Power King Towmax STR tires

Dmaxcc6spd

Active Member
I'll go out on a limb and call them crap. 3rd season on these tires and just had a failure. I had a sidewall buldge the size of a cantelope. Lucky it happened while we were off the interstate. Looking at Goodyear G614, Maxxis M8008 and BFG Commercial T/A as replacement options.
 

Zeman

Active Member
Not getting a warm fuzzy feeling dealing with TBC Brands so far......the initial employee seemed very put out just taking my info. I e-mailed pics of the tires and waited a couple days. Called back and talked to another, asked if they received my photos,claimed yes. I asked if there was any time frame for a response--their answer was I'll look at them and e-mail you--with a seemingly similar tone of exasperation. We'll see............ Dmaxcc6sp--I wholeheartedly agree--garbage. Virtually no miles, Feb 2010 purchase of TT.
 

GOTTOYS

Well-known member
I sold my TowMax tires on Craigs shortly after I got my Big Country. I installed 4 B.F. Goodrich Commercial TAs. No problems at all in close to 6,000 miles. Wasn't that easy to sell them on Craigs. Their reputation follows them around. I got $250.00 for the set. I think they went on a manure spreader or something...Don
 

Dmaxcc6spd

Active Member
I just ordered 5 of the BFG Commercial T/A tires. $150 each from SummitRacing. I'm trying to decide if I should keep the china bombs to put back on for winter storage or try the Craig's list route for getting rid of them. I can mount and dismount my own tires, but if I can get $200 out of the TowCraps that would help offset the cost of some American tires!!

I will never buy a chinese tire again. Problem now is I have a utility trailer with 4 6 year old Mission china bombs :( Guess I'll be ordering 5 more in the spring!!
 

Zeman

Active Member
After 2 weeks of asking for a response to my claim TBC Brands rep. finally looked at my photos I e-mailed them while I waited on the phone. Reply was we will cover up to $80 per tire, fax the receipt for the replacement tires to us for reimbursement. I suppose fair enough TBC. I will remember the Towmax name next TT purchase and refuse to take delivery with one equipped with them.
 

jgilbert

Well-known member
I noticed the 2012 Select Suites from DRV also use these Towmax tires. So even the so called upper crust RV makers use China bombs too.

Joe
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
Keep in mind the Select Suites is the 'low end' model. On the Mobile Suites and Elite Suites they have 17 inch J rated tires and are Michelins or GoodYears.
 

Mandotar

Member
I recently traded "up" from a 2007 DRV Select Suites to a 2011 Heartland Greystone and can vouch that DRV puts the low-end tires on their $80,000 units too. I replaced those with Goodyear G-rated tires and am looking to do the same on the Greystone. However the tire dealer told me the wheels that came with the Greystone will not fit steel valve stems because there's not enough room for the washers. Has anyone heard of this? Doesn't make a lot of sense putting $1500 worth of tires on your 5er if you have to stay with rubber stems.
 

cddane

Member
Does anybody have any experience with Power King Towmax STR tires? I believe they are made by Cordovan. I have these on my new 09 Sundance 2900MK that I picked up from the dealer about 3 weeks ago. Mine are ST235/80R16 Load E, 10 ply radial. Hope they will be better than the Mission tires that I have read so much about.

I have these tires on my 2011 Elkridge 34RLSA. I have approximately 2,700 miles of highway use. I replaced 3 of these yesterday in Dillon Montana..........unfortunately, with few options here I could only get this same tire.

Each tire had a unique problem. One nearly failed with a flat spot. Another with erratic wear on the inside edge. A third tire hade rubber shredding. All were taken out of service. I used the spare and bought
two more. I run monitors on my tires and back up these readings with a traditional monitor....they are always maintained properly.

I will be watching things on the 1,200 miles I have left on this trip. Unless my trailer was delivered with a badly aligned axel, there is no reason for this problem. I seriously doubt it is the trailer. This tire seems to posses defects. I felt it necessary to replace them before they failed. I wish another brand would have been available to me in this little town.

Regards
CD
 

lwmcguir

Well-known member
I think you will find the tires were out of balance and you have a bent axle in addition to the poor quality tires.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
I think you will find the tires were out of balance and you have a bent axle in addition to the poor quality tires.

Our TowMax tire experience sounds similar. 1st tire at the one year mark of ownership displayed irregular wear on the inside edge, replaced with spare. TBC corporate sent a new tire. we put the new one on the spare rim and moved the spare to the ground. 6 mo later, all tires have strange wear, and one tire looks like it has a bulge. We also believed we had an axle/spring/euqalizer issue, so upgraded all that. Then, replaced all FIVE tires, two had broken belts, and all were out of round, even though they were balanced and even rotated and balanced again during their 1.5 year use. The spare that was only used for 2 trips? it looked like an octagon when it was removed from the rim! I am awaiting reimbursement from TBC. We bought Maxxis. Our local shop had to order them, but man, what a difference!

E
 

wingfoot

Well-known member
For those thinking about running the Goodyear G614.

I don't want to start a war here, but if you do some research you will find that the Goodyear G614 requires/suggest 110# PSI...After doing some research and calling Heartland to determine the Rim capacity as to PSI..I found, and was advised the rims are intended to only handle up 80# PSi..I also wanted to go to the 614's but ruled against it based on the information I was able to find...
 

rnewk52

Active Member
Just my two cents worth;
We took delivery of our new 2012 BH Ti32 about one week ago, yesterday I removed all five wheels and Tow Max tires and sent them to the tire shop to be balanced while I installed the wet bolt and shackle kit. When I received the tires back the worst tire had 4.25 oz of weights and the best tire only had 0.5 oz. The wheels are all marked for 110 psi max. pressure. All my tires were manufactured between weeks 9 and 15 of 2011.
Our 2011 Cyclone had one tire that had 18 oz of weights to get it balanced, and those wheels were marked 80 psi max. Maybe the wheels and pressure differences are difference between 6k axles and 7k axles.
 

wingfoot

Well-known member
Just my two cents worth;
We took delivery of our new 2012 BH Ti32 about one week ago, yesterday I removed all five wheels and Tow Max tires and sent them to the tire shop to be balanced while I installed the wet bolt and shackle kit. When I received the tires back the worst tire had 4.25 oz of weights and the best tire only had 0.5 oz. The wheels are all marked for 110 psi max. pressure. All my tires were manufactured between weeks 9 and 15 of 2011.
Our 2011 Cyclone had one tire that had 18 oz of weights to get it balanced, and those wheels were marked 80 psi max. Maybe the wheels and pressure differences are difference between 6k axles and 7k axles.

Not really, the axles will not have any bearing (no pun intended) on the tire except if you are having them spin balanced on the axles. 4.25 oz. is really not that much weight for a tire that heavy. You might have had a better outcome (the 18 oz. tire) if the tire shop would have rotated the tire a 180* on the rim and rebalanced. Most tire shops don't match-mount tires, which is an injustice. But in their defense, they just don't know how. Have you ever noticed a "dot", usually wax or it could be a drop of colored paint on the tire shoulder? That usually depicts the valve placement and the tire is suppose to align with the valve stem hole at that point. In most cases the Valve Stem hole is drilled at the "high side'' of the rim..now, I said most, it's best to check with the manufacture. Oh, and that wax dot on the tire is the low radial run-out of the tire..again, you must check the wheel manufacture. When I was involved with this procedure, all domestic car manufactures with the exception of Chrysler drilled the valve hole placement at the 'high side of the rim. Now I know what some might think, but I don't know of any wheel/tire that is perfectly round, hence the ''Match-Mount'' procedure...

Most tire shop (good ones) know they are to match tire markings up to the valve stem..but it has been my experience, when I ask them "why", they say that's the heavy spot on the tire"...NOT

Hope this helps...
 
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TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
For those thinking about running the Goodyear G614.

I don't want to start a war here, but if you do some research you will find that the Goodyear G614 requires/suggest 110# PSI...After doing some research and calling Heartland to determine the Rim capacity as to PSI..I found, and was advised the rims are intended to only handle up 80# PSi..I also wanted to go to the 614's but ruled against it based on the information I was able to find...

Yes, this was our problem, too. Cannot run 614's on 80psi wheels. Maxxis was the best option for us.
 

jnbhobe

Well-known member
I think most of the Heartland full profile trailers have wheels rated for 110# but everyone should check their own. If it is true that Heartland has changed to E-rated tires on all but the Landmark we may be seeing more 80# wheels.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
For those thinking about running the Goodyear G614.

I don't want to start a war here, but if you do some research you will find that the Goodyear G614 requires/suggest 110# PSI...After doing some research and calling Heartland to determine the Rim capacity as to PSI..I found, and was advised the rims are intended to only handle up 80# PSi..I also wanted to go to the 614's but ruled against it based on the information I was able to find...

I am suprised to hear that your wheels are only rated at 80 PSI. I had a 2008 3400rl, nearly the same floor plan as you, and the wheels had molded onto a spoke on the backside, "110 PSI max load 3750 LB".
In fact I moved those wheels along with my new G-614's to my new rig.
Did you crawl under the trailer and look at the wheels?
Peace
Dave
 

wingfoot

Well-known member
I am suprised to hear that your wheels are only rated at 80 PSI. I had a 2008 3400rl, nearly the same floor plan as you, and the wheels had molded onto a spoke on the backside, "110 PSI max load 3750 LB".
In fact I moved those wheels along with my new G-614's to my new rig.
Did you crawl under the trailer and look at the wheels?
Peace
Dave

No, I could not find any marking...therefore, I called Heartland to attempt to get a clearer understanding. And I was told, "the rims are only designed to handle up to 80# PSI..Went on to say, if you want to run a tire that requires 110# PSI, you will have to change rims."

I'll keep looking for some kind of designation on the rim..I did have my trailer brakes inspected when I bought the trailer. I asked the Tech. to see if he saw any markings pertaining to the rim capacity...He didn't see/find any kind of disclaimer. I posted before on this topic, and I think you responded with information including Pictures. This prompted me to try to find some kind of "markings on the rims...to no avail.
I wonder if Heartland changed rims. I know you said you had a trailer similar to mine...Maybe I have different rims?????

I am going to crawl under the trailer and see for myself.

Thanks for you reply,
Larry
 
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