Mike-and-Alice
Member
Having read all the stuff on Tow Max, I asked for an upgrade when we picked up our Bighorn in July of 2013. My dealer upgraded me to Goodyear Marathons for about $400 more.
We have pulled the fifth wheel about 15,000 miles in the last 21 months. I lost one of the tires, probably to road debris, in Arkansas last October and replaced with the same tire. ST235/80R16 E rated Goodyear Marathon. On the way back from Florida last month, I lost 2 more of the original 4 Goodyears on two successive days, one on each side of the RV. The Goodyear Marathons were no longer available as an E rated tire (they show a D rating now), so I bought ST235/80R16 E rated Carlisles. When I lost the second one the next day, I replaced the remaining original Goodyear with a Carlisle, and put the newest Goodyear (from Arkansas) on the spare; I now have 4 new Carlisles on the ground. My thoughts were that A) Goodyear may have had a bad batch on my original 4 and/or B) That they had to downgrade the tire from E to D due to some design issue.
In 4+ years of towing 5th wheels, I have now lost 5 tires, complete with insurance claims for the damage each one caused to the RV. I tried a wireless TPMS system, but it worked so intermittently and had false alarms so often that we never put it on the new RV. I check my tire pressure at least every other day on the road, and always at the beginning of a trip. BTW, I always check manufacturing dates and won't put a tire older than 6 months on the RV.
A friend of mine has a 2014 Bighorn 3855FB (2 feet longer) and his tires are G rated 235/85R16's. He runs 100 psi instead of 80, and hasn't had a problem with his tires yet. Any down side to going to the higher aspect ratio tire on my 3670? Any up side? What do you guys think? I would rather upgrade all 4 tires than have another blowout.
Mike
We have pulled the fifth wheel about 15,000 miles in the last 21 months. I lost one of the tires, probably to road debris, in Arkansas last October and replaced with the same tire. ST235/80R16 E rated Goodyear Marathon. On the way back from Florida last month, I lost 2 more of the original 4 Goodyears on two successive days, one on each side of the RV. The Goodyear Marathons were no longer available as an E rated tire (they show a D rating now), so I bought ST235/80R16 E rated Carlisles. When I lost the second one the next day, I replaced the remaining original Goodyear with a Carlisle, and put the newest Goodyear (from Arkansas) on the spare; I now have 4 new Carlisles on the ground. My thoughts were that A) Goodyear may have had a bad batch on my original 4 and/or B) That they had to downgrade the tire from E to D due to some design issue.
In 4+ years of towing 5th wheels, I have now lost 5 tires, complete with insurance claims for the damage each one caused to the RV. I tried a wireless TPMS system, but it worked so intermittently and had false alarms so often that we never put it on the new RV. I check my tire pressure at least every other day on the road, and always at the beginning of a trip. BTW, I always check manufacturing dates and won't put a tire older than 6 months on the RV.
A friend of mine has a 2014 Bighorn 3855FB (2 feet longer) and his tires are G rated 235/85R16's. He runs 100 psi instead of 80, and hasn't had a problem with his tires yet. Any down side to going to the higher aspect ratio tire on my 3670? Any up side? What do you guys think? I would rather upgrade all 4 tires than have another blowout.
Mike
