Blowmax owners group

[Lynn1130]

About a year ago my wife's cousin and his wife bought a different brand trailer. Since I have some experience 5th wheeling he asked for my help with checking it out before he bought it. It was used but only one time and on a short trip. The owner became ill and they had to sell so it was basically brand new. On my first look at the unit I saw that it had TowMax tires and considering my experience with them, I suggested that he get rid of them as soon as possible. We made several local, in state trips together and they made a few on their own since the purchase and Friday we were all returning from a trip to the mountains when one of his tires blew about 15 miles from home. Minimal damage, luckily, and he is putting better tires on but his comment to me was "I should have listened and made that move sooner". Another member of the club (along with me a few years ago).

There is a point where trailer companies have been told enough times that these tires are junk and dangerous that they become responsible for damages and injury. I wonder if we are there yet?

 

[Jim.Allison]

Now that school has started and people are back to work the blowmax stories have slowed down, lol they were running a new story about every three days.

About a year ago my wife's cousin and his wife bought a different brand trailer. Since I have some experience 5th wheeling he asked for my help with checking it out before he bought it. It was used but only one time and on a short trip. The owner became ill and they had to sell so it was basically brand new. On my first look at the unit I saw that it had TowMax tires and considering my experience with them, I suggested that he get rid of them as soon as possible. We made several local, in state trips together and they made a few on their own since the purchase and Friday we were all returning from a trip to the mountains when one of his tires blew about 15 miles from home. Minimal damage, luckily, and he is putting better tires on but his comment to me was "I should have listened and made that move sooner". Another member of the club (along with me a few years ago).

There is a point where trailer companies have been told enough times that these tires are junk and dangerous that they become responsible for damages and injury. I wonder if we are there yet?

 

[Jim.Allison]

I just wanted to check in and update the Blowmax owners club. Just like many of you I lost a properly inflated and maintained BloMax tire at 1800 miles on the tire, boy was I angry about it.

I went through the whole complaint process with TowMax, who assisted me in filing the claim with Dynamic Tire, identified as the manufacturer by the tire serial number as the manufacturer of my BlowMax.

Dynamic Tire sent me a UPS label and asked that the tire be boxed and shipped to their facility in Canada. I did that. I just knew I was going to get $500 or something to cover some of the damages to the rig. Well a month later I got a letter that stated that my tire was overloaded and or under inflated, and subsequently failed because of it. I knew that was not true when I read it, but I had no evidence at that point and even if I did, they would not accept it anyway. The letter went on to state that they would give me $125 for customer goodwill, and reiterated that it was only because they were being gracious.

Since I bought new wheels and tires (17.5 inch), I want to sell my set of 5 tires and wheels. so I asked if I could get a tire rather than $125, they agreed. So I have 5 on TO4 wheels and 1 on steel rim. I received the tire today, precisely 6 months since the blow out.

But something else happened today. I weighed my rig as it was configured on the day of the blow out 6 months ago. Guess what I found out? Yup, you got it!!!!! None of my wheel positions are over 3000 lbs the average weight is 2800 LBS. The blowmax E rated tire is a 3520 lb tire.

Your Blowmax's are not overloaded, they are just cheap.

 

[JohnD]

I still think that a lot of Blowmax blowouts are possibly caused by not having the trailer tires balanced.

Not too mention that bent and warped wheels could also be the culprit.

When I had mire trailer tires balanced, every single one of them had not been balanced and needed it badly . . . plus, one of my wheels was extremely warped!

That wheel is now my spare . . .

 

[Jim.Allison]

Too many brand new ones like mine, my rig has not been around long enough to accumulate any junk, And there are too many premature failures that that cannot be related to balancing issues. If it can't make 1800 miles unbalanced then it is still a piece of cr--. I was surprised to see that my rig was 11200 lbs on those four tires. way under the 14000 max for the tires. None of my blowmax show any abnormal wear to the tread, infact the one that blew, had good tread, i searched it and could not find a puncture or any messup tread, it looked like a 1800 miles tire except for it was no longer on the tire........

I still think that a lot of Blowmax blowouts are possibly caused by not having the trailer tires balanced.

Not too mention that bent and warped wheels could also be the culprit.

When I had mire trailer tires balanced, every single one of them had not been balanced and needed it badly . . . plus, one of my wheels was extremely warped!

That wheel is now my spare . . .

 

[chiefaret]

Not a member of the blowax group YET. But the blowmax on my travel trailer have at least 15000 miles on them. As a new member to the Owners Club I did not know the chance I was taking with these tires. I did buy a tire monitoring system and kept the tires inflated to 65 lbs all the time. I have read most of the threads as I am getting new tires this fall, even though he blowmax have good tread left on them. I was thinking of LT tires and contacted Michelin tires about their LT tires. This is what they told me

"We appreciate your interest in Michelin tires for your travel trailer.

If your trailer came originally with ST tires, we would not recommend using LT tires.

The ST tire is designed to prevent sway for your trailer. The LT tires do not have this feature and are not recommended for the trailer. If the trailer originally came with LT tires, the XPS Rib would be an excellent choice. This tire has a steel fabric construction and is our most durable light truck tire. We would need the tire size to determine where the tires are produced. Most are produced in Europe.

​

We appreciate your business and thank you for choosing Michelin."

Now I am unsure what to do. My trailer is well under 10000 gross, so ST probably ok. Anybody have recommendations on ST tire manufacturers??? Don't really want to join the blowmax club!!






​

 

[Tallyrver]

"The ST tire is designed to prevent sway for your trailer. The LT tires do not have this feature and are not recommended for the trailer. If the trailer originally came with LT tires, the XPS Rib would be an excellent choice. This tire has a steel fabric construction and is our most durable light truck tire"

thats interesting ,ST tires are designed to prevent sway ...Lt tires are not ..LT tires are not recommended unless they came on the trailer.

I've narrowed my choice to Ribs or Goodyear G ,if they don't bust the bank

 

[TravelTiger]

When we researched ST tires, we were swayed to go with Maxxis. When we needed new tires again, we went with Maxxis again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dean-Pam]

Based upon all the input from the group (get rid of Blowmax, though they were new) and also wanting to remain with an ST tire, we went with the Maxxis 8008. We did over 11,000 miles in 3 months and are very pleased with going with Maxxis.

 

[scottyb]

Not a member of the blowax group YET. But the blowmax on my travel trailer have at least 15000 miles on them. As a new member to the Owners Club I did not know the chance I was taking with these tires. I did buy a tire monitoring system and kept the tires inflated to 65 lbs all the time. I have read most of the threads as I am getting new tires this fall, even though he blowmax have good tread left on them. I was thinking of LT tires and contacted Michelin tires about their LT tires. This is what they told me

"We appreciate your interest in Michelin tires for your travel trailer.

If your trailer came originally with ST tires, we would not recommend using LT tires.

The ST tire is designed to prevent sway for your trailer. The LT tires do not have this feature and are not recommended for the trailer. If the trailer originally came with LT tires, the XPS Rib would be an excellent choice. This tire has a steel fabric construction and is our most durable light truck tire. We would need the tire size to determine where the tires are produced. Most are produced in Europe.

​

We appreciate your business and thank you for choosing Michelin."

Now I am unsure what to do. My trailer is well under 10000 gross, so ST probably ok. Anybody have recommendations on ST tire manufacturers??? Don't really want to join the blowmax club!!​

I switched to the XPS Ribs before my 1st outing. There's no way I will ever be convince that the flimsy 38 lb Blowmax tires will prevent sway more than the XPS Ribs which weigh in at 56 lbs. The tire guys will tell you it is one of the most difficult to mount with one of the stiffest sidewalls of any tire. I surpassed 15K trouble free miles last week and I see them going another 15K, no problem. I try very hard not to, but I have even hit a curb or 3 along the way.​

 

[Jim.Allison]

Put some boots on that rig........Michelin telegraphed that their tire would be a good one, but they just did not want to commit to it in writting. Read between the lines. No matter what anyone says, LT tires are completely acceptable as a trailer tire. Better in my mind.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=219

Not a member of the blowax group YET. But the blowmax on my travel trailer have at least 15000 miles on them. As a new member to the Owners Club I did not know the chance I was taking with these tires. I did buy a tire monitoring system and kept the tires inflated to 65 lbs all the time. I have read most of the threads as I am getting new tires this fall, even though he blowmax have good tread left on them. I was thinking of LT tires and contacted Michelin tires about their LT tires. This is what they told me

"We appreciate your interest in Michelin tires for your travel trailer.

If your trailer came originally with ST tires, we would not recommend using LT tires.

The ST tire is designed to prevent sway for your trailer. The LT tires do not have this feature and are not recommended for the trailer. If the trailer originally came with LT tires, the XPS Rib would be an excellent choice. This tire has a steel fabric construction and is our most durable light truck tire. We would need the tire size to determine where the tires are produced. Most are produced in Europe.

​

We appreciate your business and thank you for choosing Michelin."

Now I am unsure what to do. My trailer is well under 10000 gross, so ST probably ok. Anybody have recommendations on ST tire manufacturers??? Don't really want to join the blowmax club!!






​

 

[dalspot]

Took ours off with less than 1,800 miles on them, and two seasons. I couldn't even bring myself to sell them on Craigslist, so we left at tire dealer. HE probably sold them, but at least I can sleep at night!

Can you be a member if you yanked em off before anything happened? Or is the group only for those who suffered?

 

[JWalker]

Took ours off with less than 1,800 miles on them, and two seasons. I couldn't even bring myself to sell them on Craigslist, so we left at tire dealer. HE probably sold them, but at least I can sleep at night!

I have 4 new ones sitting in the garage. They only made the trip from Elkhart to Richmond Virginia. I don't know what I'm going to do with them.

 

[gwalter]

I changed mine with 1500 mi on them. I had one go bad on my previous 5ver so didn't want to take any chances. Discount Tire gave me a trade in on them.

 

[TravelTiger]

I have 4 new ones sitting in the garage. They only made the trip from Elkhart to Richmond Virginia. I don't know what I'm going to do with them.

http://discounttirecenters.com/blog/4-creative-tire-swing-ideas/

 

[Jim.Allison]

Put them on craigs list, they are a **** of a utility tire for a landscaping rig or around town trailer. But they are not suitable for us. I think you could expect to get at least $800 for them.

I have 4 new ones sitting in the garage. They only made the trip from Elkhart to Richmond Virginia. I don't know what I'm going to do with them.

 

[porthole]

I have 4 new ones sitting in the garage. They only made the trip from Elkhart to Richmond Virginia. I don't know what I'm going to do with them.

Save them for the trade next year.


Mine are still in the basement, but one failed.
Either way, if I was going back to Elkhart to pick up a rig, I'd travel with the 17's and make the switch at MOR/ryde, then switch out the new when the IS gets done.

 

[MichaelOH59]

Put them on craigs list, they are a **** of a utility tire for a landscaping rig or around town trailer. But they are not suitable for us. I think you could expect to get at least $800 for them.

Do the humane thing and don't sell them for use on trailers that pull animals. Lawn mowers are one thing but cows and horses are another.

 

[Wrenched]

I've had 4 Towmax failures in the past 4 months with about 6000 miles on them (235-80R16).
One was a blowout that caused a bit of damage. The cords shifted in the other 3 and I changed them before they failed.

I replaced 4 on my own with Maxxis - bought them before and had good service.

On the road replacements, I had to accept a Carlisle and a Supertrail. I checked the construction details on the sidewalls - very interesting.

The Maxxis have 7 belts in the tread, 3 in the sidewall. The Carlisle, Supertrail and the Towmax were all 5 belts in the tread and 2 in the sidewall.
The Maxxis are much stiffer than the other 3 tire brands. I'm hoping they are able to better resist the twisting forces when we make u-turns with our 4100 Cyclone.

I had installed a TPMS system which caught 2 of the failures leaking while on the highway giving me a chance to pull over to a safe place to change them. I keep the tires up to 80 PSI religiously and check the temps with an infrared gun when we stop along the way. (The TPMS system also monitors the temps, but I like to see what they are running at on the ground, and also check the temps on my transmission and rear differential.)

I didn't think there was any warranty on them since I was over a year, but, I was told by the folks at Treddit that the tires are covered for 5 years. They also had a liability department that might have taken some responsibility for the damage to our unit. They couldn't do anything for me without the tires unfortunately. I didn't have the foresight to keep the failed ones in the event I could have had some warranty support. Hopefully, others won't make the same mistake I did.

 

[Jim.Allison]

Sorry you had to deal with this, but since the season is nearing an end the Blowmax reports are a little less frequent, but thanks for reporting in. But now you are a member. Someone is working on a logo we are going to print a sticker. Perhaps it will come with a little sticker that says ask me about blowmax tires. LOL glad you are safe and you were able to mitigate damage to your rig.