste.....If I was planning on making miles....I would not be asking for advice.....and would step up for a set of Goodyears..

I will do some more looking and maybe stop by our local tire shop as I found tonight they support the Sailun tire line....Thanks...Wes

[Ford truck guy]

Originally Posted by wintertree

Thanks for the heads up on Sailun tires.....did quite a few searches and could not find any real negative data anywhere....There is always those whom purchase the "Uber best" and nothing else will do.....Thats their option....I purchase a set of G114's.....spend almost twice the coast of Sailun S637 ST.....then leave the trailer parked for the vast majority of the next 5 years.....and the tires get on in age...kind of a waste.....If I was planning on making miles....I would not be asking for advice.....and would step up for a set of Goodyears..

I will do some more looking and maybe stop by our local tire shop as I found tonight they support the Sailun tire line....Thanks...Wes

Wes,

I may be wrong but I don't recall any HUGE issues with the Westlake version... IF.. AND THAT'S A BIG " IF" I were gonna park the trailer for most of it's life, I would think about the Westlakes.. Can you get a weight of each tire position to see your real weights ? That could tell the tale

Joe

[tangoparson]

Get the date codes off the tires and let that be your yard stick. If you feel they are iffy in age, get the sailuns.

That said mine has the G’s but they came as part of the deal when buying. When it comes change time I’ll have a decision to make.

[travelin' texans]

I agree with Joe! If you're only towing it 1100 miles to sit indefinitely I wouldn't replace what's on it unless they appear questionable or you're loading way heavy to get to that spot.
When you do start towing regularly then upgrade to the 17.5" H rated Sailuns, if you win the lottery buy the GY 114s, that will end any tire worries.
When I ordered my '13 standard tire was GY Marathon Es, the famous China bomb, which was not near enough tire for the RWs, I ordered/opted for the GY 614s, soon after the 614s were standard. About the '15-'16 models the Westake Gs were standard & if I recall the 17.5" H rated were the option. With that being said the Westlakes on that unit may have been standard, you can't go by the brochures as they may change things 2-3 times in the same model year & can't update the brochures fast enough.

[mhs4771]

Just a word of advice: Apparently Sailuns are made in several countries, because when we stopped at MORryde after the Rally last year they had a stack of the 17.5 Sailuns and there were labeled "Made in Korea". I know the "Gs" have been doing good, but I haven't heard anything about their "H" rated.

[Ford truck guy]

Originally Posted by mhs4771

Just a word of advice: Apparently Sailuns are made in several countries, because when we stopped at MORryde after the Rally last year they had a stack of the 17.5 Sailuns and there were labeled "Made in Korea". I know the "Gs" have been doing good, but I haven't heard anything about their "H" rated.

hmmmmmm.. Good to know.. will be curious to hear if the standards are the same

[RWJSIM2003]

Our 0215 38RL came with the Good Year G614 tires. We have had no issues in the past 4 years we put about 2500-3000 miles a year on them so far. I do plan on upgrading to 17.5 rims and tires this year but wanted to get the most out of the tires until we needed to replace them. We do travel light and are not full time so the 16"s held up well with not complaints. I have done many suspension upgrades on the trailer in the last few years.

[830hvacman]

My 2015 (4/2015) came w/ Westlakes and put about 5000 miles on them. I did upgrade (7/2016) to the GY G614 (date code 16/16 = April ?? 2016) on the stock 16" rims (had to upgrade to metal valve stems though) and now have 13,350 miles on them. So far they are doing well and run them at the rated 110psi.

I would recommend an upgrade to anything other than keeping the Westlakes.

Good Luck and Safe Travels!

[830hvacman]

I noticed today that the GY G614 was at $289.71 w/ Free Shipping on Amazon.

[wintertree]

Well .....I picked up our 38RL yesterday....braved -20 and got her home.....The dealer had a "Brain Fart" and washed the dust of our trailer in the wash bay and then kicked it out into the yard ready for us to pick up...Talk about "Robots"...there is ice all over the unit....no way could I venture very far to having one last look inside to make sure everything is stowed before we hit the highway home....Didn't dare push the slides out of fear of damage....anyway we made it home OK and it will sit plugged in to keep the batteries up till temps improve and the ice melts....Comments I got is "we always wash the units one last time before pick-up ...".....crap !
Sorry about the venting.....Tires.....Yes one of the posters was correct....our unit came with westlakes as the spare is one ...brand new ...never used....However I am going to replace the tires as soon as spring arrives as i do see some minor cracks on the drivers side set....I won't risk damage over this for the price of some new rubber....Thankyou all that posted with your thoughts..

Regards Wes
2016 f-450
2015 38RL....full load

[r time soon]

Congratulations on your new to you Redwood and braving the cold to get home. Should be worth it. Good that you are considering upgrading the tires as those and the suspensions are very vulnerable on these heavy trailers. We hope you get to enjoy your Redwood as much as we do ours.

[Elliott & Vicky]

The Sailun company is, I believe, the only Chinese tire company that is ISO 14,000 certified. They are a great tire IMHO, and I am pleased with their performance. Simpletire.com is the place to get tires, no matter which tires you select.

[BasilFawlty]

We have a 2015 38RL and last summer we upgraded to the Morryde 8K axles with new rims and tires.

Still have the our old Goodyear G614 with original Redwood rims if you are interested.

[RW Cal]

Originally Posted by wintertree

Hello Everyone....still a week before we pick up our new (to us) 2015 38RL....Doing some digging here with plans for any upgrades needed for our future plans....I went back to see the unit twice before we made the deal....the last time it was hoovering around -25....wind chill was - a million.....so I am guilty of not seeing every detail as well as I normally would....however my RV tech background did kick in and I was happy with what I saw...
Tires....a topic that stirs up as much feedback as the great gas or diesel debate !
I did notice the RW has a set of Westlake tires installed....not original tires....they looked new-ish....However I believe these are Chinese tires...upon investigation thru a 2015 brochure I down loaded.....it mentioned that these trailers come with Goodyear G614 tires (16")....I had a hard time finding a rock chip on our trailer....and I would notice if it were touched up....Did the G614's have issues ?
I found good reviews on line....but that might not be the whole story.....so thoughts on these tires please.....Our unit will be hauled to the West coast (about 1100 miles) where it will be parked most of the time and used as a home base....we also have a large truck camper for our Dually which we use for exploring.....and our 43' trawler is moored at a local marina for our coastal explorations from Vancouver Island to Alaska....so we don't plan on moving the RW that much...maybe a few different places within a hundred miles or so from the marina.....I explained that information so we don't have to hash out the benefits of upgrading to 17.5" running gear (which I agree is better)...but have no desire to spend more $$ for a trailer that will sit...
In saying that....I still would upgrade "out of" Chinese rubber.....I had some westlake tires on one of our 1 ton flat deck trucks here on the farm....and never had issues.....but they were not loaded all the time.....
So for good 16" rubber....What are your thoughts ?...Thankyou everyone...Wes

Congrats on the 38RL. We have one we ordered in early 2014 and finally received in May 2014. It came with Goodyear 16" and 7K axles. We were loading it pretty much to capacity, so I upgraded to Sailun tires on 17.5" wheels and added 8K independent suspension. If you are going on the road a lot, I'd recommend this combo. It looks like you'll be pretty stationary, so maybe you shouldn't worry about it.
The Goodyear G-rated are great tires, but very expensive. If you would like a set of used ones with about 10K miles on them let me know.

[piper guy]

We have the 17.5 Sailun with now about 12k miles on them and as fulltimers were loaded heavy. Absolutely no issues. I wouldn't hesitate to get them as a G replacement for the Westlakes.

[RV4us2]

RE: Sailun's Our '15 38GK is ready for new tires and considering the 17.5/Sailuns from Performance Braking upgrading from our GY 16's. In doing some research, I have a question regarding the Sailun Warranty. They state on their website that use on a trailer/RV is not covered. Anyone have any experience getting warranty replacements on their Sailun tires? Also, Performance Braking gives me an option of 215 or 235. What have some of you opted for? The 215's have a slightly smaller overall diameter than my GY-235/80R/16's. I was hoping to increase the diameter some so I could raise my B&W hitch slightly to keep the unit level when connected as I could use a little more clearance from the truck bed. I did upgrade to the MorRyde IS last summer. We FT and travel heavy.

[XCMARK]

the 215/75/17.5" tires are fairly narrow and roughly the same size outside diamerter as the 235/80/16" OEM goodyears . you need a 6.75" wide wheel for both 17.5" tires so really is just a case of how high the trailer sits. If you need 1" higher then go with the 235/75/17.5 wheels and tires . you will have a payload compasity much higher then the OEM GoodYear 614. you will also be able to run less air pressure in the 235 17.5" tires ! maybe 100 ~105 lbs of air PSI

[travelin' texans]

Originally Posted by XCMARK

you will also be able to run less air pressure in the 235 17.5" tires ! maybe 100 ~105 lbs of air PSI

By lowering the air pressure you also lower the load carrying capacity. If fulltiming & running heavy I'd recommend max pressure stamped on the tire sidewall for max load capacity. Even with the OEM 16s, which are marginal with very little load reserve, if any, should be at max pressure to be at max load. You have the IS so will likely never notice a tad bit stiffer ride with more air pressure. I replaced my OEM 16s with the Sailun 215s, although I didn't measure before or after, did not notice any difference in the RW height at the hitch or otherwise & running 125 psi did not notice any difference in the ride towing or any more movement of items inside, I did not have the IS. If your spending the $$$ to increase the tire size/load then don't defeat the whole idea by lowering the pressure.