Why are these China Bombs? Possible reason here

[wabakami]

Originally Posted by djglover7

Keyboards don't kill.

Hmm, selective boycotting!

$10 China Bomb keyboard or $150 US made one with selective Asian parts.



Geoff
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[billnelson]

Originally Posted by rlocicero

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

My 1st FW, a new 2004 Cardinal 32' w/3 slides had Tow-Max tires. Blew one out 10 miles from home after driving 200 miles. The tire still had 80lbs air, but tread separated from tire. Beat the hell out of bottom of slide floor, you could put your fist thru the hole in the floor. $3000 damage. Replaced with Goodyears, no more problems. Traded in 2008 for new 2008 Montana 38'. Abt 3000 miles in, blowout on Road King tires, replaced with Goodyears, no more problems. Drove 8 yrs the traded in 2015 on new 2016 Rockford 36' towable with "C" Castle Rock tires. Took directly to tire dealer and had "D" Bridgestone Rubber Master (USA) tires installed. Pulled from Michigan to Alaska and back, over 12,000 miles, no problems. Wife hated the tow behind, traded back to a 2017 Rockwood 5th wheel. Had a blowout on Castle Rock tire with leass than 1500 miles on tires. Replaced with Goodyear Endurance tires instead of Bridgestones because dealer switched manufacturers. For me, no more Chinese junk, USA Bridgesones or Goodyears only.

[Wicked Ace]

Originally Posted by rthomaslyons

I've just changed over to new Good Year Endurance 205-75R-14 tires on my 4 year old Flagstaff. I changed the tires a little early because 3 of the Westlake (chinese made) tires were badly worm. In this case I can't blame the tires but I can blame the two torsion type Dexter axels that were tearing away from the sub-frame after 3 years of gentle service. I was only partially reimbursed for this by FR but the frame people should have been held to account because these axels are welded into ⅛ inch thick sub-frame material. The trailer dealer cut that out and replaced it with ¼" thick sub-frame material so I should be good to go now with the new axels and new Canada/US made Good Year Endurances tires...

Now your scaring me! I have a 2014 26fkwss I got 2 years ago lightly used. I've haven't had axle problems yet but now I'll need to get under and look harder. On my first trip I had two tires on the passenger side blow out trying to avoid a collision. Looking into why they didn't hold I found the tires and the Lionshead WHEELS were just barely rated for the weight they were carrying. Fortunately they were pricey and difficult to replace so National General , the insurance company was very agreeable in allowing me to upgrade both all around. Now I have a 20% cushion in weight loading.

[philstat]

Originally Posted by grumpy0374

Forrest River, and I doubt that any trailer/5th wheel manufacturer make their own frames/suspensions/running gear. I believe that most are made by Lippert, and a few others. They are the ones who install the wheels/tires. They apparently use rims/tires that just barely meet the weight requirements of the frames as per the info supplied them by the manufacturer of the rv as to what the "approximate" finished weight will be.
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. The minute you load a can of chili, your over weight. Now, add all your stuff and you can begin to see the problem.
Grumpy

Northwood Manufacturing LaGrande OR,

[BandJCarm]

Originally Posted by billnelson

My 1st FW, a new 2004 Cardinal 32' w/3 slides had Tow-Max tires. Blew one out 10 miles from home after driving 200 miles. The tire still had 80lbs air, but tread separated from tire. Beat the hell out of bottom of slide floor, you could put your fist thru the hole in the floor. $3000 damage. Replaced with Goodyears, no more problems. Traded in 2008 for new 2008 Montana 38'. Abt 3000 miles in, blowout on Road King tires, replaced with Goodyears, no more problems. Drove 8 yrs the traded in 2015 on new 2016 Rockford 36' towable with "C" Castle Rock tires. Took directly to tire dealer and had "D" Bridgestone Rubber Master (USA) tires installed. Pulled from Michigan to Alaska and back, over 12,000 miles, no problems. Wife hated the tow behind, traded back to a 2017 Rockwood 5th wheel. Had a blowout on Castle Rock tire with leass than 1500 miles on tires. Replaced with Goodyear Endurance tires instead of Bridgestones because dealer switched manufacturers. For me, no more Chinese junk, USA Bridgesones or Goodyears only.

Are Bridgestone tires made in America?
In fact, there are only two genuine American brands: Goodyear and Cooper. The largest foreign tire companies with plants in the US include Michelin, Pirelli, Continental, Bridgestone, and Yokohama. However, to make sure you buy USA tires, you should make sure they were made in the USA-based plants.Jun 24, 2017

[BandJCarm]

An 8,000 lb trailer has maybe 15-20% of that weight on the tongue/hitch, so all the weight is not on the trailer frame/axles.

[sbrookssc]

I monitored my tire pressure very closely and the first tire failed at about 6,000 miles. A separated ply like many others have described. I had the failed tire replaced and ordered 3 more. A second tire failed on the way to the tire shop to have them replaced. My 32 ft ultralight had "C" load range tires from the factory. Doing the math, the tires would barely handle the weight with the camper empty. I don't know why Forest River would install tires that will not take the full load. I replaced them with load range "E" tires, and while I still check the tire pressure before every trip, I don't worry about the tires while we are on a trip.

[Vtl]

Are you kidding! With a $380,000 43b and over 32 items thus far needing corrected FR DOES NOT HAVE A PRETTY GOOD IDEA OF WHAt THEY ARE DOING!

I have toured the factory and their manufacturing and QC control are from 1979 AT BEST!!!!

There is NO engineerering or FMEA or RD on ANYTHING —-

[djglover7]

All,

I have found www.TireRack.com to be a great place to research tires. Buy them there or Discount Tire will match prices.

You will find more information than you could imagine *and* place of manufacture.

Note, a given brand can have multiple manufacturing locations.

[Philkaty]

My daughter and son-in-law have a 5th wheel toy hauler, 3 axel's. He was telling me that there are no USA made tires for it. Is this true?


Thanks

[billnelson]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

Are Bridgestone tires made in America?
In fact, there are only two genuine American brands: Goodyear and Cooper. The largest foreign tire companies with plants in the US include Michelin, Pirelli, Continental, Bridgestone, and Yokohama. However, to make sure you buy USA tires, you should make sure they were made in the USA-based plants.Jun 24, 2017

The Bridgestone Rubber Masters I purchased had USA stamped on them. They held up great to Alaska and back.

[emm-dee]

Originally Posted by Philkaty

My daughter and son-in-law have a 5th wheel toy hauler, 3 axel's. He was telling me that there are no USA made tires for it. Is this true?


Thanks

Triple axle toyhaulers are very, very heavy. Your folks should be running Goodyear G614 tires manufactured in GADSDEN, AL.

[djglover7]

Philkaty,


Go to tirerack.com!

[todalake]

My previous trailer I ordered from the factory and upgraded 6k axles to 7k axles and 'E' rated tires. Then changed tires to Goodyear 614's. Ended up only pulling them 500 miles and stayed seasonal at RV park. When I traded trailer in for current one, no extra trade in for upgrades. Standard book value for model and year. Our plans changed from traveling a lot with RV to staying in place. Could have saved a bunch of money by not upgrading. Current trailer with 8K axles and 17.5" tires. No plans to travel with it, just stay in RV park.

[Airdale]

Originally Posted by Philkaty

My daughter and son-in-law have a 5th wheel toy hauler, 3 axel's. He was telling me that there are no USA made tires for it. Is this true?


Thanks

That's not true.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Airdale

That's not true.

Depending on size and rating it could very well be true. Even if the "Name" is a US brand name tires could still be made in China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Brazil, or who knows which country they may have a plant under contract. Due to the nature of tire manufacturing often companies have to move production around because demand outstrips capacity.

Tires aren't turned out like doughnuts, each one takes around 15-20 minutes to cure in the mold. Each mold is limited by the process to less than 100 tires per day if operated 24 hrs continuously.

Now compare that with the estimated billion tires per year manufactured by over 450 factories around the world.

[emm-dee]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Depending on size and rating it could very well be true. Even if the "Name" is a US brand name tires could still be made in China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Brazil, or who knows which country they may have a plant under contract.

All one has to do to determine the country of manufacture is look up the DOT code on the side of every tire.

[djhender]

I have had 2 blowouts and 2 flats in the last 4 years. None were caused by stems. I replaced the China Bombs with Hercules H-901 commercial G rated tires last spring, surprisingly as cheap as or cheaper than the E rated Goodyear and other tires. Made in Findlay Ohio and cost me $143 each. They are rated for 110 PSI but I carry 95 in them as they heat up to between 100 and 110. My rims are rated for 110 PSI. My tires came from the factory with metal valve cores. I also had them replace the the old valve cores with new metal ones.

[kerrlakelover]

Originally Posted by marinerjoe

Wow! I've had no problems so far, other than the valve stems not being high pressure and the dry rot. I'm going to be changing the tires before long. Thanks everyone for your inputs. I've got about 4,000 miles on these, and am going to be VERY cautious now.

My tire guy for 35 years, who has never steered me wrong, tells me there are 2 major reasons he sees for "trailer" tire failures. First is lack of maintenance (improper inflation, overloaded, hitting curbs, etc.) Second...and as a consumer this is scarey and sad...no matter who the manufacturer is, if your tire has a date code thats 3 1/2 years old you better start planning on purchasing new tires soon. And if your tires are 4 years old...you are riding on borrowed time. Sad to think that tires that are only run a few hundred miles a year are toast in 48 months.

Another thought when purchasing a new RV, check the date codes on your tires before you take ownership and if the codes aren't relatively new, I'd say request/require the dealer change out the tires for newer tires. Heck! Even check the date codes on new tires before you let the dealer mount them.

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by kerrlakelover

.

Another thought when purchasing a new RV, check the date codes on your tires before you take ownership and if the codes aren't relatively new, I'd say request/require the dealer change out the tires for newer tires.

Fat chance of that ever happening...most especially if you expect them to do it for free!

And where do you think they'll look for different tires for you

Another RV on their lot, of course.

When I traded in my previous TT for my 5'ver I had just put brand new tires on it one week before.

Turned out to be the same size, so I had them take the BlowMax tires off of the 5'ver and swap them for the new tires on my TT.

They, of course, charged me a little over $200 bucks as they had to have a tire shop do the work off of their lot.

Most RV dealerships don't have a tire shop on the premises...