Castle Rock Tires

[cajunmansion]

I tried to maintain my tires hoping they would last a little more than 1. 5 Years. If it stayed in storage for more then 30 days just sitting I would go and check the air pressure pull it out an make sure there were no flat spots. This weekend I rolled out and took it for about a 2hr drive and had a blow out. Did not even know it someone on side of me flag me down and said I had a flat. Before I left I check the pressure everything looked good. I’m not a fat driver. If I see I’m going over 60 pulling my trailer I slow it back down. No damages.

[HangDiver]

Note that its at least possible, if not likely, the good tire on that same side of the trailer has been compromised from carrying the full load for an unknown amount of time.

[Tigger1]

I changed mine after about 900 miles or so to be on the safe side. I installed Goodyear Endurance and a TPMS too.

[Anderson15]

Glad there was no other damage! Got any tread pics?

Any evidence of damage from an object (something in the road)?

[cajunmansion]

Originally Posted by Anderson15

Glad there was no other damage! Got any tread pics?

Any evidence of damage from an object (something in the road)?

Nothing in the road, I did not even know I had a blow out.

[Anderson15]

Are you going to replace all 4?

[cajunmansion]

Yes, I’m replacing all four. I,m not taking a chance. I read a lot of bad reviews on the Castle Rock Tires aka China bombs. I didn’t believe some of the bad reviews,I figured people were not maintaining tires like they should and are driving to fast. Then it happen to me. I maintained my tires and I’m not a fast driver when pulling my trailer. I check the pressure before I leave my storage. If I’m a pound low I top it off.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by cajunmansion

Yes, I’m replacing all four. I,m not taking a chance. I read a lot of bad reviews on the Castle Rock Tires aka China bombs. I didn’t believe some of the bad reviews,I figured people were not maintaining tires like they should and are driving to fast. Then it happen to me. I maintained my tires and I’m not a fast driver when pulling my trailer. I check the pressure before I leave my storage. If I’m a pound low I top it off.

Even with those precautions it's highly likely that this failure was due to a puncture or "road hazard". When a tire loses air on a tandem axle trailer it's hard for the driver to actually realize it's going flat without a TPMS installed. All to may times they just continue driving and any feeling of "sway" is written off to wind or a passing semi. Since most radial tires kind of look low on air even when properly inflated (as opposed to the old bias, bias/belted tires) even passing motorists don't notice until the tire is actually starting to come apart.

If all trailers were equipped with TPMS from the factory I seriously doubt we'd be reading about as many tire failures on tires from any country.

As for the Endurance tire being a better tire? I would seriously hope so. It's as much as twice the price of the imports in same size. Remember though, it's just as vulnerable to a nail, piece of scrap metal, glass, sharp rock, or pot-hole edge. Get a few hundred thousand of them on the road and we'll hear about their failures too.

[Beachbourbon]

I just had these put on beaded upon the tire research I did. My TT had the original tires on it and they were 6 years old. The previous owner never changed them and they lasted which I find interesting. I’ve got lots of trips planned, so I’m not taking chances and upgraded my tire brand and load range fron D to E.

[Tigger1]

Originally Posted by cajunmansion

Yes, I’m replacing all four. I,m not taking a chance. I read a lot of bad reviews on the Castle Rock Tires aka China bombs. I didn’t believe some of the bad reviews,I figured people were not maintaining tires like they should and are driving to fast. Then it happen to me. I maintained my tires and I’m not a fast driver when pulling my trailer. I check the pressure before I leave my storage. If I’m a pound low I top it off.

I can’t speak for the other potentially good brand tires like Carlisle, Maxxis, etc. I can only give you my personal experience. I was present when the auto shop swapped the castle rocks for the GY Endurance. The GYs were heavier by far and when I pushed down on the tread there was no comparison with the GY being much more firm. Does that mean I won’t pick up a nail or puncture from some other object? Of course not. Does that mean that since GY Endurance is made in the USA it automatically qualifies as a better tire? Of course not. Like others who have posted ad nauseam on this topic, I want to try and give myself the best possible outcome. In the long run, I hope I’m right.

[camper70]

I'm on a winter snowbird trip and currently have over 11000 miles on my two year old Castle Rocks. I picked up a nail the other day and the tire did not go flat until sitting overnight. I filled it with air and continued on watching Temp and air pressure. I planned on stopping as soon as I detected a problem. The problem never happened. That night it went flat again so I filled it with air and headed to a Tire Store in Alpine TX. They fit me in to look at it but when the Tech started to jack the trailer up with the axle I told him to stop. I explained the problem with raising a trailer with the axle. The supervisor told me I should take the trailer to someone who knows what their doing. So I did. I drove 90 miles to my destination near Terlingua Tx. with no problems. The next day I jacked the trailer up myself and removed the tire and took it to a local garage where they found the nail and patched the tire. I'm a little leery of a patched trailer tire but so far after over two hundred miles of travel no problems. I will try to finish this trip and replace all four tires when I get home. I don't believe all the China Bomb stories. This could come back to haunt me but I will tell the true story if it happens.

[itat]

Make sure you are not overweight for the load range of the tires. You may not be overweight for the trailer or the axles but the tires may be at or over their load rating. Overweight and under inflation inflation are the 2 most common causes for ST tire failures. Sounds like you're diligent about the tire pressure. Kudos for that.

I heard here that the RVIA recently changed their recommendation for trailer tires which resulted in the manufacturers starting to put a higher load rated tire on some models. My model used to have Load Range D tires installed but my new 2019 has Load Range E Castle Rock tires from the factory.

When you replace the tires, I suggest you also change the spare tire since it will be the same Castle Rock tire that you now don't trust.

[HangDiver]

Originally Posted by camper70

I'm on a winter snowbird trip and currently have over 11000 miles on my two year old Castle Rocks. I picked up a nail the other day and the tire did not go flat until sitting overnight. I filled it with air and continued on watching Temp and air pressure. I planned on stopping as soon as I detected a problem. The problem never happened. That night it went flat again so I filled it with air and headed to a Tire Store in Alpine TX. They fit me in to look at it but when the Tech started to jack the trailer up with the axle I told him to stop. I explained the problem with raising a trailer with the axle. The supervisor told me I should take the trailer to someone who knows what their doing. So I did. I drove 90 miles to my destination near Terlingua Tx. with no problems. The next day I jacked the trailer up myself and removed the tire and took it to a local garage where they found the nail and patched the tire. I'm a little leery of a patched trailer tire but so far after over two hundred miles of travel no problems. I will try to finish this trip and replace all four tires when I get home. I don't believe all the China Bomb stories. This could come back to haunt me but I will tell the true story if it happens.

That was a good move - jacking up the trailer and pulling the wheel yourself.

Safe travels

[tyler811]

Originally Posted by Tigger1

I changed mine after about 900 miles or so to be on the safe side. I installed Goodyear Endurance and a TPMS too.

X2 on the Good Year

[polishdon]

I changed my Castle junks to Maxxis before I had any issues, expensive peace of mind, but worth it for me.

[Leslie-and-Ann]

Originally Posted by polishdon

I changed my Castle junks to Maxxis before I had any issues, expensive peace of mind, but worth it for me.

Maxxis is also a Chinese brand.

[Anderson15]

Originally Posted by Leslie-and-Ann

Maxxis is also a Chinese brand.

LOL

[lowbubba]

I think Maxxis are made in Taiwan. Have had them on two different trailers. The current set has been all over the US and Canada. Just have them balanced and watch your tire pressure. Plus I keep my speeds no more than 65.

[camper70]

I just finished my second winter road trip on my Castle Rock tires. There are now over 14,000 miles in 2.5 years. money saved as far as I can see. I even got a nail in one tire and had it repaired and still no problems.

[jimla]

I see all these post's on Castle Rock's. I wonder if they are the 8 ply's or the 10 ply's. We have the 10 ply and have made 20 some 2.5 hour trips and just completed a 2500 mile trip with no issues. Our son had 8 ply's and had a blow out with TT setting in his drive way.