tire manuf. not living up to warranty.

[NHcamper]

Hi all,

I didn’t really expect to get any positive response from the tire manuf. But wanted to see what they would say.

I have a 2015 Keystone Laredo 322Rl Travel Trailer. The tire involved did not just blow, the tread shredded and caused over $11,000 damage to the TT. See attached photos.
Less than 6k miles on tires, always inflated correctly and covered when not in use. TPS on all tires for pressure and temp. Less than 3 years on tires from date I bought the TT. The tires are even under a 5 year manuf. Warranty.

Just information for others to be aware of. The tire manuf. Will NOT stand behind the crap tires the produce or their warranty. Maybe the camper Manuf. Should evaluate the tires they put on their equipt. These are life threatening situations.
Tire information: Trailer King ST Radial 225/75 R 15. Tread left on tire ¼ inch or 8/32. DOT information JEJK DBL 3314.
Response from Tire Manuf. Broker:

Sorry for our delated response.
As for the captioned claim, we have got a feedback from our client just now, that the tire manufacture will not pay any indemnity for the loss caused by blow tire.
The rubber function of tire will usually degrade after using three or four years, and the involved tire have overdue its service time. So the factory will not compensate any loss for this tire blow accident.
Your understanding will be highly appreciated. Thanks a lot.

Kind regards,

[66joej]

Sorry for our delated response.
As for the captioned claim, we have got a feedback from our client just now, that the tire manufacture will not pay any indemnity for the loss caused by blow tire.
The rubber function of tire will usually degrade after using three or four years, and the involved tire have overdue its service time. So the factory will not compensate any loss for this tire blow accident.
Your understanding will be highly appreciated. Thanks a lot.

Kind regards,

I think this was penned by the same guy that loads the tires into the seacans.
Seriously you may have to use your insurance company.

[B-O-B'03]

So what is the published service time the "involved tire" have overdue?

-Brian

[busterbrown]

First, sorry for your damage and unfortunate circumstances.

Sadly, the tire manufacturer is correct and can't be held accountable for tire degradation and failures after a predetermined in-service duration. Its understood that ST tires will reach there end life much quicker by aging and degradation than by miles traveled. A catastrophic failure after 3 years of use is not uncommon. A good rule of thumb is to replace all tires after 3 seasons, no matter the condition or tread life remaining.

Your trailer's GVWR is 9500 lbs. The OEM Trailer Kings are sized at ST 225/75R15D with a load capacity of 2540 lbs at 65 PSI. Prior to the in service date, these 4 tires could support 10,160 lbs. Assuming the TV will support 12% of the trailer's GVWR, the tires would have to support 8,360 lbs at the time of delivery. And after an industry accepted 10% yearly degradation on those tires, you'd lose 1016 lbs of weight carrying capability after the first 12 months. Now the max weight supported by those tires would only be 9,144 lbs, but still over your trailer's load of 8,360 lbs. At year 2, you'd lose another 914 lbs of weight carrying capacity leaving the tires with only 8,229 lbs of load range. So in essence, after 24 months of use, the OEM tires fitted by the manufacturer are not able to support the load. Continuing on to the 48th month of in-service use, the load carrying capacity of the Trailer Kings drops to an astonishing 6,665 lbs, well below your trailer's GVWR minus tongue weight.

Tires that barely support the load when new will be extremely challenged as they age a little. This is definitely true with ST tires and can be seen day in and day out on all the RV forums.

Again, sorry for your damages.

[Javi]

I they were indeed 33rd week of 2014 tires... then they currently would be 4 years and change old... as you typed this...

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by B-O-B'03

So what is the published service time the "involved tire" have overdue?

Originally Posted by B-O-B'03

-Brian

Brian, Can't you understand English? Errrr well Chinese-English... what they were saying was come to China and sue us if you want to!

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by Javi

I they were indeed 33rd week of 2014 tires... then they currently would be 4 years and change old... as you typed this...

Problem with ST tires is that most of their death is due to sitting and not rolling down the road; that is their time to show you they still have plenty of tread as evidenced by the last photo. It will be interesting to see if the insurance company will spring for the damages. The amount you quoted for damages is quite a bit lower than NADA book so there is hope.

[Javi]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

Problem with ST tires is that most of their death is due to sitting and not rolling down the road; that is their time to show you they still have plenty of tread as evidenced by the last photo. It will be interesting to see if the insurance company will spring for the damages. The amount you quoted for damages is quite a bit lower than NADA book so there is hope.

exactly why I buy new tires every two years... then sell the old ones for 16ft car trailers..

[notanlines]

George, "It will be interesting to see if the insurance company will spring for the damages. " Any reason why the insurance company wouldn't cover the damage?

[ctbruce]

There are probably thousands of posts about Trailer King tires on this forum. The information is there for free for everybody to read.

DO NOT DELAY IN REPLACING THE POS TRAILER KING TIRES WITH A BETTER BRAND.

Function does not depend on appearance. It will be deceiving.

[bob91yj]

Originally Posted by busterbrown

First, sorry for your damage and unfortunate circumstances.

Sadly, the tire manufacturer is correct and can't be held accountable for tire degradation and failures after a predetermined in-service duration. Its understood that ST tires will reach there end life much quicker by aging and degradation than by miles traveled. A catastrophic failure after 3 years of use is not uncommon. A good rule of thumb is to replace all tires after 3 seasons, no matter the condition or tread life remaining.

Your trailer's GVWR is 9500 lbs. The OEM Trailer Kings are sized at ST 225/75R15D with a load capacity of 2540 lbs at 65 PSI. Prior to the in service date, these 4 tires could support 10,160 lbs. Assuming the TV will support 12% of the trailer's GVWR, the tires would have to support 8,360 lbs at the time of delivery. And after an industry accepted 10% yearly degradation on those tires, you'd lose 1016 lbs of weight carrying capability after the first 12 months. Now the max weight supported by those tires would only be 9,144 lbs, but still over your trailer's load of 8,360 lbs. At year 2, you'd lose another 914 lbs of weight carrying capacity leaving the tires with only 8,229 lbs of load range. So in essence, after 24 months of use, the OEM tires fitted by the manufacturer are not able to support the load. Continuing on to the 48th month of in-service use, the load carrying capacity of the Trailer Kings drops to an astonishing 6,665 lbs, well below your trailer's GVWR minus tongue weight.

Tires that barely support the load when new will be extremely challenged as they age a little. This is definitely true with ST tires and can be seen day in and day out on all the RV forums.

Again, sorry for your damages.

Not looking to argue the point, but what is your source for the degradation of the tires? I tried to Google it, couldn't find anything.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by bob91yj

Not looking to argue the point, but what is your source for the degradation of the tires? I tried to Google it, couldn't find anything.

This is in the Carlisle ST Tire Best Practices Brochure:
– Any tire, no matter how well constructed, may fail when in use
because of punctures, impact damage, improper inflation,
overloading, or other conditions resulting from use, misuse
or neglect.
– High speed towing in hot conditions degrades tires significantly.
– Best practice. Do not exceed 60 mph while towing a trailer.
– Most ST trailer tires have a maximum speed rating of 65 mph.
– Load carrying capacity decreases as heat and stress generated by
higher speed increases.
– Time and the elements weaken a trailer tire.
– 3 to 5 years is the average life expectancy of a trailer tire,
regardless of mileage.
– It is estimated that in approximately three years, roughly
one-third of a tire's strength is gone.
– After three years, depending upon storage and conditions of
usage, consider replacing trailer tires even if they have tread
depth remaining.
– After five years, trailer tires should be replaced in all cases.

Carlisle stopped producing the brochure about 2 years ago, so I don't know if you can still find it online or not.

This link will take you to a commercial site with ST tire information:

https://tiresfirst.com/trailer-tires

If you scroll down to the "TIME" section, you'll see the statement: "In approximately three years, roughly one-third of the tire's strength is gone."

A quick calculation of 3 years for a 33% loss is about 11% per year. Most of us just use the 10% per year to make things easier.

These photos are of the inside of my TK ST tires at 24 months. There is no way to visualize this tread separation without dismounting the tires. You decide whether you'd want to continue using tires that you can't inspect for damage, that are 30% to 40% weaker than when manufactured and, as you've learned, built by a company that won't stand behind their product.... Anyway, here's the photos, as you can see from the "bubbles" the tread is already separated from the tire carcass. A blowout waiting to happen.....

[sourdough]

John,

I knew the specs/guidelines were out there but could not find them...Folks just need to undertstand that the ST tires are, ST tires and have real life limitations. They are perfect for their job when placed into a an acceptable work environment...if not, you need another load range...

[mcomeaux]

Again extreme use these tires are subjected they should be replaced every 4 years with a premium brand and sooner if equipped with the china bombs. I purchased a Airstream some years ago and the sales person was boasting about the quality of trailer and tires. I pointed out they in fact were goodyears but produced in China. I think I totaled 200 miles and replaced with Michelins...no worries.
5 years for vehicles but I still would not leave a tire in service for that period of time even.

[CWtheMan]

Originally Posted by NHcamper

Hi all,

I didn’t really expect to get any positive response from the tire manuf. But wanted to see what they would say.

I have a 2015 Keystone Laredo 322Rl Travel Trailer. The tire involved did not just blow, the tread shredded and caused over $11,000 damage to the TT. See attached photos.
Less than 6k miles on tires, always inflated correctly and covered when not in use. TPS on all tires for pressure and temp. Less than 3 years on tires from date I bought the TT. The tires are even under a 5 year manuf. Warranty.

Just information for others to be aware of. The tire manuf. Will NOT stand behind the crap tires the produce or their warranty. Maybe the camper Manuf. Should evaluate the tires they put on their equipt. These are life threatening situations.
Tire information: Trailer King ST Radial 225/75 R 15. Tread left on tire ¼ inch or 8/32. DOT information JEJK DBL 3314.
Response from Tire Manuf. Broker:

Sorry for our delated response.
As for the captioned claim, we have got a feedback from our client just now, that the tire manufacture will not pay any indemnity for the loss caused by blow tire.
The rubber function of tire will usually degrade after using three or four years, and the involved tire have overdue its service time. So the factory will not compensate any loss for this tire blow accident.
Your understanding will be highly appreciated. Thanks a lot.

Kind regards,

Any tire specialist viewing your pictures is going to call the situation a classic tire tread separation. Normally caused by mismanagement of the tire. Tire warranties will not cover damages from mismanagement.

With that much of the tire remaining, a tire expert would know immediately if it failed from mismanagement or a defect. To me it looks like a classic tire failure cause from it being overloaded, overheated - maybe from speed -and/or a combination from those conditions. Tire age and it's care during idle times must also be considered.

Bottom line; take the tire to an expert. You have enough of it to prove it's failure cause (s).

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by notanlines

George, "It will be interesting to see if the insurance company will spring for the damages. " Any reason why the insurance company wouldn't cover the damage?

Seems to me that fouir year old tires might provide some wiggle room for the insurance company to not stand up for paying the claim. I do hope they pay and that the OP follows up and brings this back to this board to clarify whether the insurance company did pay or not. I have filed a couple claims with my insurance in past years (Progressive) and they were quick to pay an equitable amount. I don't think all insurance companies are equal. I sure don't think that Trailer King (whoever makes those things in China) can be made to stand up for the damage.

[notanlines]

Insurance on your vehicles is purchased to cover incidents regardless of fault. They may very well drop you when all is said and done, but the coverage remains. And, like you, I don't believe one would get Trailer King to cover anything!

[mazboy]

This why we have insurance. A sad situation but a good policy goes a long way to help us RVers out.

[Snoking]

I just took our new 2019 Laredo 225MK in and replace the OEM Goodride ST225/75R15D with Goodyear Endurance ST225/75R15E's, and will not look back(sic)!

Sold the 4 Goodride tires for 200 bucks on CL. Had two buyers in the first 24 hours wanting them.

Goodyear is one of the few manufactures that will pay for consequential damage, even though their warranty like most others state that it is not covered.

ST tires got their birth for use on utility type trailers used for local service. Carlisle with mixed results has been trying to build a ST tire that can stand up to extended speeds on freeways on tall/heavy multi axle trailers.

The new Goodyear Endurance from all reports has reached this pinnacle, and is now the go to ST tire.

Chris

[wiredgeorge]

Have a look at the "tire upgrade" guidance from the goodride website:
http://www.goodridetire.com/index.php/service/guide


Why doesn't some company in the US offer English tech writing services to Chinese companies so they don't sound like this? Could a big Chinese company like this one use google translator to put content onto their English language website?