Why are these China Bombs? Possible reason here

[DieselDrax]

Originally Posted by joshuajim

I think Marinerjoe may be on to something. If the valve stem has minor cracking that allows the pressure in the tire to drop, eventually the tire will fail and no one would suspect the valve stem because it is typically replaced with a new tire.

That is definitely possible, but how long have rubber valve stems been around? How many times have you seen the valve stem be the cause of the leak for ANY vehicle? If this were an issue it would be seen across the board and not just on trailers and it wouldn't be just discovered right now.

Dry-rot, tread separation, and road hazard/damage to the tire are the main causes of failure. If it were the stems you'd be hearing about it for sure.

Originally Posted by grumpy0374

I wouldn't bet the farm on it. Maybe not exact but light enough in rating that it does not leave room for too much cargo/fluid capacity. Take a frame rated at 8000 lbs, build a 6500 lb home on it. Load it up with all your food, water, clothing, kids toys n stuff, dog/cat food n stuff, bikes, grill, lawn chairs, pots/pans, coffee maker, ect., spare tire and carrier, full propane tanks, battery. Guess what...your at gvwr. Put some cheapy imported tires on it, barely adaquate axles, and your an accident looking for a place to happen.
Like the small % of us motor home owners that have our rigs weighed, how many trailer owners have their rigs weighed? Just as many mh owners are, bet alot of trailer owners would be shocked as to the final weight of their rigs loaded ready for a trip.
As far as valve stems, there is a cheap, easy, foolproof way to avoid any problems with the rubber stems.
Go to any reputable tire store and have them install steel valve stems. Cheap, to have done and takes care of the problem for good.
Check ETrailer, rv trailer steel valve stems...$5.39 each. 5-10 bucks each to have installed.
Cheap insurance!!!
Grumpy

You literally said "If you do a bit of research and finger walking thru google you'll find stories of 8000 lb trailers being built on frames rated for 8000 lbs, thus leaving NO capacity for anything you may carry." and now you're trying to backtrack by picking an arbitrary weight and examples that are nowhere near your initial statement that someone called you out on.

Stop with the hypotheticals and arbitrary numbers, you're just adding to the noise.

[grumpy0374]

Originally Posted by DieselDrax

That is definitely possible, but how long have rubber valve stems been around? How many times have you seen the valve stem be the cause of the leak for ANY vehicle? If this were an issue it would be seen across the board and not just on trailers and it wouldn't be just discovered right now.

Dry-rot, tread separation, and road hazard/damage to the tire are the main causes of failure. If it were the stems you'd be hearing about it for sure.



You literally said "If you do a bit of research and finger walking thru google you'll find stories of 8000 lb trailers being built on frames rated for 8000 lbs, thus leaving NO capacity for anything you may carry." and now you're trying to backtrack by picking an arbitrary weight and examples that are nowhere near your initial statement that someone called you out on.

Stop with the hypotheticals and arbitrary numbers, you're just adding to the noise.

Wow, testy aren't we. Ment that with alot ot trailers by the time you add all your stuff, your probably close to or at your gvwr.
Not going to get into a "pis-ing" match.
Just seems that there many more threads in the trailer area/suspension area about blown tires, rubber valve stems failing, bent axles, cracked axle supports, ect, almost on a daily basis. Yeah, us mh owners may have our problems, but not too many with bent/cracked frames/supports, or busted axles. Tire blow outs, sure, but not at the frequency that are posted about trailers/5th wheels.
Now I'll bow out.
Grumpy

[MillMitch]

I don't have a TPMS yet for the trailer, but I check tire pressure before every trip. Two weeks ago, getting ready for trip, noticed all 4 tires were at 42lbs instead of 50 (and all of the caps were still green, btw); and we had just used the trailer 3 weeks before. I went back into my garage and grabbed my tire valve stem wrench and snugged up all 4 stems (none were tight) before inflating back to 50#'s. We'll see if that helps hold pressure through the winter while in storage.

[DieselDrax]

Originally Posted by MillMitch

I don't have a TPMS yet for the trailer, but I check tire pressure before every trip. Two weeks ago, getting ready for trip, noticed all 4 tires were at 42lbs instead of 50 (and all of the caps were still green, btw); and we had just used the trailer 3 weeks before. I went back into my garage and grabbed my tire valve stem wrench and snugged up all 4 stems (none were tight) before inflating back to 50#'s. We'll see if that helps hold pressure through the winter while in storage.

As the temperature drops so will your tire pressures, so if they were at 50psi "cold" during the hot summer months then expect the pressure to drop quite a bit with the colder weather without there being any leaks. We're getting into "my TPMS is yelling at me" season because of this very phenomenon. The fact that you noticed all 4 tires doing the same thing should have been a clue.

I assume you mention the green caps meaning you had them filled with nitrogen? If so, nitrogen expands and contracts just like air. Nitrogen fills will not prevent temperature changes from changing your tire pressure.

[Scheinin]

Originally Posted by SpringerPop

Am I the only one that has consistently replaced any rubber stems (regular or high-pressure) with steel stems?

Steel stems: I don't leave home without them.

My Cedar Creek 5th wheel came with steel stems.

[Paulie1138]

My ‘blow-max’ tires failed. Not the valve stems. They could keep pressure reasonably well. Added air every month or so, just a few lbs. two 12-mile shake down trips to a local park. On my first 76 mile trip to just north of Payson, noticed all 4 tires had grown a few sizes to almost touching. Pressure still within specs! Tires not out of spec hot as measured at the tread, after driving about an hour. Bought 4 new ones in Payson. Got home, decided to look at the spare. It too had ballooned in size. All 5 tires 2 years old. Maybe 1500-2000 miles on them including delivery? Trailer is scaled under max weight by 2,000lbs!

No idea how fast the transporters took it during delivery, but to have the spare go in the same manner with the sticker still on it? My speed always 65 or less. Fortunately, most of the cost was covered under warranty. Glad I caught the problem before they blew coming down the mountains.

Morale of this? Get rid of the China bombs ASAP before they kill you or ruin your trip.

[lhuff35204]

Mine leaked air when you wiggle them, steel valve stems are the solution.

[Rugman1952]

This is my very, very, humble opinion about the" bombs". We are on our 4th FR rv, and first fiver, of the four. We are not full timers, and our longest trip in the summer is about 400 miles there and back. Our latest rig is a 2018 Cherokee 255rr toy hauler, with Castle Rock ST 255/75R/15 tires. I am butthead stupid about checking tire pressure, and looking for tire wear, weather cracks, etc. Please stop scaring every rv owner into buying Good Year Endurance tires.
Just sayyin
I

[Paulie1138]

Not running Goodyear’s. Just actual experience with my 5 tires. Your results may vary.

[RussHamilton]

I've been doing a lot of research before buying my first RV, and everyone seems to be recommending you replace the china bombs after about 3K miles.

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by emm-dee

Pretty sure no trailer has ever been delivered which had an empty weight which equaled the maximum gross weight.

Actually...I know of one.

My previous 2013 TT (SOB)!

After having all kinds of axle issues and it almost burning down on the highway in Phoenix, AZ about four years ago.

After screwing around for months with the manufacturer, and them accusing me of overloading it, I took everything out of it so that it was exactly the way it was the day I picked it up from the dealership (except the LP tanks were almost empty)...and empty that TT weighed 1040 pounds more than the two axles were rated for.

Cost me $4000 out of pocket to fix it up right, then traded it off for my current 5'ver one week after getting it fixed with upgraded everything suspension, including new wheels and tires.

[lfann]

Our castle rock 2017 Tires on Flagstaff came with 2 year warranty. We had a screw in tire, we called them and they came to us to fix. After 2 years -they Are still good. We check them regularly.

[rjshiflet]

Originally Posted by RussHamilton

I've been doing a lot of research before buying my first RV, and everyone seems to be recommending you replace the china bombs after about 3K miles.

Not everyone - I personally went the day after purchasing our current fifth wheel and bought new tires (and yes, I bought Goodyear Endurance because that's what I wanted on my investment).

Having 18 years of RV experience behind me, I wouldn't trust today's "China bomb" tires for 3,000 miles. When we first started RVing, the problem wasn't as bad as it is today if my feeble memory serves me correctly. As far as our personal experience - I think it was 2010 or 2011 when we started noticing a distinct decline in ST tire dependability.

But - we all have our choices and if you want to get 3,000 miles out of your original tires - that's a choice you can certainly make. Best wishes.

[kfd82]

Originally Posted by Rugman1952

This is my very, very, humble opinion about the" bombs". We are on our 4th FR rv, and first fiver, of the four. We are not full timers, and our longest trip in the summer is about 400 miles there and back. Our latest rig is a 2018 Cherokee 255rr toy hauler, with Castle Rock ST 255/75R/15 tires. I am butthead stupid about checking tire pressure, and looking for tire wear, weather cracks, etc. Please stop scaring every rv owner into buying Good Year Endurance tires.
Just sayyin
I

I somewhat agree with you, but paying strict attention to pressure before every trip and a visual inspection did not help me.

I checked pressure before leaving the campground and did a visual, less than 100 miles later....BOOM one tire and part of my trailer is gone!


Now, I did NOT check pressure or do a thorough visual when I picked it up from the RV dealership after repair... I figured they would make sure it was ready for travel. I drove it 6-7 miles to the tire shop and another tire was about to blow out, tread separation.



My tires were 2 years old and had less than 4000 miles on them.

[emm-dee]

Originally Posted by JohnD10

Actually...I know of one.

My previous 2013 TT (SOB)!

After having all kinds of axle issues and it almost burning down on the highway in Phoenix, AZ about four years ago.

After screwing around for months with the manufacturer, and them accusing me of overloading it, I took everything out of it so that it was exactly the way it was the day I picked it up from the dealership (except the LP tanks were almost empty)...and empty that TT weighed 1040 pounds more than the two axles were rated for.

Cost me $4000 out of pocket to fix it up right, then traded it off for my current 5'ver one week after getting it fixed with upgraded everything suspension, including new wheels and tires.

What did the certification data label say? There have been a few threads here about units with a label showing, ie, a max axle weight of 4,000 pounds but having mistakenly installed 3,500 pound axles.

[Scheinin]

Originally Posted by rjshiflet

But - we all have our choices and if you want to get 3,000 miles out of your original tires - that's a choice you can certainly make. Best wishes.

The original tires on my Cedar Creek were Westlake, a china made tire. Their website says: Hangzhou Zhongce has risen to become the #1 tire producer in China, and the 10th largest tire manufacture globally.

I put 20,000 miles on these tires. I think they were rated for 30,000 miles, and since I was about to take a 3 month 7,000 mile trip to Alaska I switched them out for Sailum.

[rlocicero]

This is not a valve stem issue. Towmax Chinese made tire.

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by rlocicero

This is not a valve stem issue. Towmax Chinese made tire.

Their nickname is 'BlowMax' tires.

You'll also find them labeled as 'Tow King' and 'Power King' tires...

If anyone tries to sell these to you...run away from them as fast as you can!

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by emm-dee

What did the certification data label say? There have been a few threads here about units with a label showing, ie, a max axle weight of 4,000 pounds but having mistakenly installed 3,500 pound axles.

It had two 3.5K axles and weighed over 8000 pounds empty.

When I got done it had two 5K axles.

[Trawlerphil]

I trashed my "Trail Express" China bomb load range "C" tires with "Grand Ride Load Range "E" tires from Libra Trailer Parts which were built in the Philippines. Three of them have performed well, but the 4th wore down the outside of the tire to the canvas in 3,000 miles. I replaced it in Utah, called the vendor, sent pictures and found they went out of business. The Dexter axle alignment is perfect and we've got over 4,000 miles on the replacement tire with no appreciable wear. Lesson learned is to buy domestic tires from a vendor who will put heat on the manufacturer if a tire is obviously defective. I agree load range C valve stems could be very problematic with pressures on a load range E tire.