Ram 3500 DRW with Nexen tires

[sengli]

Did a little reading on the RAM forum, and saw a post from fellow RV'er said his new RAM had a front tire blowout withing 2500 miles. Looked as if his issue was just a bad NEXEN tire, and it came apart. I havent had any failures on my truck yet, but there is a lot of weight on the front tires. My front always look like they are low, and bloated due to the load. The cummins alone weighs 1100lbs.

Anyone else out there have any thoughts on these Korean made tires.

 

['Lil Guy']

They came on both of my ram 3500 trucks. I changed the tires at 40K on my 1st truck and could have gone more dwith no issues. I put Goodyears n it and it seemed to handle better with the Nexans. Again, I've never had an issue and at the price of about 160.00 per tire, I wdon't push them. I wouldn't be afraid of driving with them on. Every brand has an occasional blowout. JMO

 

[JWalker]

Nexen tires for their first 11,200 miles. 9860 miles were towing. No issues. I did pull them off and replaced them with Goodyear Duratracks. Like the look and needed more traction than the Nexen could provide. No issues with them though. And well over half the tread life remaining.

 

[BarbandFrank]

Nexen tires came with our Ram 3500 and they did not last long. We replaced them with Michelin Defenders LTX MS2 tires and are very happy with them. We are full time, and our Landmark weighs around 18,000 pounds. We feel that tires are extremely important - and would not skimp on them to save a few bucks. Just my two cents.

Frank

 

[The-Drisin]

I consider the Nexen tires to be basically cheap junk that never belonged on a RAM Heavy-Duty.
Hindsight confirms that any tire priced that much lower than the competition is junk and going to have issues.

I experienced tread separation on a front tire, luckily it happened during local driving instead of when we were pulling our Cyclone.
All of a sudden the truck started pulling to the right. I thought maybe the front brake wasn't releasing.
Then I could feel the wobbling at lower speeds.

Took it back to the dealer's service department because the truck had maybe 6,000 miles on it.
I was surprised when they called to tell me it was tread separation...something I hadn't experienced in decades.
Unsurprisingly neither RAM nor Nexen would do anything about it...little hope for a voluntary recall.

Called one of the nearby tire stores and ordered a set of Nitto Dura Grapplers.
They also happen to sell the Nexen tires.
When I asked how much they could give me on trade-in, they actually apologized first before presenting the offer.
They know they're cheap junk and therefore have little to no value, at least it saved me the disposal fee.

Why Nitto, because I've used them for years on my previous truck, RAM 2500 Mega-Cab, and loved them...including the Exa Grappler snow/ice ones.
Also have multiple friends that now use them and are very happy with the results.
I also use them on my cars as they make nice performance tires.

 

[Matt750]

I've had my 3500 DRW since new (2014). Towed our Torque 321 (we now have a heavier Cyclone) at least once a month (sometimes more) and other various trailers. Replaced tires in June 2016 at 41,944 miles. Never had any problem with the Nexens. I went with Cooper Discover AT3. I've had good luck with Coopers in the past and needed a bit more traction. I also went with 245/75R17. Right now I'm around 80,000 miles and tires still look decent.

 

['Lil Guy']

I will replace my Nexans at 1st sign of wear but I'm not going to throw away a new tire, even the Nexans. I believe they are rated for 40K miles.

 

[Bones]

Mine lasted about 33k miles. But my truck eats front tires too. I have the Nitto EXO Grapplers on my truck now.

 

[david-steph2018]

Just replaced the 2 front tires because of an alignment issue with the Ram 3500. The outer edge on both tires had wear bad. I replaced them with Transforcer HT2 at around $210 each.
The rear 4 tires are doing great but I am going to replaced these around October 2019 before we hit the road full time.

 

[Hogladyrider]

Comforting to know others have experienced "issues" with Nexen tires.

When we were heading to our appt at MoRryde last fall I noticed a "thud" while riding in the passenger seat of our 2016 Ram 3500 while on the highway. Of course we took it to a tire place and guess what - the tire had separated on the inside, less than 10K miles on it.

We contacted Nexen and obtained the paperwork necessary to file a claim. They wanted more information and pictures plus your first born child - good grief. Guess they are thinking people won't follow thru.

Let me remind you this was September 2018 - we submitted the claim, they sent Federal Express to pick up the tire. After at least a dozen phone calls and e-mails to Nexen we finally received a claim check in February 2019 for $65 - REALLY! My point being it was not much for the work involved and the possible tire failure and damage that could have been.

We have all new Good Year's on our Cyclone and our truck will follow soon. It's pretty sad that so many businesses have become "all about money" ILO quality and safety.

Susan & Gary

 

[roundabout]

I have a 2015 3500 with about 29,000 miles (it mostly tows but I take it out once a month in the off season)
last year I finally found what had been causing an almost improceivable shimmy in the front as new. Almost like I had picked up a rock in the tread. This year as I hit the Florida boarder and the pavement heated up. I could tell it was the right front and it got bad quickly fortunately there was a camp ground close by.

The right front had developed a bulge on the outer tread. I called a local ram dealer with a nexen tire and set up an appointment for the morning

the tire had cooled overnight and the bulge had vanished but came back quickly on the way to the dealership

i was out of warrantee age wise but decided to call nexen anyways who where very sympathetic and sent me a claim form. Turns out that the oem tires are warranted a very short time based on the tread depth criteria set by nexen. But I was close. My rear tires wear much faster then the front

talking to the dealership. They said they have had many nexen failures. Usually within the first year of ownership. The oem warrantee is almost useless but nexen offers a much better warrantee on aftermarket purchases. Just the same. Though I like the tires. I’ll be swapping them out to another brand just because I didn’t like what I heard from the dealer and my experience with a brand new looking tire failing

granted it was a front tire subject to road hazards more than the rears. But I usually rate a tire on how they handle after they are half worn. I may not keep these that long especially if I start to precieve another shimmy

 

[JWalker]

I found at 11000 miles, all 4 rears wore much faster than the fronts. They did wear even though.

 

[JMP]

Guess I am in the minority on this thread. My OEM NEXENs lasted 50k (mostly towing miles). I replaced them with Michelins LTX MS2 Defender. No issues with the Michelins after 20k. I have GY G114s on my Landmark.

 

[Hogladyrider]

I may be wrong or over thinking this but we are fulltimers and getting ready to head from Florida to South Dakota for the summer and tires are important, I prefer to feel "safe" when riding and I just won't feel safe on Nexen's.

Thanks to all who responded!

Susan & Gary

 

[NYSUPstater]

While I don't want to hijack this thread, my '17 F350 dually came thru w/ Michelin tires and currently have just over 11k on them. One tire brand I don't think should be overlooked is Sailun. Sounds crazy as it's one of the top rated RV trailer tires, but they also make tires for semis and w/o looking, I assume for pick-ups as well. Our '03 F250 came thru w/ Pirelli tires and I liked them very much as a all season tire and 1 or 2 winter tires depending on how much tread was on them. Forgot what our '15 had. Just a thought.

JWalker,

How did your snow tires work out for you this winter?

 

[JWalker]

JWalker,

How did your snow tires work out for you this winter?

As of now, I am really pleased with them. Just about 4000 miles on them. Didn’t get much of a chance to run them during winter. But when I did, it was back to hunting camp and all I can say, “what a difference” over the OEM tires that came with the truck.
About 3500 miles towing the trailer. Very pleased in that aspect. Very little road noise which is surprising. Tracks very nice. Does not wander side to side.
Beware though, I did lose about 1 mpg with fuel mileage towing. And the aggressive tread really picks up large gravel and stones. Which inturn flings them against everything.

 

[lameoliver]

Nexen tires are the best for towing trucks, it gives a long time, a lot of people have been suggested me to use this when I tried it in Rite way towing trucks then I realized that how much good these are.

 

[roundabout]

Well
here I am again. At the campground looking for front truck tires

i use my truck mostly to tow. So I have about 1000 miles on the front nexen tires since October. I’m looking for a good set of Michelins for the front

about 100 miles ago I got a slight vibration. It’s gotten pretty consistent quickly. From experience last year. I may get another 1000 miles or another 10 miles. I wanted to give the nexen a chance thinking it might of been road hazard failure like the nexen rep said it was. Nope. Just not good for a heavy truck steer tire

im not writing hate mail here. But never again would I consider nexen. From what the dealers tell me and this past year. It’s just not worth sitting at a campground looking for a tire shop on a Monday morning hoping they can get me in first thing. I don’t mind buying new tires when the tread gets down to where I wonder what my wet pavement stopping distance is when I have time. But 1000 miles and like new ????

The next ram. If it has nexens. Greg my ram dealer will have to find me others before I sign


2010 Ram 3500 HD traded in for new 2015 3500HD DRW mega cab with the 3.42 gears
I haven't hooked up yet, we'll see how it pulls with 17" wheels. (Pulls great !)
2014 Cyclone 3100
G614 Goodyears
Good Sam gps
Trimark keyed alike
Xantex 2000 watt inverter "Inverter Service Center"
Blue Sea System toggle source selector
L.E.D. running lights
Quadra Bigfoot levelers
Dexter wet bolts
Boyo wireless backup camera
EMS-HW50C
TST 507RV
Smittybuilt air compressor
Splendide 2100XC
26k Husky hitch
Mor Ryde pin box
6-volt 240 AH batteries
Added dinette
Replaced L.E.D. tail lights with Leading Edge Trailer light bars (made in the US)
Got rid of nexen tires

 

[tgrshk19]

Mine lasted about 33k miles. But my truck eats front tires too. I have the Nitto EXO Grapplers on my truck now.

Bones check your alignment specs on the front end, the specs in the alignment books are incorrect check this out https://www.thurenfabrication.com/tech/alignment-and-handling.html

 

[Flying Dutchman]

I had 14K miles on a front Nexen tire before it developed tread separation. The front 2 tires were replaced at 30K due to wear, the replacement NEXEN had the tread separation. Started with a light rumble, and over the next 700 highway miles developed into a severe bounce that made the metal hood vibrate on that side. Tread separated internally on the tread surface. You could visually see the bump. The dually tires (original Nexen) have made it to 50K, and will now be replaced. So it is some good, and also some bad. Thankful the front tire did not blow.