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Old 04-30-2011, 04:39 PM   #1
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Load Star Tire failure

So there we were in Highway 95 in Massachusetts and one of out tires failed. Yes the tires were properly inflated and the trailer was not overloaded (clothes and food only, no water) The tire side wall failed. The tires are Chinese made "Load Star Karrier" . The other tires are starting to show signs of failure. There is less than 3000 miles on these tires. Time to go tire shopping. The camper is a 2011 Rockwood 2902SS
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Old 04-30-2011, 04:44 PM   #2
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Wow,

Sorry to hear about your troubles.
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Old 04-30-2011, 04:53 PM   #3
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1st thing I do with a new trailer is ditch the crappy tires they put on them. I run Michelin LTX AT's and never had a tire failure, I pull heavy and have put on lots of miles.
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Old 05-01-2011, 05:44 AM   #4
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I would contact either your dealer or FR first. Something is not kosher if all tires show signs of degradation. Someone needs to inspect carefully your remaining tires and the blown up one. I have done over 7000 mi to date on Karrier Loadstars and they still look good.

I was unaware Michelin made TT tires in these sizes, I will look into it.
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Old 05-01-2011, 05:58 AM   #5
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Times two on your issue. Been there and have the T shirt.

While I initially railed about the "Crappy China Bombs" on my camper here (and to anyone who would listen) and the fact that they were 11 months old when installed on the camper and showed signs of early dry rot checking; I have come to believe a curb strike earlier in my towing career was the actual culprit in my case.

Not wanting a repeat, I researched tires, and trailer tires specifically, for weeks before I replaced mine with ST tires made by Goodyear (Marathons) made in Alabama this year (per the DoT stamp).

My research kept coming back to that curb strike. Once a belt is bent/broken (whether by impact with curb; road trash; or chuck hole), failure may not be immediate. In fact, it may take weeks to months (depending on speed, miles, and amount of initial damage) for that tire to actually fail. A wayward wire finally working its way out to lose air, or a separation that leads to a catastrophic failure could be the result of an old injury. Hard to prove and harder to disprove. I just bought 4 new tires and repaired the damage to the wheel well myself.
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Old 05-01-2011, 06:16 AM   #6
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Top of the morning to you Lou.

Looks like the Marathon at the cat's meow for our trailers.

Tire Rack has them at $380 for a set of 4 in my size.

They also show Khumo Radial 857 for TTs.

I cannot find Michelin either in 14 inch or specifically for travel trailers, it does not look like they have tires for that segment.
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Old 05-01-2011, 06:20 AM   #7
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Top of the morning to you Lou.
And you as well!
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Old 05-01-2011, 06:33 AM   #8
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My previous trailer had 4 Loadstars on it and they held
up fine the entire time. Only the tiniest of dry cracks when
I traded the trailer in. It was an ultralite and the tires
were only running at about 1/2 to 2/3 max weight
according to the info stamped on the sidewall and
honest weights from certified truck scales.

IMO FR owes you a new set of (different brand) tires.

Don't just roll over and pay for your own without a reasonable
fight!
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Old 05-01-2011, 07:01 AM   #9
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Most Marathons are made in China, so one would have to check the codes on the actual tires.
As for a tire failure at 3000 miles, I wonder if the axles might be out of alignment? Considering how poorly they are mounted, I would check that before putting a set of brand new tires on. And make FR pay for it.
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Old 05-01-2011, 07:17 AM   #10
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Quote:
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Most Marathons are made in China, so one would have to check the codes on the actual tires.
As for a tire failure at 3000 miles, I wonder if the axles might be out of alignment? Considering how poorly they are mounted, I would check that before putting a set of brand new tires on. And make FR pay for it.
Or the stamp that clearly states "Made In China"
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Old 05-01-2011, 08:43 AM   #11
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Ok, if you guys can post photos of dirty tires, here goes.
DoT Code MDHH Gadsden Alabama USA 25th week of 2010.
Tire Codes JB-N0
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Old 05-01-2011, 08:45 AM   #12
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Sorry for posting dirty pics Lou.
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Old 05-01-2011, 08:46 AM   #13
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Well, I posted dirty driveway cracks, so there.
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Old 05-01-2011, 09:07 AM   #14
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Quote:
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Well, I posted dirty driveway cracks, so there.
You guys CRACK me up
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Old 05-02-2011, 07:19 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KyDan View Post
My previous trailer had 4 Loadstars on it and they held
up fine the entire time. Only the tiniest of dry cracks when
I traded the trailer in. It was an ultralite and the tires
were only running at about 1/2 to 2/3 max weight
according to the info stamped on the sidewall and
honest trailer weights from certified truck scales.
Sorry for the bump. I meant to add I had that trailer
4 years. Not all loadstars are junk. (Rarely is anything
that cut and dried.)
Not saying I'd go buy them as replacements
but I'm just trying to ease some folks minds.
Most of us are just stuck with what ever came on
the trailer.
Keep a keen eye on them but I'm not going to just
go out and replace mine based on brand alone.

I'll happily join the Marathon owners group as soon
as my current tires show some (any) signs of cracking or
wear.
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Old 05-02-2011, 07:24 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by miatared View Post
You guys CRACK me up
If you ain't having fun; you are mesing up!
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