Low profile Stepdeck and tires blowing up, what's the story???

Its legit 17.5 tires can be a pain. Run good virgins at 120psi. Slow down on warm days. Carry spares because when they let loose. Hardly anyone will have one in stock. When you use your spare get a new spare asap. We carried mounted spares because if a driver ran a curb over very likely to snag and bend the rim. Plus tires wear fast.

 

My trailer with 17.5's. It had auto air inflation. Set cruise at 62mph.
I would drive faster in the winter above
I-70. Tires maxed around 8 months or less. I carried 2 spares, 1 mounted on a wheel. I used new tires.
I replaced that trailer eventually with one that has 22.5's. Auto air inflation system.
1 year complete, I'll probably change tires come fall.
Same loads, weight, mileage time. Except I'll run up to 70mph whenever it's legal.

 

What’s the deck height difference with 22.5 rubber......

 

My deck height was 34" with 17.5 tires
40" with 22.5 tires. I'll measure when I get home. I lowered air ride a couple inches for my last load to get it legal.

 

Run good quality made in North America virgin tires. Don’t run recaps or Chinese junk tires.

A friend of mine does heavy haul and typically grosses 105k- 120k with a three axle RGN. And small tires.

and runs in Texas summer heat quite a bit

He says if the ambient air temperature is over 80 F keep the speed below 65 mph

basically for every degree above 75F
Drop a mph below 70

If it’s 95 degrees and you’re loaded heavy with 38-40k on the small trailer tires,
Then you drive 58-60 mph and keep
And eye on the tire temp.
Lay your hand on every tire every time you stop.
If they are too hot to leave your hand on it for four or five seconds, you need to drive slower.

 

I have limited experience with 17.5’s. We run virgin Ironman tires in a 235/55 (I think). I had a load from bc to ga and was told to pick a 3 axle step or rgn. We had a stretch step that already had a flip so I grabbed it. Next time I’m taking a trailer with 22.5’s. Only had 49k on the 3 axle group. Blew a tire at 7am in denver, 65mph, 60 degree day.

Passed it off to a driver in Wichita. He has a faster truck so I’m not sure how fast he was running. He blew a tire in nashville and another (the one I replaced in Denver) outside of Atlanta.

3 tires in 2500 miles, we filled all the tires to 115 in Wichita. None of the tires showed much wear, I assume we blow them long before they wear out.

 

Switched to 19.5’s and a lot of problems went away.
Adjusted the level a tad and had a good deck height.
I could get a boom truck on at 11.4 and be legal height.

 

I was told to use nitrogen filled tires and to have the automatic inflation system 120psi