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Old 07-10-2015, 07:33 PM   #21
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We used LT's on our last trailer as it had 16" wheels. Never any issues and we got over 35,000 miles on them. I would get another set if possible but the new Windjammer got a set of Carlisle 15" - 'E's put on right away. 6,000 miles so far. I think the OEM problem is a 9,000-10,000 lb trailer on "C' tires more than brand issues. We saw 4 stranded Rv's with blown out wheels last winter. Stay Safe!
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Old 07-10-2015, 07:46 PM   #22
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Had three blowouts within 350 miles last year on one trip. $2,300 damage that my local RV dealer [Newcastle RV] fixed in three days. Fender skirts, sub-paneling, wiring harness and propane line all shredded. All three China Bomb Towmasters.
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Old 07-10-2015, 08:54 PM   #23
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2 tires unraveled on our Silverback

We never lost air pressure. Both times the tires de-laminated and the steel belts beat the side of the rig. We were on a narrow, windy road, no choice but to drive it. I was very upset, sick to my stomach watching the side of the rig being swiped by the steel belts. We didn't know the problem until I googled Trailmate and it came back China Bomb. The dealership claimed not to be aware. BS
I paid for the first repair, turned the second one in to insurance.

Interestingly, a man pulled over behind us and offered to help. He said he had been doing yard work and heard us go by. Being a trucker, he knew the sound. So, he followed us knowing we were in trouble. He even went back to his house to get a 3 ton jack and helped my husband change the tire. In the process, his spark plug socket broke. I bought him a new one, Craftsman, and set out to give it to him. On three occasions, I drove up and down the road looking for his car, I asked the rural mail carrier, I knocked on doors. I timed my search to coincide with the day of the week and the time of day,thinking trucker schedule, long hauler. Again interestingly, trucker treated my husband like my husband was "older or fragile" when I thought them to be about the same age. Neither were spring chickens. I did find an obituary for a man with a similar name but he was older than 60 something.
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Old 07-11-2015, 08:13 AM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HSVBamaBob View Post
ALL RVs with the exception of top of the line (e.g., Cardinal's come with Goodyears and you can even upgrade them to a higher load rating)



Rather than start a discussion here, I encourage everyone to search the threads on the LT Tire discussion - LT Tires are NOT a good Idea for RV's especially multi-axel RVs



Just say'n

I have read the theoretical reasoning of why you should use ST tires over LT. But in all my reading on various forums I can't recall anyone making the switch to LT regretting it.
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Old 07-11-2015, 11:27 AM   #25
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I am curious. When a tire blows and beats a hole through these light foam/luan composite floors, how are they repaired?
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Old 07-11-2015, 04:26 PM   #26
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I saw on another forum where someone installed steel fenders like those on a boat trailer over the tires. I thought it was a great idea because if a tire blew up it would be a first line of defense before it hit the RV.
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Old 07-11-2015, 10:03 PM   #27
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I added some custom made 1/8" aluminum liners to mine. Click image for larger version

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Old 07-11-2015, 10:15 PM   #28
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Looks good!
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Old 07-12-2015, 09:23 AM   #29
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Blowout prevention

I still would rather work toward keeping a tire from shredding in the first place than try to minimize the damage it did during a blowout. Install a good tire pressure monitoring system and you will know immediately if a tire has lost or is losing pressure, if it is getting too hot, or is just different from the other tires so you can stop and check on it. The TST-507 (there are others available) is the system I have and it continuously reads pressures and temperatures on the 4 trailer tires so I know I have no problems. It has a very loud alarm when it senses the pressure is lost, alerting you to stop and check on the tire. To see what would happen, I unscrewed one of the sensors to simulate lost pressure in a tire and the cab monitor alarm is sufficiently loud to get your attention. While you cannot keep a really bad road hazard from immediately blowing a tire, anything bad enough to blow a good tire should be easily seen even if you can't avoid hitting it. I would then slow down considerably until I could pull over and inspect all the tires for damage. What is the old adage? "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
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Old 07-12-2015, 09:58 AM   #30
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Dustman, that is a great idea!
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Old 07-12-2015, 09:04 PM   #31
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Originally Posted by D_B Travelers View Post
I still would rather work toward keeping a tire from shredding in the first place than try to minimize the damage it did during a blowout. Install a good tire pressure monitoring system and you will know immediately if a tire has lost or is losing pressure, if it is getting too hot, or is just different from the other tires so you can stop and check on it. The TST-507 (there are others available) is the system I have and it continuously reads pressures and temperatures on the 4 trailer tires so I know I have no problems. It has a very loud alarm when it senses the pressure is lost, alerting you to stop and check on the tire. To see what would happen, I unscrewed one of the sensors to simulate lost pressure in a tire and the cab monitor alarm is sufficiently loud to get your attention. While you cannot keep a really bad road hazard from immediately blowing a tire, anything bad enough to blow a good tire should be easily seen even if you can't avoid hitting it. I would then slow down considerably until I could pull over and inspect all the tires for damage. What is the old adage? "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

I have the same TPMS. The TPMS is to hopefully prevent a blowout. The wheel liners are to hopefully prevent ripping the floor out of my camper if there is a catastrophic event such as tread separation that the TPMS doesn't warn of. I have 2 preventive measures- you only have one.
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Old 07-13-2015, 08:10 AM   #32
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To china or not??

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Originally Posted by HSVBamaBob View Post
Search the forums for "China Bombs" you will be up all night reading the zillion posts out there!


Short Answer:
  • Buy Goodyear Marathon or Maxxis trailer tires - they are both good (I am a Goodyear man though )
  • Go up one load rating from your stock tires (e.g., LR C to D)
  • Have Metal Valve stems installed
  • Have the tires spin balanced at 65MPH (Max speed of any trailer tire)
  • Buy a set of TST 507 tire pressure monitors: 507 Starter System Kit -

and you should be good to go!
Most if not every tire today is made in CHINA so the issue of china bombs needs to be stopped!

Most rv trailer tires (and most tires in general) blow for reasons other than brands and origin of manufacture, the issue is (low air pressure, past tirs damage (hitting curbs, pot holes) over weight issues, of driving to fast (over 65 mph for extended amount of time (over 20 minutes))

So yes trailers tires blow and yes it can cause a ton of damage, but in most cases it is the owners fault not the tires, so very sorry for your damage but think about the last time to checked the pressure, the date code that pot hole and more?
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Old 07-13-2015, 08:24 AM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by silverback 35ts View Post
Most if not every tire today is made in CHINA so the issue of china bombs needs to be stopped!

Most rv trailer tires (and most tires in general) blow for reasons other than brands and origin of manufacture, the issue is (low air pressure, past tirs damage (hitting curbs, pot holes) over weight issues, of driving to fast (over 65 mph for extended amount of time (over 20 minutes))

So yes trailers tires blow and yes it can cause a ton of damage, but in most cases it is the owners fault not the tires, so very sorry for your damage but think about the last time to checked the pressure, the date code that pot hole and more?

AMEN!!
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Old 07-13-2015, 11:35 AM   #34
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Most if not every tire today is made in CHINA so the issue of china bombs needs to be stopped!

Most rv trailer tires (and most tires in general) blow for reasons other than brands and origin of manufacture, the issue is (low air pressure, past tirs damage (hitting curbs, pot holes) over weight issues, of driving to fast (over 65 mph for extended amount of time (over 20 minutes))

So yes trailers tires blow and yes it can cause a ton of damage, but in most cases it is the owners fault not the tires, so very sorry for your damage but think about the last time to checked the pressure, the date code that pot hole and more?

I disagree wholeheartedly with your viewpoint. First, the majority of brand name tires for passenger vehicles are still made in the US. Second, passenger car tires routinely are subjected to the same conditions you cite as causes for trailer tire failure, yet they have a much lower catastrophic failure rate. Chinese trailer tires are junk- end of story. I'd be willing to bet that you'd never in a million years be OK with having truck tires that have to have EXACTLY the right pressure, be kept under the speed limit and couldn't handle any type of minor incident such as a curb strike or hitting a pothole without blowing up.
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Old 07-13-2015, 11:39 AM   #35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by silverback 35ts View Post
Most if not every tire today is made in CHINA so the issue of china bombs needs to be stopped!

Most rv trailer tires (and most tires in general) blow for reasons other than brands and origin of manufacture, the issue is (low air pressure, past tirs damage (hitting curbs, pot holes) over weight issues, of driving to fast (over 65 mph for extended amount of time (over 20 minutes))

So yes trailers tires blow and yes it can cause a ton of damage, but in most cases it is the owners fault not the tires, so very sorry for your damage but think about the last time to checked the pressure, the date code that pot hole and more?
You forgot trailer being overloaded! Most people have no idea of the weight.
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Old 07-13-2015, 12:08 PM   #36
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You forgot trailer being overloaded! Most people have no idea of the weight.
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Old 07-13-2015, 12:10 PM   #37
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Most if not every tire today is made in CHINA so the issue of china bombs needs to be stopped!
Or maybe they should just be re-named? The majority of new trailers are supplied with "no-name" low end junk. The issue is not necessarily where they are made, its that they are just plain cheap. They meet the bare minimum standards to be used on US highways, and that's about it. I would have no problem using Chinese made Goodyear Marathons - but they are far cry the Trail Express tires that came on my trailer. Sure you need to maintain them, not over load them, and stay within the speed ratings, but these OEM tires still do seem to have a higher failure rate than more expensive tires. Not sure where anybody could get conclusive data, but the failure rate on these OEM tires seems to be much higher.

You can't buy most of the brands that come from the factory in a tire store, but there are other similar ones. If the same size tire is half the price of a Marathon or a Maxxis or a Carlisle there is probably a reason - and I doubt it is just the name.

No auto manufacturer puts no-name tires on a new vehicle. They use brand name tires made to something more than the minimum standards to be legal.
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Old 07-17-2015, 11:41 AM   #38
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When we bought our TT it came with C rated ST205/75R/14 Trailer King tires. Not that these are high end but I have searched the world over to find bad reviews to give me a reason to tell my wife we need new tires and have proof to back it up, but I just cannot find consistent bad reviews. Even the bad reviews are more about install or shipping than the tires. Now we have over 1800 miles on them, mostly freeway, with absolutely no issues and a smooth ride every one of those miles.
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