Why would I remove $1000 trailer tires and replace them with China bombs?Hercules v Transeagle 15s
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- I cannot recommend the Hercules H901’s any longer. We have had 3 fail in less than 3 years, two of which are from manufacturers defect. We trailer at 65 mph and I have the cat scale tickets to show we are not overloaded. Inflation pressure is checked regularly and tires are inspected before each trip and at every stop. Even if the Chinese Transeagle tires fail at the same rate, they are roughly half the cost. Check out some differences between the tires and stay tuned for a longer term review of how this tire holds up head to head with its very expensive competition.
I love my TransEagles. My 18’ utility trailer and 36’ two-car hauler trailers run 225s. I’ve swapped both over to the Load Range F TransEagles. I don’t run neither trailer at max psi. I run my utility trailer at 65 psi and my big trailer at 80 psi even though the tires are rated up to 95. Without a load index chart,…how do tell if you have too much or not enough air? That’s the question I get asked all of the time. I answer their question with questions. If a tire is overinflated, what part of the contact patch is coming into contact with the ground? Therefore, what part is not touching the ground? How do you get more of the tread to be in contact with the ground? And then I would always suggest that the goal of your set pressure, is to get your contact patch to the middle of the outside ribs of the tire. (Because most trailer tires are not being maxed out when it comes to the actual load that they are carrying.) How do you figure that out? You start with max pressure, and then use your trailer to see where it’s at, initially. When you stop,…just look at the tread on your tires. You’ll more than likely notice that basically, the middle of your tires are touching the ground. Decrease your pressure by 5 or 10 lbs. Repeat until the middle of the outside ribs are coming into contact with the ground. This method works for vehicles and trailers. If you see that the contact patch is all the way across the tire when you initially air up to max,…then you just leave it at that. Most of the time,…the stock tires on an Rv trailer will require max pressure. I would suggest that dump trailer tires be ran at max, for obvious reasons. I’ve had good tread wear, performance, and life out of all of my tires by running them that way.
Always check the speed rating on the tire if it says 75 miles an hour that's your max speed with them tires. If you run that tire above the speed that the tire can do you damage the tire you end up with busted belts..
Obviously. I tow at 65 mph. These tires were not over speeded or overloaded. This has been covered in this and other videos.
Sorry to hear about your problems with the Hercules 901's. I just installed a set of 901's on my 5er today in 235/85R16 14ply. According to Hercules website the 901 has a 6 year material and workmanship warranty so you should be able to get it warranteed. I own and operate a small tire shop and have for over 35 years. I have seen failures of every tire made, it happens. Usually belt separation is related to a defect in the tire. My first 5er had Goodyear 225/75R16 10 ply LT tires and every one of them looked like your current tire. Age might have had something to do with it, but all of my tires that failed still had at least 75% tread. Luckily I had a good warranty rep at my tire warehouse and he got me money back on all of them. I later upgraded to a larger tire and never had anymore issues. I am not overly fond of 15 inch tires for heavy hauling. There is a downside to a very heavy tire casing, they don't disapate heat well and heat will kill a tire. There is a very good chance your wheels are not rated for anywhere near the capacity or air pressure of the tires you are running.
The steel wheels have a weight rating but are not stamped with a psi restriction. If they were aluminum I’d be more concerned but they are steel and I am not too concerned about the pressure. If I was loading these tires to their maximum capacity I would be overloading the wheels. Can’t remember offhand they say 2800 lbs or sometbing per wheel, but my scaled weights are still within their limits. If I upgrade the wheels I’ll go to a 16. The problem with the Hercules warranty is finding someone to submit the tires for me. My local dealer closed. Hercules has not been helpful.
When looking for a new set of wheels for my 5er I contacted Ultra Wheels and asked them about pressure ratings. I was told that they only rate the tire for weight, and not pressure. I was told that the wheels I was interested in were tested to 110 psi.@@drewdoestrucks
I’ve been changing all my trailers to TransEagle ST All-Steel over the last years. Never had a problem with them. Just put 6 new ones on my toy hauler. G-Rated 14-ply 81mph. The E-Rated GoodYear Endurance blew out on my last trip over the winter. Also 4-5 years old, always stored inside, no signs of cracking or wear. Had less than 10,000 miles on them.
The transeagle are being phased out for venom power or so I was told by their parent company. I ordered trans eagles and received venom powers; the labels on them said “trans eagle venom power.” They are the same all steel construction. I’m considering replacing the entire wheels and tires with 16” tires. I just don’t think anyone is making 15” tires that hold up anymore. I may replace both axles with 7000 lb units with disc brakes while I’m at it since we are really at the very upper limit of our axle ratings (but significantly below the limits of both the sidewall max for the Hercules and the transeagle venom power tires).
Tire rating is only one factor important to consider….the other is wheel load rating. The higher pressure required for the max load capacity of the tire can cause the wheel bead flanges to fracture. Of course, lose the wheel, lose the tire.
@@raycoleman3183 I’ve never seen a bead flange fracture on a steel wheel, and never seen one fracture on an aluminum wheel from anything other than impact. You could likely inflate a tire until the pressure physically forced the bead over a steel wheel bead flange before it would ever fail.
@@raycoleman3183 That's why I replaced the wheels with Sendel wheels that could handle the extra stress of installation and higher tire pressure...and 130psi bolt-in valve stems...
You should be able to just change the hub and drum assembly on your axles for 8 lug ones. Usually manufacturers use the same spindle size for 6 and 8 lug axles (5200 lbs to 7000lbs). I know this is the case for Dexter at least. Should come out a lot cheaper than replacing the whole axles. Doesn't solve you drum brake maintenance issue though.
Although the bearings are usually the same the tube is actually thicker on the 7000 lb ones normally. And with these being lippert and not Dexter I assume the worst
Cant believe that toy hauler didn't come with an 8 lug set up. Too much trailer for such small bearings and tires imo. Not your fault, just typical manufacturers cheaping out as usual.
The only issue you might have with running those G rated tires is they will hold a ton of heat being as thick as they are.
@@upnorth5465 I have 7000 lb axles and 8 lug 16” sailuns ready to go on.
@@upnorth5465 and actually it’s the opposite. The higher rated tires can be run at a higher pressure so run cooler as paradoxical as that may seem
I have heard nothing but good on the venom primo hauler and transeagle tires, seems they are made by the same manufacturer.
Per priority tire they no longer make the transeagle tire. They are now branded as transeagle venom primo haulers. Not sure why.
Is their any link to these tires?
Sure which ones are you interested in? The Transeagle/primo hauler?
FYI your rims aren’t rated for that high of pressure, you don’t need that much air in those tires, you are running them over inflated by the load to pressure index chart.
Again, these tires don’t have a load index chart. I called Hercules and eventually spoke to an engineer at their parent company and he said just to run them at 95 psi. He was amused by our discussion.
The wheels are rated for weight, but not for pressure. There is nowhere on the wheel that states a pressure limitation. I checked before switching tires. I actually have had people claim this before, and I mentioned it to hercule’s engineer when we spoke and he said he didn’t think he had ever seen a steel wheel with a pressure limitation.
I have been on the recieving end of wheel failures and it is usually a crack that develops and leaks air and it usually happens at the worst possible time.@@drewdoestrucks
I was looking at the Venom and the Transeagle. Your Venoms have a Transeagle sticker on them, are they both made by Transeagle?
The tread is slightly different but the rest looks the same.
They are both made by transeagle. The venom is apparently the newer model. I was told if you order the transeagle you’ll get the venom unless someone has new old stock. I ordered the transeagle myself. This is what I got. The distributor said it’s the “same” tire just a change it branding. Hopefully they last longer than the Hercules
@drewdoestrucks I ordered a set of Venom 12 ply this morning for my race trailer.
My guess is the Suntek, Transeagle and Venom all come out of the same factory.
Its interesting though that the Suntek 14 ply and the Venom 12 ply have an 87mph rating but the Transeagle 12 and 14, as well as the Venom 14 have a 75mph rating.
I guess we'll see how these do!
@@AndreenMotorsports Carlisle also has a load range f or g in that size as well. Sold by discount tire. Couldn’t find any feedback on them. Maybe a new tire.
@drewdoestrucks the Discount by my house can only get the Carlisle CSL in an F and they are 228ea before mounting and balancing.
Ill stick with the Venoms!
@@AndreenMotorsports that’s what I paid for the Hercules.
The middle is worn out due to your over inflating the tires.
The tires aren’t over inflated. They are checked every trip. This is the pressure hercules insists I run them at. They do not make a load chart for this tire.
Also the middle of these tires still has almost all of its molded tread depth. It’s nowhere close to being worn out.
Trailer tires are not like vehicle tires. They are ment to be ran at max or near max pressures and how they wear is how they wear. That is why you don't go up more than 1 load index of what your axles can handle.
Bryan, absolutely not.
Are those rims rated for 110psi?
Never seen a steel wheel with a psi rating. Usually the psi rating will be for the valve stem. I did have to upgrade valve stem assemblies. Aluminum wheels I’d be more concerned with psi but either way 110 should not be an issue for a trailer wheel, there are many tires that run 90+psi these days.
@@drewdoestrucks Here’s how I understand it. The steel rims are stamped with a weight rating. The max psi for the rim is the same as the max psi for the load range tire that the rim is rated for. For example, I have 15x5 rims for my utility trailer and they are rated for 2,150 lbs max. That’s what a load range D tire is rated for. So, if I put a load range E tire on that rim, I should never exceed 65psi which is what a load range D tire is rated for max psi. That sounds logical to me and I should probably do some research to prove it. However, I do know that the type of valve stem used depends on the psi your running in your tires. Anyway, happy trails bud!
@@christopherjohnpaul5591 I have never seen a wheel manufacturer list that in their specs, so I’m skeptical. Take the average air tank which is astm rated to 250+ psi and it’s a fraction of an inch thick. Take the average steel wheel and cut it in half and they are usually 1/4” steel. Not apples to apples; but the load on the wheel at the hub supporting the weight of the camper is a much bigger factor than its ability to hold air. I can’t tell you definitively that I’m right, but I can tell you definitively that the Hercules engineer I talked to on the phone when I was trying to sort this out said “I have never seen a psi rating on steel wheels and I’ve been doing this for several decades. I have seen weight rating, but that doesn’t apply to pressure, and there is no reason not to run sidewall max which is best for tire life.” And that’s good enough for me. I also called the manufacturer (which turned to just be the distributor) of the steel wheels that came on my camper and they said “they are rated for load but not for pressure. We have never had anyone ask us that before. We have aluminum wheels with max psi stamped on them, but no steel wheels with a pressure rating.” They also mentioned the factory valve stems being rated at whatever they were (80 psi or something). So to me that was two fairly definitive sources that said I was over thinking it being worried about it. And now I’m running 110 psi and had no issues so far. Hopefully fewer failures on my new venom power than I had on the Hercules.
@@drewdoestrucks Thank you for the reply. I’m going to assume that the reason the psi is not stamped on the steel rims is because there isn’t one. This is why I like watching TH-cam videos and interacting with content creators. I learned something valuable and feel more confident about running a higher rated psi tire on my rims. Thanks again!
We are getting ready to head out in a couple months to the Pacific Northwest. We live in the Midwest. I just ordered 4 TransEagle tires for our RV. I've never had a blow out, knock on wood with any trailer tire. I think a lot of problems occur when people don't air them up the the maximum PSI and they exceed the speed rating of the tire. When we travel on the Interstate, I put my cruise on 60 mph and go. Good video and thank you for posting!!
I set adaptive cruise to 65 mph, well under the 75 mph speed rating of the Hercules. I check tire pressure before every trip and during breaks and check tire temp at every stop. Few people check tires as religiously as me. Used a tire pressure monitor but it wasn’t reliable so I quit doing that for now. Yet we have had multiple failures. The Hercules just seemed to have manufacturing defects. 3/4 of ours had delamination or belt separation issues. Not happy with them.
I am convinced the 15” tires are all junk.
@@drewdoestrucks I agree with you. It's sad that on regular cars and trucks, a person doesn't have to get out every time and inspect tires. Yet with these RV's, it's necessary to do so in order not to have a wreck from a blowout. I not only carry the spare on the back of the camper, but I also carry an additional spare in the bed of my truck. I'd hate to get a blowout and it takes the other tire out too from flapping and hitting the good tire.
@@garyp9906 yes I have a spare tire and wheel under the camper and a spare tire in the bed, I’ve found the selection nearest whatever rural campground I’m at isn’t typically very good. This way I can put the spare on, drive to any tire shop, and have the bare spare put back on the black wheels that are on the camper. Then tuck the white steelie back underneath. And I replace the spare every time I replace the tires. Won’t do me any good to have a 10 year old spare when I need it if it’s dry rotted.