RV Tire Quality

desertden

Member
I love my Big Horn 3055RL but have had bad luck with tires. The 5th wheel came from the factory equipped with Mission tires one of which blew out in less than 7000 mile of use and 3 years of age. All 4 were replaced with Westlake tires as the shop in St. George, Utah carried no other brand in the correct size and load rating. One of those just threw off its tread at less than 4000 miles and 3 years of age. I have always kept the tires covered when not rolling down the road, parked on my concrete, well-drained RV Pad and properly inflated. I had the axle alignement checked after the first blow out and it was in spec. Each of the tire failures caused extensive damage to my Big Horn and both were on the rear axle, first one on the door side and the last one on the road side. My trailer is not overloaded. Does anyone have, or know of a source, of data regarding which brand of tires are the best? All manufacturers claim that their tires are wonderful, but they are trying to sell them to us. I need quantifieble data on the quality and longevity of the various brands and statistics to back it up like "how many failures of the various brands have been recorded as a percentage of the number in use". My wife is about to make me sell the RV and give up doing something we have always loved after this last disaster which caused us to abort a long planned trip on the first day due to the damage to the trailer. Anyone with information to share, please respond. THANKS!
 

jimtoo

Moderator
Hi desertden,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and family. Sorry to hear you have had problems with the tires, but the Missions from about 6 years ago did give some problems... I hope you contacted Tread-it and they helped you out. I have never heard of the Westlake brand,,, sold lots of tires and worked on lots of vehicles and never saw one. So I would have shopped for something else myself. 3 years is about the recommended life of tires on a trailer,, or any vehicle for that matter. I had a Michelin go on my truck... 24K miles and 3 years.. so it's not just any one brand.

I am also moving this to the tire area for trailers.

Jim M
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Hi desert den,

You'll get some recommendations, but I don't think any hard data is available. I'm sure whatever data the tire companies collect is closely held.

If you want tires that are very unlikely to fail, upgrade the wheels and tires to Goodyear G614. They are much stronger with bead-to-bead steel belts and a G load rating that supports 3750 pounds on each tire at 110 psi. They're on most of the larger rigs and have very few reported problems.


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Tombstonejim

Well-known member
Arguing about tires is like arguing about trucks and women. Everybody has there own idea. Mine. I been pulling trailers for 50 years. I never found a trailer tire (ST) rated worth a dinky do. Throw those ST tires away and put some good load range E or better light truck tires on it and most of your problems will go away.
 
Call a tire store today and will replace all four tires this Thursday. Having the tires from the factory, driving down the road, had one blow and shred into a million pieces. Thankfully pulled the BH over and had the spare put on. The store promised they would have the best for BH, I hope so because one blowout is enough for now. Wish us luck.
 

desertden

Member
Hi desert den,

You'll get some recommendations, but I don't think any hard data is available. I'm sure whatever data the tire companies collect is closely held.

If you want tires that are very unlikely to fail, upgrade the wheels and tires to Goodyear G614. They are much stronger with bead-to-bead steel belts and a G load rating that supports 3750 pounds on each tire at 110 psi. They're on most of the larger rigs and have very few reported problems.


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Why do you recommend replacing the wheels on my Big Horn? the solid aluminum wheels from the factory seem to be fine. I have only had problems with the tires not holding up. The Westlake tires were all that was available to purchase at the time I needed tires as I was on the road far away from home when the firest blowout occurred. I would strongly suggest that everyone take the advice of the Moderator and stay away from Westlake. They are made in China and are poor quality, obviously.

Thanks for your response!
 

desertden

Member
Hi desertden,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and family. Sorry to hear you have had problems with the tires, but the Missions from about 6 years ago did give some problems... I hope you contacted Tread-it and they helped you out. I have never heard of the Westlake brand,,, sold lots of tires and worked on lots of vehicles and never saw one. So I would have shopped for something else myself. 3 years is about the recommended life of tires on a trailer,, or any vehicle for that matter. I had a Michelin go on my truck... 24K miles and 3 years.. so it's not just any one brand.

I am also moving this to the tire area for trailers.

Jim M

I certainly appreciate your response to my query. I am unfamiliar with "Tread-It". What is that? Also, the 3 years max life for tires worries me. I have had tires on my trucks and cars last a lot longer than that and never had a blowout or thrown tread. My F350 is 6 years old and has the original equipment tires that are still in perfect condition with not quite 40,000 miles on them. I have read that tires that are not run very often do not last as long as those with constant use, but I am lost as to how to reconcile that. Should I just hook up my Big Horn and haul it around periodically? That doesn't make a lot of sense. The Westlakes were all that I could find in St. George, Utah when the Mission tire blew out. As I was a long way from home and had a long planned trip to complete, I went with them. Turns out I should have only bought one, but I was afraid of another Mission blowout. Much of the information I find is conflicting. One person says Light Truck Tires are better that ST Tires. Another article states that Light Truck Tires do not hold up to the hard turns to which Trailer Tires are subjected. Makes me wish I could purchase Military Rated No-blowout tires.

Thanks!!
 

danemayer

Well-known member
If you change the tires from load range E to G, the max inflation goes from 80psi to 110. The original wheels may be rated for 80 (or if you're lucky, 110). If you mismatch, at some point, someone will read the 110 stamped on the sidewall and will inflate the tires beyond the wheel rating at which point things could get very ugly.


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jimtoo

Moderator
Treadit is the distributor for Mission Tires and some others that a lot of the RV manufactures use for tires. They have been very good about replacing or paying for damage to a unit caused by a tire that they supplied.
Tires on the RV's are handled just the same as tires on new vehicles, the manufacture of the tire handles the warranty, not the dealer or manufacture of the RV.

You would just need to do some measuring or most likely some of our other members will know if the 17.5 will work on your unit.

Jim M
 

scottyb

Well-known member
desertden, you will find many on this forum that refuse to run ST's and have been running LT's for many years. The commercial Michellin XPS Ribs that I put on my new rig outweight the Towmax ST's that came on it by about 50% (94 lbs - 58 lbs). Some tire guys say they are one of the hardest tires to mount due to the sidewalls, which have a full steel encasement. They are also rated for 102 MPH max instead of the 65 MPH max for the ST's.
 

danemayer

Well-known member

3 years is a new one on me. There's been a lot of longstanding advice that RV tires age out at 5 years or so due to oxidation and UV damage. But the manufacturers are a bit cagey these days. They won't put a time frame on it - probably so they don't get hammered by competitors and customers.

Much of the information I find is conflicting. One person says Light Truck Tires are better that ST Tires. Another article states that Light Truck Tires do not hold up to the hard turns to which Trailer Tires are subjected.

I'll share my view of the conflicting information. But at the end of the day, we all have to do our own research and make our own decisions.

I generally go with what the manufacturer says, because their statements are usually going to start with the engineers (who have the expertise). Unfortunately, the lawyers usually get involved in editing the language, often watering it down.

I also look for "expert opinion" offered by people who have been doing failure analysis on tires for many years. They rarely dispute what the manufacturer says, but they will say much more because there's no lawyer editing their opinions.

I discount anecdotal information; e.g. "I've had them for 30,000 miles without any problems." Ok, but that's a sample of one. When you get to 10,000 samples, I'll be very interested.

I discount advice from tire retail outlets. There's no way to know their level of expertise, and a lot of what they say is going to fall into the anecdotal category.

I discount recommendations that essentially boil down to "my experience is worth more than the tire company's research." For example, when the tire company says that trailer tires need a stronger sidewall fiber to deal with the stresses experienced by trailer tires, I believe there is solid research backing that up. Arguing to the contrary is essentially arguing that either the tire companies are lying, or the engineers are stupid.

ST vs LT gets a little complicated when you look at tires like Goodyear G614. As I discovered recently, they carry an LT designation (which requires them to to additional certification testing compared to an ST tire). But they've been designed to work in more than one application, including use as a trailer tire. Does it have thicker fibers? I don't know, but if I were betting, I'd say it does. I'm told it also has bead-to-bead steel belts, rather than having the steel just under the tread, so the sidewalls are much stronger. In this case, I think it's got design features of an ST, plus more, plus the tougher certification of an LT tire, and more steel. What more could you want? There may be other LT tires that are designed for multiple applications - but which ones?

Wait, if the certification of LT tires is tougher, should we all get LTs? Not so fast. The LT tire MAY have a lower weight capacity than the ST tire, both having the same Load Range. Sometimes when you switch a LR E ST tire to a LR E LT tire, you may end up overloading the tires because of the lower capacity.

Yes, it's difficult to figure this all out.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Do you know how I could determine the psi rating for the 16" wheels that came on my 3055RL?

Thanks,
desertden
Look on the back side of the wheel. You should see the rating either molded or stamped on a spoke. Look closely.
I'm guessing that your 2008 model has 110 psi rated wheels.

Peace
Dave
 

desertden

Member
As I stated previously, I have always made certain the pressure in my tires is correct and visibily inspect them before each days drive, I don't drive over 60 mph as the diesel consumption goes up as the square of velocity, I keep the tires covered when not on the road and parked on dry concrete. I am going to make a confession as I have never weighed my 2008 3055RL, so that will be done immediately. The GVWR is 14,000 lbs and the empty weight is unknown. I naively assumed that the manufacturer's GVWR would account for the normal things loaded in the trailer: food, liquids, clothes, lawn chairs, screen room, generatiors, etc. The Mission Tow Max tires that came on it are rated at 3520 lbs at 80 psi which totals 14,080 lbs. That is very close to the GVWR not factoring in the weight on the hitch. After I weigh the rig, I will know how close to the edge I have been running. I just checked my wheels and they are 16x6J 3750 lbs at 110 psi rated. The Michelin XPS RIBS several posters have mentioned sound like the way to go so that I should have some safely margin regarding weight. The TPMS systems that a few have mentioned sound like a good investment. I will have to look into finding one before I go out on the road again. After 2 tire failures resulting in extensive damage to my rig, I cannot tolerate another one. This forum has been a great help and I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to share their knowledge and experience with me. Why I did not join when I purchased my rig is a question for which I have no good answer. The RV community definitely ROCKS!
 

desertden

Member
I have been searching the Michelin site for specs on XPS Ribs but could only find ones listed as Load Range E. I thought from some of the posts that these tires were available in Load Range G with an maximum weight rating of 3750 lbs at 110 psi. If so, I wonder why I can't find them. Can anyone offer some advice?
 

dbbls59

Well-known member
An alternative to Goodyear G614 is the Sailun S637. It's construction is the same as the Goodyear's but about $100 per tire less money. Many on this forum are using it and Heartland has installed it on some of their trailers a few years back.
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
Several things to comment on. First, I have never been able to find a G rated Michelin tire and been told by tire dealers they (Michelin) do not make one. They do make E and H. Next, I have had experience (2 blow outs within 3000 miles) with the tires manufactured in China and my advise is to stay away from them. I have been told by several tire experts (one was a retired tire engineer from Goodyear and the other is the owner of a tire distributor). that the tires manufactured in China do not put the same chemicals in their tires to prevent the steel used in their belts from rusting. Therefore they fail prematurely. Next, I have had Michelin tires on several vehicles including a fifth wheel and have never had a failure with them. Finally, I have had two sets of Goodyear G614 and one tire in each set 'threw the tread' causing damage to the 5er. Goodyear reimbursed the repair and replacement costs in both incidents. I upgraded to 17.5" wheels and Goodyear G114 tires which I am running now. My recommendation is to stay away from Chinese made tires and stay with "Made in USA" tires.
 
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