These tires were an accident looking for a place to happen!

[Folkie]

Originally Posted by SargeW

The original tires were Trailer King, and the jury is still out on the new ones. As far as over inflating, I have no plans to increase the tire pressure as the rated pressure is well within the load limits of the trailer. The increased load limit is primarily for the ability of the tire to carry the existing weight of the trailer at the recommended 65 Psi.

Two of my original TrailerKings on the passenger side exhibited the same crowning when I picked up my camper from storage. Figured that I was lucky to make the 34 mile trip home without incident. Made a b-line for the Goodyear dealer near our house to inspect the endurance tires they had in-house. Turned out they were only a few weeks old so I bought them on the spot and brought the old ones over two at a time to be remounted. I didn't have time to shop around as we were heading out on trip that week. That was two years ago and so far no issues with the GYs.

[lcarver02]

Originally Posted by SargeW

Well, more quality parts used by Lippert just about ruined my day. While out on our last week long trip, I pulled into the campground to set up. I had noticed on our TPMS that one of the tires was showing about 5 pounds less than the others. I was hurrying to set up and go meet up the the family, so I didn't inspect the tires until the next morning. The rear one on the drivers side was completely flat. When removing the spare I noted that the nuts used by Keystone/Lippert were not the same size at the lugs on the tires (take note of this). So I fished out a 13/16 deep socket and removed the spare.

My rig is about 9 months old, and there is less than 6000 miles on the new tires. While swapping the spare on I measured the tread on the new never used tire at 7/32 inch. The tire taken off was at 5/32 inch.

Inspection of the tire at home the next day showed a tiny pin barely visible in the tire that was flat. It was so small that I had to inflate the tire and check the tread with soapy water to find it.

That's when I noted something really wrong with the older tire. To satisfy my curiosity I took the tire to a tire shop near me. The counter guy came out to look at the tire, I didn't tell him I thought there was a problem I just said I had a flat tire to be patched. He came out and looked at the tire and stated, "no, we can't patch that, the tread has separated on the inside. You can tell by the "dome" shape of the tire. We would just deflate it so it wouldn't fail now."

I had my suspicions about the tires for a while now, they just didn't seem up to the task of pulling the trailer. I know that I am way under the load rating of the tires and the trailer as I have CAT scaled the tire many times while setting up a previous hitch I was using.

So I have shopped around and decided on a 205/75/15 tire I found on Amazon. The load range is higher, LR "E" instead of "D", and it is a 10 ply steel belted radial tire with scuff guard built in the side wall. It is also Speed rated at 81 mph instead of 65 as the current tires. I will get them mounted when I get the rig back from the shop after some warranty works gets done
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J5S5N2W...t_details&th=1

Here are a few pics of the tires. The tires are the exact same tires, both tires are inflated to max PSI of 65#. The one on the left is the one used tire, the one on the right is new.

Also another bit of info, my rig has a mag type aluminum wheel which is different design than the standard trailer wheel that the spare is mounted on. The mag wheel doesn't fit the spare tire carrier well, as the depth of the lug holes prevent the wheel nuts from fitting. I had to use wheel lug and a ratchet strap to hold it on the spare tire carrier to get it home (the back of the truck was full of camping stuff).

Exactly what happened to mine (bought new) after 14 months. I immediately took all of them off and bought some goodyear tires. They are great. Also replaced the spare. Good idea to stay away from China Bombs. You are lucky this was not far worse. Good to go up to E Load Rating also. Sounds like you had a dealer do some kind of swap on you. Very wrong.

[gearhead]

Well Javi is back.
If y’all are referring to CW, I hope he comes back if he left. I may have agitated him too much.

[firestation12]

Originally Posted by gearhead

Well Javi is back.
If y’all are referring to CW, I hope he comes back if he left. I may have agitated him too much.

Yes, CWTheMan was of the two I was referring to.

[Searcher]

Trailer tires are a pet peeve of mine. Selling a tire rated at 65 mph in the USA is worse than a joke, it’s basically unsafe and probably unethical IMHO. I have been passed by folks doing 80 and I would wages that the tires on many of them were rated at 65 mph. Many people hauling trailers don’t know how low the tire speed ratings are! I also wonder how many check the. Pressure before hitting the road!

I’ve had numerous tires blow out over the years plus some caught before they blew out. I always thought I picked the best tire available but I had a 3 of a a set of 4 Carlisles with ply separations.

I settled on E rated Goodyear tires a while ago and am happy with them! I Also like that they are not made in China but in the USA!

[adeakins]

Originally Posted by SargeW

Well, more quality parts used by Lippert just about ruined my day. While out on our last week long trip, I pulled into the campground to set up. I had noticed on our TPMS that one of the tires was showing about 5 pounds less than the others. I was hurrying to set up and go meet up the the family, so I didn't inspect the tires until the next morning. The rear one on the drivers side was completely flat. When removing the spare I noted that the nuts used by Keystone/Lippert were not the same size at the lugs on the tires (take note of this). So I fished out a 13/16 deep socket and removed the spare.

My rig is about 9 months old, and there is less than 6000 miles on the new tires. While swapping the spare on I measured the tread on the new never used tire at 7/32 inch. The tire taken off was at 5/32 inch.

Inspection of the tire at home the next day showed a tiny pin barely visible in the tire that was flat. It was so small that I had to inflate the tire and check the tread with soapy water to find it.

That's when I noted something really wrong with the older tire. To satisfy my curiosity I took the tire to a tire shop near me. The counter guy came out to look at the tire, I didn't tell him I thought there was a problem I just said I had a flat tire to be patched. He came out and looked at the tire and stated, "no, we can't patch that, the tread has separated on the inside. You can tell by the "dome" shape of the tire. We would just deflate it so it wouldn't fail now."

I had my suspicions about the tires for a while now, they just didn't seem up to the task of pulling the trailer. I know that I am way under the load rating of the tires and the trailer as I have CAT scaled the tire many times while setting up a previous hitch I was using.

So I have shopped around and decided on a 205/75/15 tire I found on Amazon. The load range is higher, LR "E" instead of "D", and it is a 10 ply steel belted radial tire with scuff guard built in the side wall. It is also Speed rated at 81 mph instead of 65 as the current tires. I will get them mounted when I get the rig back from the shop after some warranty works gets done
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J5S5N2W...t_details&th=1

Here are a few pics of the tires. The tires are the exact same tires, both tires are inflated to max PSI of 65#. The one on the left is the one used tire, the one on the right is new.

Also another bit of info, my rig has a mag type aluminum wheel which is different design than the standard trailer wheel that the spare is mounted on. The mag wheel doesn't fit the spare tire carrier well, as the depth of the lug holes prevent the wheel nuts from fitting. I had to use wheel lug and a ratchet strap to hold it on the spare tire carrier to get it home (the back of the truck was full of camping stuff).

I have Sailun tires on my heavy 5’er. Speed range max out at 75mph which is faster than I go with this rig. Tires are 14 ply and mine have well used and never let me down.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by adeakins

I have Sailun tires on my heavy 5’er. Speed range max out at 75mph which is faster than I go with this rig. Tires are 14 ply and mine have well used and never let me down.

Unfortunately, Sailun does not market an ST tire in the 205/75/15 load range D or E size. Your Sailuns are simply not an option for anyone with 14 or 15" wheels on their trailer.

We are (SargeW) is working through a problem where Sailun is simply not a viable option because of availability of tires in the size he needs.

[SargeW]

I just had a new set of Carlisle's mounted a few days ago, along with new metal valve stems and new lugs. They are the same size, 205/75/15 LRD that was on there, but these tires are speed rated at 81 mph. No matter, I rarely ever pull over 65 mph anyway.

I returned the previous ones I bought due to not being able to get a warranty statement from the seller. All they would do is send me a type written email of the things that they didn't cover. It didn't feel right, so they went back. These Carlisles's have a starting tread depth of 9/32 inch, the Trailer King's were starting at 7/32 inch.

The place I went to here in Havasu also informed me that the wheels bearings felt a bit wobbly when he had the trailer up. So I pulled all the wheels today and checked the bearings and race's. All looked good, so I greased and reassembled the hubs. The castle nuts were all loose though. They had to be assembled too loose at the factory.

And I also adjusted the brakes after I put it back together. Ready for the trip in a few weeks!

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by SargeW

...
The place I went to here in Havasu also informed me that the wheels bearings felt a bit wobbly when he had the trailer up. So I pulled all the wheels today and checked the bearings and race's. All looked good, so I greased and reassembled the hubs. The castle nuts were all loose though. They had to be assembled too loose at the factory.

And I also adjusted the brakes after I put it back together. Ready for the trip in a few weeks!

The "bolded part" is the reason I consistently recommend that new owners do a bearing inspection/repack and brake adjustment the first year. With the lack of quality control in "RV parts" from any manufacturer of the lowest bid items, we consistently see problems or issues that can become problems slip through the cracks and wind up causing trailer owners breakdowns or damage down the line. Unfortunately, it's not the "Keystone factory" that has that specific quality issue, rather it's the axle manufacturer that packs grease in the bearings, installs them and tightens the castellated nuts, long before Keystone ever sees the components hit their parts storage yard.

The best way to prevent those kinds of issues is to verify that the serviceability of the axles/bearings is correct. Hoping that someone at a distant factory did their job is not the most reliable way to prevent axle problems "down the line"....

Here's how axles and frames and tire/wheel assemblies are delivered to Keystone. When the trailer is built, the frame is lifted by a forklift, set on rollers on the line floor, axles are lifted by that forklift, set on the floor, lifted by a overhead winch, bolted to the trailer, 4 tires from the "outside in the rain" stack are put on the hubs and the whole assembly is turned on its wheels and the "fun begins as they build your trailer.....

I have very little faith that the frame, the axles in that pile out by the fence and the 32 wheel assemblies wrapped in shrink wrap are "fully protected to assure no problems for the future buyer"..... YMMV

[Folkie]

Originally Posted by SargeW

I just had a new set of Carlisle's mounted a few days ago, along with new metal valve stems and new lugs. They are the same size, 205/75/15 LRD that was on there, but these tires are speed rated at 81 mph. No matter, I rarely ever pull over 65 mph anyway.

I returned the previous ones I bought due to not being able to get a warranty statement from the seller. All they would do is send me a type written email of the things that they didn't cover. It didn't feel right, so they went back. These Carlisles's have a starting tread depth of 9/32 inch, the Trailer King's were starting at 7/32 inch.

The place I went to here in Havasu also informed me that the wheels bearings felt a bit wobbly when he had the trailer up. So I pulled all the wheels today and checked the bearings and race's. All looked good, so I greased and reassembled the hubs. The castle nuts were all loose though. They had to be assembled too loose at the factory.

And I also adjusted the brakes after I put it back together. Ready for the trip in a few weeks!

You should be in good shape now! Don't forget to reinstall your TPMS before your trip.

[Stircrazy]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

The "bolded part" is the reason I consistently recommend that new owners do a bearing inspection/repack and brake adjustment the first year. With the lack of quality control in "RV parts" from any manufacturer of the lowest bid items, we consistently see problems or issues that can become problems slip through the cracks and wind up causing trailer owners breakdowns or damage down the line. Unfortunately, it's not the "Keystone factory" that has that specific quality issue, rather it's the axle manufacturer that packs grease in the bearings, installs them and tightens the castellated nuts, long before Keystone ever sees the components hit their parts storage yard.

The best way to prevent those kinds of issues is to verify that the serviceability of the axles/bearings is correct. Hoping that someone at a distant factory did their job is not the most reliable way to prevent axle problems "down the line"....

this is what gets me about dealerships, yes this is a known issue from what I have found out after I had an issue my first trip when my unit was new due to lack of grease in the hub from the factory.

If like what you say this is a known issue by the rv techs and the dealerships, why is it not part of the PDI, isn't the purpose of the PDI to pick up the deficiencies that the factory missed?

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Stircrazy

this is what gets me about dealerships, yes this is a known issue from what I have found out after I had an issue my first trip when my unit was new due to lack of grease in the hub from the factory.

If like what you say this is a known issue by the rv techs and the dealerships, why is it not part of the PDI, isn't the purpose of the PDI to pick up the deficiencies that the factory missed?

It's a "known issue". There have been a few recalls for "lack of grease in bearings" or "missing rear bearing" or "missing rear grease seal". But like the wet luan backing on laminated floors and styrofoam filled walls is a "known issue", as long as the "failure rate" doesn't rise to the level to affect "end of year profit margins" and the "cost to repair under warranty" remains lower than the "cost to solve the problem", you won't find any RV manufacturer spending money to "fix something that only affects a few trailers".

Customer satisfaction is only ONE criteria the "bean counters" consider. As long as the "overall profit remains at year end goal" they don't put any more investment in any specific area of their budget.

Now, as for your question: "Why is it not a part of the PDI?" Some dealerships do a great job during the PDI, some dealerships send in the cleaning lady to vacuum and dust the trailer.

Bottom line is that the "dealership's bottom line" means that the least money they spend getting the trailer ready, the more remains for their "bottom line". Some allocate money to do a PDI, some charge the customer for the PDI and some don't even mention the term PDI during sales or delivery.

I wouldn't suspect you'll see a change to a more intensive PDI any time soon. Money to fix problems comes out of a different budget than money to prevent problems that don't affect the "profit margin".....