Yes another tire update

[timothy clancy]

So I survived with my so called China bombs for 5345 miles and they were two years old the code date on my tires was 21614 (February 16 2014 ) so before we were to leave on our next trip to cape hatters nc I inspected my 225/75/r15 load range d and found slight gouges on two of the tires so off to discount tire,put on 4 Carlisle 225/75 r15 e range. And what a difference the trailer has little to no sway. After spending a ton of money on a camper the last thing that anyone should have to do is change out the tires for safer or even stronger ones. What really surprised me is my neighbor who is in his early sixties just bought a used 2008 puma from camping world. He was so excited to show me the great deal he got. Upon looking it over I noticed how shiny and new the tires looked ( must have used a gallon of tire dressing per tire) getting down on my hands and knees I could see the sever dry rot then I decoded the tires and yep 3/22/07 8 years old . He called camper world and was told that the tires passed their inspection. 😡 so now he's will be off to discount tire.







Clancy vibe272bhs

[Davidg]

There is a very suitable Greek phrase that comes to mind when I think of buying a used camper...especially from cw..."Caveat Emptor"

Someone will be along shortly to interpret...

Were it me, I would drag that camper back to cw and ask the manager how dry rot could ever pass an inspection. If nothing else, I would get a measure of satisfaction. What you describe is a fraud on the customer. Were the fellow to have a blowout and someone was hurt or worse as a direct result of bad tires, the old fellows insurance co's lawyers would be very interested.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by timothy clancy

So I survived with my so called China bombs for 5345 miles and they were two years old the code date on my tires was 21614 (February 16 2014 ) so before we were to leave on our next trip to cape hatters nc I inspected my 225/75/r15 load range d and found slight gouges on two of the tires so off to discount tire,put on 4 Carlisle 225/75 r15 e range. And what a difference the trailer has little to no sway. After spending a ton of money on a camper the last thing that anyone should have to do is change out the tires for safer or even stronger ones. What really surprised me is my neighbor who is in his early sixties just bought a used 2008 puma from camping world. He was so excited to show me the great deal he got. Upon looking it over I noticed how shiny and new the tires looked ( must have used a gallon of tire dressing per tire) getting down on my hands and knees I could see the sever dry rot then I decoded the tires and yep 3/22/07 8 years old . He called camper world and was told that the tires passed their inspection. �� so now he's will be off to discount tire.
Clancy vibe272bhs

Wonder what would happen if he wrote out a short statement such as. "The tires on RV xxxxx with VIN were inspected by ____________ and found to be in acceptable condition and safe to use for at least the rest of the 2016 camping season as long as weight and inflation are maintained per specification."

Will buy you a coffee if they would be willing to sign such. If they are not willing then it begs the question of what does CW mean when they say the tires on a used RV are "OK". One would think they must have a written guide and policy on that topic.


Might also check with a tire dealer, other than CW and ask for a inspection. I hear Discount Tire offers tire insurance on used tires so they must have a clear policy on inspection.

[Happy Vibe]

Manager: Will they hold air long enough to drive off the lot?
Tech: Yes
Manager: Good to go

[m2kamp]

Sad thing is those 9 year old tires, dry rot and all are still probably better than todays brand new china bombs...

I have a friend that just picked up an older TT for his hunting camp. I noticed the tires were 8 years old and showed signs of dry rot. Also, they were at 30 PSI when he got it home 50 miles later! They were made in USA.

[checkmate99]

Originally Posted by Davidg

There is a very suitable Greek phrase that comes to mind when I think of buying a used camper...especially from cw..."Caveat Emptor"

Someone will be along shortly to interpret...

Were it me, I would drag that camper back to cw and ask the manager how dry rot could ever pass an inspection. If nothing else, I would get a measure of satisfaction. What you describe is a fraud on the customer. Were the fellow to have a blowout and someone was hurt or worse as a direct result of bad tires, the old fellows insurance co's lawyers would be very interested.

Buyer Beware! Did I get it right?!! Watch Judge Judy every day!!

[Flybob]

When I order tires from my tire dealer, I always tell them if the date code on them is over 6 mths old, I will not accept them. If they don't tell the warehouse to send new ones, you will get the ones that have been sitting around.

[uhduh camping]

A 2014 tire should have only a 4 digit date code. Before the year 2000 it was 3 digit code if I am not mistaken. But then again I'm not a tire expert.

[2016251RKS]

I think that the op tire code is for the 16th week of 2014. . .

[Flybob]

Tire marking:
Belle Tire | How to Read A Tire Sidewall

[sgtsdj]

After reading all the informative responses on this Forum. I decided to change my stock " Travel Master" load range C tires to Maxxis 8008 load range E tires. I changed the tires one side at a time using my spare. Guess what, the spare on my camper is a Maxxis load range D tire! The damn spare is better than the tires that the trailer came riding on !

[ACE110]

Originally Posted by 2016251RKS

I think that the op tire code is for the 16th week of 2014. . .

X2

[FordHauler]

I too replaced my tires last week.
My TT was new May 2013. The "China bombs" lasted 3 weeks and about 2000 miles before scaring the you know what out of me when I found 2 tires with big "tumors" on them. I replaced them all with Carlisle 225/75R15 load range D tires.
Have had no problems, however week before last in S.D., on our way to Alaska, I noticed one tire had 2 rows of tread that looked worn or at least not on the level with all other tread. I told myself to keep an eye on that tire, so I did each day.
A few days later when I pulled off of I-90 at Livingston, Montana to fuel, I saw that that tire was missing 12-16" of tread, but still holding air. It had damaged the facia in front of that wheel well slightly. By the time I had finished fueling the tire was flat. We had just been spared a bigger problem.
I put on my "China bomb" spare and went on to Yellowstone.
After a few phone calls, a dealer in Livingston said he would order that same tire in a load range E for me. When he saw the tire he believed it was due to a belt slipping in the tire.
I probably caused that problem myself having tightly turned the trailer, sliding the tires as I forced it in a tight spot while backing up a few weeks earlier.
Hopefully this set of Carlisles will serve me as well as the last set did.
Travel safe

[CraigBean7672]

So I was shopping for new Maxxis last week and had a local tire store try to sell me four new tires with a date code of 1111.

I said Really?

[DocGTO]

Originally Posted by timothy clancy

So I survived with my so called China bombs for 5345 miles and they were two years old the code date on my tires was 21614 (February 16 2014 ) so before we were to leave on our next trip to cape hatters nc I inspected my 225/75/r15 load range d and found slight gouges on two of the tires so off to discount tire,put on 4 Carlisle 225/75 r15 e range. And what a difference the trailer has little to no sway. After spending a ton of money on a camper the last thing that anyone should have to do is change out the tires for safer or even stronger ones. What really surprised me is my neighbor who is in his early sixties just bought a used 2008 puma from camping world. He was so excited to show me the great deal he got. Upon looking it over I noticed how shiny and new the tires looked ( must have used a gallon of tire dressing per tire) getting down on my hands and knees I could see the sever dry rot then I decoded the tires and yep 3/22/07 8 years old . He called camper world and was told that the tires passed their inspection. 😡 so now he's will be off to discount tire.







Clancy vibe272bhs

We changed out or bombs at 50 miles on our new 2014 fiver but I laways run LT tires on any trailer that will be on thehighway for any extended periods of time.

Another option is the "new every 2" which my buddy does on his china bombs. He still has had 1 blowout in the last 4 years.

Another buddy had a blowout and it caused $5K of damage. It took out wiring, plumbing, and structure..... I only spent$600 on my commercial LT tires. I find ot to be cheap security.

[KingFisher]

Originally Posted by DocGTO

We changed out or bombs at 50 miles on our new 2014 fiver but I laways run LT tires on any trailer that will be on thehighway for any extended periods of time.

Another option is the "new every 2" which my buddy does on his china bombs. He still has had 1 blowout in the last 4 years.

Another buddy had a blowout and it caused $5K of damage. It took out wiring, plumbing, and structure..... I only spent$600 on my commercial LT tires. I find ot to be cheap security.

I would be worried about the LT tires having enough flex when cutting sharp corners or backing sharply.

Not a problem?

[DocGTO]

Originally Posted by KingFisher

I would be worried about the LT tires having enough flex when cutting sharp corners or backing sharply.

Not a problem?

Zero problems. I have been using commercial grade LT tires on all my big trailers/RVs for years. I had a few china bombs blow early on and then made the switch and haven't had any issues since. In the same time, two of my buddies have had bombs go on the highway and I always have to help change them since I have the cordless impact gun... LOL. My buddies are very good about pressures, care, ect but it seems like it doesnt matter. One of my two have made the change and no issues since and my other buddy just replaces his bombs every 2 years no matter what.

[Blackhat6mike]

I just can't imagine why someone would want to skimp and save a very few bucks on something so important as tires. I don't care if they change every year, junk is junk and can go pop anytime be it 100 or 3,000 miles.
The lives of my family, myself and my pets rely on me making safe desisions, tires being the most important one IMHO.
There is nothing scarier than having to change a flat on the roadside of an interstate highway with cars whizzing by just a few feet away [hopefully] at 80 mph while they are texting. I've been in combat and this still tops the list of fear for me.

[DocGTO]

Originally Posted by Blackhat6mike

I just can't imagine why someone would want to skimp and save a very few bucks on something so important as tires. I don't care if they change every year, junk is junk and can go pop anytime be it 100 or 3,000 miles.
The lives of my family, myself and my pets rely on me making safe desisions, tires being the most important one IMHO.
There is nothing scarier than having to change a flat on the roadside of an interstate highway with cars whizzing by just a few feet away [hopefully] at 80 mph while they are texting. I've been in combat and this still tops the list of fear for me.

I'm there with you. This is why I just pull off the China bombs and slap on some Firestone Transforce HTs. I run them on my 40ft fiver and 32ft enclosed racing gooseneck trailer. They have never let me know and for ~$600 mounted, balanced, road hazzard, and installed, it is cheap insurance.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by KingFisher

I would be worried about the LT tires having enough flex when cutting sharp corners or backing sharply.

Not a problem?

The issue is not sidewall flexibility. Forces that allow tires to turn corners are much more complex than simple bending of a tire sidewall. The primary issue is the Cornering Coefficient that is developed by the tire as the path traveled differs from the direction of rotation.
You can find some background info HERE.

The actual issue you might want to think about is not simple side bending but twisting stiffness. Cornering forces are transmitted from the wheel through the tire sidewall by twisting, then to the belt package and finally the tread rubber. Each component has an inherent stiffness that tries to resist the turning forces.

The cornering force generates a shear force between the belts and the body. That is a relatively weak link. If the repeated forces exceed the strength of the rubber to resist tearing than you have a good chance of experiencing a belt/tread/body separation. Once this separation grows in size over many hundreds or even thousands of miles these components come apart. When this happens the tearing may be limited to just the layer of rubber between the tread and top belt or between the two belts or between the bottom belt and the body. This tearing can easily move to the rubber between the body cord and result in a breach of the air chamber. This leads to a rapid loss of air pressure which many incorrectly ascribe as the reason for the failure and not the result of the failure. Hence the "I had a Blowout" complaint. Yes the driver was surprised when he heard the loss of air but he often jumps to the wrong conclusion.

Increasing tire inflation, as I have often suggested, can alter the cornering forces and the sidewall stiffness and the 'slip angle". Finite Element modeling has identified the level of shear forces between various components and found that multi axle trailers can experience 24% greater shear forces that tires on a motorized vehicle.
This post offers additional information on Interply Shear.
You have it in your power to lower this shear force by:
Increasing tire inflation and by Increasing the Reserve load with higher Load Index with the associated increase in inflation and by Increasing the tire size that will also increase potential max load capacity and result in increased Reserve load.

RE LT tires vs ST tires. IMO I think you are more likely to find the latest technology and best durability in tires made by the "Big Three" or as applied OE to current model Pick-ups.