Tire issue - Help

Hi we have a 2012 bighorn 3455rl. We bought it in april 2012. We have had 3 blow out tires, which does not make rv'ing very fun. The first one was las spring in our way back from Palm dessert. It cause about $1500 damage to our 5th at that time we replace the blow tire with a new tire from the same manufacture (powerking from canada). We put a claim with the tire manufacture and they basically deny the claim. The 2nd one happen outside Park City UT in our way to yellowstone. It delay our trip, we had to go to the tire shop as the other 2 tires where bulging. So we had 3 tires replace with Duro DS2100 16inch. Thank goodness this time no damage to rv. Well the new tire that we put on to replace the 1st blow out tire just blew out and had cause quite a bit of damage as it broke all the wires under the trailer. So we will need to take it to our repair shop and get a estimate.

Our simple question is how can we avoid this, in the future?
Do we need to get bigger tires? like 17 or 17.5 inch or what any help you can give us would be much appreciate it.
Every blow out causes a lot of stress, and makes us question if we should have a 5th even do we love to rv.

Thanks
Gladys & John Aadland

Hi gvsummer,

To get peace of mind you'll probably want to upgrade your tires from load range E to load range G. The cold sidewall pressure on your E tires is 80psi with a load capacity of 3520 pounds, whereas on the G tires it'll be 110psi and 3750 pounds. Goodyear G614s are standard on Landmarks and are an option on factory ordered Bighorns. You'll need to verify that your current wheels are rated for 110psi. You may find this info stamped on the inside exterior wall of the wheel. If not sure, call Tredit to verify.

You should get your trailer weighed - with individual wheel weights - to make sure you're not overloaded on any of the wheels. Trailer weight is probably not distributed evenly, so don't assume that if your total weight is under the GVWR that each wheel is ok.

You'll also probably want to get a Correct Track Laser Alignment done. Most Camping Worlds can do this for $99 ($50 if you keep your eyes open for a coupon). If your axles are not in alignment with the frame, you'll put wear and stress on the tires.

A Tire Pressure Management System like TST offers will help you manage tire inflation to the cold sidewall spec.

Your Towmax tires have a speed rating of 65mph. Exceeding that speed is damaging to the tires because of heat buildup. The Goodyear G614 tires are rated to 75mph. Driving below the max should give you additional safety margin.\

Some people have had good success with Sailun load range G tires which are less expensive than Goodyear G614s. But there are a lot of G614s on the road. Not clear how many Sailuns are in use.

Another choice would be to go to 17.5" wheels and tires. Goodyear G114s go to 125psi and support 4805 pounds.

Hi danmayer,

thanks so much for the great reply and the advice. We do have tires that go only to 80psi. So we will I think go with the 17.5 and the G114s that sounds like a good option for us.

Have a great sunday!!

gvsummer said:

Hi danmayer,

thanks so much for the great reply and the advice. We do have tires that go only to 80psi. So we will I think go with the 17.5 and the G114s that sounds like a good option for us.

Have a great sunday!!

Click to expand...

You should check you wheels on the inside to see what the rating is on the wheel. They may be rated for a G rated tire even though an E rated tire was mounted on it. Then to upgrade to a G rated tire all you would have to do is buy new tires. Depending on your weight you may not need H rated tires. Also the tires you have may be Chinese tires which most of us have had issues with. Michelin makes a great E rated tire I have had great success with on previous RVs.

I have traveled to Florida from eastern Canada four times.On my very first trip the tires were inflated to only 90 psi and the wheels were not balanced.I had no problems.Since I have familiarized myself with RVing I now have 110 psi in the tires and use a tire monitoring system plus all wheels are now balanced.Still no problems.Had to replace 2 of my GY614 as one couldn't be balanced(warranty) and the other was worn on one side that may of been due to my first year of incorrect tire pressure and unbalanced tires.If you upgraded to GY 614 at 110 psi and have them balanced that may solve your problem.The only other remaining issue is wheel alignment ???