Tires: 5th Wheel Trailer Tires, 5th wheel trailer, wheel toy

Question
We purchased a new 5th wheel toy hauler (Salem by Forest River) in Aug 2004.  The Trailer is 40ft and weight range is 16,000 to 19,000 lbs.  It came with 4 - Load Boss MTW LT 235 / 85R16 tires.  We had two blow outs on our last trip.  Tires have about 3500 miles on them and the trailer gets used about every other month. We check the pressure before after and during each trip putting in the recommended 110psi.  Now for the questions, do I trust the other two tires?  Is this the right size tire for this trailer.  Who messed up?  Us, Trailer Manufacturer or the tire company?  

Answer
Melinda,

I think you need to look at the sidewall of the tire and see what inflation pressure it says there.  I suspect it says 80 psi.

But another issue is that if it does say 80 psi, then the tires are only capable of carrying 3042 # each - for a total of about 12,000 pounds.  Assuming 15% of the vehicle weight is on the tongue, then the overall weight of the vehicle can not exceed 14,312 pounds.

However if the tires say 95 psi, then the maximum vehicle weight can not exceed 16,700.

In either case, I would advise you to actually weigh the trailer - as fully loaded as you use it and hocked up to your tow vehicle.  Make sure the water tanks are all full, all the stuff you can ever think of bringing.  In other words, do a worst case.

If you can, weigh each individual tire, but at the very least do each side.

With all this information, you ought to be able to determine what is going on.