Trail express bomb

ryand · 07-14-2013, 05:12 PM

My parents set off to Branson this afternoon...only to suffer another china bomb with their new Rockwood 5er. Feel bad as the damage report is not good.

rattleNsmoke · 07-14-2013, 05:19 PM

Damn. Sorry to hear that. They don't call them 'Blowmax' for nothing.

pwrstroke2012 · 07-14-2013, 05:25 PM

China bomb??

Cacooze · 07-14-2013, 05:37 PM

Tires...

ryand · 07-14-2013, 07:57 PM

Apparently it did some major damage to the slide....obviously the tire is toast. Thinking of buying them a set of maxxis tires. So many failures of this brand makes me wonder if there are major issues

bakken · 07-14-2013, 08:02 PM

This is really, really not necessary.
Forest River has to get the message and quit putting substandard tires on our campers.

Until then, it is up to us to tell everyone we know that buys a new camper to replace the tires, asap.

DDC · 07-14-2013, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bakken

This is really, really not necessary.
Forest River has to get the message and quit putting substandard tires on our campers.

Until then, it is up to us to tell everyone we know that buys a new camper to replace the tires, asap.

Why don't people make a point of ordering the trailer with specific tires or if buying off the lot make the deal include brand specific tires its not like this is an unknown problem.

bakken · 07-14-2013, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DDC

Why don't people make a point of ordering the trailer with specific tires or if buying off the lot make the deal include brand specific tires its not like this is an unknown problem.

We did not know they were going to put some pos no-name brand tire on our camper, until the day we picked it up. If we had known, we sure would have insisted they be changed.
Only the people who follow this forum know the problem, and that isn't that many in the big picture. I only found this site long after we had bought ours.

rattleNsmoke · 07-14-2013, 08:38 PM

This Forum is only one of MANY that acknowledge that there exists problems with overseas rubber. While touring a dealers lot last spring, I noticed the larger CC fivers with 7k axles all had Goodyear G614's on them. There may be hope.

JoeR · 07-14-2013, 08:43 PM

Same here. I didn't find out about the Trail Express issues until after I had my Windjammer for a while.

I've kept the tires covered and treated with Aerospace 303 UV protectant.

I've made sure to keep the tire pressure set at 50psi and mounted a set of TST sensors on the tires. If the temp gets up around 120, it's time to pull over and cool them down. So far, I've squeezed three years out of them and plan to replace with M8008s before next year.

Even with pressures sensors, I've seen reports of them letting go by some people.

JR

bakken · 07-14-2013, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeR

I've made sure to keep the tire pressure set at 50psi and mounted a set of TST sensors on the tires. If the temp gets up around 120, it's time to pull over and cool them down.
JR

120 !!!!!!!!

I don't think I've seen mine go over 95.
Do yours really get that hot?

OldCoot · 07-14-2013, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeR

Same here. I didn't find out about the Trail Express issues until after I had my Windjammer for a while.

I've kept the tires covered and treated with Aerospace 303 UV protectant.

I've made sure to keep the tire pressure set at 50psi and mounted a set of TST sensors on the tires. If the temp gets up around 120, it's time to pull over and cool them down. So far, I've squeezed three years out of them and plan to replace with M8008s before next year.

Even with pressures sensors, I've seen reports of them letting go by some people.

JR

Even with all your precautions, your tires are on borrowed time. Why risk $500-$600 for tires against $1500 plus in damage to the trailer and possibly an accident?

JoeR · 07-14-2013, 09:05 PM

I usually see around 95-100 degrees and the sunny side will crawl up to 110-115 degrees. If it hits 118/120 I'm looking for a pull off. It's happened twice so far. 100 degree ambient temps on those days.

bakken · 07-14-2013, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeR

I usually see around 95-100 degrees and the sunny side will crawl up to 110-115 degrees. If it hits 118/120 I'm looking for a pull off. It's happened twice so far. 100 degree ambient temps on those days.

I guess if the air temp is 100, then it is possible. But from what I recall, our tires usually run only about 10 degrees over the air temp. Any idea what your camper weighs loaded? Maybe those C-rated tires are getting over-worked at 50 psi?

OldCoot · 07-14-2013, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeR

I usually see around 95-100 degrees and the sunny side will crawl up to 110-115 degrees. If it hits 118/120 I'm looking for a pull off. It's happened twice so far. 100 degree ambient temps on those days.

You can set the temp alarm lower if you desire.
Per the TST manual:
Also, we recommend you leave the temperature set at 157° Fahrenheit;
tires typically fail between 190°-200° Fahrenheit.

JoeR · 07-14-2013, 09:41 PM

CAT scales puts it right around 7K.

I plan to move up to Ds or Es when I upgrade.

JoeR · 07-14-2013, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldCoot

You can set the temp alarm lower if you desire.
Per the TST manual:
Also, we recommend you leave the temperature set at 157° Fahrenheit;
tires typically fail between 190°-200° Fahrenheit.

I set mine at 150 after reading the manual.

bakken · 07-14-2013, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeR

CAT scales puts it right around 7K.

I plan to move up to Ds or Es when I upgrade.

That might be why ours run so cool, as we upgraded to D-rated tires.
If we still had the C tires on, our temps might be up there as well.
Keep an eye on those puppies!

JoeR · 07-15-2013, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bakken

That might be why ours run so cool, as we upgraded to D-rated tires.
If we still had the C tires on, our temps might be up there as well.
Keep an eye on those puppies!

I look them over every gas stop and with the 26 gallon tank on Tundra, I get to make plenty of those stops. I don't push the gas stops, especially out here in the Western US. When the gauge hits a 1/4 tank, it's time to find the next fuel station. It's not worth the stress on seeing 20 miles to empty.

SaskCampers · 07-15-2013, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeR

CAT scales puts it right around 7K.

I plan to move up to Ds or Es when I upgrade.

You sure about that weight? Our 11 V-Lite 30WRLS which is the same trailer has a factory yellow sticker weight of 7223 and a gvwr of 8558 and we do not have the atrium windows. Loaded we always run a bit over 8k.

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