Akuret Tires

[wheelmangg]

Just took a magnifying glass to try and read the load capacity on the side of the Akuret ST235/80 R16 tires and looks like 5520 per tire for single use at 80 PSI. Our Columbus Palomino 365RL, according to the door tag weighs 13007 dry and has a capacity of 3836 pounds of cargo. We are no where near that even if we drove without emptying the tanks, but as soon as I have a chance at a weigh station I am going to get weights for full rig, truck rear and camper tandem, and camper tandem only for weight distribution confirmation. I will post the weight results as soon as I have an opportunity. Bottom line there is plenty of capacity according to the tire manufacturer. Sooo - that begs the question - why are so many people having blow out issues so early in the life of the tires?

[lgray]

Akuret have a maximum weight of 3,520. You will not find an "E" rated tire much above that. An F or G rating 3,700 or 3,800. Rating doesn't matter, if there is no accountability/oversight on the production line or regualtory...China.

[Mr.z]

Something to remember is that the rubber in a tire has a certain memory. So when a tire is under/over inflated the tire has already started to degrade. Today's failure may not be directly related to what happened today, but was actually caused, prior to the current event.

[kerrlakelover]

Just found Delta Tire's website and drilled down to the specs for their Akuret trailer tire. The actual "load limit" in their chart chart for the 235/80R16 is 3417 at 80psi. Delta Tires Catalog - Del-Nat® Tire Corporation - National Tires, Del-Nat Tires, Akuret Tires, Private brand tires.

I recently got a goose egg on a Duro tire with at manufacture date of the 43rd week of 2011 (4311) and when I called Duro, the first thing he told me was to go up to the next size tire because the RV industry put tires on the RVs that were near peak load limit with a dry RV. Anyway, I'm like everyone else, I'm buying the Goodyear Marathon or Power King Towmax when I pull the RV out next spring. Ha, I may even have a blowout with the 5er sitting under the shed for the winter with these tires.

[wheelmangg]

Yeah - it was old eyes looking at the small print on the side of the tire. The printed is 3520 at 80PSI. Sounds like from other post that that may have been changed or downgraded to 3417. Hmm - wonder what the basis for the downgraded change is. At any rate following up to let you know the actual scaled load on the trailer tandem was 12720. Still well below even the downgraded number. And that is heavier than when we had the catastrophic failure. (Wife has done a lot of shopping on this trip) Tire cold pressures were 78 - 80 PSI in the AM before we hit the road. I have kept an eye on tire heat and do not seem to be having any other issue beyond further minor repairs to one of the pieces of skirting damaged by the blow out. Still have another 8-900 miles to go.

[okietom]

I had one of my Akuret ties swell up to about 3 inches taller than rhe rest, took almost a week to finally talk to someone about warranty. I replaced all four with LT Bridgestone's from Discount Tire. Besides the defect all four were about half wore out after less than five thousand miles. I will never buy another trailer unless the dealer swaps out the junk chinese tires before purchsase.

[BarryD0706]

It's not a good idea to put LT tires on an RV that is supposed to have ST tires on it.

[Ford Idaho]

Originally Posted by BarryD0706

It's not a good idea to put LT tires on an RV that is supposed to have ST tires on it.

I must agree.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...53899372,d.cGE

[wheelmangg]

No to be redundant on the LT replacing an S but - One of the problems with LT tires replacing S tires is in the wheels that came with the S series tires. They may not be up to the capacity of the LT tire. There should be capacity numbers or load ratings for the wheels. Your tire dealer should be able to determine this before recommending replacement tires. The tires that come with the trailer, RV truck etc. are all going to be rated for the vehicle as it is designed to be used. My issue with the Akurets is suspected quality issues. Why would they have downgraded the capacity? (See comments further back in the threads). Even with the downgraded capacity they still are up to the total for my camper. Now that the failures have come more to the surface I suspect there are far more failures out there than the 2% number that was initially thought. I still think something needs to be done about a recall before some one gets hurt and plan to speak with NHTSA as soon as the dust settles in DC.

[lgray]

We traded out Columbus 320RS for a Trilogy this weekend. The dealer only orders his trailers with upgraded wheels and tires. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security with the ratings or the rhetoric from FR and other Mfg's. I have learned, to “shoot over the rim” on tires and wheels.
I did call the actual wheel manufacturer for the wheels on my Columbus. The wheel manufacturer informed me that the wheels were more than capable of handling the 110 PSI or more that I was looking at. The problem is that the Goodyear “G” rated tires in the 16 inch, do not handle much more capacity than the “E”’s. I would be going from 3400-3500 to 3750 on the G‘s. In order to accomplish what I really needed, I would need to go to a 17.5 inch, to get the Goodyear Unisteel G114’s, “H” (LT) with a 4800 pound capacity, 125 PSI. Drove my Trilogy home yesterday, 400 miles with only 110 in them as the dealer’s compressor did not go to 125. Talk about a weight off your shoulders.
If you are not going to change wheel size, my former 235 80 R16’s/wheels/tires, were capable to handling 235 85 R16’s that would allow for an F or G rated, brand name tire, Goodyear, Carlisle, etc. If it was me, I would replace them with “E” rated Maxxis ST 235 80 R16. That is what I replaced the two Akuret’s that did not blow out and was very impressed with them, even over the Carlisle’s.

[okietom]

I might agree if there was a decent quality ST tire made, but there is not. In such case it is a much worse idea to run ST tires.

Originally Posted by BarryD0706

It's not a good idea to put LT tires on an RV that is supposed to have ST tires on it.

[BarryD0706]

Originally Posted by okietom

I might agree if there was a decent quality ST tire made, but there is not. In such case it is a much worse idea to run ST tires.

So you don't even like Maxxis? Most of us are happy with Goodyear Marathons, but I've never heard of anyone who didn't think Maxxis was "good quality".

[okietom]

I have run LT tires for many years with zero problems, I can't count the number of bad ST tires I have had. Since the trailer was new I was going to give the ST's a fair chance but after a failure with less that 5000 miles on them I am not willing to roll the dice and end up with thousands in trailer damage due to Chinese junk. Besides the fact that if I have a choice I NEVER will buy a Chinese product over an American and there are no American made ST tires.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by kerrlakelover

Just found Delta Tire's website and drilled down to the specs for their Akuret trailer tire. The actual "load limit" in their chart chart for the 235/80R16 is 3417 at 80psi. Delta Tires Catalog - Del-Nat® Tire Corporation - National Tires, Del-Nat Tires, Akuret Tires, Private brand tires.

I recently got a goose egg on a Duro tire with at manufacture date of the 43rd week of 2011 (4311) and when I called Duro, the first thing he told me was to go up to the next size tire because the RV industry put tires on the RVs that were near peak load limit with a dry RV. Anyway, I'm like everyone else, I'm buying the Goodyear Marathon or Power King Towmax when I pull the RV out next spring. Ha, I may even have a blowout with the 5er sitting under the shed for the winter with these tires.

If in fact the RV MFG selected a tire that cannot carry a reasonable load, shame on them. BUT the Cargo Carrying Capacity is supposed to be on a label on every RV so if someone bought an RV with only 290# capacity then some of the blame is on them for not learning more about their purchase before laying down the money. Here is a YouTube video I saw, showing info on actual cargo capacity.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by okietom

I had one of my Akuret ties swell up to about 3 inches taller than rhe rest, took almost a week to finally talk to someone about warranty. I replaced all four with LT Bridgestone's from Discount Tire. Besides the defect all four were about half wore out after less than five thousand miles. I will never buy another trailer unless the dealer swaps out the junk chinese tires before purchsase.

Did you get a picture of the inflated tire? Sounds like they possibly left a belt out of the tire.

More important question is did you file a complaint with NHTSA and provide the full DOT serial. The will not start an investigation if they do not receive actionable complaints.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by wheelmangg

No to be redundant on the LT replacing an S but - One of the problems with LT tires replacing S tires is in the wheels that came with the S series tires. They may not be up to the capacity of the LT tire. There should be capacity numbers or load ratings for the wheels. Your tire dealer should be able to determine this before recommending replacement tires. The tires that come with the trailer, RV truck etc. are all going to be rated for the vehicle as it is designed to be used. My issue with the Akurets is suspected quality issues. Why would they have downgraded the capacity? (See comments further back in the threads). Even with the downgraded capacity they still are up to the total for my camper. Now that the failures have come more to the surface I suspect there are far more failures out there than the 2% number that was initially thought. I still think something needs to be done about a recall before some one gets hurt and plan to speak with NHTSA as soon as the dust settles in DC.

I just checked. 7:38PM 10/15 and the NHTSA complaint web site is still up. That is the proper and best way to file a complaint. Don't forget you need the complete DOT serial. If you have pictures of the failed tire you can tell them that in the form so they can contact you if they want.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by jlgail4309

I had to replace my tires in the first year. Tire was deformed and got hot all the time. So hot you couldn't tough it. Keep a eye on them or you will blow out the bottom of the trailer.

If your tires are too hot to touch something is seriously wrong and I'm not sure it's the tires.
You do know the actual load on each tire based on certified scale weights don't you? Also you know your pressure gauge is accurate to +/- 4 psi or less?

[Tireman9]

Anyone have a DOT on an Akuret tire?

I am asking because I can only find two complaints at NHTSA and only one with a DOT that identifies the plant SHANDONG HENGFENG RUBBER & PLUSTIC CO., LTD
in china.
and imported by Del-Nat
2365 Texas Drive, Memphis, TN 38106

If you think that tires from this plant are the reason for the failures they I would suggest you look for tires with the DOT that starts with "83.


If you can't be bothered to file a complete complaint why would you think any corrective action would ever take place?

[lgray]

I had two blowouts on two separate occasions. The second caused thousands of dollars in damage. I did not file a complaint for either one. Why bother to file a complaint when FR/Palomino/Columbus has switched from Akuret to Westlake? My concern was for those who may have these time bombs on their trailers. There have been a couple of related threads, with way more than two reports of Akuret blowouts.

[Windywest]

There are blowouts with all types of tires, but since this is a Forest River forum, and Akurets were one of their tires of choice for the past few years, Akurets will be seen with a more critical eye. Westlake tires are made in China, in reading some of the other RV forums, there is some pretty eye opening things said about Westlake as well. RV.Net Open Roads Forum: Travel Trailers: Westlake Tires