towmax refund

[David L]

After a blowout that caused $1100 damage to my Raptor changed out the towmax bombs with Maxxis st235 80 r16's.

The insurance I bought with the trailer covered the blown tire but not the 2 tires that were fixing to blow that were discovered when we dismounted the tires.

Got on the internet and searched for Power King and found that they do warrant there tires for defects. A company called TCB on there web site got me in touch with a local tire dealer that inspected the tires to confirm the defects and will get a refund.

Money back and replaced the china bombs.

[gearhead]

Way to go, and welcome to the forum.
Good luck at the LL World Series.

[CWtheMan]

What was the defect?

CW

[Bluewater]

I had one on an earlier rv that a tire dealer found defective because it was leaking right thru the sidewall with no damage. Got a free tire on that one but just another china bomb.

[David L]

The steel belt was separating.

[slewis1694]

I was returning from a short trip (222 miles) and was flagged over to the side of the road my a passing motorist. Apparently the person worked for a tire dealer and said there was something wrong with the front passenger tire on my 5th wheel. My trailer has two axles. I asked if I had thrown any rubber and he said no, it looks like you have a bubble on the inside of your tire. Sure enough, I checked and found a 4 inch bubble growing on the upper sidewall of the tire near the tread. I decided to check the rest of the tires and found another bubble growing on the front drivers side 5th wheel tire but on the outside of the tire. This bubble was about 2 inches and again on the sidewall near the tread. I could not thank the person who flagged us over enough. I could not believe he noticed the bubble on the inside front tire. As I was about 4 miles from home we limped the trailer home.

My trailer is an 2012 Avalanche and the tires have about 2500 miles on them. Needless to say, they have been replaced with the Maxxis ST 235/80 R 16 tires. The tire dealer said he gets a lot of people in with the Towmax tires for the same reason. He also told me that none of the wheels had been balanced and he showed me the wear patters on the tires. One of the tires had a flat spot on it, some had wear on the outside of the tires, some on the inside and all of them had soft spots on the upper sidewalls. These are the tires that came with the trailer.

Just so everyone knows, the trailer was not overweight (14,120 GVWR), the aluminum wheels are torqued before every trip and the trailer is in a covered carport so the sidewalls were not sun damaged and I was not exceeding the speed rating for these tires.

When the new tires were installed, I could not believe the amount of weight that was needed to balance the tires and wheels.

Some things I discovered during this episode. The axles on my 5th wheel are 6,000 pound axles and the tires can carry a max weight of 3520 lb @ 80 psi. The more typical Load Rating E is 3042 lbs. I am very skeptical of tires that are rated out of the normal ranges. I guess Keystone figures the pin box will carry 20/25% of the weight so they went with lower rated axles. Depending on the loading of the cargo (2532 pounds), the tires/wheels and axles would be at their limits if I was constantly at the max weight.

Avalanche owners, check your tires and wheels. Find out if they are balanced or not. I feel real lucky that someone who works at a tire shop was behind us on a back road and was compelled enough to flag us over. These tires were ready to blow, hence the designation "China Bombs."

Now I am going to be working on getting a refund.

[CWtheMan]

Originally Posted by slewis1694

Some things I discovered during this episode. The axles on my 5th wheel are 6,000 pound axles and the tires can carry a max weight of 3520 lb @ 80 psi. The more typical Load Rating E is 3042 lbs. I am very skeptical of tires that are rated out of the normal ranges. I guess Keystone figures the pin box will carry 20/25% of the weight so they went with lower rated axles. Depending on the loading of the cargo (2532 pounds), the tires/wheels and axles would be at their limits if I was constantly at the max weight.

Trailer manufacturers must meet minimal government regulations when setting the GVWR & GAWR for your trailer. Those values are found on the trailer's certification label. The trailer manufacturer's designated hitch weight combined with the total GAWR weights when added together must equal or exceed the trailer's GVWR. Tires must have enough load capacity to support each GAWR. In reality, tires rated at 3000# can be fitted to each end of a GAWR 6000# axle, so your 3520# tires had plenty of excess load capacity.

The load range of LT tires are not compatible with ST tire load ranges, The tires are from two completely different designs. It's a common error many new trailer owners make when their trailer is fitted with ST tires. By the way, your new tires are rated at 3420# at 80 psi. ST manufacturers have established three load capacities for the ST235/80R16E tires, 3420#, 3500# and 3520# all at 80 psi. If the vehicle manufacturer does not recognize that fact any of those load capacities can be used as suitable replacements because without individual recognition they all default to the lowest load capacity. Your new Maxxis tires are rated at 3420# at 80 psi.

CW

[tech740]

So I'll admit I don't know a lot about trailer tires. I have trailer king tires on my travel trailer now. Are these in the China bomb catagory? I have about 1500 Miles on them and have had no issues thus far. Just curiouse of what to expect in the future. Thanks for the help.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by tech740

So I'll admit I don't know a lot about trailer tires. I have trailer king tires on my travel trailer now. Are these in the China bomb catagory? I have about 1500 Miles on them and have had no issues thus far. Just curiouse of what to expect in the future. Thanks for the help.

Yes, your tires are made in China, so that puts them in the "China Bomb" category. HOWEVER, the majority of the tire problems are being found in use on heavier trailers.

While there's always a potential for problems with any tire, there's not a lot of complaints being posted on Trailer King tires in the lighter trailers. I can't remember any recent post on 14" ST tires. That's not intended to mean that you "couldn't or shouldn't" have a problem, but just that there's not a lot of complaints being posted.

If you care for your tires properly, make sure they are inflated as recommended and follow the maximum speed (65 MPH), you should be OK for 3 or 4 years. Most ST tires are "wear dated" for 5 years from date of manufacture. You can find that date posted in a code on the sidewall of your tire. It will be a numeric code consisting of the week/year of manufacture.

Most of the issues are with the Load Range E 15" and 16" tires.