Tire upgrade option opinion poll – What would you pay?

Well I am not sure whether or not Heartland will appreciate this but I am going to try and take an informal poll related to tires. While this is a touchy subject to bring up I still feel that it will be interesting information and maybe Heartland will be willing to embrace this information from current and future owners. I want to investigate specifically whether or not customers would be willing to pay extra to upgrade tires to a higher quality tire and what possible dollar amount the customer is willing to invest in this option. As such I would like to try and keep this thread focused on just the poll and maybe a comment or two. I would prefer that this does not turn into “The Big Debate” type of thing.

For the purpose of this poll, let's assume that for those with load range G tires, that the upgrade was for Goodyear G614 tires and for load range E tires, that the upgrade was for Michelin XPS Rib tires.


Thank you for your time,

Mark

I voted $500 as I just paid $1100 so $500 would be a bargain. Had I known that the Bighorn had the same rims as my Fleetwood I would have switched them out when I bought it. Hindsight......................

I agree with Pulltab. I spent a lot of money on my Landmark and $500 is a drop in the bucket when you look at my total expenditure. Mine is loaded with about every available option anyway, so a tire upgrade would have been a natural.

And again, what are we really talking about as an upgrade. Staying with the 16 inch or going to the 17.5 that seems to be the new thought process of some manufacturers. That would affect my vote. As it was, I voted $300 figuring the 16 inch, but I would vote $500+ for the 17.5 inch.

I would have gladly paid the upgrade...as it is in little more than two months after purchase, had to replace all tires with Goodyear G614's due to bubbles appearing on the original Goldways (whatever they are). Since everything rides on those "four pieces of rubber", cost shouldn't be a factor...reliability should be what decides what tires to use! As stated earlier, $500 was alot cheaper than the $1,200 I just paid.

With the upgraded tires, sometimes it is necessary to change out the wheels also. I would gladly pay to have better tires from the factory.

I havent been able to find any 15" rims that will take 80psi as needed for "E" rated tires but I also haven't found any reputeable brand "E" rated tires in a 15" size either. Since I am running three axles, I would vote for a $700.00 option since I would have to upgrade to 16" rims.

Now or when I bought my trailer??

When I purchased my BigHorn, I was trusting the manufacter with a lot of money, to deliver a quality product. Now that I have had 3 tires out of 5 with bubbles, my trust has been shaken. On the day I purchased the Bighorn, I probably would not have considered the upgrade. Today the story is, of course, a lot different.

I don't think an upgrade is the right thing to do. Heartland should deliver all units with quality tires and keep our trust in their judgement.

bsnider said:

When I purchased my BigHorn, I was trusting the manufacter with a lot of money, to deliver a quality product. Now that I have had 3 tires out of 5 with bubbles, my trust has been shaken. On the day I purchased the Bighorn, I probably would not have considered the upgrade. Today the story is, of course, a lot different.

I don't think an upgrade is the right thing to do. Heartland should deliver all units with quality tires and keep our trust in their judgement.

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I agree 100%

I just posted a query on another thread about tires. We're at the down payment stage and we're having a dilema with reciever hitches, plumbing, and tires. I asked the dealer about the tires and the reply was not in my favor. The dealer rep stated that they buy so many "Mission" tires that they won't go outside to Michelin, Carlisle, Goodyear, or Goodrich. I'm shopping tomorrow for the best tires for this unit. So far, Michelin is my preference at a considerable price each. A full set of 5 is well over the $500.00 upgrade mark. As an upgrade, the cost should take into consideration the cost of the originals and go "up" from there..

$300 considering it was handled as a trade in..
Now if were talking 17.5 tires and #8000 axels, well I'd pony up quite a bit more...

phranc said:

$300 considering it was handled as a trade in..
Now if were talking 17.5 tires and #8000 axels, well I'd pony up quite a bit more...

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I second this...

Proper tires for the proper vehicle

bsnider said:

When I purchased my BigHorn, I was trusting the manufacter with a lot of money, to deliver a quality product. Now that I have had 3 tires out of 5 with bubbles, my trust has been shaken. On the day I purchased the Bighorn, I probably would not have considered the upgrade. Today the story is, of course, a lot different.

I don't think an upgrade is the right thing to do. Heartland should deliver all units with quality tires and keep our trust in their judgement.

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I agree with you if Heartland is building a quality product they should put proper tires on the trailers and be willing to adjust the tires they use if they are found to be not up to the job and not as an upgrade. Thanks Sonny Mensie

I voted to supply my own. There is no way in a gazillion years that any manufacture will install Michelin XPS's. I will settle for nothing less. Even the Coopers let me down on the TV so now I am a 100% Michelin man!

ChopperBill said:

Even the Coopers let me down on the TV so now I am a 100% Michelin man!

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You must have good time trying to find pants!!!

I voted 400 a good upgrade should cost more then $80 per tire if you factor in the orginal cost of the tires supplied. But to ensure I had tires that I wouldn't have to worry about I would pay $200 per tire. What's a grand when it comes to safety. Jim

Definetly should be an option !!

I will be ordering my new Bighorn this week. I would pay $500 for the upgrade to Goodyear or Michelin's. I definetly will not be trusting the "made in China" tires supplied by Heartland. Kinda makes me upset just thinkin about this subject !!
Jeff

I have not confirmed this information, but wanted to post it so that you would be aware that there may be a supply problem for a while. http://www.5thwheelforums.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2081&highlight=&sid=9c7fdec9e8572b773c89b8774d2f8351
Also, I understand that there is some discussion on the Escapees forum regarding the Goodyear tire issue with the G614's

John

I hate to see all these folks having troubles with their tires. I guess I will have trouble sooner or later. I have done alot of looking into trailer tires over the past few months and have found that no one really makes a high speed trailer tire. I have found some makers with ten ply 15 inch tires for our Cylcone.But the speed rating is still 65 MPH. As to date with over 10K on our rig we have had no tire troubles at all. I do run speed limits or better with our rig. I also watch my trailers tires at all times when out on the road. I check pressures every morning before hitting the road. I do run 72 psi COLD in our tires. This is 7psi above the max rating on the tire itself. But after checking in to it many of the tire makers say you can go up to 10psi over in some of their tires. Our rig is a tri axel and the tires do get eat up when making turns. But so far we have been doing ok. I do plan on up grading to ten ply starting this winter. Two tires at a time. Starting with my front axles which the tires catch the most side to side wear when turning. Like I said I hate to hear so many of you having troubles. Maybe our roads are better down south? But we do run on hotter roads and hotter day time temps down here in summer time. I know we went up to Marion Wis last year and the roads on the way beat us to death! But the trailer made it up there and back with no troubles. I also put white LED lights shining down on our wheel,on the out side of the wells so I can see our tire side wall at night. This way I can see the bulge in the tires at night in my mirrors. I can see my left side great but had to add extended mirror on my right side do to the spets under the trailer. I have had tire failure on our old trailer and it was not pretty.Anyway I think checking your tires every day and staying on top of the pressures and wear will help keep you on the road with out troubles. It has for us so far. Things may change over time but. No one can say I did not try.

I think having tire and axle upgrades are a great idea. Heartland most defiantly specs their coaches with the properly rated running gear, but for peace of mind, having an option to "over rate" would be money well spent in my opinion. We can't expect them to "over rate" and not charge for it. Think of what we're already getting for such a low price point. The cost of this option would have to very depending on the model, but $500 is cheap.