Towmax tires

tom studstill · 04-10-2012, 05:15 PM

I don't know if anyone else has had problems with these towmax tires or not but I have had two sets bust and do damage to my 5th wheel. These tires have stamped on the side of them not to exceed 65 mph. I was not told that when I purchased the Rv nor was I told when I purchased a 995.00 tire policy. Camping world has been made aware of this several times by me and nothing has been done. Someone needs to do something about getting these tires off before someone gets hurt. By the way many camping world dealers don't sell or install tires yet they will gladly sell you a tire policy. I have a 2010 3500re alpine unit that was not cheap. The 2012 are still using the same tires as mine two years later. Can anybody help? I changed my last one on I-85 on the drivers side. Believe me not very pleasant. I just spent over $2,200 for new rims and tires. I stepped up to G rated tires rated for 110 psi. And of course camping world does nothing about it. I went to three dealers including where I purchased my Rv.

ktmracer · 04-10-2012, 06:19 PM

unfortunetly all ST (trailer tires) are rated for 65 mph max speed. And the tire standards for ST tires are IMHO woefully inadequate compared to passenger car/light truck tires.

Maxxis seems to be the highest quality ST rated tires, that's what I and my neighbor use and haven't had a tire failure yet.

Vidorcom · 04-10-2012, 07:23 PM

Check out my post a few below yours. Keystone fuzion fz 300. Bought the trailer brand new and 400 miles later.....well you know the rest

allentx1 · 04-11-2012, 06:06 AM

I just had a blow out on my Avalanche. Did about 1500 in damage to drivers side, including ripping the brake wires out for both axles. I called TowMaxx and was referred to the manufacturer who requested I send the tire back to them via UPS. They paid for it. I am awaiting their "findings". What is our other choice as in Texas, speed limits are 75 mph and my truck is capable of pulling that fast on the flat interstates... now I know I am screwed if I drive that fast. Can we move to a light truck tire?

Festus2 · 04-11-2012, 06:59 AM

Sorry to hear about your blowout and the damage. I wouldn't be putting any kind of light truck tire - unless it is specified for dual use - on an RV as most are not designed or constructed to withstand the flexing that TT tires undergo when turning.

Alpinecummin · 04-11-2012, 09:20 AM

Michellin XPS tires are rated as truck and RV tires. I read several threads last year about all the problems people were having with Towmax and then looked at the tires on my Alpine and saw they were Towmaxes. So after a lot of research I discovered most people recommended Maxxs and Michellins. I have used Michellins on all of my vehicles for the past 30 years and have never had a problem, so based on my experience and results with them i purchased Michellin XPS for my Alpine last July. I have only 5,000 miles on them at this point, but haven't had any problems. My daughter lives in Dallas and we go there a couple times a year. Even though the posted speed limit is 75 miles per hour, I wouldn't recommend anyone pull a camper at that speed. I pull my Alpine between 62 and 68 regardless of higher posted speed limit. There are to many things that can happen and to it's to difficulty to manuver a camper at high speeds.

Exsailor · 04-11-2012, 03:37 PM

Welcome to the "I'm disgusted with my tires" club. Haven't found any that aren't made in china and most have a bad rep. I had 2 blowouts last summer and the only thing I can attribute it to is my driving 70 or so MPH. BUT why is that an issue? This 65 MPHthing is garbage when I am getting passed by coaches, horse trailers and tractor trailers. I still don't get it.

smiller · 04-12-2012, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Festus2

Sorry to hear about your blowout and the damage. I wouldn't be putting any kind of light truck tire - unless it is specified for dual use - on an RV as most are not designed or constructed to withstand the flexing that TT tires undergo when turning.

The problem with sticking with a trailer-specific ST tire is finding one you can trust. The only US brand I can find (in the very common ST235/80-16E size) are Goodyear Marathons and the negative posts on those would fill a hard drive. Is the only tire I can trust a $300 each Michelin XPS rib? What other alternatives are there that are either a reliable ST or a dual-use LT?

jsmith948 · 04-13-2012, 06:20 AM

DW and I have been following this thread and others regarding the Power King Towmaxx tires. Our new Cougar came equipped with ST225/75r15 Towmaxx tires.
We have 1100 miles on the trailer so far. We are planning a trip to Cape Disappointment in southern Washington (about 1850 miles round trip)
I have read all of the negative posts, but these are offset by posts from some of the other members (JohnnyFry for example) that have logged many thousands of miles on the Towmaxx tires without experiencing any problems.
There are many factors that can contribute to tire failures. Under inflation, road hazards, overloading, age, and exceeding the speed rating of the tire, to name a few.
I guess I will try to avoid the pot holes and curbs, monitor my air pressure, watch my speed, and keep my fingers crossed

raytronx · 04-13-2012, 07:04 AM

My experience with the TowMax Powerking ST225/75r15 set of tires that came with my Cougar fifthwheel new has been positive. I've been traveling fulltime for 10 months and logged around 15000 towing miles with no problems other than normal tread wear. Vancouver Island to Newfoundland to Florida Keys to Arizona so all kinds of roads. I keep my inflation between 62-65 lbs and usually drive around 60 miles per hour on the highways. Trailer weight loaded up is approx 9000 lbs with about 7200 of that on the trailer axles.

geo · 04-13-2012, 07:38 AM

Yes, the TowMax PowerKing tires are on our Alpine as well. There was a post on the Forum about two years ago, or so, that recommended tracking the temperature of the tires at every stop with an Infrared Thermometer. I did a little Internet research on this and found that usually a tire's temperature will drastically increase before it "blows out". This temperature increase might occur over several days or several hours depending upon the conditions.

I found a nice Fluke Infrared Thermometer in a pawn shop for US$20 about a week after the above post. I now carry it beside the driver's seat in the Beast. When ever we stop, I measure every tire on the truck and the fiver. On long trips, we write this down in our log to track it, and I probably should do that for the short trips also.

I noticed that Home Depot sells Infrared Thermometers in their electrical department if you aren't lucky to find one pawned.

Before EVERY trip and every morning when in transit, I check the torque on the lug bolts, the air pressure before moving the Alpine, and the temperature. At each stop, I go around and "shoot" the temperature of each tire.

Ron

ktmracer · 04-13-2012, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsmith948

DW and I have been following this thread and others regarding the Power King Towmaxx tires. Our new Cougar came equipped with ST225/75r15 Towmaxx tires.
We have 1100 miles on the trailer so far. We are planning a trip to Cape Disappointment in southern Washington (about 1850 miles round trip)
I have read all of the negative posts, but these are offset by posts from some of the other members (JohnnyFry for example) that have logged many thousands of miles on the Towmaxx tires without experiencing any problems.
There are many factors that can contribute to tire failures. Under inflation, road hazards, overloading, age, and exceeding the speed rating of the tire, to name a few.
I guess I will try to avoid the pot holes and curbs, monitor my air pressure, watch my speed, and keep my fingers crossed

we have over 10K miles on our towmax that came on our outback and so far they are doing fine. Had them balanced when we bought the trailer and they did take a fair amount of weight to balance. When they are due to be replaced it will be with Maxxis, but till then I'm just watching them.

jsmith948 · 04-13-2012, 10:18 AM

Thanks to those of you responding positively to our earlier post.
Especially the tip regarding the infrared thermometer
I have not felt any "bounce" transmitted up to the TV, but I'm sure we would benefit from having the tires balanced
No correlation to preventing blow-outs but will certainly help keep the cabinets up on the walls!
This is a great venue for the exchange of ideas and opinions
All good food for thought and it is appreciated

allentx1 · 04-13-2012, 12:17 PM

I'm convinced now that my Tow Max tires blew out due to my speed. I was not aware that 65 mph was the max speed. I KNOW my tires were inflated properly and I am pretty sure I did not hit anything. I guess what is disappointing is that the speed limits are 10 mph higher than the max speed. Like another poster said, I don't want to be the clog in the roadway. We have signs in Texas that state: "Don't slow texas down, Slow traffic keep right"... If you have towmax, watch pressure and for the love of god, do not go over 65mph.

f6bits · 04-13-2012, 12:40 PM

In California, the legal speed limit for trucks and cars towing trailers is 55.
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc22406.htm

bartletts · 04-13-2012, 04:47 PM

Here's some information I found from Goodyear about running their Marathon tires above 65 mph:
http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires...plications.pdf

They want you to increase the cold inflation pressure if you do that. I don't think I would do that with the Towmax though.

I have Towmaxes on my new Passport 238ML. I'm not sure what I am going to do with them long term, but the infrared thermometer idea is a good one, along with carrying a portable air compressor so you can adjust the pressure before leaving a camp site. Harbor Freight has decent infrared thermometers. Also handy for checking the brake drum temperature. I plan to keep the sidewalls dressed and avoid high speeds.

By the way, I have experience with hot brakes frying a pair of trailer tires. I had a little Fleetwood popup that I towed up and down 101 in Oregon and HWY 1 in California. I had the brake controller turned up a little high and I stopped and found that one of the sidewalls of my tires had turned brown from heat, and the wheel was really hot. The brake shoes were adjusted slightly tight on that side, and drum brakes put a lot of heat out through the lug bolts and into the wheels. The bearing was fine, but that tire experienced a sidewall bubble shortly after that experience.

Watching your brake use and shoe and controller adjustment should also help with tire life.

RCrawler · 04-13-2012, 06:05 PM

I run 16" E rated light truck tires on my gooseneck equipment trailer in a plain rib tread pattern. I've had a couple of sets on it so far without any issues. This trailer gets loaded heavier than any towable RV out there, so I have no concerns about any side loading that might take place.
I'm keeping an eye on my tires, but a tire and wheel upgrade to 16's might be in my future.

Although, I have P205/70-15's on my 18' car trailer that have been on there since I bought it used 15 years ago. I've overloaded it many times and haven't had a tire failure. Just starting to show some weather checking.

Jason

cosgro · 06-29-2012, 08:31 PM

2010 Cougar 326MKS, we had 2 blow-outs on our first trip of 1500 miles. The second tire dealer told me that the high pressure rubber valve stems are my problem. They leak and when you loose air the heat of the tire rises and causes the tire to fail. At this time we now have two tires with steel stems.

We installed a tire pressure monitoring system before our next trip of 8,500 miles and were alerted 3 separate times that we were loosing air pressure. Each time I changed the tire and located a tire store that night and had a high press steel valve replace the rubber valve (no tire damage). Now all 4 plus spare tires have steel valves. We have now driven over 6,000 miles without an issue.
The best investment I ever made was the 20.000 lb rated tandem tire ramp that I bought 2 RV’s ago.
Ed

CWtheMan · 06-29-2012, 09:57 PM

The real truth about your trailer tires is found in their history. Did the tires that came on your trailer fail? If so, there may have been nothing you could have done to avoid their failures. Why? Because they may have already been severely damaged when you started using them.

Did you accept custody of a trailer with marginal tires? By that I mean tires with very little load capacity reserves. The closer tires are operated to their load capacity the faster their materials degrade.

And, DO NOT skimp on tire pressure. DO NOT exceed the tire manufacturers speed limit. DON’T overload your trailer.

There are two ST tire manufacturers going the extra mile by installing nylon overlays on most of their ST tires sizes. One provides a lot of OEM tires to trailer manufacturers. It’s TowMax. The other is the most popular replacement, Maxxis.

CW

zman · 07-01-2012, 10:51 AM

Like many of you my fiver came with towmax tires. When pulling I usually do not go over 65mph except a few instances of long downgrades where I'll coast up to 72mph. On interstates with long gradual curves & bends I make sure to keep my speed at or under 65mph.

Since I'm new to this tire game on trailers I have a few questions...
Noticed many use a point n' shoot infrared thermometer. Where exactly on the tire do you take temp readings? The sidewall, tread? Most importantly what temp reading is considered hot or too hot?

Secondly, for Interstate driving what tire pressure should I be running? My tires have 65psi stamped on the tire. To be safe should I always ensure they're inflated to 65psi at cold? Tires are ST225/75R15, 3 yrs old according to DOT date stamp and still look new. I have less than 3000 miles on them.

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