Powermax TowMax tires

[pstacey]

Ah, two days ago we also experienced a Tow Max tire failure on a new rig on our first trip. We had stopped at a rest area and I did my usual walk around. I found the rear driver side tire tread separating. What luck to be in a rest area and not have it blow on the highway like some of you poor folks. Yes I did check the tire pressure (80 psi) before leaving. So now after reading the forums, I want to change brands, but what is the best alternative for our Big Country 3250 TS? Is this problem more common on "Trailer Tire"? Can truck tire be used instead ?
We are planning another trip in a few weeks so any input would be most appreciated.
Peter and Julianne

 

[GOTTOYS]

I replaced my Tow Max tires with good old 235/85/16 load range E LT American made truck tires. They fit, although they are a little closer together than the junk I took off. I have over 20,000 trouble free miles on them. Any brand of LT will be just fine. I would do it again in a heartbeat....Don

 

[scottyb]

I found the rear driver side tire tread separating. What luck to be in a rest area and not have it blow on the highway like some of you poor folks. Yes I did check the tire pressure (80 psi) before leaving. So now after reading the forums, I want to change brands, but what is the best alternative for our Big Country 3250 TS? Is this problem more common on "Trailer Tire"? Can truck tire be used instead ?
Peter and Julianne

There are many on here using LT's in place of the ST's, myself included. As GOTTOYS said, my Michellin XPS Ribs are larger OD and closer together that I prefer, but they already have 7K miles and I rarely even have to add air to them. Then it's only a lb. or 2.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

I replaced my Tow Max tires with good old 235/85/16 load range E LT American made truck tires. They fit, although they are a little closer together than the junk I took off. I have over 20,000 trouble free miles on them. Any brand of LT will be just fine. I would do it again in a heartbeat....Don

Not trying to be judgemental, what are the weight ratings of the LR "E" truck tires? I'm thinking right around 3000#.
I sure do understand the terrible tow max problems and others made in China but I just can't understand how a tire rated to carry less than the trailers weight can be safer. I will say also that I don't recall hearing of any LT's having issues on trailers.

I've just put a couple thousand miles on the Hercules Tires I bought a few months ago. So far so good and with a Load Range F and a 3950# capacity @ 95psi. I also hear others having good results with Sailun Trailer tires. Our local Goodyear dealer also recommended Titan tires. He said they were made in USA but I have not verified that statement.

 

[conradsteph]

My first post. We love our new 2014 Cyclone 3800. Only about 2500 miles so far. Pulled by our 2013 F350 DRW. I usually don't do a whole lot of posting on these types of forums but I know there are some others out there with the same concerns as me and want to do what is best - in their best judgement. And if others didn't post, I would still be trying to figure out the difference between "tank" and "normal" - until someone in one of these forums said the schematic is right above your head. HaHa. I still laugh at that daily.
This Heartland forum has been a wealth of terrific information. It has also been a wealth of interesting things people do with their trailers and tow vehicles.
I started to get the TowMax bad feelings after reading the horror stories until I started to see the trend of trailers these tire are used on relative to the rated weights on the trailers and axles. There seems to be some confusion on exactly how these tires should be used. Maybe Heartland is to blame, maybe not. Maybe the TowMax tire is fine. It appears (based on these numerous tire forums) that the majority of tire issues is on dual axle trailers. Yes I realize there are triple axle folks out there who will come flying in with their feedback but they are far and few between compared to the others. Most of the dual axle trailers are 6750-7000 pound axles. Thats a 13500 - 14000 pound capacity. Four tires rated somewhere between 14000-14500 pounds. And trailers with GCVW of up to 15500. That represents a significant discrepancy between what is in the trailer and what the tires/axles can handle. We can "assume" that some of the trailer weight is on the pin but when you start loading these things up in the rear it starts to shift the weight to the trailer tires. I don't write the "trailer laws" but I don't know how you can equip a vehicle with tires less that what the vehicle is rated/can hold. I started looking at all the 2 axle trailers and it happens all the time (based on their reported specs). Not to mention that unless you have your trailer built, you are getting old tires to begin with. Tires are just like people. If they don't get exercise, they get old, dry, and brittle. Buying a "smoking deal" on a 2 year old "new trailer" and it's gonna be curtains for you and your tires on your first road trip. And as we purchase more stuff and more toys - they go in the trailer and it gets weighted down. Over weighted and almost always under inflated. Talk to the guys at your local tire dealer. They'll say the same thing. You have to change from your old school eyeball test to an actual gauge test when it comes to these huge trailers and tire pressure. Yes... I know. You check all the time and you had a blowout. There is a good chance we will all have a blowout. But I do know I have 6 tires rated at 21,000 pounds, 3 axles rated at 18,000 pounds and a GCVW rated at 18,000 pounds. These numbers match up on my Cyclone and match up to what my truck can pull and carry...as they should on every trailer. Don't count on the pin weight bailing you out on your trailer tires. The numbers needs to match. I don't have a dual axle trailer but based on what I've read in these forums and on spec sheets, these trailers are too heavy for the tires.
Another thing - to all the "can my truck tow this" question folks. I was in the same boat and had the same questions. I had to wait 2 years to trade in my F250 for a 2013 F350 DRW to make sure I was doing this RV lifestyle thing correctly. Get a pen a paper. Write out what your truck is rated at (not what you have pulled in the past or anyone else) as per it's documentation. Look at tow capacity and weight capacity. Just because you have a F250/F350 with the same 6.7 diesel as my F350 DRW 6.7 diesel doesn't mean you can tow what I can. Yes... the same 400 horse and the same 800 torque. We can pull. And pull a lot. So can all the Chevy and Dodge guys. But check the weight capacity of your vehicle. To start - check the curb weight. Add your curb weight to the GCVW of your trailer. If they do not coincide, end of story. And that is just the curb weight (vehicle without cargo and passengers). You should really be checking the GCW of your truck. Add in some family and a big ol' hitch and it goes up quick. We are all experts at what we do, so am I, but we need to humble ourselves to some degree to what these people say who build tires and trucks for a living.
I have a 22K Mountain Master air hitch with a pin catcher (that thing already saved me while trying to hitch up on a slight hill). Worth every penny. Located out here in Phoenix. Great guys and wonderfully competent.
Headed to Lake Powell for the 4th! Can't wait.

 

[danemayer]

Hi conradsteph,

Welcome to the posting side of the forum. You've elected to jump into a very controversial subject, but it looks like you've given it a lot of thought. And you've made some good points.

One thing I'd note is on the point about the GVWR of the trailer relative to the axle ratings. We've got a Landmark that has a GVWR of 16,000 with an empty pin weight of 2620. Empty meaning none of our stuff and no options. The spec calls for the two 7,000# axles to carry up to 13,380# and the pinbox/hitch to carry 2620#. While the numbers vary, the general idea is the same for all trailers. Part of the weight is on the axles and part on the hitch.

Our actual weight is interesting. We're a bit overloaded at 16,150. But the individual wheel weights are between 2950 and 3200; the total on the axles is 12,450. We have an actual weight of 3700# on the hitch (also slightly overloaded). So relative to your comments, we appear to be the exception in that we have plenty of margin on the axles, wheels and tires.

We were also weighed two years ago and our trailer weight has increased by 1150# in that time. I thought there might be a problem with the results, so I went to a CAT scale today. It matches the current year results.

With the catastrophic nature of tire blowouts, I think it's important to get our rigs weighed periodically, including individual wheel weights. That will tell you how much margin you have when tires are inflated properly. Then it's up to us to keep the weight in line, keep the tires inflated, don't drive too fast, and stop hitting curbs. And of course we have to hope the tires don't have a defect.

 

[kowAlski631]

And even when all is taken into account & monitored closely, blow-outs can & still do happen. You can have a problem with any brand of tire - just seems the Towmax brand is more prone to problems. We've been there.

 

[SZROFFROAD]

I have read a lot complaints about the Towmax tire, and seen pictures posted on here of the tire failures, thinks to all who posted this information, We left out on our first long trip in our new 2013 Cyclone 3110, from Chattanooga to Destin Fl, stopped just below Birmingham Al to get fuel and rest, walked around the trailer checking the tires, remembering a picture posted of belt separation I noticed one tire looked stretched in the middle and round across the center of the tire, lucky a tire store right across the street, put my spare on and headed on down the road, made it to Destin, nice week of camping, on the way home about one mile down the road running about 30 mph I hear a noise, look in my mirror and see something on the rear trailer tire, stop on the side of the road, a bubble about the size of a base ball on the side wall. So I called a local Goodyear store to get 4 new tires, no way I was going to drive home, with the other 2 tires, got 4 new G614 RST $1400.00 Tredit warranted the 4 tires at 80% of $120.00 Heartland you save a lot of money putting these tire on your units, but your customers are the ones paying the price. I don’t post a lot but this is one thing I have experienced firsthand.

 

[Agfinders]

Hi Jim, Wanted to update you on the progression or lack thereof to date. I have submitted letters and claims to the selling dealer (Carpenters Campers Pensacola, FL), Heartland, The Tire distributor and the manufacturer. I have shipped the 1 damaged tire to the manufacturer for inspection and have been warned by all the parties involved that they will come up with a less than satisfactory excuse as to the cause of the failure. I took your advise and been "sweet" the whole way through. I have been told by the dealer and Heartland that I am one of many that has had tire failures and the final decision is left to the manufacturer for warranty. I personally think this is bogus because I purchased a new RV in the $50,000.00 range and have only owned it for 7 months and faced with repairs and new tires to make the unit safe to tow again. This is totally unreasonable especially from Heartland to hide behind the tire manufacturer warranties on such a new unit. I was not given the choice of an upgrade to good tires at the time of purchase or warned of the tire failures that were happening with the sub standard tires installed on the unit. I now have filed a claim for the damages with my insurance company and am pursuing the repairs to the unit. I feel it is not my insurance companies responsibility to pay for damages that Heartland should step up and own. I am going to continue to take steps to recover the damages and expenses to replace the tires with quality tires and until Heartland either steps up or forces their supplier to pay the damages I will not recommend or voice anything but displeasure with the company when asked. Regards

 

[bd2dabone]

Good luck!

 

[pstacey]

Hi all, I have to agree with Agfinders in his post. Being somewhat pragmatic, we decided that after a tire failure with less than 3000 miles on them, peace of mind was priority one. We simply replaced the five Towmax tires with Hercules ST235/85R16 12 ply and swallowed really hard! This added $772 to the effective purchase price of our new unit. Of course this leaves a sour taste with respect to Heartland Quality on our Big Country. I can only hope that Heartland review these threads and get out of their Towmax contract. It is not doing them any favors at all ! Peter and Julianne

 

[Agfinders]

Hi All another post form Agfinders. This morning while preparing the RV to go to the repair shop I did my usual tire inspection and pressure check 1 of the 2 remaining original towmins I mean towmax tires held a whopping 20PSI and was parked 1 week ago with 80. I apologize for the constant reports but I am getting really ****ed that Heartland and the tire manufacturer are silent. I am going to do what the rest of the folks on here have done and going to put new tires on the rig so it will once again be usable but I do not plan on absorbing the cost or just breathing a sigh of relief with new tires. I still feel this is strong negligence on the behalf of Towmax, heartland and the dealer with all the finger pointing as to who is at fault. **************** RV manufacturers and dealers obviously are more concerned with sales and volume than safety and customer satisfaction. /what saddens me the most is that most of us RV owners are proud of our rigs and are diligent about maintaining them, and when this happens and causes thousands of dollars of damage to a basically new RV is it a strong cause for concern. Thanks for the support, Skip

 

[kimsandyb]

The China Bombs got me over the 4th wkend. Luckily no damage except to the tire. Now Im afraid to go anywhere on these junk tires so its more money out of the pocket. Come on Heartland, you have a reputation here. We have peoples lives and thousands of dollars riding on these tires. Only the best tires should be used.

 

[Snow]

Kimsandyb just wondering what rv you have and how many miles on the bombs so ill get a good idea when to expect a blow out ???⛄⛄⛄⛄⛄

 

[desertden]

The China Bombs got me over the 4th wkend. Luckily no damage except to the tire. Now Im afraid to go anywhere on these junk tires so its more money out of the pocket. Come on Heartland, you have a reputation here. We have peoples lives and thousands of dollars riding on these tires. Only the best tires should be used.

You are extremely lucky to have no damage to your trailer as there is no protective steel fender to keep thrown tread from damaging the sheet metal and ripping out the brake wiring among other things. Bite the bullet and get good tires. I can't recommend one because I don't know the size and weight of your trailer, but there is a lot of good advice from other posters regarding the best tires. I suffered two blowouts with extensive damage both times and now have a set of Michelin XPS Rims on order for my 3055RL. Check them out on the Michelinman site. Good luck!

 

[conradsteph]

Great road trip from Phoenix to Lake Powell for the 4th. Solid 700 miles round trip in a lot of 100 plus heat at 60-65 mph (thanks Ford 6.7 diesel for managing those Flagstaff hills like a champ!). Towmax tires still looking solid. Checked pressures on the way up and way down. Also was looking around at other trailers on the lake. Tons of Towmax out there - more than any other tire (so we are gonna read about more Towmax blowouts.) My tires DOB is 0913 so they are pretty fresh but they have 3K miles so far in 3 months. I'll keep my eye on them. Plenty of people passing me in those 75 speed limit areas trying to show off how tough their truck is. Check those tire speed ratings on your rig. Big difference between LT and ST (Towmax).

 

[desertden]

Great road trip from Phoenix to Lake Powell for the 4th. Solid 700 miles round trip in a lot of 100 plus heat at 60-65 mph (thanks Ford 6.7 diesel for managing those Flagstaff hills like a champ!). Towmax tires still looking solid. Checked pressures on the way up and way down. Also was looking around at other trailers on the lake. Tons of Towmax out there - more than any other tire (so we are gonna read about more Towmax blowouts.) My tires DOB is 0913 so they are pretty fresh but they have 3K miles so far in 3 months. I'll keep my eye on them. Plenty of people passing me in those 75 speed limit areas trying to show off how tough their truck is. Check those tire speed ratings on your rig. Big difference between LT and ST (Towmax).

The speed rating on my XPS Rib is Q = 99 mph, but anyone who hauls a big trailer approaching that speed is insane and should be locked up. I can't imagine the poor mileage the speed freaks get when hauling at high speed. They must own one of the oil companies.

 

[Agfinders]

Well thank you Heartland, I understand that someone from the company reviews these post from time to time. I believe you are hedging on a dangerous situation with the Towmax tires. They are unsafe and could cause injury or death and then you may wake up to the problem. I am fighting the battle with Towmax currently and as you can see from the prior post no action as of yet. Now I have a RV that is damaged and unsafe to move. The damages totaled $2,500.00 and will be another $1,250 to replace the tires so the unit is safe and can be travelled with. Not to mention the 7 nights lodging bill while the unit is repaired. What disturbs me the most is the silence from Heartland, you would think that customers spending the thousands of dollars would deserve better response and concern from the manufacturer as to the safety and quality of their products. Hiding behind the tire manufacturer warranty on a 7 month old RV is hogwash, someone in your cost saving department purchased these to install on these heavier units and they are not holding up. I cant believe you can put cost savings ahead of safety when choosing one of the most critical safety items for your RV's. Save a buck and endanger the customer, way to go!!!!!!!!!

 

[kimsandyb]

Sorry for the slow response Snow. We have the Cyclone 300c. Tires have (had) 6000 miles on them. I immediately replaced them all with Goodyear G 614's. The blow max's are suppose to be 10 ply tires however my tire man said the side walls were thinner than most car tires he sells. They were just waiting to blow. The Goodyear tires are a different story. They stand tall under the trailors weight. No sag at all like was with the blow max's. And I believe im getting a couple more miles per gallon even. Also bought a tpms to keep an eye on tire pressure & temp. And Agfinders, I agree with you 100%. Thousands of dollars are invested in our rigs & did I mention,LIVES, are riding on these crappy tires. Only the best tire available should be used. I would gladly pay the extra..........

 

[curtiswm]

Here is yet another post on the poor performance on the tow max tires. On a recent trip we had two separate blowouts about 250 miles apart on I-40. My Heartland Sundance is less than 2 years old and the tires had less than 3500 miles on them. Luckily the damage to the trailer was minor. I ended up spending $950 on the first day of our trip, not to mention the extra time involved. What should have been an easy 7 hour trip ended up being a 14 hour nightmare. Thanks Heartland!