Tires ( Made in China )

[Mike Tav]

New Rockwood 8289 WS Fifth Wheel. Tread separated on 1 tire with less than 4000 miles ! PSI OK , no road hazards and I only drive 60 to 62 mph. Can I expect this on all 4 or just bad luck ? What's your experience with made in China tires ? Thinking about pushing dealer to replace all tires !

[OldCoot]

You can't get away from tires from the far east. Answer to your question, YES, as they (oem tires) are the cheapest tires made and are near max load. Like the old Fram commercial, "pay me now, or pay me later"

[bakken]

Originally Posted by Mike Tav

New Rockwood 8289 WS Fifth Wheel. Tread separated on 1 tire with less than 4000 miles ! PSI OK , no road hazards and I only drive 60 to 62 mph. Can I expect this on all 4 or just bad luck ? What's your experience with made in China tires ? Thinking about pushing dealer to replace all tires !

Definitely replace them, and put on D-rated tires while you are at it.
I didn't wait for a blowout, and replaced mine immediately with Maxxis tires, one of the better brands.
The factory tires are cheap, and the C-rated ones they put on are maxed out as far as load is concerned.
You are lucky you got 4000 miles out of them.

[wyo700]

I only had about 2000 miles on the china junk that came on my trailer. One was about to explode and the others were wearing funny. I put maxxis on before I started camping. Might be all in my head but I swear my camper pulls better.

[FordHauler]

I too have only about 4000 to 5000 miles on my new Flagstaff IKBS832. One tire keeps losing a little air (1-3 lbs daily) and another would lose 10-12 lbs per day. The small leaker I am still watching closely , the big loser had a bubble on the inside with a pinhole in it.
Lionshead is not the best supplier Forest River uses. "Customer Service" will have you leave voice messages that never get returned. If you need another tire in a hurry.......too bad. So you are frustrated.....they really do not care. I have UPS tracking information that states my replacement tire will arrive tomorrow. I am of the opinion, as other members have stated, that a safer set of tires is in my very near future. Thanks for the valued information.

[Rebel702]

Yes replace all four now! Blow-out cost $2200 in damage plus 4 new tires. Less than one year old and under 5000 miles. Replaced with Big O tires 10 ply - Lr E. Much better towing and mpg.

[kandl]

Originally Posted by Mike Tav

What's your experience with made in China tires ?

14K km on steel belted radial Duros, which hail from HWA Fong Rubber Co Ltd if you believe the DOT coding. They've held up well and are inspected religiously given the negative press associated with these tires. The radial Duros apparently (anecdotal) have a better track record than their bias ply counterparts.

[Mike Tav]

Thanks for all the good advice. Appears a tire change in order before next trip.

[KyDan]

Originally Posted by Mike Tav

New Rockwood 8289 WS Fifth Wheel. Tread separated on 1 tire with less than 4000 miles ! PSI OK , no road hazards and I only drive 60 to 62 mph. Can I expect this on all 4 or just bad luck ? What's your experience with made in China tires ? Thinking about pushing dealer to replace all tires !

What BRAND and type of tire do you have now???

[pwrstroke2012]

Originally Posted by wyo700

I only had about 2000 miles on the china junk that came on my trailer. One was about to explode and the others were wearing funny. I put maxxis on before I started camping. Might be all in my head but I swear my camper pulls better.

Same here with the maxxis, I also went up a load rating to "D". Trailer seems to track behind so much smoother without so much wobble.

[KyDan]

So the often celebrated Maxxis tires have feet of clay as well as the rest?!?

Here's my suggestion-- look closely at your current tires.
Read the Maximum Load rating stamped on the sidewalls.
Multiply that number by the number of tires on your trailer.
Next time you are fueling up at a truck stop- pull on the scales
and get weighed! Note the Axle weight of your rig.

Compare the maximum load rating of your tires to the ACTUAL weight
on them when you're ready to go camping.
The difference is your safety factor.

MY tire total load rating is over 7000 LBS while my Actual weight on the
axles is 4000 LBS.
That's a nice safety cushion IMO.

I've seen trailers where the difference between these 2 numbers is
very small while the trailer is sitting on the dealers lot. With food, water
gear and other goodies loaded some have zero or a negative safety
factor

What's YOUR safety factor. No guessing. You must get
weighed and do the math to know for sure.

[bakken]

Originally Posted by KyDan

So the often celebrated Maxxis tires have feet of clay as well as the rest?!?

How so?

[KyDan]

I apparently mis-read pwrstrokes post.
I thought he was agreeing with quoted text saying in part-
"I only had about 2000 miles on the china junk that came on my trailer"
I read that meaning his Maxxis tires had failed early. I see now that's
not what he meant.

I stand behind my opinion that the load rating/actual axle weight safety factor is more important
than brand or country of origin.

[bakken]

Originally Posted by KyDan

I apparently mis-read pwrstrokes post.
I thought he was agreeing with quoted text saying in part-
"I only had about 2000 miles on the china junk that came on my trailer"
I read that meaning his Maxxis tires had failed early. I see now that's
not what he meant.

I stand behind my opinion that the load rating/actual axle weight safety factor is more important
than brand or country of origin.

Yes, Maxxis are not "China junk", that's for sure.
But you are right about checking the actual loads on the tires and going from there. The C-rated tires on my fifth were loaded far too close to their maximum rating to be comfortable. They were Duro tires, which seem to have a slightly better reputation, but I wasn't about to take any chances with my brand new camper.
So, Maxxis it was.

[KyDan]

It would be nice to be able to choose a tire upgrade just like you choose
color of counter tops or other options when purchasing a new RV.
Nobody wants to bring their new trailer home and promptly remove and
sell/discard a new set of tires!!

[Oakman]

Originally Posted by bakken

Yes, Maxxis are not "China junk", that's for sure.
But you are right about checking the actual loads on the tires and going from there. The C-rated tires on my fifth were loaded far too close to their maximum rating to be comfortable. They were Duro tires, which seem to have a slightly better reputation, but I wasn't about to take any chances with my brand new camper.
So, Maxxis it was.

Wow, C-rated tires on a fifth wheel, I would have swapped them out too. The 2004 Wildcat 27RK that we used to own had a dry weight of 6870 and came with D-rated tires. BTW, those tires were made in Mexico.

[bakken]

Originally Posted by KyDan

It would be nice to be able to choose a tire upgrade just like you choose
color of counter tops or other options when purchasing a new RV.
Nobody wants to bring their new trailer home and promptly remove and
sell/discard a new set of tires!!

Most RV buyers are clueless, and if the factory offered better tires, then everyone would panic that the original tires were deadly. And that might make them go to a different manufacturer.
And if the factory just put good tires on the units, they would have to charge a little more, once again maybe being the difference between selling a unit or not.
The problem is that RV buyers are not educated, and that is who the factory has to design their campers for.
Buyers will pay a little more for fancy this or that, but tires? They have no idea.
So while it irks me that the factory uses cheap tires, one of the most important safety features on the campers, I understand what they are up against.

[bakken]

Originally Posted by Oakman

Wow, C-rated tires on a fifth wheel, I would have swapped them out too. The 2004 Wildcat 27RK that we used to own had a dry weight of 6870 and came with D-rated tires. BTW, those tires were made in Mexico.

And my axles aren't any better, loaded to the max at the GVWR.
I wonder how long before they fail?

[Dave_Monica]

Originally Posted by Oakman

Wow, C-rated tires on a fifth wheel, I would have swapped them out too.

All Rockwood/Flagstaff 5vers come with C rated tires and 4000 lb axles. This is the 4th year and 10000 + miles on the Duros that came with the camper and they seem to be wearing just fine. I am however thinking about replacing this fall with Maxxis or Marathons on our NH trip as they're harder to get in Ontario.

Originally Posted by bakken

And my axles aren't any better, loaded to the max at the GVWR.

Isn't that how the manufacturers determine the camper's GVWR...axle rating x 2 plus dry pin weight?

Dave

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by bakken

And my axles aren't any better, loaded to the max at the GVWR.
I wonder how long before they fail?

Sounds like a set of 5000# should be ordered as preventive maintenance.