Live and Learn (Tires!)

[Tom and Kelley Crawford]

We just returned from a 10 day trip from FL to NC. with our 2010 Cougar 327RES. Let me start by saying our 5er has very very few miles on it. We usually camp close to home with our grandkids. As we headed north on I75, we had a tire blowout which caused extensive damage on the passenger side. Shredded the mesh undercoat fabric, cracked the tire well mold, scarred the bottom skirting and even bent the frame. Luckily at that exit was a tire shop and we had the tire replaced. The tech said our tires all looked good and he thought we ran over something that caused the blowout. Then on our way home 10 days later heading south in downtown Atlanta we had another blowout. DOT was there is a flash and changed our tire. This time the tire blew out the side and ripped the driver side skirting completely off. Luckily no one was hurt and we stopped at the closest tire shop and had the other 2010 tires replaced. In the future, we will replace tires every two years no matter how little mileage they have. 5er goes to the repair shop on Thursday and I am sure will not be a cheap fix!

[Festus2]

Sorry to hear about the problems with your tires and the damage caused by the blowouts. Regarding replacing RV tires, my understanding is that they should be replaced at least every 5 years - regardless of the amount of tread remaining - or earlier depending on their condition. It's unfortunate that, because of your recent experience, you are looking at every 2 years but considering what happened, I can understand your position.
I'm afraid to ask......... What brand of tires?

[X-Treme]

Originally Posted by [email protected]

Did anyone think to asks how loaded down the 5th is. The possibility of a overloaded camper would definitely lead to a blow out. Just throwing ideas.

That, and possibly improperly inflated tires.

[chuck&gail]

Were they Chinese Will Pops? If so, time isn't your issue IMHO, the place of manufacture is.

I change ours when they wear out, or hit 7 years old. No tire issues except a few repairable nail punctures in over 200,000 miles.

I do not use Chinese tires. New tires get metal valve stems, and balanced.

[Hansel]

Where I work the guys in our tire shop say that tires are only good for 7 years, so who's to say how long those tires that you had on your camper had been sitting around for awhile, I just had mine replaced today and they where SHOT!!!! Still had alot of tread but the sidewalls had a ton a cracking in them, so I replaced before I had a issue

[smiller]

I kind of agree With Festus2 in that I'd try to look into why the tires failed as at only two years I wouldn't be certain that your experience was related strictly to tire age. Were they inflated properly and wearing evenly? Were they of a known problem brand? Is there some 'headroom' in load capacity when you are fully loaded and on the road? (very important.) Do you use a tire pressure monitoring system? etc... The reason I would consider all this is so you don't replace the tires and have the same experience, if the failure was due to some other factor than age.

That all said, I also belong to the 'damaged my unit due to a tire blowout' club and understand the value of peace of mind... the cost of tires is cheap compared to the potential consequences.

[Tom and Kelley Crawford]

To answer some of your questions.....we always check tire pressure before we tow the camper. We check for cracking, bulging and uneven wear before every trip. We noticed on our last trip that one tire seemed to be wearing more than the others so we had the axles allignment checked. Our camper was not overloaded, in fact it had less than usual since it was just the two of us traveling and we didn't take much with us at all. We even took things out that we knew we would not need (portable heaters, extra chairs and rugs, etc). Tires did not look worn, cracked, feathered and the tread was still good. We bought the camper new in Feb 2010, tires are 2009 Tow Kings. We have researched tires extensively and all camper tires are chinese tires. You have to buy Michelin truck tires, 12 ply ($300 each) to get away from chinese made. We have found that even the tire dealers think they are selling US made when in fact they are not. We replaced with Carlisle tires, E Rated 10 ply radial. Hope they hold up better than the Tow Kings.

[Tom and Kelley Crawford]

Tow Max tires, not Tow King. China made.

[byrdr1]

[IMG][/IMG]the bulging tire
[IMG][/IMG] the tire after blow out
[/IMG][/IMG]the work to get the spare on.
After all this we made it home safely that trip. I took all four tire and off and had them replaced with Maxxis tires.When i took them off you can see the bulge in on one tire but the 2 had it also. the spare was the only one that LOOKED good.

[mhs4771]

You may want to research those Carlisle tires. Some other RV MFRs were having problems with Carlisle (talking with a Carriage Rep at the Sept Hershey Show). You don't want to get the Rig all repaired and have a repeat of recent events.

[allentx1]

Just discovered that the Power King Tow Max tires have a 5 year warranty on them. I will take to dealer tomorrow (had blowout today) and see if they will replace under that warranty. I have seen mixed reviews on whether the warranty is honored. I know we don't like these tires but I cannot afford to buy a new round of tires at this point...

[f6bits]

Just to be sure, I’d get the date code off the tire(s) in case they question the age of the tires. Yeah, your trailer is pretty new, but it helps to be prepared.
http://www.newrver.com/publish/readtires.shtml

[Tom and Kelley Crawford]

We also had the Power King Tow Max on our 2010 Cougar 327RES. When we had the first blowout they said our tires were 2009, which makes sense since we bought our camper in Jan 2010, took posession in Feb 2010. Not happy that we had to put Carlisle tires on the camper but that is all they had in stock that would fit so we had no choice. The tires were shredded and we did not keep either one of them, (dumb move on our part), so we have no leverage or proof even if they were under warranty except that the trailer is badly damaged on both side. Still waiting on the estimate for repair cost.

[allentx1]

Sorry to hear that. The manufacturer is in Canada (although there is "Made in China" clearly molded into the lip of the tire. They are sending me a UPS box/label to return the tire to them. They will also be asking for estimate of damage and pictures. Doubt anything will come of it but I have time to play.

[Tom and Kelley Crawford]

Estimate for repair to camper is over $2400. Definitely filing an insurance claim. And it will be weeks before the camper is ready for camping. They have to order pieces from Keystone and they are large and will have to be shipped by semi. We will wait two years and replace with Michelin Ribs at that time.