TowMax tires

[concours]

I keep hearing and reading about china bombs but I wonder how many of you have had no problems with TowMax tires and replaced them just because they had worn out?

[Bluewater]

I replaced mine after about 50% tread wear and happy I did. The Maxxis is so much better and safer.

[Festus2]

I suppose you could include the Chinese-made Mission tires as being in the same "China Bombs" group as Towmax. The Missions did not blow up and showed no signs of excessive wear after 4 years and they were replaced with Maxxis for two reasons: They were getting close to their "age of replacement" and also the number of reported failures of other Chinese-made tires, such as TowMax was a cause of concern. On the other hand, I've never read or heard about any tire failures with Maxxis.

[Desert185]

I'm considering replacing the more-than-likely Chinese tire shod 326SRX tires with Maxxis as soon as I finally have time to take possession. Good idea?

When I get it home, I also plan to wet bolt the suspension before any issues occur. Also good idea?

[concours]

The wet bolts are a good investment I replaced mine when the trailer was a year old and pleased that I did as the nylon bushings had worn thru and 1 shackle bolt hole was very elongated I also installed MorRyde X Factor cross members that have made a huge difference in strength and stability. As for the tires they will have had 2 years of use on the trailer when we head south for the winter and are 3 years old by date still look great. I wish I knew what the percentage failure rate was My guess it's about 20%

[Desert185]

I believe the 326SRX comes from the factory with MorRyde's.

[bsmith0404]

I replaced the Marathons on my last 5er with Carlisles after 4 years. My dad currently has them on his 5er that is 4.5 yrs old. I know they are not the same as the TowMax, but I have seen many posts on the net about the quality of the Marathon going down hill since they started getting produced in China. IMO, the Maxxis and Carlisle have a much better track record due to people up grading to a higher load range tire when they buy new tires. The China bombs are pretty much maxed out and being pushed to their limits from day one. I understand they are not the quality of the Maxxis, but when you take a lower quality and push it to the limits, they will have a higher failure rate. That combination alone makes it wise to change them. My dad currently has the D rated Marathons, I have E rated TowMax. I'm upgrading to an F or G tire, my dad wants my old TowMax. I'm sure they will perform just fine on his lighter 5er, time will tell.

[Festus2]

Originally Posted by bsmith0404

The China bombs are pretty much maxed out and being s. pushed to their limits from day one. I understand they are not the quality of the Maxxis, but when you take a lower quality and push it to the limits, they will have a higher failure rate. That combination alone makes it wise to change them. My dad currently has the D rated Marathons, I have E rated TowMax. I'm upgrading to an F or G tire, my dad wants my old TowMax. I'm sure they will perform just fine on his lighter 5er, time will tell.

I'm sure your dad doesn't push his Marathons to the limit; but in view of what you have said about the quality and safety of Chinese tires in general, I am wondering why you would go along with him and put your "China bombs" TowMax tires on his RV. Having said that, I realize that going from a D to an E rating might be seen as an upgrade.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I am having a problem understanding the logic of what you are considering - swapping one set of China bombs for another....Not on your RV but on your fathers.

[Bobx2]

Bought my RV brand new and replaced the TowMax tires a month after I bought it. Just so many horror stories about them that it wasn't worth it to me to stress about them every time I hooked up and headed down the road. Put on a set of Carlisle's and stepped up from load range D to load range E. Now I just check the tires before pulling out, and don't give them a second thought while going down the road.

[pjhansman]

Put 12,000 miles on my 235/80R16 TowMax tires....switched them out earlier this year for a set of Carlisle tires.

[theasphaltrv'er]

Had a set of 15" ST Duro's (China bombs deluxe) & put over 13,000 miles on em in 3 years and the only problem we had with one of em was the fender support come loose and got into it & peeled part of the tread off of it, didn't blow. Put a set of Greenballs on it and got about another 12,000 miles out of them and not one problem. Our new 5er has Trailer King ST's on it and here in bout 3 weeks we'll find out if these Trailer King's are worth their rubber as we are fixin to embark on our annual 6 week, 4500 mile trek up to the Northwest & San Juan Island.

[bsmith0404]

Festus2,
My dad has been towing trailers for 50 years and believe it or not has never had a blow out. He has had so many different brands there is no way he could even try to remember them and he doesn't put that much thought into trailer tire brands. Stepping up to the E rated tire on an 11k lb trailer I doubt his luck will change. As for my logic of putting them on his 5er, he'd probably buy the same or similar tire new, I'm giving them to him so at least he isn't paying for them.

[theeyres]

It was around 10 years ago, so can't say if quality is the same or not, but put on a set of TowMax, made by Greenball in China, and they lasted several years until we sold the trailer.

[gearhead]

I've got towmax on a small 5 x 14 single axle utility trailer. Haven't had an issue in 3 years. They just make an occasional trip to the dump or move some furniture.
But I took the towmax's off the 5th wheel and replaced with Maxxis. Too much at risk.

[concours]

While looking at our tires after a recent trip I noticed that 2 tires had a strange shape they looked like a motorcycle tire, anyhow the outcome was that all 4 had started to separate so we replaced them with Carlisle's. In defence of Towmax they did issue a refund based on the remaining tread which is how the tire manufactures work