How often should you replace your Rv tires?

[Wharton]

We change our tires every 5-6 years, same with the truck.

 

[lwmcguir]

We run our all steel tires about 10 years unless serious cracks develop. Don't push them that far on the Coaches though. We take them off the Coach and then on to stock or flat bed trailers for the rest of their useful life.

Temperature is the primary cause of failure. That is hot temps when the tire is moving down the road. Under inflation or overloading are the two primary causes of the high temps and then eventually tire self destruction. Of course road hazards factor in here but if they don't cause eminent failure how do you know when to change them?

Keep the properly inflated, loaded, and whach for defects developing. That is about the best you can do. I have had as many new tires fail as the old ones but I would never push the life on a coach. Get a good trade at a dealer that can sell the used ones.

 

[kakampers]

Well, we had planned on replacing our G614's this fall...they would have been three years old in September...but fate (or our great luck) had a different idea...

We are sitting in a repair/tire shop just south of Wilkes-Barre, PA. On our way to Syracuse, on I-81 (not a good place to breakdown), the tread on one of our rear G614's separated completely and the tire blew, taking the fender skirt, some of the aluminum wrap, part of the insulation and cover beneath the floor and various other small body parts!!

The tires were made in the 24th week of 07' and have about 35,000 miles on them. They still had plenty of tread, had worn well and we never drive more than 55 mph. We are approximately 1,100 pounds UNDER weight on our axles AND we use a TPMS...it never even had a chance to warn us...it just blew!! Also took a chunk out of the tread of the tire in front of it...

We are having all new tires delivered to our location tomorrow..luckily the shop is allowing us to stay on their lot overnight and even gave us electric.

Can't imagine what else we could possibly do to be safe??? Unfortunately, we are ordering all new G614's...don't want to put Chinese tires on here...don't seem to have any other choice, short of going to H load and 17.5". Can't afford that right now. Not sure we'll ever feel safe again...how depressing!!

I don't know if sitting for six months in the RGV may have contributed to this, or if the tire was just defective...guess we just take it one day at a time...

 

[Recovered from 25-May-2010]

We had tread major tread separation problems years ago(tires would last 5000-7000 miles) and I talked to a well know expert(he was a member of one of our groups) and he said we either had too much flex in the tires we were using or they were underinflated(inflation was OK). We switched to LT tires and never had the problem again. We were underweight and had the correct air.

Since the 614's(and the prior 657??) started coming to market we switched to them and have never had a problem. We run our tires at 100-110 psi.

Underinflation is the major cause of tire failure.

Keep your carcass and talk to Goodyear they will probably make good on any damage unless they determine it was your error(underinflation).

 

[kakampers]

Trust me...they were not under inflated, that's why we have the TPMS. They are kept as close to 110 as humanly possible and monitored to make sure they stay there.

We've already contacted Goodyear and have started the claim process...I'm starting to see more and more people having the tread come completely off of these G614's. I just recently became aware of at least two other Heartlanders who it happened to recently, one thinking he got re-treads...I'm not sure that's the case now. I know ours aren't...we checked the DOT dates when we purchased, they'd only been made several months before they were installed on our trailer.

I'd put Michelin XPS on in a heartbeat, but they don't make them in G load...it seems like there is no other choice right now, except some chinese brand, and that ain't happening. I can say that before these new tires see their second birthday...we will be moving up to 17.5 rims and tires. Just about everyone I've talked to or read about with this tread separation issue says that it occured at just about three years, regardless of mileage, use, etc.

 

[jmgratz]

I talked to a friend of mine who is a tire distributor and he advised me they don't retread Goodyear 614's; they might REGROOVE them. He told me the tread separation issue is something you have to talk to Goodyear about as that should not ever be an issue with them. He had not heard of that being a problem with them.

 

[kakampers]

I didn't think so either, Jim...but I know this recently happened to Tom Atkins and Terry H...and that's just Heartland people. I've also seen it several times over on RV.net...something doesn't seem right...seems like some of us are only getting about three years out of them, even with good tread left.

 

[lwmcguir]

Sure is bad to hear about tread separation on G614's. We have some of our oldest ones on Sooner Aluminum stock trailers currently. We haul about 12 head of 1500 pound cows typically in the 24-26 foot trailers. You can do the math and see we are way heavier on the Torsion axles than our Landmark. Never had one separate but now you are making me nervous about the two year old G614's on the coach. We would typically not change them out until they hit 5 and then on to another less critical trailer. We do make every effort to run the trailers level and keep the tires inflated.

 

[kakampers]

We got our new G614's today...4 were made the second week of 2010 and the fifth was made the 15th week of 2010...that one went on the spare.

We have decided that about the time these things turn two years old, we will be upgrading to 17.5 inch rims and H load tires...alot of choices in that load range...hopefully they'll make it until then.

 

[Tom of Ypsi]

My tire that gave out was just shy of 3 years old. Still waiting on parts from HL, been over 1 month waiting time, but since our Classic Landmark is just that a "Classic" HL has no parts for it. Meanwhile we have to be in Elkhart July 26 for other major repairs so getting parts here in Michigan for our blow out will make it pretty close. Sure hate to come back to Mi to get the blow out repairs done after sitting here this long waiting. We also have to be back in Houston, Tx, MD Anderson, by August 24 so going from Elkhart to Houston is easier and less costly than go to Elkhart, In, back to Mi then to Tx.

 

[hcriddle]

Did anyone else see that Good Sam is doing a survey of members about tire issues? "The survey was sent to about 250,000 randomly selected Good Sam Club members and will seek to determine the frequency of RV tire failure and RV owners’ knowledge about RV tire selection, care and maintenance." It will be interesting to see what this turns up with the tire companies.

 

[jmgratz]

Did anyone else see that Good Sam is doing a survey of members about tire issues? "The survey was sent to about 250,000 randomly selected Good Sam Club members and will seek to determine the frequency of RV tire failure and RV owners’ knowledge about RV tire selection, care and maintenance." It will be interesting to see what this turns up with the tire companies.

I got my survey and completed it.

 

[sandpirate]

How does that work? Does Phoenix have Tire Police?

Yes we do, the Tire Police are sitting on the side of the road laughing at the ones who are convinced that they should have gotten 4 or 5 years out of the tires that have just shredded their coach.

 

[jdfishing]

WOW! My head hurts. I experienced a blowout two months ago with the factory installed China tires and replaced them at the closest tire shop. Most of the previous discussions on this forum were in favor of the Goodyear G 614's at $1200+. But now, it seems like they are also subject to blowout, just like the China bombs. So what gives? Now I'm kinda feeling like it doesn't make any difference what you put on the trailer or how much you spend. Hang on tight and watch your mirror for smoke. Or if you live in AZ. and them $1200 baby's are 2 years old, break the wallet out.

 

[lwmcguir]

WOW! My head hurts. I experienced a blowout two months ago with the factory installed China tires and replaced them at the closest tire shop. Most of the previous discussions on this forum were in favor of the Goodyear G 614's at $1200+. But now, it seems like they are also subject to blowout, just like the China bombs. So what gives? Now I'm kinda feeling like it doesn't make any difference what you put on the trailer or how much you spend. Hang on tight and watch your mirror for smoke. Or if you live in AZ. and them $1200 baby's are 2 years old, break the wallet out.

There are very very few G614 tire failures compared to the amount of them on the road. Loading, alignment, pressure, and temperature will take their toll on any tire if it is mis treated. I know some that failed were probably just failures but the largest majority had something else going on. It is a very good tire and we have used them for years on the stock and GN trailers. Never blown one out yet and that if far more severe service than pulling a coach down the road. We watch the temp and pressure carefully as I am getting old and don't like changing tires along the side of the road. If you want to feel like you have a greater safety margin then the 17.5 tires and wheels are for you only you are going to lay out around $2500 for the conversion. The old tires and wheels have a used value of around 250 each so you can recoup a good amount of the money.

 

[jdfishing]

What you say makes good sense, but it's frustrating to try and buy the best product on the market and then read about the same failures you experienced with a product that is labeled as inferior. I'll just baby them the best I can and hope for the best.

 

[Wharton]

We have used G614's and their predecessor for 10 years, maybe longer, and never experienced a blow out or tread separation. Our major problems came when we ran GY Marathon(?) tires that I think were ST not LT. There was too much flex in the tire for what we were carrying, created heat, then blow outs and tread separation(though the tires were rated well over our weight). We were definitely less knowledgeable then and probably contributed to the problem by not monitoring our tire pressures better. Since going with the 614s we have not experienced either tread separation or blowouts. The tires tend not to lose air. We run the tires at 100+ pounds(forget what the charts say) and have a TPMS. Being a new rig this year we will be getting a serious weighing from RVSEF or Escapees(they have begun their own weighing program) at a rally we will be going to. We have also purchased a temperature gun to check the hubs and tires when driving on the road.

I agree with lwmcgir, for the number of 614s on the road, there are few problems and going up to 17.5 is costly plus I am not sure about the availability of 17.5 H tires vs. the readily available 614s.

We will continue to use the 614s, if we every want to switch, we will go to the Michelin XPS(XPM?) tire.

I belong to other forums and have never seen a continuing discussion about tires like I see on this forum. I am not sure what this says about the forum participants or Heartland products but my other forums are primarily full-timers.

 

[kakampers]

We have used G614's and their predecessor for 10 years, maybe longer, and never experienced a blow out or tread separation. Our major problems came when we ran GY Marathon(?) tires that I think were ST not LT. There was too much flex in the tire for what we were carrying, created heat, then blow outs and tread separation(though the tires were rated well over our weight). We were definitely less knowledgeable then and probably contributed to the problem by not monitoring our tire pressures better. Since going with the 614s we have not experienced either tread separation or blowouts. The tires tend not to lose air. We run the tires at 100+ pounds(forget what the charts say) and have a TPMS. Being a new rig this year we will be getting a serious weighing from RVSEF or Escapees(they have begun their own weighing program) at a rally we will be going to. We have also purchased a temperature gun to check the hubs and tires when driving on the road.

I agree with lwmcgir, for the number of 614s on the road, there are few problems and going up to 17.5 is costly plus I am not sure about the availability of 17.5 H tires vs. the readily available 614s.

We will continue to use the 614s, if we every want to switch, we will go to the Michelin XPS(XPM?) tire.

I belong to other forums and have never seen a continuing discussion about tires like I see on this forum. I am not sure what this says about the forum participants or Heartland products but my other forums are primarily full-timers.

One word of caution....Michelin XPS Ribs are only E load rated tires with a max capability of 3,040 lbs per tire....your 3670 requires a minimum of a G load tires with 3,750lbs capability per tire to support it's GVWR of 16,000lbs on it's 7,000lb axles...

In addition, we are fulltimers who spend alot of time on some of the "other" forums...trust me, they discuss these tire issues just as much, if not more, than they are discussed here...

 

[Wharton]

Most of the discussions I see going on is "how many years before I should change out my tires", not the number of blowouts and thread separations I read about here. I guess it is different forums, different problems.................