PowerKing TowMax Tires (Junk)

I've posted here before regarding my problems with Dynamic Tire Corp out of Canada and the Tow Max blow out I had and the damage that resulted to my 5ver. I really didn't know how bad this situation was until I checked on the Good Sam clubs web-site regarding tire issues. Wow, thread after thread regarding Dynamic Tire Corp and Tow Max tires! My Lord someone needs to get the word out that this tire is dangerous and should be taken off the road before someone gets killed!! For real, I'm serious this is a very poor tire and should NOT be placed on any RV. If you have this tire on your RV contact Dynamic Tire Corp and raise all sorts of H___! To many of us have had problems with this company and I for one am contacting Heartland regarding their choice of tires for their products. Guess maybe Thor should be notified also! Remember PowerKing Tow Max

Just bought a 2014 Big Horn 3260EL with these tires on it. Brought it home last Monday, and ordered 4 new 17.5 wheels and tires. Refuse to tow it anywhere with these TowMax or may pop on it. Had SOB and had a blowout with over. 3000.00 worth damage. I'm really surprise that Hearthland uses these tires knowing what is happening out here on the road.

You may also consider contacting Tredit Tire, the supplier of tires to the RV industry.
Elkhart, Indiana Phone: (800) 537-2925 Fax: (800) 795-4437, 57941 Charlotte Avenue, Elkhart, IN 46517, http://www.tredittire.com, Email: ElkhartSales@TreditTire.co,
It would be interesting to see if they live up to the statements entitled "Our Commitment". Here is their commitment statement as printed on their web site.

You bring up a great point, grey ghost. Good luck.

Just a thought. Might the insurance companies paying the claims for the damaged caused by these tires blowing out start to see a pattern of tire failure and take action?

Iv'e read every ones concern in regards to Powerking TowMax Tires. I agree they are totally JUNK. I'll try to make this short. I purchased 2013 BH3010re Aug. 2012. My first RV stop, a neighbor had checked out my new RV earlier. He later confronted me with concern about my RV. He advise me I should change my new tires. That they're cheap and will separate and blow out. I was puzzled. He then took me to his 40ft toy hauler and showed me thee right side. Wow! His new 6 month 5th wheel had blown 2 Towmax tires and rip the right side of thee slider. With that I became concern. Once I got home, I went straight to the dealer where I purchased my RV only to be given a phone #. Nothing could be done on there behalf. I tried to call unsuccessful. I decided to keep track of my tires ( air pressure, visual checks). 5 months later after a trip and getting home late, I woke up in the morning and walked out to un load the RV. I then saw my Right rear tire separated(egg shape). I continued to look and then found another. (OMG) 2 where separated. Did I get lucky. I went back to the dealer. They made a few phone calls and set me up with a #. Go to Americas discount tires for verificaion the 2 tires are separated. I called the # and spoke with A Rep. I requested all 4 to be replaced because they where all from the same lot. My request was denied. Only the 2 would be and that I was lucky those where being replaced. The Rep was trying to tell me that I hit a pot hole or a curb among other things. The Rep then told me half the tire was worn already so she would only give me $89.00 per tire. I tried to explain how could that be. I only had less than 2,000 miles on the tires. Rep said $89.00, I'm lucky. That's more than the manufacture pays for the tires new. I kept my mouth shut and agreed on the refund. Once the tires where off my RV, a 3rd tire was separated. I called back and got another one adjusted. Total $251.00. I used that money to buy 1 G rated Goodyear and had to come out of pocket for thee other 3. I hope those that read this will request different tires. And those that have them, TAKE THEM OFF. Here is the Name and # I was given and made contact for the bad Towmax tires. Olga Fraga Consumer relations. TBC Wholesale. 4300 TBC Way Palm Beach Gardens,FL 33410 # 800-238-6469/direct 561-383-3114.

This tire thing has been an on going subject for alot of years now. It's not just HL that uses these tires.....they all do. HL has for several years, has offered the GY G614's as an option. They are now offering 17.5 tires and wheels. LM's comes standard with the G 614's and I was given some info at the RV show this last weekend that you can order the G 614's on the toy haulers now.

Grey Ghost said:

I've posted here before regarding my problems with Dynamic Tire Corp out of Canada and the Tow Max blow out I had and the damage that resulted to my 5ver. I really didn't know how bad this situation was until I checked on the Good Sam clubs web-site regarding tire issues. Wow, thread after thread regarding Dynamic Tire Corp and Tow Max tires! My Lord someone needs to get the word out that this tire is dangerous and should be taken off the road before someone gets killed!! For real, I'm serious this is a very poor tire and should NOT be placed on any RV. If you have this tire on your RV contact Dynamic Tire Corp and raise all sorts of H___! To many of us have had problems with this company and I for one am contacting Heartland regarding their choice of tires for their products. Guess maybe Thor should be notified also! Remember PowerKing Tow Max

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The sad part is that HeartLand continues to use the Blow Max tires. Took a factory tour in Aug. 2013 and everything but the LM's had these great tires. I would of gladly paid for better tires at the purchase and not suffered all the pain. Our 1 year anniversary of sitting in the middle of nowwhere with 2 blow outs is next week. Since buying good tires 10,000 miles of travel and no problems. Blow Max are now only a distant very bad memory. To all of you still running them it is not IF BUT WHEN good luck to all.

Bob&Patty said:

This tire thing has been an on going subject for alot of years now. It's not just HL that uses these tires.....they all do. HL has for several years, has offered the GY G614's as an option. They are now offering 17.5 tires and wheels. LM's comes standard with the G 614's and I was given some info at the RV show this last weekend that you can order the G 614's on the toy haulers now.

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I have a neighbor with a Fuzion that has the same TowMax tires. I think that many of the things people have issues with are industry-wide.

Bob&Patty said:

This tire thing has been an on going subject for alot of years now. It's not just HL that uses these tires.....they all do. HL has for several years, has offered the GY G614's as an option. They are now offering 17.5 tires and wheels. LM's comes standard with the G 614's and I was given some info at the RV show this last weekend that you can order the G 614's on the toy haulers now.

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Bob, when we bought ours, I asked about the tires and was told there weren't any options. According to all the Heartland literature from then and now there are no options listed on tires. Wish I had known I'd have gladly paid for an upgrade.

All you have to do is ask and the factory will supply better tires, but usually the dealers don't know enough to ask their rep.

gvtahoe88 said:

The sad part is that HeartLand continues to use the Blow Max tires. Took a factory tour in Aug. 2013 and everything but the LM's had these great tires. I would of gladly paid for better tires at the purchase and not suffered all the pain. Our 1 year anniversary of sitting in the middle of nowwhere with 2 blow outs is next week. Since buying good tires 10,000 miles of travel and no problems. Blow Max are now only a distant very bad memory. To all of you still running them it is not IF BUT WHEN good luck to all.

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So what good tires did you buy?

First of all not defending the Power King Towmax tire, but curiosity drove me to the NHTSA site that tracks this kind of stuff. If these are as bad as the forums make them out to be why hasn't there been a recall or an investigation started. According to the NHTSA there have been a total of 31 complaints filed since 2008 on these tires. Frankly that's a pretty small number compared to the number of tires in service , and not nearly enough for them to start an investigation. http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchResults.action . Either consumers aren't reporting or there really are not that many failures compared to the total number of tires sold. By comparison, there were 17 complaints against Heartland with 7 recalls and 22 complaints on Keystone, with 15 recalls in 2008 alone. So why aren't the complaints showing up???? Why are there no "investigations" or "recalls". Just checked the Goodyear Load Range E tires, and after 10 complaints and investigation was started which resulted in a recall. It doesn't make sense?

I will be changing mine. I don't want to be number 32.

GoodYear G rated 614s

I just did a good visual check inside and out as I adjusted the air pressure for our next trip. No indications of any problems. I've already decided to pay close attention to my tires and when it comes times to change, I'll probably go to the Goodyear G614's. The good news is that I verified my rims are stamped "rated for 110 psi", so for me it will be a simple tire change. The added cost isn't that much more than the Towmax, and the higher speed rating is a plus.

Jan & Bill, its a sad fact that RV salesmen have "no clue" about what they are selling. The G614's have been available for at least 3 years now on a factory order. Hopefully people will read this forum before they buy or order a HL coach. Then call the factory and ask first. I installed the 614's 3 years ago with no issues.

I just called Tredit Tire in Elkhart and verified the T07 8 Spoke rims on my Gateway are rated for 110psi also, so very soon I will be switching over to either the Goodyear or the Sailum 235/85-16 G-rated. I am up in the air with the Goodyears as didn't have much luck with the Goodyear Marathon's on my SOB 5er I traded in for the Gateway. I was even less than ecstatic when I saw the Gateway had TowMax tires on it. Although...have over 4K miles on the Gateway the past 6 weeks since purchasing and the TowMax tires look very good still. (knock on wood)

I have had more than my fair share of tire issues with my last 5er, and luckily I was able to catch ever issue with the TST TEMPS i have used religiously for the past 6 years. Can't believe for years I never worried about my tires on my campers, now I wouldn't tow without sensors on my Camper...

greg7140 said:

I just called Tredit Tire in Elkhart and verified the T07 8 Spoke rims on my Gateway are rated for 110psi also, so very soon I will be switching over to either the Goodyear or the Sailum 235/85-16 G-rated. I am up in the air with the Goodyears as didn't have much luck with the Goodyear Marathon's on my SOB 5er I traded in for the Gateway. I was even less than ecstatic when I saw the Gateway had TowMax tires on it. Although...have over 4K miles on the Gateway the past 6 weeks since purchasing and the TowMax tires look very good still. (knock on wood)

I have had more than my fair share of tire issues with my last 5er, and luckily I was able to catch ever issue with the TST TEMPS i have used religiously for the past 6 years. Can't believe for years I never worried about my tires on my campers, now I wouldn't tow without sensors on my Camper...

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Don't confuse the Goodyear Marathon with the Goodyear G614...They aren't even in the same league. The marathon isn't much better than the Tow Max and have about the same amount of problems. Most of the Marathons are of Chinese manufacture as well. G614s are a much higher quality tire with a higher load capacity and are American made if that should matter...Don

I'll say this again as I do for all that are still running the TowMax...

Don't just "watch" them, put your hands on them each time you stop to feel for irregularities or bulges (especially the inside sidewall) forming. A slight bulge could be an indication that internal belts have broken. Yes, you get your hands dirty. It's worth it.

Erika

Erika, You are right on target. I had a good friend to spot the bulging of two of the ODS tires with only 4,000 miles. I was extremely lucky that he notice the tire separation before they blew out. Replaced all five tires with the GY G614 before our long journey to Alaska in 2012. I did manage to get a very reasonable credit for all five tires from HL's supplier after providing them with pictures and an assessment report from Discount Tire Co. I did not file a report with NHTSA.