Hi Spec Tires

[Brian and Brandy]

We have a 2023 Keystone Alpine we bought brand new. The trailer came with Hi Spec tires on it. We are weekend warriors mostly so we don't have alot of miles on our camper. I guess we have approx 700 miles or less on this camper. Two weeks ago we were on our way back from one of our favorite camping resorts (Splash RV Resort in Milton, FL) and we were a mile from the exit we take to go home off of I-10 when one of the tires blew. It sounded like a bomb going off! I have a tire monitoring system that I had just looked at right before the tire blew and all of the tires had the proper air pressure. These Tires are crap and its bothersome that Keystone would put them on their campers. In my opinion they should recall every camper that has them and replace the tires with good and safe tires. Now that this has happened to us, not only do we have to replace the tire (we are replacing all of them including the spare with Goodyear tires) but our camper now has to go into the shop (probably for at least 2 months) for repairs to the damage caused from the blowout. If you have HI Spec tires on your camper I would highly recommend replacing them. These tires have HORRIBLE reviews!!

 

[workinonit]

I was lucky enough to find threads like this and got mine changed before something bad happened. I put Hercules H901s on mine. All it takes is comparing the two tires to realize how junky those OEM tires are. I recommend while you have the wheels off replacing the nylon suspension bushings Keystone thought was a good idea. I put the MoRyde kit on mine. Also installed the cross member kits on the 3 shackle mounts. Made a huge difference.

 

[Brian and Brandy]

Thank you for the information. I will definitely look into the MoRyde kit as well. I'm trying to fix / prevent any future issues like this. We were very fortunate to be close to home when the blowout happened instead of being in the middle of nowhere. I'm praying the damage caused by the blowout isn't worse than what I can see.

 

[workinonit]

What air pressure were you running in the HiSpecs?

 

[workinonit]

Most folks are using the Goodyear Endurance or the Sailuns but I liked the Hercules. It's a heck of a tire.

 

[wiredgeorge]

When you bought the Keystone camper, did it occur to you to join this forum and do a little looking around. The Hi-Spec issue has been reported by quite a few members. There was an actual Hi-Spec employee who joined to defend his brand and he soon jumped ship. Ask around for hints on best brands for your camper and if you had a signature with this info, it sure would make the process easier. Good luck; in fact you had some pretty good luck not having the blowout on IH10.

 

[wiredgeorge]

Most folks are using the Goodyear Endurance or the Sailuns but I liked the Hercules. It's a heck of a tire.

Some camper models with 15" rims can't use Sailun tires (don't come in that size I think. I have a new set of Calstar (aka Carlisle) 15" tires on my camper. Old ones aged out at 5 years and still "looked" fine.

 

[workinonit]

In his defense and since I'm fairly new to this myself, the thought of dealers using maypops really didn't enter my mind. You would think they would at least install some mid grade tires. Everything they use is basically crap. You buy one of these things and start replacing junky parts and repairing factory flaws caused from probably some of the worse workmanship I've ever seen.

 

[workinonit]

Some camper models with 15" rims can't use Sailun tires (don't come in that size I think. I have a new set of Calstar (aka Carlisle) 15" tires on my camper. Old ones aged out at 5 years and still "looked" fine.

His Alpine doesn't fall in that category.

 

[Viper02]

OP.. take the time to look thru a few of these past posts regarding Hi Spec tires on any Alpine

Purchase a quality ST rated 235/85x16 14 ply G rated tire .. Sailun S637 series and Hercules H901 series will last 5 to 7 years easily if kept covered when not towed.

Alpine Hi Spec Failure

I have a 2022 Alpine with the HiSpec tires and one let go (first the tread came off and then the tire overheated and blew out). I want to go to a higher load rated tire. Currently a G rated tire. In order to do that using the Sailun tire, i have to go to a 235/85R16 tire. I will be upsizing the...

www.keystoneforums.com

 

[Viper02]

Also if you have further questions regarding that Alpine the folks here can usually provide you with accurate and factual information to help should you need any

 

[SerenityNow-KEY]

Thank you for the information. I will definitely look into the MoRyde kit as well. I'm trying to fix / prevent any future issues like this. We were very fortunate to be close to home when the blowout happened instead of being in the middle of nowhere. I'm praying the damage caused by the blowout isn't worse than what I can see.

Thanks for this post and discussion everyone. I know lots of comments in past about HiSpec tires so I have been planning to replace these tires on our new 2023 Avalanche 321RS fifth wheel some point but hoped would get at least a season of safe travel with them before replacing. This post has me moving up the HiSpec tire replacement to this spring before hitting the road. The inverter generator and and solar upgrade will have to wait until next year. Only have about 300 miles on the rig/tires so far and figure we have been fortunate not to have had a problem yet from what I am reading from others. Doesn’t sit well with me to spend a chunk of change to replace pretty much brand new tires but the safety of my family and the RV on the road is more important. Leaning toward the Sailun’s. Thanks for the push. Sorry about your blowout but glad everyone is ok and hope damage not as bad as it looks to your rig.

 

[Viper02]

Thanks for this post and discussion everyone. I know lots of comments in past about HiSpec tires so I have been planning to replace these tires on our new 2023 Avalanche 321RS fifth wheel some point but hoped would get at least a season of safe travel with them before replacing. This post has me moving up the HiSpec tire replacement to this spring before hitting the road. The inverter generator and and solar upgrade will have to wait until next year. Only have about 300 miles on the rig/tires so far and figure we have been fortunate not to have had a problem yet from what I am reading from others. Doesn’t sit well with me to spend a chunk of change to replace pretty much brand new tires but the safety of my family and the RV on the road is more important. Leaning toward the Sailun’s. Thanks for the push. Sorry about your blowout but glad everyone is ok and hope damage not as bad as it looks to your rig.

Wise choice to yank off those Hispec tires and replace ..regardless of miles or age of them

 

[workinonit]

And I wouldn't put too many more miles on it before I had the suspension upgraded. The shackles have nylon bushings that wear out quickly. MoRyde makes a kit to replace all of the inferior parts.

 

[sourdough]

Thanks for this post and discussion everyone. I know lots of comments in past about HiSpec tires so I have been planning to replace these tires on our new 2023 Avalanche 321RS fifth wheel some point but hoped would get at least a season of safe travel with them before replacing. This post has me moving up the HiSpec tire replacement to this spring before hitting the road. The inverter generator and and solar upgrade will have to wait until next year. Only have about 300 miles on the rig/tires so far and figure we have been fortunate not to have had a problem yet from what I am reading from others. Doesn’t sit well with me to spend a chunk of change to replace pretty much brand new tires but the safety of my family and the RV on the road is more important. Leaning toward the Sailun’s. Thanks for the push. Sorry about your blowout but glad everyone is ok and hope damage not as bad as it looks to your rig.

IMO it's a very good decision to replace them right away. My last trailer had Trailer King tires on it. I knew they were sketchy but wanted to get at least one decent trip out of them vs taking it 30 miles to camp overnite so decided to give it a whirl. Don't. Made our plans for our first trip cross country to FL and took of for a 5 month trip. 42 miles out of town, FORTY TWO, a tire blew, tore out the wheel well and shredded the coroplast then wrapped around the axle. A fellow stopped to help change the tire (an angel per DW) and we went back home - trip cancelled. $7k and 5 new Carlisle tires later we were able to try to reschedule the trip. The CW dealership was fantastic in getting critical repairs made and tires put on so we could leave again in a bit over 2 weeks. We completed all the repairs upon return.

Having learned from that experience, when I purchased the current trailer from the same CW dealer (I was in FL) I had them remove the problematic Ranier tires that came on it and had new Sailuns installed before I ever got back to pick it up. Long story to say don't take a chance.

 

[flybouy]

Just a note on ST tires. Visual inspection of the exterior of these tires will not tell the whole story. I have had "China bombs" changed the looked new until they were dis-mounted and blistering (bubbles ) were clearly visible on the inside surface . There have been numerous post regarding low milage, new tires unexpectedly failing. Bottom line is you cannot access the tires condition from just an exterior examination.

 

[JRTJH]

To illustrate what Marshall is saying, here are photos of the inside of the tire carcass on my OEM TK tires. Note that there are numerous belt separation bubbles in the tires. These were about 1 year old and when inspecting the trailer for trips, the tires "looked normal" with absolutely NO indication of any defects visible on the

 

[Brian and Brandy]

So we replaced the China Bombs with Goodyear tires. When the service tech finished he took me out to the shop and showed me the BRAND NEW NEVER USED (prior to the blowout) spare tire and the sidewall had a huge piece of rubber just hanging. The tech said I probably wouldn't have made it far with spare before it blew out as well. These tires are crap!! Keystone should be responsible for the damage the blowout did to our Alpine and recall these tires!! It's ridiculous that people spend the amount of money we do on their product to have this kind of issue. They are literally putting lives in danger by putting these crap tires on their campers!! I just hope no one has been severely hurt because of these tires.

I doubt if Keystone reads these comments, but if they do. I will always be available for any discussion they would like to have. As much as we love our Alpine it will make me reconsider the next time we purchase a Keystone product because of this. The Alpine is our second Keystone 5th wheel and it may possibly be our last!!

 

[flybouy]

Please read the disclaimer at the bottom of each page. Keystone RV Company, nor Thor (their parent company) have anything to do with this or any other RV Life forums. Sono, they will not read your post. The tire issue is a well know industry issue. All the brands of rv trailers in these price points use or have used "marginal" tires.

 

[Viper02]

So we replaced the China Bombs with Goodyear tires. When the service tech finished he took me out to the shop and showed me the BRAND NEW NEVER USED (prior to the blowout) spare tire and the sidewall had a huge piece of rubber just hanging. The tech said I probably wouldn't have made it far with spare before it blew out as well. These tires are crap!! Keystone should be responsible for the damage the blowout did to our Alpine and recall these tires!! It's ridiculous that people spend the amount of money we do on their product to have this kind of issue. They are literally putting lives in danger by putting these crap tires on their campers!! I just hope no one has been severely hurt because of these tires.

I doubt if Keystone reads these comments, but if they do. I will always be available for any discussion they would like to have. As much as we love our Alpine it will make me reconsider the next time we purchase a Keystone product because of this. The Alpine is our second Keystone 5th wheel and it may possibly be our last!!

Curious as to what GY tires you went with ? Sailuns or Hercules 14 ply would have been my choice versus GY… if you installed GY G614 they are a decent tire but way too expensive … IMO