Trailer King Tires

[CWtheMan]

Originally Posted by Alpine

Maybe this will help answer your question about Trailer King tires. They say pictures are worth a 1000 words! I was fortunate to get away with only $1500.00 damage! And for the naysayers among us, I monitor my tires extremely well.

I've had a few of those. Doesn't mean the tires were bad. Mine just didn't have enough load capacity and wore out much sooner than expected. St tires are not mileage tires. Running them heavy, three years max. Running them light, five years max. Running them faster than their speed rating, worry all the time. Under recommended inflation, worry all the time. Manufacturer's defects, can happen to any tire design. Anecdotal reporting has no merit.

Your trailer probably has 7000# axles. But, for Keystone to use the ST235/80R16E tires they had to derate the axles to somewhere around 6700#. If you used the axle manufacturer's rating of 7000# you would come really close to overloaded the tires, probably did on at least one axle end and maybe 2. IMO you had a bad situation compounded by overlooking the possibility of an overloaded axle and/or wheel position. Just speculation on my part. Only you know what the trailer scaled out at when fully loaded.

[CWtheMan]

Originally Posted by Alpine

Yes indeed this is either the third or fourth time you have reminded me of the speed rating of my excellent tires.

Sorry, I don't keep a record of my posts, just the references I use regularly.

[RLo]

My trailer kings have been problem free for the last three years but I am running e rated with 7800 lbs on 4 of them on the old cougar. I very rarely speed and try to stay off the freeway as much as possible.

[notanlines]

One only needs to follow any of the many forums closely to realize that the OP needs to run, not walk, to his nearest tire dealer and dump his TK's. Like to see pictures of 9K damage from two blown TK's?

[bdaniel]

Here are the problems I had with Trailer King tires and my solution. I got about $3000 from the Chinese manufacturer:

http://bobbystuff.com/rv/192/another-exploding-st-tire


Here is what I did about the crappy spring shackles. You will be lucky to get 10,000 miles out of the originals:

http://bobbystuff.com/rv/185/morryde-wet-bolt-kit


And here is how I fixed the brakes. I love this:

http://bobbystuff.com/rv/228/electic...ake-conversion


Bobby

[Desert185]

Originally Posted by bdaniel

Here are the problems I had with Trailer King tires and my solution. I got about $3000 from the Chinese manufacturer:

http://bobbystuff.com/rv/192/another-exploding-st-tire


Here is what I did about the crappy spring shackles. You will be lucky to get 10,000 miles out of the originals:

http://bobbystuff.com/rv/185/morryde-wet-bolt-kit


And here is how I fixed the brakes. I love this:

http://bobbystuff.com/rv/228/electic...ake-conversion


Bobby

Good stuff.

[C424]

Are these the same as the Sterling Trailer Sport tires?


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[JRTJH]

No, they are not the "same" as Trailer King ST tires. Sterling Sport ST is a brand of tire (made in China) that is distributed by Lionshead Specialty Tire and Wheel, LLC, a Goshen, Indiana business. The BBB has two "comments" about the company, one positive and one negative. So, there's not a lot of information about the tire distributor.

Knowing the little that I do about how Keystone buys components, they buy in large quantities from the lowest bidder and buy as much as they can at the lowest price. So, if Sterling Sport ST tires are cheaper than Trailer King ST tires, you can pretty much be assured that Keystone will install what is least expensive component that meets their requirements. If that tells me anything, it's that the tires cost less than Trailer King and I'm a firm believer in "you get what you pay for"..... Buyer beware ????? Seems like it to me.....

I could be completely wrong, but I'd be very cautious with an "off brand" ST tire manufactured in China, distributed by a "small local distributor" that's located "next door to the Keystone factory......

[C424]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

No, they are not the "same" as Trailer King ST tires. Sterling Sport ST is a brand of tire (made in China) that is distributed by Lionshead Specialty Tire and Wheel, LLC, a Goshen, Indiana business. The BBB has two "comments" about the company, one positive and one negative. So, there's not a lot of information about the tire distributor.



Knowing the little that I do about how Keystone buys components, they buy in large quantities from the lowest bidder and buy as much as they can at the lowest price. So, if Sterling Sport ST tires are cheaper than Trailer King ST tires, you can pretty much be assured that Keystone will install what is least expensive component that meets their requirements. If that tells me anything, it's that the tires cost less than Trailer King and I'm a firm believer in "you get what you pay for"..... Buyer beware ????? Seems like it to me.....



I could be completely wrong, but I'd be very cautious with an "off brand" ST tire manufactured in China, distributed by a "small local distributor" that's located "next door to the Keystone factory......

I couldn't find much info on them as well so I'd say that's probably a red flag. It's unfortunate because it's a brand new trailer but I guess I better look for some better tires this winter.


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[JRTJH]

They "might be great tires" but as you say, with so little information about them and the potential for very expensive damage "if the best guess is wrong"....

I replaced my TK tires much earlier than the 5 year "expected life" and found that two of them were "time bombs" waiting to explode. Me and many others have done the same. If I were in your shoes (and I'll do some math here) with a $500 deductible on my insurance, with the cost of Carlisle tires (at WalMart) being around $200-250 for four tires, it looks like the "cheapest way out" is to buy a "known good tire" at half the price of repairing possible damage...... To me, just paying for the deductible would be twice the cost of buying new tires, and knowing my insurance company, they would only pay to replace the one "blown tire" and I'd still have to pay for the other three, so my "net gain" by waiting would probably only be $75 while my cost would be almost $1000. Seems like new tires would be cheaper than the alternative (if it happens)......

[gary31]

Set an appointment for Saturday to have 4 new Goodyear Endurance installed. Better than road repair and damage to the unit....

[CWtheMan]

Speaking of lowest bidder stuff.

One of the things Alan Shepard pondered while waiting on the top of a rocket about to be launched into space was the fact that the majority of the thousands of "stuff" used to build the thing was provided by the lowest bidders.

Another trivia about Alan [B]Bartlett[B] Shepard is he was from NH. Martin Sheen played President Bartlett in the TV series "The West Wing". That president Bartlett was from NH.

Any how, tires provided by a lowest bidder still have to be tested in accordance with DOT standards that allows the DOT symbol to be displayed on their sidewalls.

Trailer owners with Original Equipment ST tires must face the fact that they are different. The market is flooded with them and in numerous situations they may be the only size the trailer manufacturer can use to meet minimum safety standards. Another thing to remember; the trailer manufacturer does not certify tires, tire manufacturer's do that. Trailer manufacturers are using all sorts of equipment to build their trailers. All of it can be just as controversial as tire fitments.

Normally we never see wheel failures. It happens often on RV trailers. Why? Maybe because their safety parameters are exceeded.

It's the same thing with tires. For people like me and the wife, traveling full time for many miles, we accumulate things. Things that may overload our trailer or at a minimum, a tire or two. We were always balancing and re-balancing our loads. It's super hard to keep some individual tire positions from being overloaded. We used tires 18% above our GAWR. Sometimes when at the scales we would be 200-300# over at a wheel position and 300-400# lower on the other end of the axle. After a year or so we had it pretty much figured out and started to get longer life cycles from our tires. We just would't accept being overweight. It may hinder the performance of other equipment. If we got over weight with something we couldn't part with we would ship it to one of our sons and they would put it into our storage unit.

[Outback 325BH]

Originally Posted by CWtheMan

Speaking of lowest bidder stuff.

One of the things Alan Shepard pondered while waiting on the top of a rocket about to be launched into space was the fact that the majority of the thousands of "stuff" used to build the thing was provided by the lowest bidders.

Another trivia about Alan [B]Bartlett[B] Shepard is he was from NH. Martin Sheen played President Bartlett in the TV series "The West Wing". That president Bartlett was from NH.

Any how, tires provided by a lowest bidder still have to be tested in accordance with DOT standards that allows the DOT symbol to be displayed on their sidewalls.

Trailer owners with Original Equipment ST tires must face the fact that they are different. The market is flooded with them and in numerous situations they may be the only size the trailer manufacturer can use to meet minimum safety standards. Another thing to remember; the trailer manufacturer does not certify tires, tire manufacturer's do that. Trailer manufacturers are using all sorts of equipment to build their trailers. All of it can be just as controversial as tire fitments.

Normally we never see wheel failures. It happens often on RV trailers. Why? Maybe because their safety parameters are exceeded.

It's the same thing with tires. For people like me and the wife, traveling full time for many miles, we accumulate things. Things that may overload our trailer or at a minimum, a tire or two. We were always balancing and re-balancing our loads. It's super hard to keep some individual tire positions from being overloaded. We used tires 18% above our GAWR. Sometimes when at the scales we would be 200-300# over at a wheel position and 300-400# lower on the other end of the axle. After a year or so we had it pretty much figured out and started to get longer life cycles from our tires. We just would't accept being overweight. It may hinder the performance of other equipment. If we got over weight with something we couldn't part with we would ship it to one of our sons and they would put it into our storage unit.

I have never seen someone try to defend ST bombs so much. This is all priceless!

Are you really comparing china bombs with the the space program? LO-capital-F-L.

Yes, yes, DOT... blah, blah, blah.

China bombs suck. There is nothing you can parrot that will change that.


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[JRTJH]

All I can add is that the YUGO also met all the DOT standards..... 'nuff for me to not want TK's on my stuff or a YUGO in my garage......

[CWtheMan]

Originally Posted by Outback 325BH

I have never seen someone try to defend ST bombs so much. This is all priceless!

Are you really comparing china bombs with the the space program? LO-capital-F-L.

Yes, yes, DOT... blah, blah, blah.

China bombs suck. There is nothing you can parrot that will change that.


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Too bad your mind set wouldn't let you get anything else from that post.

If you will take the time to do some researching about Keystone tire fitments you will find that in model years 2005 & 2006 Keystone used LT235/85R16E tires on all trailers with 6000# GAWR axles. The major providers were Mission and Uniroyal. The results were statistically about the same as the previous years when ST tires were used for those fitments. Keystone went back to the ST tires for those fitments in 2007 and have never used that sized and load capacity LT tire again. The Mission LT tires are no longer on the market. Many of the Uniroyal tires were replaced with Michelins. Probably why so many people still think Michelin provides tires in that size for RV trailers. Tire manufacturers don't get to pick OE tires, only the vehicle manufacturer can do that. They say the ST tires are appropriate.

[dcg9381]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

All I can add is that the YUGO also met all the DOT standards..... 'nuff for me to not want TK's on my stuff or a YUGO in my garage......

Another comparison might be the Ford Pinto. It met all DOT standards. Ford knew very quickly that it was defective but deemed it "too expensive" to recall versus what they were paying out on wrongful death claims. It was a straight budget decision, even though people died. Welcome to America!

[dcg9381]

Originally Posted by CWtheMan

The results were statistically about the same as the previous years when ST tires were used for those fitments. Keystone went back to the ST tires for those fitments in 2007 and have never used that sized and load capacity LT tire again.

I'd love to see where Keystone or RV manufacturers did that analysis and have any sort of comparison metrics on tire brand/size/design and failure. That would mean that they're at least "thinking about it".

[Desert185]

Originally Posted by dcg9381

Another comparison might be the Ford Pinto. It met all DOT standards. Ford knew very quickly that it was defective but deemed it "too expensive" to recall versus what they were paying out on wrongful death claims. It was a straight budget decision, even though people died. Welcome to America!

The standard joke at the time mentioned the Pinto on Firestone tires.

[bdaniel]

The Chinese paid me about $3000 for damage from Trailer King tires. I pointed them to my website article where I had just weighed my rig a few hours before the explosion. I was 920 lbs under the max weight rating on each of the ST tires and they had 5500 miles on them. I check the air pressure before every trip.

They never once argued that I was at fault. We just negotiated the total damage amount. I always planned to repair the damage myself as I knew my local Camping World as the authorized Keystone dealer would screw it up (that is a story for another time).

We went back and forth a couple of times and I finally said add X amount to your last number and that will allow me to replace all 4 tires. They agreed.

Their payout paid for my 4 Michelins, materials for the repair and two slide out awnings.

They absolutely have done the arithmetic and it is cheaper to pay out claims than make a better tire.

Bobby

[CrazyCain]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

All I can add is that the YUGO also met all the DOT standards..... 'nuff for me to not want TK's on my stuff or a YUGO in my garage......

Your Yugo reference, the one that went off the Mackinaw bridge in 1989..that was a strange day for Da Mighty Mack!