I have been reading a lot lately in the owners club, as a new Big Country owner, 2011. After reading the forum it appears there has been a lot of trouble with tires. BUT hopefully there a lot of owners out there that had good luck with there tires. I remember lots of name brand tires that had trouble in the past, Ford and Firestone, and of course Goodyear, the famous wires sticking out of the tires but not admitting they had a problem until years later. I had a set of those, one blew out on my rv, and after examing the others found the other 3 also had wires sticking out, ect. Anyway aren't there any owners out there that have had good luck with there (China Bomb) tires? I would like to hear about it. Otherwise I am going to have to try and set aside some money, besides making rv paymeants and insurance and licening fees, to replace them before they blow up the side of my rv. I told my rv dealer about what I had read here and he said they haven't had any more problems with Heartland, then there other brands that they sell on tires. But he might tell all Heartland owners this.
2010augusta
Well-known member
Having the "made in the USA" G614 as a standard feature was one of the many reasons we went with the Landmark. I have had too many trailer tire issues with a 20' flatbed for my jeep, so I did not want to have to deal with any of those with a fifth wheel as big as the Augusta.
I am sure that many people have had no issues with their "China Bombs", but they could be a silent majority, and you are likely to hear from the concerned minority here.
I am sure that many people have had no issues with their "China Bombs", but they could be a silent majority, and you are likely to hear from the concerned minority here.
We have quite a few Chinese tires that came on flat bed and specialty trailers that we use on the farm/ranch. Actually they have held up well, however the key is they are all on dual tandem setups and they are never overloaded or nearly so like they would be on a camper. They stay cool and I would bet that if we loaded them to the max and got them hot they would fail. That is the key to not having them fail on the campers. They just don't have the safety margin the HD Goodyear's have. On our critical stock trailers we run nothing but G614's or the heavier 17.5's on the larger trailers. Way to old to be changing tires along the road and sure don't want to wipe out the wiring/fender flairs on the camper either.
jmgratz
Original Owners Club Member
All I can say is 2 blowouts in the first 3000 miles with each blowout cause $4500.00 damage to the RV. If you have plenty of money and time to let your RV sit while body repairs are made, then go ahead and run those Chinese made tires. Oh yeah, when I looked at the second tire that blew out the steel in it was already rusted. Did I get reimbursed for the damage no my RV insurance paid for the damage resulting in higher insurance rates (2 claims in 1 month). The tire distributor did reimburse me the wholesale cost of the tires at $22. per tire for $44.00. Tell me, how can a $22.00 tire compare to a $200.00 made in USA tire?
There is no way I would run less than a 14 ply well made tire on a camper unless it had duals. Just as you point out there is just to much room for problems. We run them on the flat bed trailers, bale haulers and so on where you can limp in on 7 tires if you have to. I wouldn't pull out of the shop with the Chinese tires on a camper so we are on the same page there.
airedale
Active Member
tires..
rvin4fun......tough one to answer .....during 6 fifth wheels, i have had one tire hughly bulge out and two flats on my cyclone that were nails or screws.....this was all on the tires the trailers came with.......that being said.....i was running around today getting a price to possibly upgrade the tires on my new 3055 from e to g.........this is my second heartland so you know my next comment is'nt really a knock......well, maybe a wee bit.......when i asked about the upgrade on tires before my order went online, i was told...[and i stand to be corrected].....this was to g goodyears and it was over $600..........brand new to brand new.....and the economics did'nt equate........i dont know if this makes sense, but i would really like to see heartland have an option on suspension and tires.......maybe to go from 6000 to 7000 to 8000 on the axles....from f to g on the tires...the springs i dont know about so someone else jump in.......this is the stuff that seems to keep cropping up on the forum and personably i would love to see these things come available at reasonable price..........cheers
rvin4fun......tough one to answer .....during 6 fifth wheels, i have had one tire hughly bulge out and two flats on my cyclone that were nails or screws.....this was all on the tires the trailers came with.......that being said.....i was running around today getting a price to possibly upgrade the tires on my new 3055 from e to g.........this is my second heartland so you know my next comment is'nt really a knock......well, maybe a wee bit.......when i asked about the upgrade on tires before my order went online, i was told...[and i stand to be corrected].....this was to g goodyears and it was over $600..........brand new to brand new.....and the economics did'nt equate........i dont know if this makes sense, but i would really like to see heartland have an option on suspension and tires.......maybe to go from 6000 to 7000 to 8000 on the axles....from f to g on the tires...the springs i dont know about so someone else jump in.......this is the stuff that seems to keep cropping up on the forum and personably i would love to see these things come available at reasonable price..........cheers
I am one that would like to see a suspension package upgrade available. Some folks will always travel light and never push the max. Some of us will load it up to the limit and could use a little margin on tires and suspension. Torsion and air could be offered as they are on other brands. We have had all three and really prefer the springs with air bags. With the Torsion you have to run level and it really puts a strain on things when you are on uneven roads, driveways, and so on. Our Augusta rides better with the Trail Air than our unit with an air bag on each spring. Hot tires are usually the problem and if you are loaded heavy on a hot day then 80 psig wont get it on a 16K camper. All of our previous 5th Wheels were lighter, however we blew out a few tires on them as well and they were all E rated. G or higher is the only way to go on the larger single wheel campers. If you were running duals you could get away with E rated.
We have a 2009 3250TS BC and have just shy of 16000 miles with no problem with any of the tires. I have rotated once and check pressure often. They are the Tow Max and came standard. I started trailering in 1979 have had 6 5th wheels. Had my last for 5 years, almost 80,000 miles and no problem with tires. I guess I must be one of the lucky ones.
airedale
Active Member
tires...
on a follow up on this thread..........there was a point where i became worried about tire wear on a couple of tires on one side......tri axled cyclone.........we started looking at alignment of the axles as maybe being the problem.......i ended up replacing those tires and subsequently sold the unit......the truck dealer i took the unit into, found a different distance tween the centers of the hubs, but did'nt know how to adjust........i feel this may have been the problem with the wear and just may have a bearing on some of the problems folks are having with their tires.........OMHO.........cheers all......
on a follow up on this thread..........there was a point where i became worried about tire wear on a couple of tires on one side......tri axled cyclone.........we started looking at alignment of the axles as maybe being the problem.......i ended up replacing those tires and subsequently sold the unit......the truck dealer i took the unit into, found a different distance tween the centers of the hubs, but did'nt know how to adjust........i feel this may have been the problem with the wear and just may have a bearing on some of the problems folks are having with their tires.........OMHO.........cheers all......
Rmcgrath53
Well-known member
I would like to see the same thing. I upgraded my sundance to the 6,000lb axels for some peace of mind. I will be buying a new fifth wheel in 3 to 5 years. ( the wife told me she would go full time at that point).I hope the Augusta will have that kind of option when the time comes. Also I hope these frame issues are corrected by then. Otherwise a Mobile suites or a Cameo will be in our future new or used.
jmgratz
Original Owners Club Member
Let me add one thing I forgot to say in my earlier post. Regardless of what kind of tires you run I would strongly recommend you spend some money on a Tire Pressure Monitoring System. Pressure Pro and Doran both make good systems and will help warn you of tire issues before they become a problem. I know ours has saved us a number of times.
Just a web site on trailer tires
Hi again, I found a little site that has a lot of information on trailer tires, not brands just info. A few things that I did not know. Some of you might find it interesting. http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTrailerTireFacts.dos I didn't post this to advertise anything, just thought it had some good info, now wife can't complain about me driving less then 65. I showed her you are not suppose to drive over 65 with a ST tire.
Hi again, I found a little site that has a lot of information on trailer tires, not brands just info. A few things that I did not know. Some of you might find it interesting. http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTrailerTireFacts.dos I didn't post this to advertise anything, just thought it had some good info, now wife can't complain about me driving less then 65. I showed her you are not suppose to drive over 65 with a ST tire.
caissiel
Senior Member
I did have a lot of tire problem with my previous trailer and it was all with 15" class C and D GY ST tires. They were rated for over 5000 lbs per axles and they were inflated to the max. I changed to class C, LT truck tires rated for less, just 5000 lbs per axles and they were on the trailer till I traded the unit. I have all chinese tires on my cars now and feel good so far, A person never know what he gets, its so compitative now. Getting tires is like buying chocolates as Forest Gump said.
I was talking to a friend the other day and he told me he had Michelin tires on his motorhome and had to balance the tires often, I asked him what pressure he was using on his tires and he told me 80PSI. Well I told him that was the problem he was wasting his tires and he was looking for problems. The other friend has a 5th wheel of 14000 GVW and he was driving it with 60PSI in the tires for the last 2 years, possibly came from the dealer that way. He also had tire wear problem. Mine came from the dealer with 90PSI in all4 instead of 110PSI.
I went to change the oil on Our Toyota Matrix and they checked the air in my tires and told her they check for 30PSI, I had previously inflated them to 32PSI as the specs asked. After 2 days of driving Barb asked me what the light on the dash was. It was the Tire Pressure warning light on. 3 tires had 24Psi and one had 28PSI. How many people out there do not check tires to spec. or get bad service that needs correcting. These are just 3 examples that I discussed about the last few months. I can talk all day about tires.
I was talking to a friend the other day and he told me he had Michelin tires on his motorhome and had to balance the tires often, I asked him what pressure he was using on his tires and he told me 80PSI. Well I told him that was the problem he was wasting his tires and he was looking for problems. The other friend has a 5th wheel of 14000 GVW and he was driving it with 60PSI in the tires for the last 2 years, possibly came from the dealer that way. He also had tire wear problem. Mine came from the dealer with 90PSI in all4 instead of 110PSI.
I went to change the oil on Our Toyota Matrix and they checked the air in my tires and told her they check for 30PSI, I had previously inflated them to 32PSI as the specs asked. After 2 days of driving Barb asked me what the light on the dash was. It was the Tire Pressure warning light on. 3 tires had 24Psi and one had 28PSI. How many people out there do not check tires to spec. or get bad service that needs correcting. These are just 3 examples that I discussed about the last few months. I can talk all day about tires.
jmgratz
Original Owners Club Member
Another example of how tire pressure can fool you. When I test drove my truck prior to buying it it drove very smooth. After buying it I checked the tire pressure and all of the tires had 20 psi (one had 15 psi). They all looked fully inflated. They were supposed to have 80 psi. The dealer ran the tires low so you get a softer ride. Be careful. You cannot tell by looking.
caissiel
Senior Member
My Matrix had just the amount minimum for the Pressure Warning not to come on. I had to pump them to 32PSI as the tag on the door said. I had a spare installed at Wally World once and they told me they only pump to 30PSI due to insurance policies, I had to pump it to 80 PSI myself.
jmgratz
Original Owners Club Member
I had Discount Tire do the same. Would only inflate to 80 psi on the Goodyear 614 not 110 psi due to company policy. When I asked them if they would be liable for the tire failure due to under inflation a manager came and told the kid to inflate it to 110.
Temperature is what ruins tires and due to under inflation or over loading them. Alignment can be a factor that will make them hot as well. That is why it is nice to know your axle weights loaded as well as all the rest of the weights. The earlier post that noted the tire pressure/temperature monitoring is right on. I would bet most of the china bombs went off due to heat build up. Our local dealer wont inflate to 110 psig unless they have the tire broken down and know it is stamped 110 on the wheel. Most of them are stamped inside where you only see it when the tire is off.
