Negative: Cheap tires

[Nitramy]

I️ have a 2016 Sanibel 3901 42’ fifth wheel. The other day I️ blew a tire and destroyed the rt side of the trailer. The tire exploded(80psi) and the wheel cracked in half. Be very afraid of Goodyear Marathon trailer tires. The manufacturer uses them on trailers that are too heavy for the tire ratings. Forest River does no stand behind the products the use on their trailers. I️ changed all my tires including the spare with Sailun G637s which are as good as Goodyear G614 at 1/3 of the price at $131 at Simpletire.com. GY G614 are $300+. Do yourself a favor and get rid of all your GY Marathons before you destroy your camper. My damage was $2000, the tires had only 1000 miles on them and didn’t hit anything.

[sfsgm]

Originally Posted by Nitramy

I️ have a 2016 Sanibel 3901 42’ fifth wheel. The other day I️ blew a tire and destroyed the rt side of the trailer. The tire exploded(80psi) and the wheel cracked in half. Be very afraid of Goodyear Marathon trailer tires. The manufacturer uses them on trailers that are too heavy for the tire ratings. Forest River does no stand behind the products the use on their trailers. I️ changed all my tires including the spare with Sailun G637s which are as good as Goodyear G614 at 1/3 of the price at $131 at Simpletire.com. GY G614 are $300+. Do yourself a favor and get rid of all your GY Marathons before you destroy your camper. My damage was $2000, the tires had only 1000 miles on them and didn’t hit anything.

Most manufacturers tell purchasers that the tires have their own, separate warranty. I had three blow outs with what I later found to be Chinese tires. It's not that all Chinese tires are bad, after all many American companies have their tired built over there. BUT caveat emptor.

[Jestercyco]

I feel your pain! Lost a GY early this year with 2100 miles. Like you I changed all at that time. Never looked back and tows like a dream.
Jester

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Nitramy

I️ have a 2016 Sanibel 3901 42’ fifth wheel. The other day I️ blew a tire and destroyed the rt side of the trailer. The tire exploded(80psi) and the wheel cracked in half. Be very afraid of Goodyear Marathon trailer tires. The manufacturer uses them on trailers that are too heavy for the tire ratings. Forest River does no stand behind the products the use on their trailers. I️ changed all my tires including the spare with Sailun G637s which are as good as Goodyear G614 at 1/3 of the price at $131 at Simpletire.com. GY G614 are $300+. Do yourself a favor and get rid of all your GY Marathons before you destroy your camper. My damage was $2000, the tires had only 1000 miles on them and didn’t hit anything.

Wondering... were you using a TPMS?
(tire pressure monitoring system)

[Chief T]

If the tire is still in a warranty period, ought to have them pay for the damages.

[Jane1550]

Spousal unit took our rig to Discount Tire the day after delivery. For a fee, they will warranty the tires and lifetime rotate/balance. 2 weeks later he found a piece of metal in the rear, inside tire, flatter then road kill, Discount replaced tire N/C. This more then balanced the co$t of coverage.

Hope this helps someone...

[rjshiflet]

Originally Posted by Jane1550

Spousal unit took our rig to Discount Tire the day after delivery. For a fee, they will warranty the tires and lifetime rotate/balance. 2 weeks later he found a piece of metal in the rear, inside tire, flatter then road kill, Discount replaced tire N/C. This more then balanced the co$t of coverage.

Hope this helps someone...

Every tire on our two trucks, one car, RV, flatbed trailer and two cargo trailers carry the Discount Tire company "certificate" for free replacement. That's honestly the cheapest insurance on a tire you can ever buy...and I never purchase a tire without that coverage.

I also bought the lifetime rotation/balance on our dually which will be more than covered on our first rotate.

[rick freeman]

You do know this rv’s are outfitted with tires early sometimes before the box is in place. Probably out in a lot waiting for buyers. Looking at date of tires on a new rig might surprise some.

[The_Rhino]

Whether we bought new or used I planned on replacing the tires before our first long trip. Our TT is lighter, so in 2014 I went with Maxxis & they have held-up great for over 10,000 miles of travels...

Maybe a benefit of US/China trade changes will be more tires made within the USA. We live near Akron & have witnessed 1st hand the loss of jobs over the past 3 presidents' poor trade negotiations... Now all we have left are a couple corporate offices & a few blimps to help gloss-over the huge losses...

[Airdale]

Originally Posted by Nitramy

I️ have a 2016 Sanibel 3901 42’ fifth wheel. The other day I️ blew a tire and destroyed the rt side of the trailer. The tire exploded(80psi) and the wheel cracked in half. Be very afraid of Goodyear Marathon trailer tires. The manufacturer uses them on trailers that are too heavy for the tire ratings. Forest River does no stand behind the products the use on their trailers. I️ changed all my tires including the spare with Sailun G637s which are as good as Goodyear G614 at 1/3 of the price at $131 at Simpletire.com. GY G614 are $300+. Do yourself a favor and get rid of all your GY Marathons before you destroy your camper. My damage was $2000, the tires had only 1000 miles on them and didn’t hit anything.

Just some facts a researcher may use.

You have a very low cargo capacity (1462#) for a trailer that large. Ever take it to some scales to see if you're past the 1462#?

The maximum load you can put on your axles without exceeding the trailer's GVWR is 12972#. Your OEM tires provided 13680# of load capacity @ 80 PSI. That's less than 7% in load capacity reserves when fully inflated. Surely a factor with a slightly overloaded axle. Without careful cargo balancing, a trailer your size can easily have a single tire position or axle loaded way above their ratings.

[xd40c]

Originally Posted by rjshiflet

Every tire on our two trucks, one car, RV, flatbed trailer and two cargo trailers carry the Discount Tire company "certificate" for free replacement. That's honestly the cheapest insurance on a tire you can ever buy...and I never purchase a tire without that coverage.



I also bought the lifetime rotation/balance on our dually which will be more than covered on our first rotate.

While I’m sure there’s some piece of mind there for tire replacement, damage to my rig is much more important. I have a brand new CC, and I just about have myself talked into replacing the Chinese-ium with a better piece rubber... why risk the damage?

[hillsvillehokie]

Originally Posted by Nitramy

I️ have a 2016 Sanibel 3901 42’ fifth wheel. The other day I️ blew a tire and destroyed the rt side of the trailer. The tire exploded(80psi) and the wheel cracked in half. Be very afraid of Goodyear Marathon trailer tires. The manufacturer uses them on trailers that are too heavy for the tire ratings. Forest River does no stand behind the products the use on their trailers. I️ changed all my tires including the spare with Sailun G637s which are as good as Goodyear G614 at 1/3 of the price at $131 at Simpletire.com. GY G614 are $300+. Do yourself a favor and get rid of all your GY Marathons before you destroy your camper. My damage was $2000, the tires had only 1000 miles on them and didn’t hit anything.

I wouldn’t say that was destroyed.

[woo10-210]

Originally Posted by hillsvillehokie

I wouldn’t say that was destroyed.

That's a real old post but I'm surprised that nobody called out the op for claiming the tire "exploded" and the "wheel cracked in half". It was obviously driven for a very long time while flat and could very well have just been a nail or bad valve stem. A TPMS may have been able to save it.

[clr]

In my opinion is that the Mfr puts the cheapest tire that will only barely meet the weight limits of the unit. My case is a 2015 Sanibel 5th wheel that came with Goodyear Marathon tires. The OEM axle was a Dexter 7K pound axle, the Marathons were rated for a maximum load of 3420 at 80 PSI. So each tire was short of the required load of 3500 pounds to reach the axle limits. So Prime time reduced the GVWR of the unit by 320 pounds so that the tires would meet the limits. The second trip I blew two Marathon tires on the way home, so I began looking into what I could do.

To make a long story short you need to obtain a safety margin of at least 10% on your tires and 15 - 20% is even better. In my case I went from load range E to H but only run the tires at 110 PSI to reach my required safety margin. OK I may have gone a little to far here but I have not had any problems with the new tires in the two plus years on the road. So look at your GVWR of your unit and start your math from there.
I went with Sailun tires that I bought from Tredit tire and Wheel the Prime Time supplier of wheels and tires. I also had to change the wheels with the new tires. The OEM wheels were Tredit T3 wheels as I recall and they were only rated for a max PSI of 80 and 3508 pounds of load. I bought 5 wheels and tires from Tredit for $1562 I went with the Sailun tires because they were highly rated and much cheaper than the Goodyear G614. The G614,s were about 425 dollars per tire. Remember also that I went thru the Goodyear Marathon problem with my unit and they did not make good on any of the tires that failed so I was not big on Goodyear.

[woo10-210]

Originally Posted by clr

In my opinion is that the Mfr puts the cheapest tire that will only barely meet the weight limits of the unit. My case is a 2015 Sanibel 5th wheel that came with Goodyear Marathon tires. The OEM axle was a Dexter 7K pound axle, the Marathons were rated for a maximum load of 3420 at 80 PSI. So each tire was short of the required load of 3500 pounds to reach the axle limits. So Prime time reduced the GVWR of the unit by 320 pounds so that the tires would meet the limits.

Wow! My '19 2902WS has 4,400 lb. axles and my gvwr is 9,570. Although they're Castle Rocks, the tires are load range E rated at 2,839 lbs. each or 11,356 total. FR could have gotten away with load range D's on this.

[Airdale]

Originally Posted by clr

In my opinion is that the Mfr puts the cheapest tire that will only barely meet the weight limits of the unit. My case is a 2015 Sanibel 5th wheel that came with Goodyear Marathon tires. The OEM axle was a Dexter 7K pound axle, the Marathons were rated for a maximum load of 3420 at 80 PSI. So each tire was short of the required load of 3500 pounds to reach the axle limits. So Prime time reduced the GVWR of the unit by 320 pounds so that the tires would meet the limits. The second trip I blew two Marathon tires on the way home, so I began looking into what I could do.

To make a long story short you need to obtain a safety margin of at least 10% on your tires and 15 - 20% is even better. In my case I went from load range E to H but only run the tires at 110 PSI to reach my required safety margin. OK I may have gone a little to far here but I have not had any problems with the new tires in the two plus years on the road. So look at your GVWR of your unit and start your math from there.
I went with Sailun tires that I bought from Tredit tire and Wheel the Prime Time supplier of wheels and tires. I also had to change the wheels with the new tires. The OEM wheels were Tredit T3 wheels as I recall and they were only rated for a max PSI of 80 and 3508 pounds of load. I bought 5 wheels and tires from Tredit for $1562 I went with the Sailun tires because they were highly rated and much cheaper than the Goodyear G614. The G614,s were about 425 dollars per tire. Remember also that I went thru the Goodyear Marathon problem with my unit and they did not make good on any of the tires that failed so I was not big on Goodyear.

The required load capacity for RV trailer tires is determined by the vehicle certified GAWRs. The trailer manufacturer is responsible for setting those GAWR values. There are enormous monetary penalties for manufacturers that don't install tires equal to the certified GAWR weights.

Look at your trailer's certification label. It's on the trailer's external left side, forward. If the OE tires do not have a maximum load capacity equal to the GAWRs on the label you have grounds for a recall action.

[Airdale]

Originally Posted by woo10-210

Wow! My '19 2902WS has 4,400 lb. axles and my gvwr is 9,570. Although they're Castle Rocks, the tires are load range E rated at 2,839 lbs. each or 11,356 total. FR could have gotten away with load range D's on this.

That means the RVIA recommendation for at least 10% in reserve load capacity above vehicle certified GAWRs is working. A few years ago your trailer would have probably come with LRD tires.

[clr]

Yep, the actual GAWR was exactly the maximum rating of the load range E tires in my case, but it was not less. If this was changed since 2015 that is very good news, but in my exact case there was a 0% reserve, and it is my feeling that is the primary reason I had tire problems.