Tires

[Kylemcmahon1]

Originally Posted by CWtheMan

I made no comparison with your Michelin experience. I just pointed out that I also had some experiences with Michelin and that none of it was confidential.



In one of your earlier poste you compared the steel cased Sailun tires with polyester tires. That's also an unfair comparison.



Treading materials are confidential. Without access to their density, comparisons even between two polyester tires of the same designated size and load capacity is also unfair. The treading materials are also a durability factor and do not contribute to a tires load carrying ability.



Brands are a personal choice and almost everyone has a favorite. Without documented failure causes, everything else is an opinion.

I put in saluin tires only because they are a china tire. I was not comparing there compounds. Once again you are putting words in my mouth. I brought them up only to say that they are a great China tire. And that not all tires from China are bad.

[notanlines]

Customer1, your statement "and all should be well" leads many of us to believe you may have a very naïve side.

[Gobirds38]

My new 202 Keystone came with Trailer King tires on it. Should I replace them before I even make my first trip?

I have a Passport GT Ultra Lite...

[CWtheMan]

Originally Posted by Gobirds38

My new 202 Keystone came with Trailer King tires on it. Should I replace them before I even make my first trip?

I have a Passport GT Ultra Lite...

For moderate use I’d give those three years.

http://trailerkingtires.com/tires/La...t-product-line

http://trailerkingtires.com/content/...rranty0817.pdf

[wiredgeorge]

OK, I am NOT a tire expert but here is what I do know. Tires called China BOMBS are made in China and owned by Chinese and managed by Chinese with NO oversight from a USA based company. Carlisle tires are made in China BUT their parent company located in Tennessee oversees quality and production. I feel better about buying a product manufactured under US oversight than buying a China BOMB because it is a couple bucks cheaper.

Second, I am guessing with all the trade issues with China, more US tire manufacturers will likely locate back home. Why did they go overseas in the first place? Chinese manufacturing facilities pay their laborers 23 cents an hour so production costs are less but pay tariffs and ocean freight. With the situation between China and the USA in a flux with regard to tariffs, the reasons for producing in China may be shifting back to the USA. I hope so.

[Gobirds38]

Originally Posted by CWtheMan

For moderate use I’d give those three years.

http://trailerkingtires.com/tires/La...t-product-line

http://trailerkingtires.com/content/...rranty0817.pdf

Thanks for the info.

Does everyone run them at max pressure? 65PSI...

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by Gobirds38

Thanks for the info.

Does everyone run them at max pressure? 65PSI...

I have load range E tires and run them at 80 PSI. This gives the tires their max load handling ability.

[CedarCreekWoody]

No matter which tire you decide to run be aware that a close and frequent physical inspection can head off many tire failures. There is often (not always) signs of belt slippage before they actually blow out. These signs would be bulges in the tread or sidewalls, wires beginning to protrude, etc. Look for more signs than just air pressure.

[ctbruce]

Geez, another tire thread that has denigrated into a "my tires are better than your tires" disagreement. Imagine that.

Let it go, people. No one knows these things for sure on here. We don't make the tires. We buy the tires. We can speak to which tires have worked for us and which ones haven't.

In the long run, you are not better or worse based on which tires make you happy and feel good about your purchase. Let's get back to the OP's original post.

Are TK's the infamous China Bombs?-yes.
What would you recommend?-anyhing not made in Shandong Province.

And be sure to get fresh tires by checking the manufacture date stamped on the tire.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Gobirds38

My new 202 Keystone came with Trailer King tires on it. Should I replace them before I even make my first trip?

I have a Passport GT Ultra Lite...

Personally I'll never own another Trailer King tire. In your case with a new trailer, I think I would run the 1st year and replace them. Mine blew out on the first trip of the 2nd season. Also remember that those things destroy themselves from the inside out. One of our members took his off and the inside of the tires were bulged and separating while the exterior looked great.

I will add that there have been changes in the guidelines for tire load ranges since I bought mine so you might check. Note the gvw of the trailer, size/weight range of the tire and the max load the tire can carry. Some deduct the tongue weight when calculating what weight the tire will bear. I don't agree with that premise. As a very basic calculation just divide the gvw by 4 (tandem axle) and see what that load is. Compare to the load rating on the tire and give yourself at least a 10% cushion. Scientific and mega accurate? No. Will it get you in the ballpark instead of just putting "something" on because that's what came on the trailer? Yes it will. JMO

[travelin texans]

FB manufacturers put TK tires, & other so called "China Bombs", on RVs not because of their high quality, but because they can buy truckloads of them VERY cheap. YES they may meet RVIA, or whatever agency, requirements as to load rating or however they rate them, I don't care, but from my experience, & those of several friends, a good many of the tires produced in China are "crap", always have been, always will be. I have had good service from Maxxis, Carlisle & last was Sailun tires, never could justify paying nearly twice as much for the Goodyear's.
AND THE NEVERENDING TIRE SAGA CONTINUES!!

[JRTJH]

Danny (sourdough) commented about the member whose tires "self destructed" from the inside out and couldn't be seen until the tires were removed from the rims. That member was me and here are some photos of the tread separation from the tire carcass. When aired up to the 80 PSI (tire max) there was absolutely no "outside indication of a problem"....

Yes, the "logo on the tire sidewall" was Trailer King.....

[Badbart56]

I'm not going to pretend I have any engineering degrees or other documentation that would deem me an expert about this subject, but what I do have is decades of experience hauling trailers both commercial and others. Just because a tire is made in China doesn't make it bad. Most are made there nowadays. The brands I find acceptable are Sailun and Super Cargo. I have had failures on Goodyears, Carlisle and Trailer King. The Goodyears I had were blowing out while the trailer was parked for two weeks after I had last used it! Talk about lucky!

The Sailuns and Super Cargo tires are much heavier and have much stiffer sidewalls. When you get into class 8 trucks and semi trailers, that is a totally different animal. so I'll leave them out. I'm only speaking of RV's and trailers under 30K pounds GVW's. I haven't used a Carlisle in probably 15-20 years so they may have improved but the Sailuns and Super Cargo's serve me well so no need to experiment.

And IIRC the Super Cargo's, which were bought at Walmart, were quite a bit less than the Goodyears that they replaced. I believe I paid $112 each, plus mounting. And a friend of mine pointed out that these tires could be purchased in bulk, directly from China from as little as $43! You would have to buy an entire shipping container full of them, but the profits are phenomenal! So, not really disagreeing with anyone here, just a seat of the pants review.

[wiredgeorge]

I use ST225-75/15R on my fiver and looked at Wallys for a review and sure enough there was only one:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/ST225-75R...ll&athena=true

Looks like someone didn't like the SuperCargo tires.

[CWtheMan]

Originally Posted by ctbruce

Geez, another tire thread that has denigrated into a "my tires are better than your tires" disagreement. Imagine that.

Let it go, people. No one knows these things for sure on here. We don't make the tires. We buy the tires. We can speak to which tires have worked for us and which ones haven't.

In the long run, you are not better or worse based on which tires make you happy and feel good about your purchase. Let's get back to the OP's original post.

Are TK's the infamous China Bombs?-yes.
What would you recommend?-anyhing not made in Shandong Province.

And be sure to get fresh tires by checking the manufacture date stamped on the tire.

Plant code C2.

C2
SHANDONG BAYI SAILUN TYRE MANUFACTURE CO. LTD.
ZAOZHUANG CITY
SHANDONG PROVINCE
CHINA

http://www.tiresafetygroup.com/tire-...ed-plant-code/

[sourdough]

I think Chip was probably referring to my prior comment in this thread;

"we have ran the failures back to the same plant in the same province (Shandong)"

This comment references the same plant in the same province, not just the province. The Shandong province has many tire manufacturing plants while the failures we traced back went to the same plant - JEJK if I recall; Shandong Yongsheng Rubber Co. Ltd, Dongying, Shandong China - Trailer Kings.

The origination of the term "china bombs" is simple but somewhat complex simply due to the number of plants (900 or so if memory is working) and the corresponding number of tires produced in China. It stands to reason there would be some decent tires being made. It also stands to reason when failures come from one particular plant out of the 900.....well, I can put 2 and 2 together. Anyone can believe what they want, I just try to assess a situation and make as good a decision as I can based on what I know.

[Badbart56]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

I use ST225-75/15R on my fiver and looked at Wallys for a review and sure enough there was only one:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/ST225-75R...ll&athena=true

Looks like someone didn't like the SuperCargo tires.

Most reviews come from people that had a problem. No tire is perfect regardless of where it's made. But my toy hauler uses 16 inch 14 ply tires that are very heavy construction. The tire weighs probably 70 pounds and the sidewalls are very stiff. I've had them for about two and a half years now and have towed 17K pounds at 75 mph with no issues. I usually tow at 62-65 mph but we had a schedule to keep and I do have faith in these tires. A good friend recommended them who uses them commercially along with Sailuns.I can't speak for the 15's.

[CWtheMan]

How did the Trailer King tires get selected for use on your trailer?

TBC Brands (http://www.tbcbrands.com/) is an OEM tire provider commonly used by Keystone. I would speculate that Keystone would take the brand on hand at the time of purchase or request a brand at the best price available at the time of purchase.

New Keystone trailers needing the higher load range tires are now commonly found with OEM Sailun tires, a popular brand that you will see is provided by TBC Brands.

When shopping for replacement tires the Sailun tops the name list, problem is, they are way too much tire for axles below 6000#.

ST tire manufacturers are very adept in adapting to industry demands. For instance Carlisle – a popular brand on this forum – also provides the same two steel cased tire sizes (CSL 16) as Sailun. Discount tire provides the 4080# steel cased tire in their name brand (Heartland). Triangle is now providing a steel cased 15” tire with a LRF. Goodyear Endurance has an all new size, ST255/85R16 LRE that only needs 80 PSI to provide 4080# of load capacity. Problem is, the tire is tall, 33”.

Most new trailer owners find it a little difficult shopping for replacement tires when needed. Basically I see the difficulty as being name recognition and feedback. New brand names and providers seldom get much advertisement help and are virtually unknown until someone mentions their name. For instance the Voracio STR is a name brand for Blacklion, a CDN OEM. They also provide the two popular 16” steel cased tires under the name BF155 ST. (The listings are large. I have most of them cataloged). (I don't pay much attention to tire feedback found in this kind of forum. It seldom, if ever, provides causes for the negative).

I subscribe to three tire industry news outlets.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by baydog55

I have a 2019 27SAB. I am going to take a few long trips next year. The trailer has Trailer King tires (215-75-15 load range E)
Are these the china bombs people post about and should they be replaced?
If so what is a quality replacement?

Whatever tires you decide to run you really should be running a TPMS. As pointed out in THIS post air leak is a major contributor to tire failure and with a properly programed and annual testing of your TPMS as I cover in my RVTireSafety Blog, you can effectively eliminate that cause, or at least learn as soon as the tire starts leaking so you can stop before it comes apart.

[ChuckS]

Yes the Trailer King tires on your RV are JUNK... My 2014 came with them and I replaced 2 months later.

All Chinese tires are not junk... Sailun is an excellent tire with a good record..

Under inflation, over weight , and speeds over 65 mph with a TK tire are the perfect recipe for a blowout and a lot of money spent on repairs.

You can read from one end of the inner web to the other and TK tires with blowout problems are everywhere.

Get a better tire. GY Endurance seems pretty good... Sailun would be over kill for your weight

Inflate properly, tow at 65 or less and check tires when cool..

Your wallet will love you and you’ll have a much safer adventure