Forest River doesn't care about your safety

[surferjoe5899]

Had nothing but problems since I bought my trailer. This is the most concerning, since it's a safety issue. Tires are cheap Chinese garbage and all my valve stems are cracking. I talked to customer service and at first they were going to reimburse me and let me buy good tires on my own. Then they came back and said since it's only the valves that is all they'll cover.

Putting cheap tires on these trailers is a bad move by Forest River. There are lots of complains about people who get hundreds or even thousands of dollars of damage when these things blow. Is anyone buying a $30,000 trailer really going to walk away because it cost $300 bucks more for good tires? Doubt that. But they'll risk the company's reputation by putting this garbage on your trailer with no concern about the damage they can cause or the safety of your customers. You're now stuck either having tires that are a safety issue or forking over $600 on good quality tires. Not happy about this at all.

[Cowracer]

Originally Posted by surferjoe5899

Had nothing but problems since I bought my trailer. This is the most concerning, since it's a safety issue. Tires are cheap Chinese garbage and all my valve stems are cracking. I talked to customer service and at first they were going to reimburse me and let me buy good tires on my own. Then they came back and said since it's only the valves that is all they'll cover.

Putting cheap tires on these trailers is a bad move by Forest River. There are lots of complains about people who get hundreds or even thousands of dollars of damage when these things blow. Is anyone buying a $30,000 trailer really going to walk away because it cost $300 bucks more for good tires? Doubt that. But they'll risk the company's reputation by putting this garbage on your trailer with no concern about the damage they can cause or the safety of your customers. You're now stuck either having tires that are a safety issue or forking over $600 on good quality tires. Not happy about this at all.

You complain that nobody will balk at paying extra for better tires, then you essentially balk at paying extra for better tires.



Tim

p.s. as for "lots of complaints", figure for every guy burning up the interwebs griping about their tires, there are 10 that have no issue at all. I have had 2 FR campers with supposedly "cheap chinese junk" tires. Never, not once, had an issue with any of the 8, and would not hesitate to drive my camper to any corner of the US on the stock Castle Rocks.

[47driver]

I have a buddy who works for one of those commercial tire companies that come to you and swap the tire on your rig. I asked him a while ago about how many tires he does on RVs during the summer, he said during the summer he does hundreds of tires on motorhomes and travel trailers. When I asked further, he stated that most travel trailer customers that he came across knew nothing about speed rating and load rating of the tires that were on their trailer. He said at least half had admitted to driving faster than the speed rating on their tires. Many of the customer's campers we're obviously well over max weight of the tires.


I have had blowouts on campers before, but I can admit some of them were my fault. I shouldn't have taken off across the country with 12-year-old rubber underneath my camper. I should not have set the cruise at 80 when the speed rating is 75.

[Cabinfever97]

First I believe most blowouts are from low pressure, too fast, or road damaged tires that are not visible from the outside. I often wonder though if blow outs happen so often why don't I see more RVs along roads with a flat or damaged RVs anywhere? I think it is because the actual problem is not as big as it is screamed from the mountain tops to be!

[IsleDog]

First, WELCOME!!

second, its about consumer education. this is my second trailer, i had no idea that the factory tires we a real issue. i replaced my first campers tires simply because it was time, but didnt give my new campers tires a second thought. now that i am here on the forums, it changes your perspective.

[dustman_stx]

The main issue, IMHO, is that they use tires that are rated for just BARELY what they'll be carrying almost all the time. I predict that if campers all came with 1 step up in load range over what they currently have there'd be almost no tire issues. Actual cost would be maybe $10-$20 per tire- probably less considering they buy in bulk.

[B and B]

The RVIA are making some headway getting higher rated tires for all RV's installed. Some manufacturers do but for a $30,000 trailer you get what you pay for. All trailers come with messy wiring, sawdust and unplugged mouse entry points at no additional charge.

[upflying]

For a $20,000 TT, I fully expect to get cheap tires..
If I bought an Airstream, I would expect new Goodyear Endurance tires.

[Reverse_snowbird]

First, welcome and sorry you're having problems.

Original equipment tires do have their limitations and if you're going to carry a heavier load that the tires are rated for or if you're going to exceed their speed limit (usually 65mph), you probably need to upgrade those tires.

Keep in mind that you need to keep your cargo carrying capacity below max and distribute your load to minimize the weight on any individual tire. That's not easy to do for most people.

[surferjoe5899]

Wow, that really went over your head. I'd rather pay the $300 extra when I buy the trailer and have good tires than to have to take new tires that are garbage and have to throw them away so I can spend $600 extra. Not a hard concept to grasp.

I will say I have been working with customer service on this issue and they are going to credit me 300 bucks and let me put my own tires on. I've known a lot of people that have had the sides of their trailers blown to bits when a tire explodes.

Enjoy your cheap Chinese tires. I'll see you back on here when they finally catch up with you and you can't defend it anymore.

Originally Posted by Cowracer

You complain that nobody will balk at paying extra for better tires, then you essentially balk at paying extra for better tires.



Tim

p.s. as for "lots of complaints", figure for every guy burning up the interwebs griping about their tires, there are 10 that have no issue at all. I have had 2 FR campers with supposedly "cheap chinese junk" tires. Never, not once, had an issue with any of the 8, and would not hesitate to drive my camper to any corner of the US on the stock Castle Rocks.

[rockfordroo]

I drive through Elkhart 3 or 4 times per year and routinely see (and get passed by) transporters hauling trailers at 70-75 mph. So by the time they've hauled your TT to your dealer 500 or 1000 miles away, your tires have already been damaged, even if YOU only do 60 mph.

[Mr. Dan]

My 2015 Wildcat came with Provider (yes, very much Chinese) tires and I put 18,660 miles on them except for the one that picked up a sliver of metal between the tread and sidewall. I finally replaced the tires when one began to wear unevenly due to a bent axle which was replaced under an extended service contract. Both my Chinese tires and my extended service contract proved to hold up under pressure.

[dustman_stx]

Originally Posted by upflying

For a $20,000 TT, I fully expect to get cheap tires..
If I bought an Airstream, I would expect new Goodyear Endurance tires.

I'm saying that if they used cheap crap tires, but a load range higher, you'd have very few problems, IMHO. Minimal cost.

[koller1509]

Originally Posted by surferjoe5899

Wow, that really went over your head. I'd rather pay the $300 extra when I buy the trailer and have good tires than to have to take new tires that are garbage and have to throw them away so I can spend $600 extra. Not a hard concept to grasp.

I will say I have been working with customer service on this issue and they are going to credit me 300 bucks and let me put my own tires on. I've known a lot of people that have had the sides of their trailers blown to bits when a tire explodes.

Enjoy your cheap Chinese tires. I'll see you back on here when they finally catch up with you and you can't defend it anymore.

You have 2 posts to your name and you are going to come on this forum and bash members with hundreds of posts just because they won't agree with you!!!

[Cowracer]

Originally Posted by surferjoe5899

Wow, that really went over your head. I'd rather pay the $300 extra when I buy the trailer and have good tires than to have to take new tires that are garbage and have to throw them away so I can spend $600 extra. Not a hard concept to grasp.

I will say I have been working with customer service on this issue and they are going to credit me 300 bucks and let me put my own tires on. I've known a lot of people that have had the sides of their trailers blown to bits when a tire explodes.

Enjoy your cheap Chinese tires. I'll see you back on here when they finally catch up with you and you can't defend it anymore.

Glad to know you have calculated your peace-of-mind to be worth exactly $300.

And I ain't 'defending' anything, mister. I am just saying that I am perfectly comfortable with the tires that came on my trailer. I have had zero reasons not to be.

Enjoy being miserable and worked up in a froth over $300.

Tim

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

I drive through Elkhart 3 or 4 times per year and routinely see (and get passed by) transporters hauling trailers at 70-75 mph. So by the time they've hauled your TT to your dealer 500 or 1000 miles away, your tires have already been damaged, even if YOU only do 60 mph.

Now that's disturbing.

[DRiveWell]

Koller X2

[NatlChamp]

I've got maybe 10,000 miles on my wolf pup. Pretty much paranoid about tire pressure and keep it at stated max. I worry a bit about the tires but they seem to be holding up. Trailer is four years old so will change them this year but don't know what to get. My small toy hauler is probably under weight by a little so that may help. With a single axle trailer I suspect a blowout would be scary. I do the wheel bearings each season and look at the tires pretty carefully and they look okay with good tread. Been looking for tire pressure monitor but will wait tell I replace tires and valve stems. I pulled this thing way to fast in the beginning, slowing down I'm sure is helping. More scary to me is the brakes on this thing. But that's a whole different story. God Bless

[timfromma]

I just ordered 4 brand new Goodyear Endurance tires for my TT. I'm having them installed this Saturday.

[45RPM]

I first found this forum last June after buying a FR Rockwood Mini Lite 2509S and was amazed and disturbed about all of the heated discussions and complaints about Castle Rock tires (I assume that they meet at least the minimum DOT requirements) and thought that I had better go buy the Goodyear Endurance tires before mine blow up! Then I looked more closely at the tires on the Mini Lite and although they are Castle Rock, they are 8 ply, load range D rated at 75 MPH, max inflate is 65 psi, max load dual 1820 lbs. The Mini Lite GVWR is 6869# which is 1717" per tire (103# cushion per tire when loaded to the max).

I just returned from a 3000+ mile trip with this trailer without any tire issues. I kept the tires inflated to 65# and stayed under 75 MPH. If I have ANY issues in the future, I'll let this forum know.

-Rich