Tires

impertick

Clark & Tina Emery
I have a 2006 Bighorn 3600RL. I'm sure I have the Trail America or the Kenda tires. My rig is in the shop right now. Can anyone tell me how to get the manufacturer to replace them with the Goodyear reliable ones. Thanks for any sugestions.

Clark
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Hi Clark,

The manufacturer will not replace them. If you wish to move up to Goodyear, this is at your own expense.

Jim
 

Uncle Rog

Well-known member
Impertick, good choice for a 5er, I fought the tire change as my tire guy said mine were fine. I figured I could get three years from the stk set, after three years you throw them out and start over. After grenading two TA's and not doing that much damage I am going to the goodyears of my own volition. One bad blowout would overshadow the cost of the tires by a bunch. I had no idea I had a flat until I saw the debri in the mirror. I bought the Doran system too......UR
 
C

Chulinw

Guest
Impertick check and see if you have the Kenda tires on your 5er. If you do give this man a call Roger Ansel 1-800-225-4714 and use selection 2
and it should give you the warranty department. Talk to Roger and see if he can help you out. I had a blow out and they paid for the repairs on my 5er because of the tires seperated.
 

impertick

Clark & Tina Emery
Tires-Getting new ones

Thanks for the input. I am getting new ones. My family is more important than the price of new tires. Anyone know the best place to buy the Goodyears? Are they the best tires to get?

clark
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Clark,

I got a great deal at Sears Auto Center. They had to order them in but it only took a few days. If you have a relative that works for Sears, they "may" be able to get their discount on them for you. And if you can catch the next "friends and family day" sale, another 10% off!

Wherever you get them, carefully plan the installation as the place you buy them may not be able to install them on your trailer. I could not find a place near where I store my trailer that I could both buy and have tires installed.

Jim
 

Cooper

Well-known member
If you have Trail Amercia tires I would get rid of them. I blowed one out and my Golden Gate was less than a year old. It cost $4500.00 to fix the damage. I now have Goodyear G-614.
 
Jim I know I promised not to get in this discussion about tires again, but I cannot for the life of me understand why Heartland will not help the consumer with this problem. You have changed out your tires a I am reading that a lot of owners are doing the same. If there is not a problem (as I was told by Scott) then why are people changing? I understand there is product loliaty to Heartland, but these tires were purchased by Heartland because of the pricing structure i'm sure, not what is the best. The reason I am addressing you with this question is , you seem not to have a problem with people spending approx. a thousand dollars on brand new tires after paying the purchase price of the unit. Why is that? I would love to change out my tires also which are TA, but I have budget restraints and cannot afford purchaseing a new set of tires at this time. I will have to do some camping this year close to home so I am not in constant worry about blowing another tire ( I have had two) on the road and possibly causing harm to my family or anyone near me. Does Heartland have anything to say about tires?
 

impertick

Clark & Tina Emery
tires

Excellent question,
I agree 100%. I don't understand either. I spent alot of money on this 5th wheel. I have had a ton of problems with just about every system. I still think that Heartland makes a terrific 5th wheel. I would recommend and do recommend a Bighorn to anyone that asks about it. But, the tire question is a good question that I don't understand either? :confused: :confused: :confused:
 

katkens

Founding Illinios Chapter Leader-retired
I have been to the NHTSA web site and Chinese tires are showing no more problems than the name brands. There is some good reading there about tires. If one has had problems with tires go here www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq
I sure know its hard to decide what to do about tires. Ken
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Hi Bighorn3600,

Not really sure how to respond to your note.

I am a product owner and the Admin of this forum. I am not an owner or employee of Heartland.

I changed my tires out after having 2 flats from road hazards. One from a nail to the tread and one from a chunk of metal to the sidewall.

The nail punctured tire was repaired and the sidewall puncture could not be.

So with 2 road hazard issues and the issues some have seen with TAs, I decided to replace the all tires, not just the 2.

I cannot speak to Heartland's tire selection process. I see a lot of brands being used. I wish all the load range G tires were Goodyear's, but that's my wish/opinion and it may not be shared by everyone. What Heartland uses is their call.

Not sure what you are looking for from me on this one.

Jim
 
Jim thanks for the reply. I guess I was trying to see if Heartland has made any statements to you on one of your tours to the plant, about the ongoing problems with tires that I have been witness to first hand or am reading about in the forum.

With this said I want you to know that this is a great forum and I enjoy reading all the post.. You do a tariffic job as the owner and I am sure all the people who read it enjoy your effort to keep it up to date and manage it.

Thanks
 

sharmulst

member
We have a Bighorn 3500RL with Mission tires. As of now we have about 15,000 miles on the tires and no problems whatsoever. ;) Our question concerning tires--The manual says to rotate the tires at least every 5,000 miles. When rotating does one do it front to back only or side to side. Thanks
 

impertick

Clark & Tina Emery
Rotate tires

I have always rotated car or RV tires Right front to left back left front to right back, unless the tires have a specific direction rotation; if that was the case, we rotated right front to right back and left front to left back. Other than that I have not heard which way has better benifits.
 

Tom of Ypsi

Well-known member
I cannot find it in any of my manuals either but I think I saw it where you would crisscross the tires. I know when radials first came out you were suppose to go front to back and back to front only. On my other truck and others I have seen they should be left front to right rear and right front to left rear. I am assuming this to be true for our coach's also. I will ask tomorrow when I get my new tires and post the answer here if no on else has answered to the correct way.
 

Scott

Well-known member
Fact: I think we have over 5,000 RVs on the road.

Fact: That is NOTHING Compared to the Keystone; Fleetwood; Coachmen; Gulf Stream; etc. etc. of the world who have 100,000+ RVs on the road.

Fact: As Elkhart Country RV manufacturers, we all use the same tires on our coaches from the same suppliers. We use only tires that meet NHTSA ratings - which are the same for every tire, whether they are made in China, Europe, or Alabama. These guidelines have to do with thickness and rigidity of the rubber and tread, and if they meet the guidelines, they are rated.

Fact: At Heartland, have used five different tire brand names over the last three years, including GoodYear, and less than 2% of our customers have experienced a blow out of any kind.

FACT: The vast majority of the tire blow outs that we have experienced were NOT due to the tires themselves, but rather as a result of various other conditions such as outrigger locations; axles spining; springs malfunctioning; overweight units that people have loaded too much equipment into; and finally, the most common, running over road hazards.
There have been some instances of tread separation, which the tire company covers through their warranty department. Any one of these issues has resulted in a tire blowout on each of the brand names, GoodYear included.

Fact: The main reason that certain people have experienced more than one blow out, is becasue their particular issue can be tracked back to one of the conditions mentioned above - not because the NHTSA has certified, and Heartland has used, an inferior tire.

Now, I know these facts don't make everyone feel better. But it is reality and the reality is that there are hundreds of thousands of fifth wheels on the road (Heartland's just being a small portion of them) that are riding on Trail Boss or Trail America or Mission or Load Boss tires. And they are riding just fine. The conspiracy theory about us using inferior tires just doesn't hold water in the face of the facts.
There are people who have spent $1,000 on new tires and still had more than one blowout before they decided to check their weight balance, only to find that the coach was loaded heavily to one side which caused the shackles to become stressed, which caused that portion of the suspension to drop, which resulted in the tire rubbing metal. It happens.

IF a tire does truly malfunction (i.e. the tread separates), then Tredit or Americana will replace that tire and pay for any damages incurred. Thankfully, it doesn't happen very often.

ST
 

impertick

Clark & Tina Emery
tires

Scott,
Thanks for the information. You have made a good point. Do I need to wiegh each side of my coach, or can I get a weight on the whole rig fully loaded? And if I need to weigh each side how do I do that?
Thank for your help.
Clark
 
Scott
Thank you for the very informative response to the tire issue. The last line of your response is all most people have to know. Is there a web site or phone numbers that you can share with us in case we have more problems and need to contact them for repacements or repairs.

Thank You again
 
Scott

I'm sorry I didn't include this in my first reply, but I am most interested in reaching the manufacturer of Trail America tires. I have not been able to locate phone numbers or a web site

Thank You
 
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