Swapping out BlowMaxx's

[Ram189]

Wife and I sitting here talking about camping and where to go this Spring.

Trailer is less than a year old and I am having trouble with paying to put tires on it. She asks me about the site and what everyone says. I pull up the site and this area with all the stories of blowouts.

She says "Call Monday and have them put tires on it while it is in there for the warranty work being done."

That was an easy decision.

Now what does everyone thing about Goodyear Marathons??

[notanlines]

What brand do you have right now, and what troubles have you had? If you have Maxxis then I'm curious about all this because they seem to get good reviews from those on this site. I also have heard good things about the Kenda Brand Tires, load range F and G for your trailer.

[sourdough]

Have you looked around at prices? I don't know that the RV dealership would be the best place to buy the tires....just thinking. When they charge $120 per labor hr. I'm thinking it might be cheaper elsewhere.

[chuckster57]

Have you looked around at prices? I don't know that the RV dealership would be the best place to buy the tires....just thinking. When they charge $120 per labor hr. I'm thinking it might be cheaper elsewhere.
I agree. Just call the local tire stores and ask for the price mounted and installed. Then call your dealer and ask them how much they would charge. I don't know of any RV dealers that have a tire machine, so your going to pay for labor to remove, drive to the tire shop and mount. I don't know the rates in your area, but ours is $139.00/hr.

[sourdough]

Here's a comment I pulled from a website called roamingtimes.com for RVrs I suppose for your consideration.


"Steve JOnes - Bought my 2012 Montana 3400RL new in 2012. On our first trip, had another driver flagged us down to tell us one of our tires was buging. Since then after 1700 miles I have had three additional flats or blowouts. All tires are 2010 date. I always checked tire presures before and during trip. These are Goodyear Marathon ST235-80R16 Load E. I am going to a Goodyear dealer this week as it looks like Keystone will be of no help. "

[sw342]

If You have 15" rims I would go for the Maxxis. If you have 16" you have a couple choices depending on what load rating you need. I just put some Sailun S637's on as I did not want to trust the no name brand that were on there any longer.

[notanlines]

Just a little humor thrown in here: SW wrote "If You have 15" rims I would go for the Maxxis. If you have 16" you have a couple choices depending on what load rating you need. I just put some Sailun S637's on as I did not want to trust the no name brand that were on there any longer. " Sailun group is the same organization that brings you "Duck Commander" and "Trailer King" tires.:D

[Ram189]

The dealer quoted me $120 mount and installed. I was going to look around but working as a service director at a car dealership my trailer dealership and I have an understanding.
They treat me very fairly and I never shop them if I feel they are treating me fairly.

[chuckster57]

$120.00 for tire mount seems a bit high. They are mounting the tires at the dealership?

I can get a tire mounted for $10.00/ea and it only takes about 15 minutes total time to remove and install 4 wheels.

[sw342]

Just a little humor thrown in here: SW wrote "If You have 15" rims I would go for the Maxxis. If you have 16" you have a couple choices depending on what load rating you need. I just put some Sailun S637's on as I did not want to trust the no name brand that were on there any longer. " Sailun group is the same organization that brings you "Duck Commander" and "Trailer King" tires.:D

yep...but if have done your research you would know about Sailun and know they are not even in the same league as Trailer King :) Not quite sure if you are joking or are uninformed, so I don't want to come down too hard on you. :D

[CWtheMan]

I'm kind of curious as to why you want to change tires on a 2014 trailer.

According to Keystone specs you already have LRE 16" tires on 5200# axles. That's already a lot of extra load capacity for those axles.

CW

[smokeyfl]

Mine came with Trailer King tires which served me well for 8000 miles. Replaced them with Carlisle's as we are taking a long trip next month with 2 Ultras in the garage and wanted the extra capacity. What brand / size do you have now?

[sw342]

I'm kind of curious as to why you want to change tires on a 2014 trailer.

According to Keystone specs you already have LRE 16" tires on 5200# axles. That's already a lot of extra load capacity for those axles.

CW

Most people are not concerned about the specs and load rating of the tires that are supplied on the trailer from the factory as much as they are concerned about the quality of the tire that is provided. The tires that came on my 2013 were a no-name brand that could not even find on the internet. I figured 2 years and 5000 miles were enough to push my luck on them. They might have lasted me another 4 years and 15K miles, but that was not a gamble I was willing to take.

[notanlines]

Actually I wasn't looking to offend you, which I'm certain I did. I was just pointing out the humor of a company like TBC Brands, Sailun's distributor, also handling the likes of Duck Commander (?). Wouldn't we all feel comfortable cruising down the interstate on a set of Duck Commanders! We have looked into Sailun's and a host of other top brands. For $700 for a set of 4 delivered to Florida, not to mention load range G, I'd say they are at or close to the top of my list.

[CWtheMan]

Most people are not concerned about the specs and load rating of the tires that are supplied on the trailer from the factory as much as they are concerned about the quality of the tire that is provided. The tires that came on my 2013 were a no-name brand that could not even find on the internet. I figured 2 years and 5000 miles were enough to push my luck on them. They might have lasted me another 4 years and 15K miles, but that was not a gamble I was willing to take.

Sorry I should have quoted that post to the OP as it's about his trailer which is very light for LRE 16" ST tires.

CW

[CWtheMan]

I’m not sure any brand of ST tire can be better than the others. ST tires are not tested, other than what is necessary to attain DOT certification. Automotive tires are road tested by their manufacturers. People like consumer affairs groups will observe the testing methods and report their findings to the public. We can read the pros & cons and sometimes make our decisions based on those reports. That sort of thing doesn’t happen with ST tires. We, the public are the test platform for all ST tires.

What we end-up counting on is strictly anecdotal information. There are all sorts of red flag warnings about such information. When a researcher like me looks at the whole picture after many years of hunting for the truths it becomes apparent that ST tires are severely punished for being different.

They are not required by any DOT regulation to provide any load capacity reserves beyond the minimum requirements. They degrade faster than automotive tires so they are not going to last very long when being used near their maximum load capacity.

In the Automotive industry catastrophic tire failures are scrutinized very closely by NHTSA. Well it also happens with ST tires. The problem is the investigations strongly support the ST tire manufacturers claims of misuse and abuse, ie; Overloaded, Under Inflated, Excessive Speed and road hazards.

Once I get that far people tend to quit reading, so I’ll stop right here.

CW

[gearhead]

I replaced Towmax tires on both of my 5th wheels almost immediately with Maxxis. For me it was peace of mind. I'm a bit of a worrier.
I agree 100% with CW though.
I do think NHTSA should investigate failures closely and re-examine the standards.

[Toy Teacher]

I replaced my TowMaxx tires with Goodyear G614 RST a year and 10k miles ago and been very happy with them:) Last summer I lost count on the number of trailers in campgrounds with the sides ripped off do to tire failure:eek: I had a number of people that I was parked next to with torn up trailers say "Keep a eye on your tires" and proceed to ask what tires are you running and most after telling them what tires I run replied with "Oh my god I looked at those and Dam there to much $$" I'm sorry I just don't understand why many people want to spend as little as possible for tires on there 50k+ trailers.

[pakuma]

Ram189
If you are the Service Director at a Mopar dealership you can get your tires through the Mopar Tire Program.
I am a retired Service director and I got my Maxxis' through that program at the dealership I retired from.

[Ram189]

$120.00 for tire mount seems a bit high. They are mounting the tires at the dealership?

I can get a tire mounted for $10.00/ea and it only takes about 15 minutes total time to remove and install 4 wheels.

That is $120 for tire and mounting.

[mazboy123]

just spend the money and get G614s.

marathons are crap, look at the montana forum and you'll see the complaints!

just call around and get the best price, what's the big deal?

[bsmith0404]

What ever you decide on, make sure your rims can handle them. I looked at G rated tires, but my rims were not rated for the PSI required. I have nearly 12k lbs on my axles, although an E rated tire may be sufficient, I wanted to step up. I went with the Carlisle F range rated for 3960 lbs each at 95 psi. Gained 440 lbs capacity per tire so 1760 lbs total carrying capacity, about 4k lbs (1k per tire) more than what I'm actually putting on them. I feel much better with that kind of safety margin, especially as the tires start to lose their original capacity as they age.

As for Marathons, they USED to be one of the best tires you could put on a trailer. Not 100% sure what changed (heard they moved manufacturing to China), but in the last 5-6 years they seem to have come under the same fire as the OE tires you have. I would look at other options.

[sw342]

just spend the money and get G614s.

marathons are crap, look at the montana forum and you'll see the complaints!

just call around and get the best price, what's the big deal?

While the G614 very good tire there are probably 3-4 other choices that will serve you just as well for considerably less.

[Ken / Claudia]

My GY marathons 14" made in China 2007. They are on by boat trailer, setting in the sun year round, unknown real mileage, guessing 2,000-3,000 miles are being replaced due to age. They have not had any problems.

[abc40kids]

G-614's going on mine, called Tredit the wheel manufac or at least the one who sells the wheels to Keystone. They said a G on my wheels are fine.

Why would Keystone or any manufac be ok with a tire that will ONLY hold the max of the trailer with ZERO room for error. Who wants to pull out your driveway knowing your tires are already maxed out!!

[wahoonc]

G-614's going on mine, called Tredit the wheel manufac or at least the one who sells the wheels to Keystone. They said a G on my wheels are fine.

Why would Keystone or any manufac be ok with a tire that will ONLY hold the max of the trailer with ZERO room for error. Who wants to pull out your driveway knowing your tires are already maxed out!!


$$$$$ in their pocket. I don't know of many people, if any that have ever gotten a payout from a tire blowing out. I had a spare tire on a camper blow out, never been on the ground. Paid to have it shipped back to the tire distributor for inspection. According to their "investigators" the blow out was caused by overloading and probable road damage. Complete BS, the tire had never been on the ground. Buy the best tires you can afford, and make sure you never exceed 75% of rated load.

FWIW my Coleman TT has 14" rims with Westlake tires, at full GVW I am loaded to ~90%+ of tire rating. I am going to be going to 15" rims and Maxxis M8008. That will give me much more reserve capacity.

Aaron:cool:

[krisbc1]

I have always made it a practice to put light truck tires on my 5ers....last much longer.

[Desert185]

One thing that may contribute to the bad reputation of the ubiquitous, made in China tires installed on almost every trailer is the fact that the tires come from the factory without being balanced. Weights near the tire limits, perhaps not the best construction quality, a tendency by some to not maintain proper air pressure and tires considerably out of balance all add up to the China bomb reputation. If the tires and their working conditions are actually marginal, then they need all the help they can get, and a good balance is certainly part of the equation. At the very least, balance the tires before any significant mileage is experienced. If a tire is actually poorly constructed, there is a good chance that it will be out of balance more than another tire with good design, QC and construction techniques.

In my case, I went with Maxxis 8008's, balanced, and with metal valve stems religiously run at 80 PSI after the initial purchase and tow home. After 5,000-6,000 miles...so far, so good. The wet bolts and heavier shackles didn't hurt, either.

[Ken / Claudia]

Wahoonc brought up a good point, not sure if I have read about on here. The spare tire blowing up. 8 to 10 years ago this came up on Artic Fox rv site that I was on since I owned one. Folks showing photos of a spare mounted on the bumper, cover still on it blown up. Some said it was never used, others rotated tires around so spare was used at some point. That s been awhile but, as I recall most if not all happened in hot temps of the SW states. Some thought that having a cover on the spare cooked the tire. Most than and now do not know what the real date is of a tire and I only guess that those tires were older and that had something to do with it blowing up.

[wahoonc]

One thing that may contribute to the bad reputation of the ubiquitous, made in China tires installed on almost every trailer is the fact that the tires come from the factory without being balanced. Weights near the tire limits, perhaps not the best construction quality, a tendency by some to not maintain proper air pressure and tires considerably out of balance all add up to the China bomb reputation. If the tires and their working conditions are actually marginal, then they need all the help they can get, and a good balance is certainly part of the equation. At the very least, balance the tires before any significant mileage is experienced. If a tire is actually poorly constructed, there is a good chance that it will be out of balance more than another tire with good design, QC and construction techniques.

In my case, I went with Maxxis 8008's, balanced, and with metal valve stems religiously run at 80 PSI after the initial purchase and tow home. After 5,000-6,000 miles...so far, so good. The wet bolts and heavier shackles didn't hurt, either.

I have had more than one trailer wheel that would not balance due to the tires being so crappy, along with bad wheels. They were replaced. Another issue that crops up regularly is that the drum brakes are part of the rotating force and are pretty crappy too when it comes to balance. The best thing to do is to have a dynamic balancing done with everything in place. Not many shops can do that anymore. I have had more than one assembly that could not be balanced. Imbalance causes heat build up and shortens tire life, add in being too close to max load value, toss in some UV degradation, along with some normal aging and you have a recipe for blowouts.

I have been around RV's for a large part of my life and have watched the tire quality go down and the loads go up. Best thing you can do is be informed and make decisions based on the facts and buy the best tires you can find.

Aaron:cool:

[CampDestinations.com]

Hey Ram189, did you get your trailer from Beckley's?