Someone is going to get hurt!

Exsailor · 08-08-2015, 06:51 PM

I will pledge 1000 dollars to any class action lawsuit against the Chinese tire makers and 2000 against the NHTSA who is supposed to look out for public safety. It is a disgrace and will result in real personal injury. Watch for my website, this is ridiculous and risks public safety.
Enough is enough. I really feel sorry for the poor folks behind me when my last towmax tire came apart.

**hankpage** · 08-08-2015, 08:27 PM

One of the other moderators and myself had the same idea to delete this thread before it gets carried too far .... but I am curious. .... Were these original tires on your 7 year old Monty and how were they maintained????
I agree that some of these tires are not up to what I consider safety standards so I replaced mine after less than three years ( Chinese made Marathons) , but I wouldn't dream of suing someone to replace them. There are many threads on this forum alone from folks who have done their homework and found properly rated replacement tires for their trailers and have had no problems.
I still may delete this thread but I am curious to see some of the replies we receive. JM2¢, Hank

Seabee · 08-08-2015, 09:15 PM

How old were the tires? What was the air pressure in the tires? How fast were you going?

PerryB · 08-08-2015, 09:17 PM

I've done my homework and run tires well in excess of what my trailer needs and i still have tread separations. Through vigilance and dumb luck I've never had one actually blow up. I've always caught them at the stage where they look like a bagel. I just lost one in Kingman AZ. the other day that was 13 mos. old with about 6000 mi.

**JRTJH** · 08-08-2015, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seabee

How old were the tires? What was the air pressure in the tires? How fast were you going?

In addition, what was the load (weight) on each tire? how had they been maintained? were they balanced? Any wear issues? How many miles on them? Any weather checking or deterioration? Had they been protected from excessive sunlight (UV) and ozone?

CWtheMan · 08-08-2015, 09:22 PM

No suit or complaint can succeed without factual forensic proof of a defect. I'd also like to see what is presented.

On the other side is the FMVSS regulations. There are severe penalties imposed by the government for violators of tire safety regulations by vehicle manufacturers.

Alpine · 08-08-2015, 09:26 PM

My new Alpine came with Towmax...at 1,100 miles one blew and left me luckily with only $1500 damage. The worst of it was waiting 3 week for the parts.

Having read all the poor reviews and warnings I was going to be "one of those guys" that would prove that these tire would be ok if "maintained properly".

My history of 34 years driving semi it was ingrained in me to monitor air pressure and heat.

I had just pulled out of a rest area (after thumping the tires) and was not five minutes down the freeway when it let loose spraying rubber and fifthwheel parts all over the road surface!

So...I would be the last guy to convience that Towmax is a quality tire.

CWtheMan · 08-08-2015, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alpine

My history of 34 years driving semi it was ingrained in me to monitor air pressure and heat.

It's very difficult to balance RV trailer weight across all of it's tires equally. You can be under GVWR and still have tires overloaded.

On edit: Here is a reference for your new tires. The Inflation Pressure Safety Margin paragraph may be of interest to you.

http://toyotires.com/sites/default/f...ire_safety.pdf

gearhead · 08-09-2015, 05:59 AM

My perception is that the manufacturers are building the tires to standards set by someone in the US government.
This is where we could use some input from CWtheMan. Are these specs set by NTHSA, DOT, or who?
I believe the standards are what needs to be looked at. There are apparently some manufacturers building tires that might just barely meet spec, and some who are using innovative materials to build a much stronger tire.
So CWtheMan, who has input on the standards? Is there a tire industry group that feeds info to the government, or does DOT come up with these standards on their own?
Bottom line I think the standards should be raised.

Javi · 08-09-2015, 07:42 AM

At first glance I'd say.... Just send me the 3 grand, at least I'll say thank you... you won't get that much from a class action suit against a foreign manufacturer

concours · 08-09-2015, 07:48 AM

We had 2 tires fail within the 1st year and I am fanatical about checking tires and monitor them with a TPMS but I often wonder what the tire pressures were set at during the trip from the manufacturer to the dealer which can be over a 1,000 miles. If the pressures were low during transit to the dealer it would explain so many earl failures and why some owners never have a problem

**hankpage** · 08-09-2015, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by concours

We had 2 tires fail within the 1st year and I am fanatical about checking tires and monitor them with a TPMS but I often wonder what the tire pressures were set at during the trip from the manufacturer to the dealer which can be over a 1,000 miles. If the pressures were low during transit to the dealer it would explain so many early failures and why some owners never have a problem

I'll drink to that!!! But then again

some will say I'll drink to anything.

Steve S · 08-09-2015, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRTJH

In addition, what was the load (weight) on each tire? how had they been maintained? were they balanced? Any wear issues? How many miles on them? Any weather checking or deterioration? Had they been protected from excessive sunlight (UV) and ozone?

X 2 Also you can't be posting about suing people without any facts to present .
You can't just blame Chinese tires as all tires can fail if not taken care of properly.
I just spent $1700.00 on low profile tires for my car for high speed cornering and handling.
I did my research and they had and excellent review. And guess where they're made? China.
The tire shop told me that with such a low profile that it's important to check the pressure. He also said that those chrome stick pressure gages are garbage and to get a digital one which I did.

**chuckster57** · 08-09-2015, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by concours

but I often wonder what the tire pressures were set at during the trip from the manufacturer to the dealer which can be over a 1,000 miles. If the pressures were low during transit to the dealer it would explain so many earl failures and why some owners never have a problem

As a tech that gets to PDI fresh new trailers, I can tell you that its a roll of the dice. Some transporters run them low for a "softer" ride, and I've seen them as much as 15 PSI OVER inflated. Driver said it's less resistance better mileage.

Desert185 · 08-09-2015, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRTJH

In addition, what was the load (weight) on each tire? how had they been maintained? were they balanced? Any wear issues? How many miles on them? Any weather checking or deterioration? Had they been protected from excessive sunlight (UV) and ozone?

All good things to take into consideration, but then why do the Chinese tires seem to suffer failure more frequently than the non-Chinese tires? Logic would argue that there is something to the Chinese tires failing more often under the same circumstances.

**hankpage** · 08-09-2015, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Desert185

All good things to take into consideration, but then why do the Chinese tires seem to suffer failure more frequently than the non-Chinese tires? Logic would argue that there is something to the Chinese tires failing more often under the same circumstances.

It's very possible this is influenced by the fact that over 80% of ST tires are made in China. Therefore most of the failures would be with Chinese tires.

Alpine · 08-09-2015, 09:58 AM

I believe where the conversation about "Towmax" tires gets sideways...someone throws "all Chinese tires" into the mix! Let's stick to the Towmax issue not "chinese tires!"

If implied lack of maintenance was the reason my Towmax tire exploded at 1,100 miles, how is it my Toyo tires that have 55,000 plus miles are doing just fine?

Alpine · 08-09-2015, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CWtheMan

It's very difficult to balance RV trailer weight across all of it's tires equally. You can be under GVWR and still have tires overloaded.

On edit: Here is a reference for your new tires. The Inflation Pressure Safety Margin paragraph may be of interest to you.

http://toyotires.com/sites/default/f...ire_safety.pdf

Thank you for the link, much appreciated!

Exsailor · 08-09-2015, 10:13 AM

Ok so maybe I'm emotional and I'm not dumb enoughh to think we can fight city Hall, but it is dangerous when these tires go off like that. I should have included in my original post that this isnt my first rodeo with these Chinese tires. This is the third set on the camper, it came with Mission tires. The towmax tires are 14 months old, were filled to 80 PSI and I was going a whopping 62 MPH. The tires are rated at 3500 pounds each so there is no way the trailer was over their weight. Maybe I'll vent to NHTSA or something. 1600 dollars damage to trailer. Thank y'all for indulging me.

CWtheMan · 08-09-2015, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gearhead

My perception is that the manufacturers are building the tires to standards set by someone in the US government.
This is where we could use some input from CWtheMan. Are these specs set by NTHSA, DOT, or who?
I believe the standards are what needs to be looked at. There are apparently some manufacturers building tires that might just barely meet spec, and some who are using innovative materials to build a much stronger tire.
So CWtheMan, who has input on the standards? Is there a tire industry group that feeds info to the government, or does DOT come up with these standards on their own?
Bottom line I think the standards should be raised.

Tire building standards are a product of the tire industry. Basic materials are common to all tires. Compounds are almost always confidential and only known by the individual tire manufacturer. Everything - except compounds - are overseen by the Tire and Rim Association (TRA). Sections of their manuals are confidential.

DOT tire certifications are an approval that all the round holes have been fitted with round things.

Tire testing parameters are developed by the DOT in conjunction with TRA. However, testing is the responsibility of the individual tire manufacturer. Some tests are performed on all tires. Others are spot checks on tire “lots“.

Some ST tire manufacturers are very “up front” about their tires. Carlisle probably has the most factual information available on the WWW. The tell us that ST tires can degrade as much as 1/3 of their load capacity in three years.

There are millions of ST tires built each year by hundreds of manufacturers. Those manufacturers operate under certifications such as these, http://www.primewelltires.com/certifications/ . For me it’s hard to believe that so many like failures can cross so many brands and be caused by manufacturing defects. For years RVIA has been critical of RV trailer user awareness about their tires and how different their usage is compared to motorized vehicles.

This flow chart from Maxxis is very informative.

http://www.maxxis.com/media/420097/flowchart.pdf

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