Towmax tires

richf28 · 01-13-2013, 02:53 AM

I have Towmax tires on my Hornet. They are 2 years old and probably no more than 3300 miles on them. Noticed yesterday that the sidewalls are already starting to crack. I religiously watch the tire pressures all the time and carry a infared thermometer that I check the tire, and hub temps whenever I stop. I have never noticed any higher than normal temps or variations. Anybody know if there are recalls on these tires or maybe a class action suit going on on these tires since everyone seems to have some kind of issues? This is crap! All the Federal guidelines on tires the last ten years and we have to put up with this junk!

SAD · 01-13-2013, 04:02 AM

What's the DOT date code on the sidewall?

jsmith948 · 01-13-2013, 06:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richf28

I have Towmax tires on my Hornet. They are 2 years old and probably no more than 3300 miles on them. Noticed yesterday that the sidewalls are already starting to crack. I religiously watch the tire pressures all the time and carry a infared thermometer that I check the tire, and hub temps whenever I stop. I have never noticed any higher than normal temps or variations. Anybody know if there are recalls on these tires or maybe a class action suit going on on these tires since everyone seems to have some kind of issues? This is crap! All the Federal guidelines on tires the last ten years and we have to put up with this junk!

We have a 2012 with 15" D rated Towmax tires. Have about 3700 miles on them. Always maintain 65psi and always travel at under 60 mph. DW recently discovered cracks in the sidewall of one tire - switched it with the spare. Our tire guy said it appears to have been run under inflated (perhaps from the factory to the dealer?) I was confident that all of the horror stories were the result of under inflation/over loading. Not now. I will change these tires out before hot weather and our next long trip - tire date codes are Feb and Mar of 2011 - bought the trailer Oct of 2011.

CWtheMan · 01-13-2013, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsmith948

We have a 2012 with 15" D rated Towmax tires. Have about 3700 miles on them. Always maintain 65psi and always travel at under 60 mph. DW recently discovered cracks in the sidewall of one tire - switched it with the spare. Our tire guy said it appears to have been run under inflated (perhaps from the factory to the dealer?) I was confident that all of the horror stories were the result of under inflation/over loading. Not now. I will change these tires out before hot weather and our next long trip - tire date codes are Feb and Mar of 2011 - bought the trailer Oct of 2011.

Your tire inspector may have hit you with the right answer. Its always been my contention that Keystone factory tire installers are more than a little lackadaisical when it comes to tire pressures.

When the tire/rim suppliers - or whomever - marries the two components, there is a set amount of tire pressure used to set the bead. Its very difficult to visually determine when radial tires are under inflated. Unless, they are nearly flat.

So, the delivery driver may get a trailer with 40 psi in tires needing 65 psi. Then the trailer is driven 500 - 1000 miles to the dealer location at 70 - 75 MPH. The damage done is cumulative, there is no repair. Their life span from that point on is unpredictable.

Just a muse. There is no statistical evidence to support that theory. Most new owners will never check their tire pressures until the trailer is parked in their yard.

CW

mhs4771 · 01-13-2013, 05:27 PM

CW, I'm with you. Our new rig was ordered the the GY G614RST tires rated for 110PSI. When we took delivery I checked the pressure before we left the lot, WOW only 80 PSI, the pressure for the "E" rated tires and our unit had been transported from Indiana to Central Florida weighing in at 13700 Lbs empty.

smiller · 01-13-2013, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CWtheMan

So, the delivery driver may get a trailer with 40 psi in tires needing 65 psi. Then the trailer is driven 500 - 1000 miles to the dealer location at 70 - 75 MPH. The damage done is cumulative, there is no repair. Their life span from that point on is unpredictable.

I think you're exactly right. Someone mounts the tire somewhere and that's probably the first and last time the pressure is checked until the unit is sold, if then. In between are some unknown number of miles of underinflated use, with unpredictable results.

And regardless of the cause, if you see noticeable cracking in the sidewall or tread area replace them, period. It will be cheaper than a blowout.

raytronx · 01-13-2013, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richf28

I have Towmax tires on my Hornet. They are 2 years old and probably no more than 3300 miles on them. Noticed yesterday that the sidewalls are already starting to crack. I religiously watch the tire pressures all the time and carry a infared thermometer that I check the tire, and hub temps whenever I stop. I have never noticed any higher than normal temps or variations. Anybody know if there are recalls on these tires or maybe a class action suit going on on these tires since everyone seems to have some kind of issues? This is crap! All the Federal guidelines on tires the last ten years and we have to put up with this junk!

I believe they have a 5 year warranty, should be able to get new ones.

richf28 · 01-14-2013, 02:17 AM

Thanks all for the input. I'll check on the warranty part

therink · 01-14-2013, 04:03 AM

I replaced my 2 yo Towmax 15d's with 15" Maxxis E's. I also noticed small sidewall cracks in mine and didn't want to take chances. The bottom line is that Towmax tires are junk. Once dismounted, I couldn't believe how thin and light weight these tires were. IMO they were inadequate for my 12k fiver and had a lot of sidewall flex.
The Maxxis ride better and give me a lot more confidence rolling down the road.
Steve

CWtheMan · 01-14-2013, 07:15 AM

TowMax Warranty.

http://towmaxtires.com/tires/Landing...ation=warranty

CW

richf28 · 01-16-2013, 02:38 AM

Checked the build date on the tires. July of 09. Meaning the tires were almost a year old when I bought the trailer. Talked to towmax and was told that I would have to talk to a dealer which I did. With the prorating it comes out that they would pay me about 10 dollars per tire if in fact it is a defect. Which they doubt. Of course they never came across the problem before.

SAD · 01-16-2013, 03:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richf28

Checked the build date on the tires. July of 09. Meaning the tires were almost a year old when I bought the trailer. Talked to towmax and was told that I would have to talk to a dealer which I did. With the prorating it comes out that they would pay me about 10 dollars per tire if in fact it is a defect. Which they doubt. Of course they never came across the problem before.

That's what I was afraid of for you... I'm actually surprised they weren't a little older.

Think of it this way.... Most 2012 RVs could be purchased some time in the spring of 2011... Which means they were manufactured summer 2010 through spring 2011.... The RV manufacturer probably bought a boat load of tires December 2009 for them...

In my own personal experience, my last RV was a 2008 toy hauler. We bought it at an RV show in March 2007. No telling what the age of the tires were. Knocking on wood I never had any trouble with them up to the time I traded it in March 2012. I possessed it for 5 straight years. Which means that the tires on it were likely 6+ years old.

CWtheMan · 01-16-2013, 10:19 AM

This is not a pro or con answer.

ST tire manufacturers have always been up front about the tires - any size - life expectancy. 3 - 5 years, as opposed to 7 - 10 years for automotive tires.

An experienced tire inspector can quickly distinguish weather checking from under inflation checking. If you don’t trust the first feedback you got, get a second one.

CW

Exsailor · 01-20-2013, 12:39 PM

Mine came new with Mission tires and i ran them several thousand
Miles before the first failure in 2011. When i replaced them i
Looked and they were 18 months old when the trailer was
Built. Wow. Trailer tires are the biggest racket.
Your going down the road with 7 tons of trailer with numerous
mechanical devi es installed and the biggest worry is tires ?
60 minutes material.

Exsailor · 01-22-2013, 09:23 AM

Just to stir the pot a little more... Yesterday I was at the largest (nicest) RV store in the area for various things. While there I couldnt help myself and went wandering through the lot of new 5th wheels and among other things I looked at the tires on them. Majority were Towmax, but saw several that had tires I had never heard of and almost none of them looked inflated. I even saw one $80K 5th wheel with different brand tires on each side.
Pretty enlightening...

rnkburg · 01-24-2013, 03:07 PM

I was at my dealer this week and the mechanic asked what tires I had on mine. He told me to get those tow max tires off of there and put a good American tire on there. He mentioned he had a customer that had a blow out on the bridge on louisiana and had to keep driving. O thought I saw a post on that on here somewhere. We are in ky. He was telling me the damage and that keystone nor towmax wouldn't warranty because customer drove on them even though they told the mfgs that they had too because of the bridge.

Guess I am tire shopping before spring hits.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

Exsailor · 01-28-2013, 01:18 PM

American tires! hey thats funny...

raytronx · 01-28-2013, 08:49 PM

I've towed over 35,000 miles with my 2011 Cougar so far, on my second set of TowMax PowerKing tires. First set I wore the tread down so replaced them at about 25,000 miles. So far no blowouts, not even slow leaks. Tow nice, no complaints.

Trailer weight is 7000 pounds on the axles. Original tires were ST225/75R15 Load range D, the new ones are ST225/75R15 load range E.

Originals I aired up a 62 PSI, these ones I use 70 PSI at the advice of the Les Scwab tire guy. I bought the tires at Les Scwab in Corning, Ca and he said many of the farm trailers use them with good results.

Not trying to argue anything, just stating my experience with the tires.

Ray

richf28 · 01-29-2013, 02:39 AM

Had a dealer look at the tires. He said he noticed the same problem with sidewalls on other units. He said it is only minimal cracking and not deep enough to cause a problem. "Roll with them". So I did. All the way to Florida. 1100 miles with no problems. I did a temperature check and visual check at each stop and everything worked out ok. Still not crazy about the ordeal though. They will get changed before I travel back home in April.

SkiSmuggs · 02-08-2013, 06:17 AM

I can't check my tires now because of the snow, but my TowMax LRD tires have about 5K on them and I am planning a trip to Albuquerque so I will swap them out for Maxxis LRE before I leave just for peace of mind.

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