Darn China Bomb Castle Rock Tires

TitanMike · 02-01-2019, 02:15 PM

After reading all the posts about how bad these tires are I had my heart set on replacing them with some Goodyear Endurance's. Figured I'd do this as soon as the first issue showed up with the OE Castle Rocks.

Drove the trailer home in July 2017 but didn't really get to use it for 9 months as I took time out for a Heart Attack and Bypass Surgery. Starting in April 2018 I basically hit the road for varying length trips. Shortest 200 miles, longest 4,000 miles (X2).

Here I sit with around 15,000 miles on those darn Castle Rock tires and the darn things aren't even showing signs of wear. I installed a TST 507 TPMS system and they don't even loose air pressure.

Looks like I'm stuck with them for at least another 15,000 miles or more unless they suddenly start to wear more.

Maybe I need to overload the trailer or run the tires under-inflated so I can have them fail and I can get my new Goodyears

A32Deuce · 02-01-2019, 02:21 PM

You don't want them to fail unless you like damage!

JohnD10 · 02-01-2019, 02:26 PM

No day is a good day to have a flat tire...

TitanMike · 02-01-2019, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnD10

No day is a good day to have a flat tire...

And NO TIRE is immune from going flat. Only takes one sharp piece of road junk to render even the most expensive tire F-L-A-T.

5picker · 02-01-2019, 02:36 PM

Kudos to you... many of us didn't have your tire 'luck.'

TitanMike · 02-01-2019, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5picker

Kudos to you... many of us didn't have your tire 'luck.'

I think most of us "make" our own luck. Especially with tires.

Old info but I still believe in it.

Keep tires inflated, don't overload trailer, and drive below the tire's rated speed. On the last note, during my last trip I just got back from the entire 3,000 miles + posted speeds for "Vehicles with tow" were well under the max speed molded into the tire sidewall itself. For those who haven't driven in CA lately that's only 55 mph.

If I do have a tire failure I'll at least get early warning that the tire is loosing pressure (the TPMS) and if it should come apart at least I won't be going 80 mph

67L48 · 02-01-2019, 03:43 PM

Here's some help for you: loose is an adjective, not a verb.

I am continuing to use my Castle Rock tires. I grew up in a small town called Castle Rock, so I have bias. Plus, who didn't love the epic movie Stand By Me?! Castle Rock!

Good luck.

TitanMike · 02-01-2019, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 67L48

Here's some help for you: loose is an adjective, not a verb.

I am continuing to use my Castle Rock tires. I grew up in a small town called Castle Rock, so I have bias. Plus, who didn't love the epic movie Stand By Me?! Castle Rock!

Good luck.

Sorry about the extra "O". I type fast.

Castle Rock is a great town. I lived for 10 years in Parker before I retired.

Went through there recently and the drive from Lincoln Rd to Castle Rock is a lot better than it was when I retired. Big traffic jam now is down at Monument.

Oaklevel · 02-01-2019, 04:26 PM

I believe that in 40 years of owning trailers I have never had a set of tires show much if any wear. I have always tried to replace them at five years or so...... I also keep a close check for dry rot. I had one set show signs of cracking in the tread with the sidewalls looking fine.

67L48 · 02-01-2019, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TitanMike

[...] Castle Rock is a great town. I lived for 10 years in Parker before I retired. [...]

I wasn't talking about Castle Rock, CO which isn't what I'd consider a small town. I grew up in WA.

South of CR, CO is where the freeway necks down into 2 lanes. Disaster. Larkspur during the Renaissance Festival is a complete charlie foxtrot. Monument can be quite bad during winter and with trucks climbing. I don't like the drive from south CR to north CO Springs.

To stay on topic: I don't overload my trailer, keep the tires inflated quite well, and I drive at 65 MPH or less. That's not a sure-fire way to never have tire problems, but it makes for an easier life for those tires.

SailorSam20500 · 02-01-2019, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Here I sit with around 15,000 miles on those darn Castle Rock tires and the darn things aren't even showing signs of wear. I installed a TST 507 TPMS system and they don't even loose air pressure.

25K + miles on mine. Same darn problem except for the one that picked up a nail in West Virginia.

That one is now a spare. Expect to get 2 more years on them before replacement.

5picker · 02-01-2019, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TitanMike

I think most of us "make" our own luck. Especially with tires.

Old info but I still believe in it.

Keep tires inflated, don't overload trailer, and drive below the tire's rated speed. On the last note, during my last trip I just got back from the entire 3,000 miles + posted speeds for "Vehicles with tow" were well under the max speed molded into the tire sidewall itself. For those who haven't driven in CA lately that's only 55 mph.

If I do have a tire failure I'll at least get early warning that the tire is loosing pressure (the TPMS) and if it should come apart at least I won't be going 80 mph

Did all that including the TPMS. Never curbed them and still they failed, three out of four.

I guess I made that luck.

You may/may not get an early TPMS alert. Maybe for temp but probably not pressure. Many have reported tread separation and never lost a pound of air. Mine didn't alert when they separated. The tire was still aired up perfectly.

I noticed mine jockeying it around the house getting ready for a trip.

I'm just glad I didn't lose parts of the trailer like many do when they fail.

ckeeling · 02-02-2019, 04:54 PM

Do yourself a favor and NEVER find comfort with a Castle Rock tire. They will pop when you least expect it and then you are on the side of the road with a torn up trailer more than likely. As soon as I got rid of Castle Rock tires, my tire troubles ended. Good luck, what ever you decide to do.

babock · 02-02-2019, 06:24 PM

I never had a problem with my Castle Rock tires because I took them off immediately!

I look at it this way. If 90% don't have issues and 10% do, that's a 10% failure rate which I believe is too high of a number. I have also personally had failures with 2 different brands of Chinese tires, Hercules and Towmaster. Glad some of you guys ended up in that 90% that don't have an issue! I would rather buy tires that have a much lower failure rate.

TitanMike · 02-02-2019, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by babock

I never had a problem with my Castle Rock tires because I took them off immediately!

I look at it this way. If 90% don't have issues and 10% do, that's a 10% failure rate which I believe is too high of a number. I have also personally had failures with 2 different brands of Chinese tires, Hercules and Towmaster. Glad some of you guys ended up in that 90% that don't have an issue! I would rather buy tires that have a much lower failure rate.

Perhaps you have forgotten when Goodyear trailer tires were at the top of the crap heap.

As for your 10% assessment, nobody here has enough valid data to make that valid judgement. Take all the failures and then subtract those that failed due to puncture/run flat, overloaded, under inflated, and over speed.
Everything on the forums is purely anectdotal.

Dont like em, dont buy em.

I still hold the position that if these tires are so bad they'd be recalled, the factory's lawyers would make them stop using them, and we'd see ads on TV every 15 minutes from law firms urging people to call them so they could join a class action lawsuit.

babock · 02-02-2019, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Perhaps you have forgotten when Goodyear trailer tires were at the top of the crap heap.

Exactly my point! That's why they stopped production in China and brought back their production to the US in the form of the Endurance tire! The Marathon was a great tire when it was made in the US. They realized it was a huge mistake finally with all the failures people were having.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Everything on the forums is purely anectdotal.

Yep...this thread is a perfect example!!

Tundra 2014 · 02-02-2019, 07:58 PM

Consider yourself very lucky, except for heart attack. I had Castle Rocks on my old trailer, 2 years old w/ less than 3K miles. Came out after a weekend trip to see 1 completely flat. The tread had separated sitting in my driveway. Checked the others and noticed tread seperation on a tire on the other side. Very thankful that it did not blow at 60 MPH. I have had the experience of blowing 1 and then another blows due to the added weight load. Not something I want to repeat in Texas 100 degree heat w/ family. I agree most tire failures on the trailer, are user related. I now run on Goodyears, as I they had tires that allowed me to move up in size and weight class from the the original Carlisles on my current trailer. The Carlisles were fine for 7K., only replaced to get increased weigh rating tires and due to axle issue. The Goodyears were only $10 a tire more to replace. I had a commercial license and have the seen the damage from blown tires on a RV.
I will pay the extra $ for security of better tires.

Tom48 · 02-03-2019, 03:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Here I sit with around 15,000 miles on those darn Castle Rock tires and the darn things aren't even showing signs of wear. I installed a TST 507 TPMS system and they don't even loose air pressure.

Looks like I'm stuck with them for at least another 15,000 miles or more unless they suddenly start to wear more.

Maybe I need to overload the trailer or run the tires under-inflated so I can have them fail and I can get my new Goodyears

That's what I thought too. First one died from a nail in the side wall. OH WELL, that can happen with any tire ? Right?

At 10,000 miles, they looked like new, with at least half their tread, so I talked myself out of buying REAL TIRES. 600 MILES in to our trip BOOM. Second one gone by sudden, unexplained failure. On with the spare. First chance I get to Discount Tire found the third one with a bulge on the inner side, the size of half a tennis ball. That one had, at best a few more miles. Until BOOM AGAIN.

A+ FOR THE TST sensors. Twice they sav d me driving down the road with a flat tire shredding my wheel wells. Now we are running on nice dependable E LR. Endurance Tires.

BigH · 02-03-2019, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TitanMike

...

I still hold the position that if these tires are so bad they'd be recalled, the factory's lawyers would make them stop using them, and we'd see ads on TV every 15 minutes from law firms urging people to call them so they could join a class action lawsuit.

They are bad enough that Jayco will no longer use them...and I was personally told it was because there were too many problems. Jayco switched to Goodyear Endurance.

Martsing · 02-03-2019, 07:50 AM

When we purchased our 2016 Rockwood it had Maxxis tires. I read all the "China Bomb" threads and took them seriously. I have a TST507 TPMS. After 2 years I noticed dry rot on one tire so I replaced them all with LR E Goodyear Endurance tires. I also added high pressure stems. I run them at 65PSI and they have held the same air pressure over several thousand miles. So far they are running great.

Marty

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