how critical I replace tires?

[skipatroller]

Lets just say when a tire goes bad it can get ugly real fast, I had one blow and cause $3,200 damage to the trailer by the time I could get pulled over.

I currently have a Heartland fifth wheel that has about 8,000 miles on them that will need to be replaced in the spring when it comes out of winter hibernation.

In short this is not an area you want to cheap out in.

[dmayo13]

Bought Rockwood TT 2018. I thought I might get by on the Castle bombs through this year and ended up spending several hours on roadside changing a blowout which damaged second tire on same side. Was blessed because it caused minimal damage to plastic fender. Replaced all 4 with Goodyear Endurance and they are better tires. Here’s the secret everyone should know. If you are veteran you can buy Goodyear through Veterans Canteen Service cheaper than retail and you don’t pay any taxes on them. Got mine for about $200 bucks less than retail. Beauty of deal is they still get installed by local GY dealer and have same warranty. You pay VCS for tires and pay dealer for mounting. Tires plus mounting = $200 less than retail. Don’t make same mistake I made. Easier to replace BEFORE blowout.

[Tampa Tom]

I had the Castle Rock tires on my FR Wildwood HG LTZ 282RK. I bought the RV two years ago but the tires were manufactured the end of 2017. I had about 5,500 miles on the trailer and recently started a trip to Pensacola. Tire pressures were set that morning and it was not a hot day. About 60 miles into the trip at approximately 55 mph one of the tires catastrophically failed. Did minor damage to the trailer, luckily. Put the spare on and limped the rest of the way to Pensacola. I was able to replace all four with Goodyear Endurance and went up to a load range E. I was planning to replace the tires before a planned cross country trip this summer but when the trip was cancelled I postponed the replacement.



There was no evidence of pending failure when I inspected the tires prior to starting the trip.

[Mountaineer1954]

Carlisle makes a good 8 ply
load range d.

[Tbaughman]

I think those Goodyear’s are made in USA !!!!

[pwrriver]

Go with Goodyear Endurance or Maxxis. Don't fall for other cheap China bombs. If Walmart doesn't have those, then shop elsewhere. I switched all 5 of mine (4 plus spare) to Goodyear Endurance even though my 3 year old tires looked brand new with hardly any wear, shortly after I bought my 2016 TT in late 2018, but prior to our 3000 mile round trip to Colorado. I didn't want to have a tire problem on the loneliest hwy in Nevada, hwy 50.
Miles and miles of no service and no cell phone. Better safe than sorry. Change both tires now and make sure your spare is in excellent condition. Happy camping.

[Nightfighter]

With all the Covid stuff going on in late June I wasn't sure if the wife and I were going to get in a summer trip with our 32 footer (Freedom Express). It all worked out tho ... to a degree. With everything set up we took off for Chattanooga, TN. Fifty miles out from our site ... BLAM ... and my fender skirt and lower siding blew off the right side. Call to AAA and about 45 minutes later we were back on the road (great service!). TWENTY miles later ... BLAM! ... and there went the left side of the camper. Now, with no spare, 3hrs on side of road. Had ANOTHER blow-out on way back home but no damage ... there was nothing left to damage! All tires Castle Rock mfg in July 2017 so 3 yrs old. Great tread, no cracks.

Insurance said they'll take care of everything so taking it to dealer next week. Have since replaced ALL tires with Goodyear Endurance since they are mfg just up the road in Fayetteville. Really interested to see how it tows. ALSO got another rim/tire to keep as second spare in truck ... just in case! Forced member of 2-spare club!

[razzle408]

Change tires to GoodYear Endurance ASAP! Change the spare also. To me the tire looks like its separating not wear.

[RECONUSMC]

So we all read and know Castlerock tires are China Bombs, yet some try to get miles out of them instead of just getting reliable Tires right up front. I do not understand why anyone would want to run the chance of tearing up the RV, possibly rolling the RV, Causing an accident or being stranded for the price of new dependable Tires. No the RV companies should not be allowed to install this crap on our RV units, but until the Govt mandates something it is the responsibility of the owners to make prudent safe decisions. I bought Goodyear Endurance Tires two days after taking possession of my unit and never looked back. Think Smart people

[Tireman9]

If I saw that tread condition on the drive tire of a car or truck I would call it a "Spin cut". But since on a trailer I am suspecting a brake drag. but if the damage is 360 that seems less likely.



Thinking about it hard, I can imagine a production error with the tread tubing process but in this case the result appears cosmetic and on the surface not structural. If you can get a series of pictures covering the complete tire with close up shots in full sunlight at lease as good as your 2nd picture We may see the evidence for a conclusive decision.


Going back to the damaged fender. Is that fender the original? If not then it is entirely possible the original fender was bent down and rubbed the tire then the fender was replaced.

[RJenkins]

I would replace the Castle Rock tires as soon as possible. I have had a spare tire just blowup while setting on the back of my trailer. The tires were two years old. I have replaced all five of my tires. While they were changing the tires, I compared the new and old tires. You could feel the stiffness of the sidewalls of the newer tires. My trailer pulls better with the new set of tires.

[SNHIPP]

Take it from someone with many bad experiences with tires.
Trailer tires are not expensive. Replace every 5 years minimum.
The side walls weaken way before any tread, but you won't know it
until it's too late.
Go by the age of the tire as seen in the DOT codes on the tire (google it).
Demand new age tires (DOT code) when getting "new" ones.
Good luck and congrats on your new trailer.

[U.S.ArmyVeteran]

FWIW. The center of tread looks to me as it was run overinflated. Not a biggee. The ragged part next to that center would scare me.
How does the other tire look? Same except for the ragged part?

Good luck

[kpleat1]

We replaced our Castle Rocks as soon as we could with Goodyear Endurance tires. Since then, we have put several thousand miles on our 2019 26RLHL. So glad we did. very pleased, keep them at 65# and drive around 65 MPH. No issues and they are wearing well.

[kjlars]

All manufacturers put on the cheapest tires they can. Many times the "speed" rating is a "D", "E" or "F". The speed rating tells you the speed the tire can safely maintain over time. A higher speed rating usually means you will have better control and handling at higher speeds and that the tire can take the extra heat. As a general rule, tires with higher speed ratings also handle better at slower speeds. See https://www.wheelworks.net/tires/tir.../speed-rating/ for a chart of designators and their associated safe max MPH speed. D is 40 mph, E is 43 mph and F is 50 mph. Be sure to use the MPH column, not KPH column. We changed out our tires for Goodyear Endurance tires right away for safety reasons, can now travel at highway speeds. For a discussion of ST (Special Trailer) vs LT (Light Truck) tires see

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2P32UczhZ4

[BigH]

Originally Posted by kjlars

All manufacturers put on the cheapest tires they can. ...[/url]

Not all of them.

Jayco switched to Goodyear Endurance because they make their own chassis and were tired of dealing with tire related issues...Jayco isn't the only one that switched.

[eye95]

Originally Posted by Tampa Tom

I had the Castle Rock tires on my FR Wildwood HG LTZ 282RK. I bought the RV two years ago but the tires were manufactured the end of 2017. I had about 5,500 miles on the trailer and recently started a trip to Pensacola. Tire pressures were set that morning and it was not a hot day. About 60 miles into the trip at approximately 55 mph one of the tires catastrophically failed. Did minor damage to the trailer, luckily. Put the spare on and limped the rest of the way to Pensacola. I was able to replace all four with Goodyear Endurance and went up to a load range E. I was planning to replace the tires before a planned cross country trip this summer but when the trip was cancelled I postponed the replacement.



There was no evidence of pending failure when I inspected the tires prior to starting the trip.


Attachment 242948

Were you running a TPMS? They will alert you to temperature and pressure problems, helping you avoid the blowout.

[paverdave]

I've had good luck with Nokia 15" LRE tires on my 10,000 5 Wheel trailer..After many ST china bomb blow outs....I went with a LT LRE tire....so far so good.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by kjlars

All manufacturers put on the cheapest tires they can. Many times the "speed" rating is a "D", "E" or "F". The speed rating tells you the speed the tire can safely maintain over time. A higher speed rating usually means you will have better control and handling at higher speeds and that the tire can take the extra heat. As a general rule, tires with higher speed ratings also handle better at slower speeds. See https://www.wheelworks.net/tires/tir.../speed-rating/ for a chart of designators and their associated safe max MPH speed. D is 40 mph, E is 43 mph and F is 50 mph. Be sure to use the MPH column, not KPH column. We changed out our tires for Goodyear Endurance tires right away for safety reasons, can now travel at highway speeds. For a discussion of ST (Special Trailer) vs LT (Light Truck) tires see

No idea why the wheel works folks simply published all the speed ratings for farm and tractor tires. but normal tire speed ratings start at "L" The "D", "E", and "F" are Load Range not speed ratings. While the D, E F are shown I don't know of any tires rated that low that are for regular highway use. And I find no current ST type tire rated slower than "L".

[DavidWJ]

Maxxis instead of Goodyear.