Power King Towmax STR tires

I've read some earlier posts regarding these tires and believe others may have this same issue(s).

Anyway, we purchased a new Heartland Greystone 5th wheel trailer on October 10th, 2010. Since then we have had 3 tire failures, two on the same day where the tread peeled off but the tire did not lose pressure.


The tires have less than 3 years on them and less than 10k miles. I check the tires and pressure before we leave on any trips and every time we stop for food, rest stops or fuel.

Has anyone else had problems with these tires recently? I've contacted the manufacturer and will not use these tires again as it has also caused damage to the fender well.

Another reason to not buy anything made in China when it comes to your safety.

Hi Hoppyz06,

Welcome to the posting side of the Heartland Owners Forum and to the family. We have a great bunch of folks here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed as you have seen if you have been lurking for a while.

Yes, there have been some problems with these tires. You need to contact Tredit, keep the old tires, take pictures, have your VIN and an estimate for damages when you call.

Keep us informed here on the forum.

Jim M

I am moving the thread to the tire area also.

I forgot to mention that traveling in a small caravan is worth its weight in gold as I borrowed a spare from my uncle's trailer! Wouldn't have made it home without it.

Hi Jim,

Is there a reason to contact Tredit? I would have thought I would need to contact Towmax instead. Thanks for your response!

Glenn.

I went to Heartland who sent me to TBC Corporation in Memphis, who sent me to Dynamic Tire In Brampton, Ontario, Canada who sent a UPS pickup for the tire and then it got lost (that is what they said). From there it got complicated. Have Photos of the tires, damage, damage estimates and if you can get expert comments, in writing, about the cause of tire failure get it before you start talking with them.

After the one tire failed I went directly to the nearest Discount Tire and had all tires replaced.

I had a water pump replaced under Heartland warranty and after about 10 weeks of waiting, ...... The dealer had the money on my ViSA in hours after that and applologised for Heartland's customer service. I am skipping their extended warranty and I just hope I don't have to deal with any more warranty work. When I upgrade, of course I will think of an alternative now. It's a shame, for the sake if about 250 bucks! But that is Heartland's customer service for you. But three cheers for my dealer footing the bill until Heartland pays them up - good luck!

DonnyB007 said:

I had a water pump replaced under Heartland warranty and after about 10 weeks of waiting, ......... The dealer had the money on my ViSA in hours after that and applologised for Heartland's customer service. I am skipping their extended warranty and I just hope I don't have to deal with any more warranty work. When I upgrade, of course I will think of an alternative now. It's a shame, for the sake if about 250 bucks! But that is Heartland's customer service for you. But three cheers for my dealer footing the bill until Heartland pays them up - good luck!

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Heartland has been just great at reimbursing me for repairs I've had done with their authorization...Often dealers have been know to pass the buck and blame Heartland when they neglected to file the claim properly or at all. I bet you might get a totally different story if you heard what REALLY happened...For your information..that extended warranty you're talking about skipping, is not sold by Heartland. They do not sell them in any form. Must have come from somewhere else..Don

My dealings with Heartland customer service and my dealer have been 180 degrees the oposite of what you just described. After waiting for 9 mo for my dealer to get the correct length legs for the Happy Jack seats in the garage, HL sent them to me direct. And they also sent me a tracking number where they had shipped them to my dealer 9 mo earlier, and my dealer lost them before they got to me. The tracking number even had a signature where they had signed for them. Another time, I refused to take my rig back to the dealer after their errant repair of my 1st bad transfer switch. This resulted in a very dangerous electrical shock. HL sent a new transfer switch directly to me, no questions asked.

DonnyB007 said:

I had a water pump replaced under Heartland warranty and after about 10 weeks of waiting, ...... The dealer had the money on my ViSA in hours after that and applologised for Heartland's customer service. I am skipping their extended warranty and I just hope I don't have to deal with any more warranty work. When I upgrade, of course I will think of an alternative now. It's a shame, for the sake if about 250 bucks! But that is Heartland's customer service for you. But three cheers for my dealer footing the bill until Heartland pays them up - good luck!

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Hi DonnyB007,

I'm wondering who promised to reimburse you for the cost of the water pump. Did you personally talk to someone at Heartland and get told that Heartland would reimburse? I'm asking because it seems pretty unlikely to me.

Usually you go to an authorized servicer, and they replace the part and bill the party that provides the warranty on that part. Most appliances and subsystems not manufactured by Heartland are warranted by their respective manufacturers. I think pumps are warranted by Shurflo or other pump manufacturer.

So I would expect if you called Heartland, that Heartland would have told you to go to your dealer, and if that was something you couldn't or wouldn't do, they probably would have referred you to the pump manufacturer to get direct help.

Maybe you could fill us in on the rest of the story.

Btw, I've edited your post slightly to conform with forum rules.

Yes, sounds a little out of order to me too. Heartland Customer Service was never a problem when getting parts to install myself or having work done by my RV repair service and sending the invoice to Heartland for a check. I paid for it and Heartland had me a check in short order. Repairs on subcontracted equipment in the trailer was always a direct bill from my RV shop to the item's company. I have never been involved in those transactions. Shurflo would probably have been the contact point with the repair service not Heartland.

The original topic of this thread is Tow Master. Heartland is generally not in replacement conversations as they are not the manufacturer.

And I have to add a plug here. I have had two dealings with Fan-Tastic Fans directly and they, by far have been one of the most pleasant to deal with. Sorry, that hijacked this again.

We have a 2011 Heartland Big Country 2950RK. It had Powerking Towmax STR 235/80R16 as original equipment. Our unit has less than 5K miles on it, tires covered when not in use, pressure checked before trip, no evidence of tread wear or bubbling. On July 18th we suffered 3 separate blowouts with tread separation within 1-3 hours of starting our trip. Needless to say by tire number 3, we had purchased a complete new set of Goodyear tires.The road service techs saw no evidence of bad wear or anything else to suggest the tires were bad.
Being longtime RVers, I knew it was nothing at fault from our side.
This week I began looking on line to see if others were experiencing this problem with this tire, and YES they are. I do have pictures but the techs took our old tires, so I know I have no hope of recovering anything from the tire company. I have filed a complaint via NHTSA along with others. I do believe Heartland needs to seriously consider a different tire.
Our 5th wheel is now in the shop for repairs to it from tire blowouts.
Just want other owners with these tires to be aware and get rid of them before it happens to them out on the highway.

Chalk me up to the bad Towmax experience...this past week lost two on my 2012 Cyclone 3800. Blew apart my mouldings, etc...on the slide out. Tires have less than 4000 miles on them, and to think I have to replace all 6 is really a ******. As an owner of a manufacturing company, I am held responsible for the products that I use and resell, as Heartland should be. They are the ones who put the Towcrap tires on these $80k rigs, and they should be the ones who receive the blame when things go wrong. After searching this topic on past threads, this is not a new problem and Heartland has known about it for years and continues to put these crap tires on these trailers.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx because of these substandard tires before they change to something better. I'm guessing they are in a contract with Towmax and it would be too expensive to get out to change over. I hope you guys read this at Heartland, because this is B.S. to have to deal with tire issues on a $80k rig. Wont be a repeat customer in the future guys. Shame on you!!!

Scottwoo,

Sorry your having a problem with the tires. There are thousands out there that are not having problems. But in another thread you have admitted towing 70-75mph. That is above the recommended max speed for any ST rated tire.

Also suggest you read the forum rules.

Jim M

Sorry Jim for losing my cool. But, driving at 70mph shouldn't cause 3 tires to blow IMO.

scottwoo said:

Sorry Jim for losing my cool. But, driving at 70mph shouldn't cause 3 tires to blow IMO.

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See post #58 in the other thread.

Ditto