Chinese tires in the news

[farmbone]

I as well had trouble with the Trail Express tires which came with my Rockwood 5th wheel. Mine only had over 2000 miles on them and the trailer was just over a year old. I was type A about checking my pressures and had a TPMS on them. I weighed my trailer fully loaded and was well within specs. There was no sign of cracking or damage on the tires. We were heading out on a family vacation to Destin when I had two blow out on me without any warning on the same day. Fortunately I had bought a new spare before the second one blew. I stopped at the next Discount Tire and had them all changed to Carlisle load range E. I would have bought maxxis range D but they did not have them and I was in a pickle. I have had them now for over a year and finished the Destin trip and just got back from the Grand Canyon and southern Utah without any issues. I keep them at 65lbs ( wheels are rated for 65 lbs max). No problems with overheating I believe they ride better than the originals. Based on my experience, I would keep the Trail express for a year then get new tires. I have been very pleased with the Carlisle tires thus far. Just if you get the load range E don't run them at 80 lbs unless your wheels are rated for that.


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[Fivealive]

Originally Posted by farmbone

I as well had trouble with the Trail Express tires which came with my Rockwood 5th wheel. Mine only had over 2000 miles on them and the trailer was just over a year old. I was type A about checking my pressures and had a TPMS on them. I weighed my trailer fully loaded and was well within specs. There was no sign of cracking or damage on the tires. We were heading out on a family vacation to Destin when I had two blow out on me without any warning on the same day. Fortunately I had bought a new spare before the second one blew. I stopped at the next Discount Tire and had them all changed to Carlisle load range E. I would have bought maxxis range D but they did not have them and I was in a pickle. I have had them now for over a year and finished the Destin trip and just got back from the Grand Canyon and southern Utah without any issues. I keep them at 65lbs ( wheels are rated for 65 lbs max). No problems with overheating I believe they ride better than the originals. Based on my experience, I would keep the Trail express for a year then get new tires. I have been very pleased with the Carlisle tires thus far. Just if you get the load range E don't run them at 80 lbs unless your wheels are rated for that.


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You may be overloading the new tires at 65lbs. Check with the manufacturer.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by Fivealive

You may be overloading the new tires at 65lbs. Check with the manufacturer.

You may have a different rim then I do, but mine are stamped 60 lbs max, But I run Marathon D at 65 psi. no problems, and yes I have read the load rating, and per my weight I can drop to 50 psi, but I like running them at the CP rating. Which creates great rants on this subject. But I have always done it that way.

[deartruc]

Originally Posted by keith_h

I own a second generation Exlporer (my TV) and other than the free Good Year's Ford used to replace my OE Firestone's I have been using the Firestone Destination LE on it and my pick up truck with great results. The Good Year's were some of the worst tires I have every had on a vehicle. Not only were they noisy but their life was nowhere near what I've gotten on Firestone of Michelin.

Part of the tire problem was the result of Ford not using the recommended tire and using lower than recommended inflation pressures for the tire in order to improve the ride. This was the heyday of the truck based SUV but many of the people that bought them complained that the ride was like a truck (I wonder why). The result was Ford did what it could without redesigning the vehicle to make the ride feel smoother. Many folks also didn't understand how to handle a higher center of gravity vehicle which resulted in role overs and a lawsuit caused redesign in 2002. In the end it was the beginning of the midsize SUV becoming a car as opposed to a multi-occupant truck much to my chagrin.

I use the destination le's also. After the over rated and over priced goodyears wore out. (though the last set firestone ripped me off of the lousy $50 gift card rebate, turns out if you don't buy them from a Firestone store they find a loop hole to not honor the rebate)

[Fivealive]

Originally Posted by gljurczyk

You may have a different rim then I do, but mine are stamped 60 lbs max, But I run Marathon D at 65 psi. no problems, and yes I have read the load rating, and per my weight I can drop to 50 psi, but I like running them at the CP rating. Which creates great rants on this subject. But I have always done it that way.

Just suggesting that you check. There are many out there that don't understand the relationship between load rating and tire pressure. The manufacturer can deliver the real answers.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by Fivealive

Just suggesting that you check. There are many out there that don't understand the relationship between load rating and tire pressure. The manufacturer can deliver the real answers.

That is good advice, I have tossed that theory around and around. At the end it comes down to the owner. I have talked to my tire guy, he recommended to run at CP, even through the chart tells me 50 PSI not 65 PSI for my weight. Some people on this forum will run at the table by the manufacturer and others like myself run at the CP. It's the same as my truck I run what the sticker says. I really have no idea, so I play it safe and run at the CP rating. The tires show nowhere at all after about 3000 miles, I don't see any excess bounce or anything so I just stick with it. They got to last longer then trail express no matter what. I'm surely not an expert on tires. I guess I would call myself a consumer who keeps these people in business.......

[Rocklin Rockwood]

My wife and I purchased a 2014 Rockwood 8329SS travel trailer and I noticed right away the tires looked "low". After checking and verifying pressures they still looked "low". We then have some friends with a similar trailer who had experienced 3 blowouts and begged us to check again on our tires. Well, looks like Warren Buffet and his team of "experts" from FR took to the very cheap and did get the worst and cheapest tires on the market for the Rockwood trailers. Do they not remember the tire fiasco with Ford and their Explorers? Come on guys move forward in the right direction before another lawsuit comes up and God forbid someone gets hurt unnecessarily. The trailer is great except for this. Thanks

[dcheatwood]

Seems like a great time for a u.s. company to convert its assembly line to TT tires and advertise "made in usa" on television and trailer magazines. Couldn't keep up with the demand and would probably gt a lot of manufacturing contracts too.

[mobile mechanic]

with the problems with the ford explorers, i worked for firestone during the recall season, and we had a ford explorer come in, changed the tires and when you opened up the drivers side door, we were shocked, i had to call my manager in to see it as i was not believing my eyes, according to the manufacturer on the sticker it told us the front and rear tires are supposed to be at 16 psi, he took a picture and sent it to his boss. we could not believe this sticker, i looked at another one in the shop same year, and its sticker said 35 psi. this was a big screw up on fords part, not firestone.

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

Seems like a great time for a u.s. company to convert its assembly line to TT tires and advertise "made in usa" on television and trailer magazines. Couldn't keep up with the demand and would probably gt a lot of manufacturing contracts too.

Wouldn't make any difference if they manufactured to the same standards as the Chinese 'El Cheapos'. The results would be the same.

[dcheatwood]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

Wouldn't make any difference if they manufactured to the same standards as the Chinese 'El Cheapos'. The results would be the same.

Yeah, but I hope the u.s. standards would NOT allow Chinese quality tires to be made here. Who knows.

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

Yeah, but I hope the u.s. standards would allow Chinese quality tires to be made here. Who knows.

So what would that accomplish?

[dcheatwood]

Meant to say "NOT allow".

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

Meant to say "NOT allow".

It is my understanding that they all have to meet the US standards to be sold here. It is just the individual manufacturing standards that dictate the quality. DOT just sets minimum standards and the China bombs probably just meet the minimum standards. Car mfgrs only put the minimum tires on also, the only difference is the standards for passenger tires and truck tires are a little higher/more rigid than trailer tires for some reason or other.

[dcheatwood]

That's the point. Now would be a good time for a u.s. plant to start making good TT tires again. We all can buy cheap ones now from china but so many of us would be willing to pay more for u.s. made TT tires with better quality. I know I would.

[BiigDaddy]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

That's the point. Now would be a good time for a u.s. plant to start making good TT tires again. We all can buy cheap ones now from china but so many of us would be willing to pay more for u.s. made TT tires with better quality. I know I would.

Make that two of us!

[onetonford]

Originally Posted by KMP44

It did happen - at least for some lines. Wildcat offers an upgrade to Maxxis. I hope they expand that to more brands. I would gladly pay the extra $$ upfront for a better tire.

Wildcat Fifth Wheel Features / Options by Forest River

Boy wish they had that option when I bought mine I would have gladly paid for the upgrade...

[wbdavey]

Originally Posted by KMP44

It did happen - at least for some lines. Wildcat offers an upgrade to Maxxis. I hope they expand that to more brands. I would gladly pay the extra $$ upfront for a better tire.

Wildcat Fifth Wheel Features / Options by Forest River

My previous 5th wheel (KZ Stoneridge 41CKS) offered Goodyears instead of the "china bombs" so I ordered the option - $700 for 7 tires. When I got it home I realized the Goodyear Marathons were made in CHINA!

[vinmaker]

I commented to the dealer when I picked up my trailer because I had read here about thee China bombs. I looked at the wheel and read the name and said "I never even heard of these things? Did you?" and he just shrugged his shoulders and said "that is what they put on them". lol.

I am gonna try to get one trip out of them to a local campground for the maiden voyage, store the camper for he next 8 months and then replace them.

Vin.

[KMP44]

Originally Posted by wbdavey

My previous 5th wheel (KZ Stoneridge 41CKS) offered Goodyears instead of the "china bombs" so I ordered the option - $700 for 7 tires. When I got it home I realized the Goodyear Marathons were made in CHINA!

You still got a much better tire - its not as much where they are made, but how they are designed & produced. If you check out any of the online tire sites, look at the shipping weight of a cheap tire vs a Marathon or a Maxxis (made in Taiwan). The better brands weigh 20-30% more because they have more plies and are thicker than the cheap OEM tires.

Would be nice if there was a USA made choice (even Carlisle only makes 1 ST in the US), but a higher quality tire made overseas is still an upgrade over the cheapo's the factories use.