Well, that was fun....(china bomb)

[kevinrross]

So, after months of planning and packing, today was the day we headed out for our week-long Thanksgiving trip--just our third--in our new HW277.


When we were returning home from our last trip (our second), while stopped for gas, a fellow RVer mentioned that he thought we had a "bubble" in one of our tires (he didn't think the tire appeared to be rolling properly). I had my wife drive for a minute in the parking lot so I could look at the tire, and it didn't appear off to me. We managed to make it home, though I was white knuckled the entire way.



Lately--maybe from reading this board too much (and maybe because of our last trip)--I had been uber paranoid about having a blowout on the POS stock tires provided by FR, so much so, in fact, that I had gone out this week to buy a jack, a lug wrench, and a portable air compressor--all things I should have had from the get go.


Sure enough, 30 minutes into our trip, while on US290 just outside Houston, the passenger side tire on the HW blew. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, there was no damage to our trailer or our truck, and we were able to get off the freeway safely. While I was prepared to change the tire, I decided to use FR roadside assistance. They came out, changed the tire, and were on our way...home. I just cannot risk my family's life driving on those POS tires. I am going first thing Sunday to NTB to have Goodyears or some other reliable brand of tire put on there. It is a shame that FR insists on using such a sub-par tire on

[rsdata]

Goodyear Endurance is a good choice. Check online at goodyear dot com... often have specials, you can also purchase online and have them shipped to local GY dealer and have them installed on a pre-arranged date. ALSO, have the rubber valve stems replaced with metal stems, then think about getting a TPMS system...

While at the install compare the old tire carcass weight and construction to the GY tires... you will be favorably impressed!

[chaps2018]

X2 on Endurance. Glad no one was hurt and no damage.

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by kevinrross

Sure enough, 30 minutes into our trip, while on US290 just outside Houston, the passenger side tire on the HW blew. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, there was no damage to our trailer or our truck, and we were able to get off the freeway safely. While I was prepared to change the tire, I decided to use FR roadside assistance. They came out, changed the tire, and were on our way...home. I just cannot risk my family's life driving on those POS tires. I am going first thing Sunday to NTB to have Goodyears or some other reliable brand of tire put on there. It is a shame that FR insists on using such a sub-par tire on

That's a bad road to have a blowout. Glad you made it to the side of the road safely.

When you get new tires, check the speed rating on your replacements. Many trailer tires are rated for 65 mph. Can't tell you how many times I've seen trailers being towed at 80 mph. Scares me a bit.

[GalsofEscape]

sorry to hear of your issues, tires are not usually too big of an issue for popups. On our HW 277, we had the OEM tires on it for 5 years before we replaced them due to age - put over 15,000 miles on them.


i am curious though - why you did not replace the tires after you got home from the second trip if you white knuckled it home with a suspect tire?

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by Reverse_snowbird

That's a bad road to have a blowout. Glad you made it to the side of the road safely.

When you get new tires, check the speed rating on your replacements. Many trailer tires are rated for 65 mph. Can't tell you how many times I've seen trailers being towed at 80 mph. Scares me a bit.

Many new trailer tires are rated at 80mph +

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by kevinrross

So, after months of planning and packing, today was the day we headed out for our week-long Thanksgiving trip--just our third--in our new HW277.


When we were returning home from our last trip (our second), while stopped for gas, a fellow RVer mentioned that he thought we had a "bubble" in one of our tires (he didn't think the tire appeared to be rolling properly). I had my wife drive for a minute in the parking lot so I could look at the tire, and it didn't appear off to me. We managed to make it home, though I was white knuckled the entire way.



Lately--maybe from reading this board too much (and maybe because of our last trip)--I had been uber paranoid about having a blowout on the POS stock tires provided by FR, so much so, in fact, that I had gone out this week to buy a jack, a lug wrench, and a portable air compressor--all things I should have had from the get go.


Sure enough, 30 minutes into our trip, while on US290 just outside Houston, the passenger side tire on the HW blew. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, there was no damage to our trailer or our truck, and we were able to get off the freeway safely. While I was prepared to change the tire, I decided to use FR roadside assistance. They came out, changed the tire, and were on our way...home. I just cannot risk my family's life driving on those POS tires. I am going first thing Sunday to NTB to have Goodyears or some other reliable brand of tire put on there. It is a shame that FR insists on using such a sub-par tire on

I'm also wondering why you didn't get that tire checked first before buying the jack, lug wrench and air compressor and let it go until your trip?

[kevinrross]

Because when I watched the tire, I didn’t see any noticeable issues. Hindsight is always 20/20.

[2rad4u]

Originally Posted by GalsofEscape

i am curious though - why you did not replace the tires after you got home from the second trip if you white knuckled it home with a suspect tire?

This ^^

Or have them at least checked by a pro.

[Cathcartww]

I agree with the GY Endurance recommendation - they are built to exceed the standard ST specification. I assume you have 14" wheels, so your choices are somewhat limited, by there is an Endurance load range D (65psi) tire rated for 87 mph rather than the standard 65.

[Wolf26]

How many times does this have to happen before FR gets the message ? Does someone have to get killed before they step-up ?

[Frankie66]

This happened to us last July on our 2018 FR Flagstaff 8529RLWS Fifth wheel. I called the warranty company Lions Head wheel and tire company who supplies the tires to FR,When we got home. After sending the require pictures and information of the tire, they agreed to replace all 5 tires or reimburse me $100 per tire of my choice. The tire had exploded and caused over $2000 in damage to the right side of the RV and 10 weeks in the repair shop mostly waiting on repair parts. Brenda and Beth in the claims department were great to work with. I also had my rig weighed at cat scales and checked the tire pressure prior to each leg of our trip.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Wolf26

How many times does this have to happen before FR gets the message ? Does someone have to get killed before they step-up ?

There's the key. Their supplier knows exactly how many tires they put on the road and they have the numbers on all REPORTED failures.

If one was to read threads like these they might come to the conclusion that ALL of the chinese made tires on FR products were accidents waiting to happen. When the FACTS are compiled (Facts, not hearsay) the number of failures is probably a low, single digit (if not a fraction of a digit) percentage.

All we see are stories from a relatively few (compared to the total number of owners out there) who have had failures.

Fact is, rarely does anyone hear from those who have good experiences with tires. Usually only hear from those who have had problems and that's amplified by the rest that just pile on with the cutesy names.

[Jay2504]

I know that I have read every tire thread ever since I joined this forum.
A couple of observations:
1. Most people here are pretty good about keeping their tires inflated/monitored
2. This is the big one: the closer the tires are run to their max load rating the more often they blow. Time after time someone blows a tire (or more than one) and they replace it with a tire with more load carrying capacity. Then the problem goes away.
I’m running 205/75/14C that is carrying 5500 pounds per the cat scale. IIRC my tires are rated at 1760 pounds each. Even if I were carrying 6000 pounds I have a total of over 1000 pounds of reserve capacity. Even then when I put on tires I’m going up either a size or a load range. Jay

[Filterman]

Originally Posted by Reverse_snowbird

That's a bad road to have a blowout. Glad you made it to the side of the road safely.

When you get new tires, check the speed rating on your replacements. Many trailer tires are rated for 65 mph. Can't tell you how many times I've seen trailers being towed at 80 mph. Scares me a bit.

The Goodyear Endurance is rated at either 84 or 87mph. Put a new set on this summer. I had a set of GY Marathons which I ran for three years and about 30000 miles without incident also. I’m 40 years RVing and have never had a blowout. I convinced and have proven tire issues can be mostly controlled by preventive maintenance ( check tire pressure once a week when we are on a long haul) and moderate speeds ( rarely over 65mph). I tow a 2011 28RKS Wildcat with a dry weight of 8000lb and we tow in a lot of unfavourable conditions ( often extensive high speed gravel road travel).....think Trans Labrador Hwy and Dalton Highway to the Arctic Ocean. Safe travels everyone!!

[babock]

Originally Posted by Cathcartww

I agree with the GY Endurance recommendation - they are built to exceed the standard ST specification. I assume you have 14" wheels, so your choices are somewhat limited, by there is an Endurance load range D (65psi) tire rated for 87 mph rather than the standard 65.

ST tire specification?

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by Filterman

I tow a 2011 28RKS Wildcat with a dry weight of 8000lb

And how often do you tow it at the dry weight?

[HappyCamper1962]

Originally Posted by chaps2018

X2 on Endurance. Glad no one was hurt and no damage.

x3 on Endurance. I changed out the Carlisle tires that came on our unit within the first couple of weeks and am so glad I did. The GY Endurance tires are so much smoother with the added benefit of higher load and speed ratings. Peace of Mind. Glad you all are OK!

[BigRockr]

Originally Posted by HappyCamper1962

x3 on Endurance. I changed out the Carlisle tires that came on our unit within the first couple of weeks and am so glad I did. The GY Endurance tires are so much smoother with the added benefit of higher load and speed ratings. Peace of Mind. Glad you all are OK!

Was there an issue with the Carlisle's? Mine seem to be fine.

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by BigRockr

Was there an issue with the Carlisle's? Mine seem to be fine.

The carlisle's are great tires . have them on my TH with over 12,000 miles and still like new . would and will buy again .