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(US) Cobra Tire Redux
Thank you all for the fine past discussions archived here (2004, 2008,
2009) on this topic. Without having read all of that three years ago, I put a set of good touring passenger tires with adequate load rating on my Cobra and have been careful to keep them maximally inflated. It's a 2002 with the 13 inch wheels, and I'm currently running P185/70 R13 like BB was looking to replace in '08. I've had zero issues, and without knowing better would have replaced them with another set of passenger tires in the same size. It's comfortable with the Outback on smooth interstate up to 72mph, with some sway if I bump it up to get around a truck on a downhill. It's been 3 years, so I was looking to replace them anyway. A spike in blow-outs among people I know this year (and not just old tires) has added a sense of urgency, and prompted my research here and on the tire sites. And now, presto-chango, I have Decision Paralysis. If I understand the situation correctly, my options a 1. Repeat 13 inch passenger tires. A look around the lot at M-ASA, Uvalde, and NCI shows a lot of P-rated tires on Cobras, and it's all I've ever used. But then, I didn't know any better... 2. ST tires. Would require changing to 175/80 R13, but I doubt I'd notice the difference. 13 inch ST tires available locally sound horrifically cheap, and no warranty. Spoke with TireRack, who have only Goodyear Marathons--a couple of poor (blow-out) reviews online. And 65mph speed limit unless you add 10psi--do our Cobra wheels have an inflation limit? (DiscountTireDirect has Maxxis and Carlisle.) 3. Bigger wheels. Initially not a priority, but I had trouble finding 13 inch tires in Uvalde and closer to home. Would make LT tires (not available in 13 inch) an option. Trailer's in the driveway this week, and it's time for action. Anyone else been down this road recently? Thanks, Erik |
#2
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(US) Cobra Tire Redux
On Sep 28, 5:32*am, 5E wrote:
Thank you all for the fine past discussions archived here (2004, 2008, 2009) on this topic. Without having read all of that three years ago, I put a set of good touring passenger tires with adequate load rating on my Cobra and have been careful to keep them maximally inflated. *It's a 2002 with the 13 inch wheels, and I'm currently running *P185/70 R13 like BB was looking to replace in '08. *I've had zero issues, and without knowing better would have replaced them with another set of passenger tires in the same size. *It's comfortable with the Outback on smooth interstate up to 72mph, with some sway if I bump it up to get around a truck on a downhill. It's been 3 years, so I was looking to replace them anyway. *A spike in blow-outs among people I know this year (and not just old tires) has added a sense of urgency, and prompted my research here and on the tire sites. *And now, presto-chango, I have Decision Paralysis. *If I understand the situation correctly, my options a 1. Repeat 13 inch passenger tires. * A look around the lot at M-ASA, Uvalde, and NCI shows a lot of P-rated tires on Cobras, and it's all I've ever used. But then, I didn't know any better... 2. ST tires. *Would require changing to 175/80 R13, but I doubt I'd notice the difference. *13 inch ST tires available locally sound horrifically cheap, and no warranty. *Spoke with TireRack, who have only Goodyear Marathons--a couple of poor (blow-out) reviews online. And 65mph speed limit unless you add 10psi--do our Cobra wheels have an inflation limit? *(DiscountTireDirect has Maxxis and Carlisle.) 3. Bigger wheels. *Initially not a priority, but I had trouble finding 13 inch tires in Uvalde and closer to home. *Would make LT tires (not available in 13 inch) an option. Trailer's in the driveway this week, and it's time for action. *Anyone else been down this road recently? Thanks, Erik Hi Erik - Not all Cobra trailers are the same. You haven't said what size and weight trailer. You should have, in the original paperwork for the trailer, the recommended tire type and inflation. If you have the import docs you'll have the port weight of the complete rig. For my 18m Antares 20E trailer I just mounted: Vredestein Comtrac 185R14C 102/100R Load range D max load 1874lbs/850kg per tire Speed rating R = 106 mph (170 km/h) H.D. Light Truck Tires Max inflation 65PSI for 1874; use Spindelberger recommended 61 PSI for 1200 lbs Hope that helps, Best Regards, Dave "YO electric" |
#3
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(US) Cobra Tire Redux
I have 14" rims and looking to replace my tires. Dave...where did you
get Vredestein Comtrac. I have never heard of them. I've been told to get heavy duty D rated TRAILER tires as they have an extra side wall to help with the heavy swaying. I'm concern as the rims are metric and the tires will be purchase locally. I'm looking for specific size numbers as you show in your post. R Don"t tell Murray as my tires are 9 years old. Got lucky going to R4S. |
#4
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(US) Cobra Tire Redux
On Sep 28, 11:05*am, hretting wrote:
I have 14" rims and looking to replace my tires. Dave...where did you get Vredestein Comtrac. I have never heard of them. I've been told to get heavy duty D rated TRAILER tires as they have an extra side wall to help with the heavy swaying. I'm concern as the rims are metric and the tires will be purchase locally. I'm looking for specific size numbers as you show in your post. R Don"t tell Murray as my tires are 9 years old. Got lucky going to R4S. Hi Henri - Light Truck tires have the stiffer sidewalls you seek. These specific tires are recommended for trailers as well as light trucks. Google should find you a dealer; mine were ordered by Direct Tire which is a Boston-area top-notch tire and brake company. These particular tires may be overkill for a smaller and lighter trailer; check your Cobra paperwork for the specific tires recommended for your trailer. Hope that helps, Best Regards, Dave |
#5
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(US) Cobra Tire Redux
On 9/28/2010 8:05 AM, hretting wrote:
I have 14" rims and looking to replace my tires. Dave...where did you get Vredestein Comtrac. I have never heard of them. I've been told to get heavy duty D rated TRAILER tires as they have an extra side wall to help with the heavy swaying. I'm concern as the rims are metric and the tires will be purchase locally. If you have 14" rims, they will take standard 14" tires. The bolt spacing might be metric, perhaps. What I've read agrees with Dave N: go for the higher speed rated LT tires if you can. The LT tire construction has more tread stability the comparable ST tire, and the higher the speed rating, the more stable the trailer will be. Unfortunately, the choices of LT tires are limited in the 14" size. You don't say how heavy your trailer is, but if it's over 2000 pounds, I suggest the Michelin Agilis LT 195R14C, 2090 lbs max load, and use the tire pressure required for 1.2 x (your load). If your trailer is less than 2000 lbs, these are probably much more tire than you need. Also, check the tire diameters, as they differ. I use the Michelin Agilis LT 185R14C tire on my 2500 lb trailer, but that size isn't available any more. And now for my usual lecture... It's not "sidewall stiffness" per se that is important to stability, but lateral tread stiffness (how easily the tread distorts with a side load). They don't give you that number, but for trailer stability: belted tires are preferable to unbelted, higher speed ratings are preferable to lower speed ratings, lower aspect ratio preferable to higher aspect ratio. -- Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me) - "Transponders in Sailplanes - Feb/2010" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm http://tinyurl.com/yb3xywl - "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation Mar/2004" Much of what you need to know tinyurl.com/yfs7tnz |
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