2010 Wildcat tires

[Silverback]

Replace the tires at once! My brother was coming back from Myrtle Beach and lost 3 of 4 tires on his 2010 Silverback 31B. The tires had been very well maintained. He never leaves without checking the pressure. this did at least a couple of thousand dollars to his unit. mr. Buffett where are you? Please put a better tire on these trailers

[humbird6]

Back again with an update, or should I say no update Have not heard a word since my last post, and really don't expect to. Warranty runs out this month, so that will be the end of it. I have contacted R. Batts in reguard to this and to getting an extended warranty, but like I said, not a word. The NHTSA gave me the number for the Federal Trade Commission, what are your thoughts?

[SierraTreeHouse]

So far I have not had good luck with Trail Express. I just lost one tire like a banana peel which resulted in $$$ in damages. Good PSI, new tread, 10 Ply, less than 3000 miles on it. They came on my Sierra from the dealer who is cooperating some. This tire dealer is Lionhead who states they only warrant for 12 months and that's after they receive the DOT Date, photos and proof of purchase. Then they might not accept my warranty since I was at 13 months. Still waiting for their evaluation. Maybe I got a bad tire, but I'm already looking at Hankook F19, which is a 14 Ply. I just don't feel safe with these tires from the way it peel off and scared my intestine.

[humbird6]

I suggest dealing with Forest River, and not Lionhead. I also sent them all the info they ask for and got a negative outcome. Contact the customer service at Forest River and ask for the service rep for Sierra. Have you vin number handy, they will ask for it. Good luck

[humbird6]

OK, back with another update, and this one is a good one I heard back from Forest River and have since received a check for the cost of replacing the defective tires. I guess persistance does pay off, LOL Anyway, my thanks to FR for resolving our problem and as I posted before, I suggest dealing directly with FR, not Lionhead. Many thanks to R. Batts and Tomcat

[Oilmaggott]

Well after buying a new Wildcat 322 RK in June I read all the posts about the OEM Trail Master tires and decided to try to run them for the first year but added a TPM to help keep an eye on them. We are in our campsite now in Ruidoso NM waiting for a new set of tires. Should be installed in the morning. Will be putting Michelin XPS Ribs on. The main reason for this post is to give you fellow FROG's a little input on how these tires fail. About 15 miles from Ruidoso my TPM informed me that my left rear trailer tire was leaking. I slowed way down and was told the current pressure in the tire was 62 pounds. Continued driving on the mountain road and watched the pressure slowly drop to about 50 pounds before I came to a safe pullout. Got out and visually inspected tire and checked with a pressure gauge and confirmed the TPM pressure. Tire looked OK so continued to Town and pulled in to the first tire shop. They pulled off the tire and showed me that it was coming apart inside. The tire was obviously warped and the tread was lifting at the base and leaking. This tire would have failed soon. I have no desire to run the risk of running into this problem again on a mountain road with no shoulder. Hence the new set of tires. I never drive my rig over 63 mph and monitor the tire pressure and temp while driving...what learned is if you decide to run these tires if you put in a TPM system in the TV you can get plenty of warning before they blow. Be safe.

[crocus]

You have to wonder how these tires can fail that quickly, and why does FR use them?

[TURBS]

after reading this whole thread I am thinking back about my recently traded flagstaff trailer that was 6 years old and never had a tire issue . I wish id have looked at the brand. the only thing I ever noticed was they all ways looked "low"
tt was 2006 flagstaff 832bhss

my new 5er has duro ds2100 e rated 16 in tires

[humbird6]

Thanks for your input. Just maybe if enough peeps have problems with these tires, forest River will put another brand on their rigs? Be safe on your travels

[Oilmaggott]

Originally Posted by Oilmaggott

Well after buying a new Wildcat 322 RK in June I read all the posts about the OEM Trail Master tires and decided to try to run them for the first year but added a TPM to help keep an eye on them. We are in our campsite now in Ruidoso NM waiting for a new set of tires. Should be installed in the morning. Will be putting Michelin XPS Ribs on. The main reason for this post is to give you fellow FROG's a little input on how these tires fail. About 15 miles from Ruidoso my TPM informed me that my left rear trailer tire was leaking. I slowed way down and was told the current pressure in the tire was 62 pounds. Continued driving on the mountain road and watched the pressure slowly drop to about 50 pounds before I came to a safe pullout. Got out and visually inspected tire and checked with a pressure gauge and confirmed the TPM pressure. Tire looked OK so continued to Town and pulled in to the first tire shop. They pulled off the tire and showed me that it was coming apart inside. The tire was obviously warped and the tread was lifting at the base and leaking. This tire would have failed soon. I have no desire to run the risk of running into this problem again on a mountain road with no shoulder. Hence the new set of tires. I never drive my rig over 63 mph and monitor the tire pressure and temp while driving...what learned is if you decide to run these tires if you put in a TPM system in the TV you can get plenty of warning before they blow. Be safe.

Had the new set of tires installed this morning. They inspected the other tires as they removed each one. Two other tires were starting to show signs of failure. Again the rear tire on the other side was almost as bad as the one that failed. I guess that supports what I have heard from others, when one fails they are all about to fail. BTW the new Michelin's fit good in the well and look great.

[musicmansy77]

Originally Posted by EdJunior

Well, wow...nothing!?? Okay, so here's what I found from poking around on a couple of other forums I belong to. These are either manufactured by Bridgestone/Firestone in Poland, or they are from a Chinese manufacturer called Doublestar. Hmmm, something tells me China's gonna win on this one. Does anyone else have these tires??

I just picked up my 2011 wildwood trailer made by forest river this may. It came equipped with "trail express" tires. After about four week on the road, the sidewalls on all the tires looked like they were about ten years old with cracks and splitting. Not impressed at all. Who makes this kind of crap?\
Certainly not 'made in America'.

[alohanole]

Originally Posted by musicmansy77

Who makes this kind of crap?
Certainly not 'made in America'.

The tires are chinese.

[kablair]

Originally Posted by musicmansy77

I just picked up my 2011 wildwood trailer made by forest river this may. It came equipped with "trail express" tires. After about four week on the road, the sidewalls on all the tires looked like they were about ten years old with cracks and splitting. Not impressed at all. Who makes this kind of crap?\
Certainly not 'made in America'.

Consider yourself lucky - I found out how bad the tires are while driving 55 mph on I-10.

Put on new tires all around - one goes bad, they're all bad.
Paid $3k to fix the damage - which everyone told me wasn't anywhere near as bad as what they've seen these tires do.

[roadtech]

Hi folks
After blowing three tires on my 2005 28rk Wildcat over the last two years, I now have four brand new American made Firestone 16 in LT225 10 ply truck tires, My son and I put 10,000 happy, trouble free kilometers this summer. No more China bombs for me.
One other thing to keep an eye on is the spring shackles. The bolt holes started to wear oblonged and the poly bushings were worn out. After taking them all out, I replaced the shackles, bushings and also put greasable bolts in, no more issues.
See you on the trails
Don

[extremebike]

Originally Posted by Oilmaggott

Well after buying a new Wildcat 322 RK in June I read all the posts about the OEM Trail Master tires and decided to try to run them for the first year but added a TPM to help keep an eye on them. We are in our campsite now in Ruidoso NM waiting for a new set of tires. Should be installed in the morning. Will be putting Michelin XPS Ribs on. The main reason for this post is to give you fellow FROG's a little input on how these tires fail. About 15 miles from Ruidoso my TPM informed me that my left rear trailer tire was leaking. I slowed way down and was told the current pressure in the tire was 62 pounds. Continued driving on the mountain road and watched the pressure slowly drop to about 50 pounds before I came to a safe pullout. Got out and visually inspected tire and checked with a pressure gauge and confirmed the TPM pressure. Tire looked OK so continued to Town and pulled in to the first tire shop. They pulled off the tire and showed me that it was coming apart inside. The tire was obviously warped and the tread was lifting at the base and leaking. This tire would have failed soon. I have no desire to run the risk of running into this problem again on a mountain road with no shoulder. Hence the new set of tires. I never drive my rig over 63 mph and monitor the tire pressure and temp while driving...what learned is if you decide to run these tires if you put in a TPM system in the TV you can get plenty of warning before they blow. Be safe.

I have been looking for a suitable replacement tires for my 2011 32RL. Thanks for your post. I would rather spend the money up front and not have to worry about tires on my time away from work.

[dcheatwood]

On October 14 at about 7PM the tread came off our Trail Express tire at about 65MPH on I-30 near Exit 7, Texarkana, AR. The tires are original on our 2010 Wildcat 29RLBS. The tires came new with 70psi so that's what I run them at. Tires have less than 5000 miles on them. After the tread separation, the tire did not blowout. When replaced with the spare, the bad tire still had 70psi in it. Nitrogen filled.
When the right rear tire tread came off, it ripped through the floor of the RV and cut a 4 foot hole about 5 inches wide under the kitchen sink, cut the hot and cold water lines to the sink, ripped out and shattered the PVC drain and P-trap under the sink and destrpyed the drawers and wall partition.
We called the phone numbers in the RV manual listed for the tires, one number is no longer in service and the other said to call back at another time. Our RV is now in the shop for repairs but I'd like to contact the tire manufacturer for reimbursement of sorts but can't find a contact for them. The RV owner's manual has a number for Carlisle but the tires are Trail Express 16in, Load range E. Owned the trailer just over 2 years. Any contact info for Trail Express is appreciated. I'll try to attach a couple of pics from the scene.

[extremebike]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

On October 14 at about 7PM the tread came off our Trail Express tire at about 65MPH on I-30 near Exit 7, Texarkana, AR. The tires are original on our 2010 Wildcat 29RLBS. The tires came new with 70psi so that's what I run them at. Tires have less than 5000 miles on them. After the tread separation, the tire did not blowout. When replaced with the spare, the bad tire still had 70psi in it. Nitrogen filled.
When the right rear tire tread came off, it ripped through the floor of the RV and cut a 4 foot hole about 5 inches wide under the kitchen sink, cut the hot and cold water lines to the sink, ripped out and shattered the PVC drain and P-trap under the sink and destrpyed the drawers and wall partition.
We called the phone numbers in the RV manual listed for the tires, one number is no longer in service and the other said to call back at another time. Our RV is now in the shop for repairs but I'd like to contact the tire manufacturer for reimbursement of sorts but can't find a contact for them. The RV owner's manual has a number for Carlisle but the tires are Trail Express 16in, Load range E. Owned the trailer just over 2 years. Any contact info for Trail Express is appreciated. I'll try to attach a couple of pics from the scene.

Hi!

Sorry to hear about the tires! I just changed over to Michelin XPS LT235R85 -16 tires they are E rated. I have a Sterling 32RL and run the tires at 80PSI with nitrogen. They carry the weight load of the trailer with spare load range. The trailer label specifies an E rated tire.

I feel much more confident and although the trailer came with TrailMaster G rated tires the Michelins run and no trailer sway that I can feel. I only had 1500 km on the TrailMaster when I changed over. It was expensive but now I don't have to worry.

The Michelins are listed at Tire Rack.

[TURBS]

Ok this thread has got me thinking again........

Has any one even considered or tried using e rated LT truck tires in a straight hiway tread?
what would be the harm? How could they possibly fail any worse?
food for thought

[Triguy]

Originally Posted by f1100turbo

Ok this thread has got me thinking again........

Has any one even considered or tried using e rated LT truck tires in a straight hiway tread?
what would be the harm? How could they possibly fail any worse?
food for thought

I've often wondered about that, too.

This is from an explanation on discounttire.com:

Why Use An "ST" Tire

• "ST" tires feature materials and construction to meet the higher load requirements and demands of trailering.
• The polyester cords are bigger than they would be for a comparable "P" or "LT" tire.
• The steel cords have a larger diameter and greater tensile strength to meet the additional load requirements.
• "ST" tire rubber compounds contain more chemicals to resist weather and ozone cracking.

Logistically, I wonder if my wheels would also need to be swapped out as part of the change to LT? It would be interesting to see a fair comparison made between ST and LT tires on the same set of wheels.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by Triguy

I've often wondered about that, too.

This is from an explanation on discounttire.com:

Why Use An "ST" Tire

• "ST" tires feature materials and construction to meet the higher load requirements and demands of trailering.
• The polyester cords are bigger than they would be for a comparable "P" or "LT" tire.
• The steel cords have a larger diameter and greater tensile strength to meet the additional load requirements.
• "ST" tire rubber compounds contain more chemicals to resist weather and ozone cracking.

Logistically, I wonder if my wheels would also need to be swapped out as part of the change to LT? It would be interesting to see a fair comparison made between ST and LT tires on the same set of wheels.

I cant imagine you would have to changes rims as long as you had the same "size" and width tire it would fit the same .

really load range E is load range E correct ?



As I said before how could they be worse ?
As I read some of these posts and
I see low mileage on these trailer tires but I ran my set on my old flagstaff for almost 6 years .