Options for TowMax oem tire replacement...

I will be taking delivery of a new Cyclone 3110 by the end of this month and will be looking to change out the std oem tires soon and definitely before I take any serious cross country trips.

I have read with interest the discussions on this forum and others trying to find the safest and most cost effective alternative tires to avoid the kind of problems many owners have experienced.

I am mainly interested in hearing the pros & cons of going to the Goodyear G614s 16" vs the 17.5" wheels & Goodyear tires as far as both cost and safety.

I may also consider 16" Maxxis and Michelins but am inclined to stick close to Goodyear with their record of standing up to both tire replacement and taking responsibility for blowout damage.

I hope to see some specific cost figures and recommendations for sources for purchase as well.

I was here last week http://www.trailertiresandwheels.com/ and they told me they have more problems with G-614's than 114's and 17.5 wheels

I too am interested in the replies to this thread. I have not visited my discount tire store, but I have also read on this site to consider
Maxxis or Michellin xps, cooper tires orGoodyear G614.

jnbhobe said:

I was here last week http://www.trailertiresandwheels.com/ and they told me they have more problems with G-614's than 114's and 17.5 wheels

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Sales of Tire A: 1000
Problems on Tire A: 10

Sales of Tire B: 10
Problems on Tire B: 1

There are ten times as many problems with Tire A. So Tire B must be better, right? But in this example the failure rate on tire B is 10 time higher.

It's meaningless to compare the number of problems without also knowing the number of shipments.

W/O a doubt the 17.5" wheels and tires is the strongest option, but also the most expensive initial investment. The load rating is much higher and you are working well below the tire's max. If I had only two axles, that's the direction I would go. 4 tires and wheels would cost about the same as I paid for 6 XPS Ribs with warranty certificates.

Im in the same dilema about tires and will be following this thread.

I went with 17.5" wheels and Sumitomo ST 727 ribs. A good quality medium duty tire rated at 4805 lbs with a 75 mph speed rating. Not a cheap conversion at $560 each (tire, wheel, taxes and shipping included). The diameter is actually smaller than the oem 16" setup which was important to me for maintaining the clearance between tires on the triple axle setup. I wasn't happy about having to replace the tires on a new unit but the peace of mind knowing I'll never be near my max load capacity and not having to worry about a cheap piece of crap blowing out and tearing up the side of my unit makes it worth it.

Terry

I have also been doing some reading on the IRV2.com Forums and was surprised to see a lot of history of tire failures with Goodyear 16" G614s that came new on some fifth wheels. The failures seemed to mostly occur after the tires had a few years life on them.
I sure dont want to invest a lot of money in a solution that is also known to give problems...

The 17.5s are sounding more interesting all the time...

danemayer said:

Sales of Tire A: 1000
Problems on Tire A: 10

Sales of Tire B: 10
Problems on Tire B: 1

There are ten times as many problems with Tire A. So Tire B must be better, right? But in this example the failure rate on tire B is 10 time higher.

It's meaningless to compare the number of problems without also knowing the number of shipments.

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Even if this is true it came from one of the biggest Good Year trailer tire dealers in the country. Just passing on their experience.

I blew two Tow Max tires and changed to Michelin's about four months ago. I really love the quality of the tires and the way Michelin stands behind their product. I got mine from Discount Tire and do not worry about blows outs any longer. I also just put a new set of Michelins on my truck. About the same time I put Michelin's on my 5ver I also purchased a TST tire monitoring system and love that also. I keep my tires blown up to the right pressure and can now monitor the pressure and temp of each tire as we travel down the road. I highly recommend Michelins!!!

For reference, which Michelins (size, rating, etc) and what is your fifth wheel size etc?

Thanks,

I just called discount tire. He told me he could put me in a Michelin LTX/MS2 LT245/75R16 set of 4 = $875. Same rims my towmax,, just less than an inch wider. towmax was rated at 3520 ea. 14080 total for 4. LT245 = 3042ea 12168 for 4. That seems to me to be going backwards on load rating. LT285/75R16 LTX/MS2 would be 3750 each tire. 15000 for 4. $952 at Tirerack...$964 at Discount, but I need to find out if my rim will work. The 285 appears to need at least a 7.5 inch rim. The towmax was a 6.5 inch tire could be used on up to 7.5 inch rim. I'm guessing I have an OEM 6-6.5 inch rim. I really don't want to buy rims too. Goodyear G614s wree $367each. My unit says 15500 on the web. I have not weighed on a scale yet. I am hoping I can make the 285 Michelins work. Even on the Michelin website, there were 5er owners talking about replacing OEM. blowouts with Michelins and SATISFACTION WITH NEW TIRES. OEM towmax 235/80R16s were $125 each $500/4. Heartland saves $100 on every tire they put on a camper from the price of a Michelin. That adds up quick...business decision. I replaced Michelins on my TV with new Michelins. Might as well put them on Toyhauler too.

LT-265-75-R16 = 3415lbs ea.

haulinem said:

I went with 17.5" wheels and Sumitomo ST 727 ribs. A good quality medium duty tire rated at 4805 lbs with a 75 mph speed rating. Not a cheap conversion at $560 each (tire, wheel, taxes and shipping included). The diameter is actually smaller than the oem 16" setup which was important to me for maintaining the clearance between tires on the triple axle setup. I wasn't happy about having to replace the tires on a new unit but the peace of mind knowing I'll never be near my max load capacity and not having to worry about a cheap piece of crap blowing out and tearing up the side of my unit makes it worth it.

Terry

Click to expand...

I too went this route from TrailertiresandWheels.com a couple years ago with my previous trailer. Kept my tires and wheels when we traded this year to our new Savannah. Told the dealer to swapped the Goodyear G614 tires and wheel onto our trade.
Best investment I made for my our towing confidence. We were about 2 hours away and drove down to his shop in Edon Ohio to pickup our wheel and tires and met him and his wife.
They own an old fashioned hardware store (tin panel ceiling still on the ceiling) and a dirt track as well as the wheel and tire business in Edon, Ohio. Great guy to deal with. Before we left that day he insisted on buying us lunch at the bar & grill next door to the hardware store. Pretty cool driving up and seeing my brand news wheels and tire sticking out of the box of his restored 1940's pickup out in front of the old hardware store.

Based on some research of the options, it seems that most "E-Rated" 16" tires have weight capacity max rating of 3500 to 3600 lbs each.

The Goodyear "G-Rated" G614 16" tires have a rating of 3750 lbs. Most of the 17.5" Tires are "H" or even "J" rated and have a max capacity over 4800 lbs!

My Cyclone 3110 has a max GVWR close to 16,000 lbs, so how can oem tires that are rated barely over 14,000lbs (4-of-them) even begin to be adequate?

Am I missing something here as to what is considered adequate? Where are the Weight Police?

Yeah, I was looking at the
LT265 and the LT 285, they are 7.5 inch rim. I need to verify if they will work on my OEM rims that the towmax came on. Discount offers a 3yr warranty replacement at no additional cost for about $40 per tire. $1000 out the door with 3 yr replacement warranty. That may be the best deal IF I stay in a 80psi tire.

jnbhobe said:

LT-265-75-R16 = 3415lbs ea.

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I agree, my 3100 weight is 15500 and the blowmax are only rated at 14000? How is that legal? Dry weight is under 12000, that is how they do it. Sell it to you dry, you add the weight, and now it is the owners problem. Speculation on my part.

Cjackg said:

Based on some research of the options, it seems that most "E-Rated" 16" tires have weight capacity max rating of 3500 to 3600 lbs each.

The Goodyear "G-Rated" G614 16" tires have a rating of 3750 lbs. Most of the 17.5" Tires are "H" or even "J" rated and have a max capacity over 4800 lbs!

My Cyclone 3110 has a max GVWR close to 16,000 lbs, so how can oem tires that are rated barely over 14,000lbs (4-of-them) even begin to be adequate?

Am I missing something here as to what is considered adequate? Where are the weight Police?

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Sounds very real to me... So where are all the experts that are so quick to jump on weight limits on trucks etc....

About 20% is on the truck

Don't forget that the pin weight plays a part in this equation.
Around 20%, so that comes to around 3100 pounds.
Subtract that from the 15500 and you have 12400 on the tires.

Peace
Dave