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Old 01-02-2020, 01:40 PM   #1
baydog55
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Tires

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?
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Old 01-02-2020, 02:48 PM   #2
JRTJH
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Your trailer should have 225 75R15 LRE tires (not 215 75R15).

Trailer King is one of the brands that is "affectionately" referred to as China Bombs. There are others, typically "off brand ST tires"

Most have relied on Maxxis, Carlisle Radial Trail HD and Goodyear Endurance.

Right now, WalMart has the best price I've seen on Carlisle ST tires, $82.19 each. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Carlisle-...-tire/55012166

Goodyear Endurance is the "new kid on the block" with about a 3 year history since introduction. So far, it seems to be an excellent choice, although it is about $50-75 more (per tire) than Carlisle.

Maxxis, from what I've seen, hasn't "kept up with the competition" with their M8808 tire line. The speed rating remains at 65MPH while Carlisle and Goodyear are 75 or 81 MPH rated.

ALL (regardless of brand) ST tires should be replaced at abour 5 years of age, no matter how much tread is remaining. ST tires typically "age out" before they "wear out"....

There are some people who have reported good service from Trailer King tires, some that have reported damage in the $5000-$10000 range from "self destructing TK tires"... It's up to you whether you decide to keep them or replace them. I'd suppose the biggest concern is "previous use conditions" ranging from towing with low air pressure, sitting for months on a dealership lot and stress from "jockeying trailers in tight turns on the dealership lot. With OEM tires, you have no way of knowing how they were handled before you bought the trailer. With tires installed "while you watch" and that "remain in your custody" will have been cared for by you, so you'll "know for sure" what condition they are in....
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Old 01-02-2020, 03:37 PM   #3
baydog55
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Thanks, I will replace.
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Old 01-02-2020, 03:39 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by baydog55 View Post
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?
The tires John pointed out at $82.19 each (Carlisle Radial Trail HD) are excellent. I bought four this past November and that price is over $20 less than I paid after searching for the best price I could find (I am cheap). Delivery will also be free or to a store for free. Many Walmarts will mount them for you as well (at least the one in Castroville near where I live will).
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Old 01-02-2020, 03:57 PM   #5
sourdough
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Thanks, I will replace.

I know it seems like wasted money but I think you've made a wise decision. John made great points about the "china bombs" with Trailer King being at the top of the list these days as far as I know. I owned them and I'm one of the ones John referenced with the 5-10k in damages...7k to be exact.

Some have had some good luck with those tires, far more have not from my count. If you are going to be taking a few long trips next year, on the 2nd year with the Trailer Kings, going to Carlisle (which I did) or one of the other preferred brands, should make your trip much more enjoyable and event free (hopefully). If you don't have one, I would highly recommend a TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) for the tires. GREAT addition, gives you instant readouts of your tire pressures and is a great stress reliever. Happy travels.
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Old 01-02-2020, 04:18 PM   #6
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I replaced the China bombs on my new camper within 6 months in 2018. With Goodyear endurance. Then sold the full set of 4 tires on Facebook market place for $300.00 to someone who would put them on a utility trailer. There is a dumb guy for every sale so for me the good year endurance only cost me about $100 to $150 installed.
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Old 01-02-2020, 05:18 PM   #7
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The "China Bomb" crap is just that, crap.

Fact: Most trailer tire failures are China made tires.
Reason; Most trailer tires are made in China.

If most trailers used USA made tires, guess what, most tire failures would be USA made tires.

Keep them inflated, don't hit curbs, don't overload them and all should be well.

http://www.rvtiresafety.net/2019/02/...omb-tires.html
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Old 01-02-2020, 05:42 PM   #8
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The "China Bomb" crap is just that, crap.

Fact: Most trailer tire failures are China made tires.
Reason; Most trailer tires are made in China.

If most trailers used USA made tires, guess what, most tire failures would be USA made tires.

Keep them inflated, don't hit curbs, don't overload them and all should be well.

http://www.rvtiresafety.net/2019/02/...omb-tires.html


I will have to disagree with you. While I do agree that most are made in China and because of that most failures are from China. There are some very good tires that are made in China.

But I put a Goodyear endurance next to a trailer king tire when they were new. Standing with no air and no Rimini could push the trailer king tread down almost a foot flexing the side walls and tread. The good year endurance I could only push down an inch with almost no side wall flex. A lot of the China tires a cheaply made thin flexible side walls. Good year endurance as well as maxxis I did this same thing and got same result. Saluin tires are a great tire from China and they flex like a good year endurance. My point is while I agree with your thought I have proven that for travel trailer people the good year endurance and others are a much better tire.

Most China tires are crap. But not all.
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Old 01-02-2020, 06:10 PM   #9
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For what it’s worth, I upgraded to Goodyear Endurance and I have been happy with them.
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Old 01-02-2020, 06:36 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by baydog55 View Post
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?
According to your trailer's specs it came with ST225/75R15 LRE tires. Inflated to 80 psi those tires provide more than 34% in load capacity reserves above vehicle certified 4000# axles. IMO it's a waste of time & money to change them-out unless they have been misused or damaged in some way.

Before the implementation of the RVIA load capacity recommendation for RV trailer tires there was nothing to prevent the RV trailer manufacturer's from providing OEM tires with zero, to very little, load capacity reserves. Many of those OEM tires got very bad early failure reputations because of that. Some of those names are Goodyear, Towmax, Trailer, King and Castle Rock, just to name a few. And the term, "China Bomb" was born.
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Old 01-02-2020, 06:46 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Kylemcmahon1 View Post
But I put a Goodyear endurance next to a trailer king tire when they were new. Standing with no air and no Rimini could push the trailer king tread down almost a foot flexing the side walls and tread. The good year endurance I could only push down an inch with almost no side wall flex.
That's a very unfair analogy. The Goodyear has some added durability features that do not increase it's strength. The one that adds weight and mimics stiffer sidewalls is the addition of sidewall scuff guard materials. As their name implies, they help to prevent sidewall scuffing from causing a tire failure, nothing else.
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Old 01-02-2020, 06:53 PM   #12
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That's a very unfair analogy. The Goodyear has some added durability features that do not increase it's strength. The one that adds weight and mimics stiffer sidewalls is the addition of sidewall scuff guard materials. As their name implies, they help to prevent sidewall scuffing from causing a tire failure, nothing else.


Yes true. But less flex. Means less movement of the tire. The more a tire flexes the quicker it will generate heat. The hotter a tire runs it can degrade faster. Not saying anyone is wrong or I am right. To an extent I think we are both right. It comes down to whatever we feel is the way to go. You feel safe with off brand tires go for it. I will stick with stiffer less flexing tires. In my experience with everything from rvs to over the rd trucks to driving oversize 150000 lbs cranes for over 100000 miles I will stick with my name brand stiffer tire.
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Old 01-02-2020, 07:00 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by Kylemcmahon1 View Post
...I put a Goodyear endurance next to a trailer king tire when they were new. Standing with no air and no Rimini could push the trailer king tread down almost a foot flexing the side walls and tread. The good year endurance I could only push down an inch with almost no side wall flex...
That is interesting but meaningless without much more info.
Were they the same size?
Were they the same load rating?
Were they the same age?
Were they both new or used?
Were they both treated exactly the same since they came out of the mold?
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Old 01-02-2020, 07:02 PM   #14
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That is interesting but meaningless without much more info. Were they the same size? Were they the same load rating? Were they the same age? Were they both new or used? Were they both treated exactly the same since they came out of the mold?


Yes they were the same size load rating and all. Like I said this is my opinion all from my experience you can do what you wish and I did agree with part of what you said. No need to be rude and disrespect my opinion.
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Old 01-02-2020, 07:14 PM   #15
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Yes true. But less flex. Means less movement of the tire. The more a tire flexes the quicker it will generate heat. The hotter a tire runs it can degrade faster. Not saying anyone is wrong or I am right. To an extent I think we are both right. It comes down to whatever we feel is the way to go. You feel safe with off brand tires go for it. I will stick with stiffer less flexing tires. In my experience with everything from rvs to over the rd trucks to driving oversize 150000 lbs cranes for over 100000 miles I will stick with my name brand stiffer tire.
There is nothing in the structure of the Goodyear tire that would suggest it has less or more flex. Statically it's just masked by the insertion of the scuff guard material. The ultimate strength of a tire is provided by inflation pressure. More pressure less flex. Thus the only way to measure a tire's flex is by observing it under a load at a given inflation pressure.
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Old 01-02-2020, 07:18 PM   #16
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The "China Bomb" crap is just that, crap.

Fact: Most trailer tire failures are China made tires.
Reason; Most trailer tires are made in China.

If most trailers used USA made tires, guess what, most tire failures would be USA made tires.

Keep them inflated, don't hit curbs, don't overload them and all should be well.

http://www.rvtiresafety.net/2019/02/...omb-tires.html


Well...….I suspect I, and millions more, would disagree with you. Yes, most trailer tires are made in China. Yes, there are lots of failures....and yes, most come from certain brands....that's just a fact. Evidence? Take a Trailer King tire and place it beside a Carlisle, Maxxis or Endurance. Pick them up. Whoops! That Trailer King will weigh a 1/3 less or so (guesstimation). Squash them. The Trailer King will literally push down like a marshmallow...not so with the other premium brands. When, in the past on this forum, we have ran the failures back to the same plant in the same province (Shandong) I'm thinking categorizing "Chinese" tires as "Chinese" tires is "just crap". So, IMO, saying that the term "china bomb" is "crap, just crap" is refuted by most anything anyone sees, reads or experiences....unless you just like them due to really cheap prices....and then, it's your business, your trailer and your life. Good luck. JMO
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Old 01-02-2020, 07:19 PM   #17
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There is nothing in the structure of the Goodyear tire that would suggest it has less or more flex. Statically it's just masked by the insertion of the scuff guard material. The ultimate strength of a tire is provided by inflation pressure. More pressure less flex. Thus the only way to measure a tire's flex is by observing it under a load at a given inflation pressure.


The strength of the tire has a lot more to do with construction than air pressure. I have had long discussions with a retired tire engineer from Michelin. He has been a part of designing tires from trucks to race car tires.
Also tire construction has more to do with pressure because if pressure was the man structure than heavy truck tires would have more than 130 psi. For that matter the tires on the crane I drive everywhere only take 105 psi and it is holding up 150,000 lbs.
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Old 01-02-2020, 07:51 PM   #18
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The strength of the tire has a lot more to do with construction than air pressure. I have had long discussions with a retired tire engineer from Michelin. He has been a part of designing tires from trucks to race car tires.
Also tire construction has more to do with pressure because if pressure was the man structure than heavy truck tires would have more than 130 psi. For that matter the tires on the crane I drive everywhere only take 105 psi and it is holding up 150,000 lbs.
You're getting outside the subject at hand, ST tires. Specifically, designated sizes. All ST225/75R15 LRE tires from any brand name manufacturer are designed and tested to conform to TRA standardization that insures, no matter what brand you select, will conform to a load inflation chart that provides specific load capacities (strength) at identical cold inflation pressures. Durability is not a factor in the TRA standardization process.

NOTE: I live 10 miles from Michelin of North America and talk with them - from time to time - face to face. They do not provide me with confidential information.
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Old 01-02-2020, 07:58 PM   #19
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You're getting outside the subject at hand, ST tires. Specifically, designated sizes. All ST225/75R15 LRE tires from any brand name manufacturer are designed and tested to conform to TRA standardization that insures, no matter what brand you select, will conform to a load inflation chart that provides specific load capacities (strength) at identical cold inflation pressures. Durability is not a factor in the TRA standardization process.

NOTE: I live 10 miles from Michelin of North America and talk with them - from time to time - face to face. They do not provide me with confidential information.


I never said he provided me with confidential information. I asked him questions and he answered them with generally answers about how tires are constructed and how they perform. There were many things I thought wrong about and he enlightened me. So please do not put words in my mouth.
I have said it already I have even seen and agreed with part of your opinion. Since it seems you do not want to respect my opinion then I will leave it at this. All can read my opinion and yours and they can decide to do what they want for themselves. Just as you will. After all that is the point of these forums is for people to give there own opinion and the original OP can learn what he would like from it. And anyone else that wants to read can learn. So have a good night and good luck.
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Old 01-02-2020, 11:59 PM   #20
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I never said he provided me with confidential information. I asked him questions and he answered them with generally answers about how tires are constructed and how they perform. There were many things I thought wrong about and he enlightened me. So please do not put words in my mouth.
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.
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