Tire inflation and safety

[JohnD]

If our trailers are going to 'sit'... they don't need tires on them!

It is my opinion that the standard equipment tires installed by the factory are "delivery tires only". Your services guys quote "They are built to sit." says an important true factor.

I don't buy it . . .

I think that is a line of BS that the dealerships give us to change the subject when we bring this up to them.

The Heartland website and their brochures brag about the fact that "We don't skimp on the tires!"

And our dealer told us the very same thing about the BlowMax tires that came standard on our 2013 Trail Runner!

And if these tires are just made to "sit", I'd like someone to point to any tire manufacturer's website where it says that in their specs!

Not too mention that they typically want to replace them with the same tire, or want us to buy the same tire to put back on the trailers!

And let us not forget that the tire companies have paid for many repairs to trailers that were damaged by said blowouts, which means that they are admitting to us that these tires are NOT delivery/sitting around tires, but are meant for travel!

 

[Jim.Allison]

This is true, if your dealer delivered your unit to you 24% under inflated, then it travelled from the factory 24% under inflated and I'm sure that the delivery driver paid attention to the 65 MPH limit on the 24% under inflated tire. Knowing this does not change my opinion about the china bombs, but I can see where they are not entirely responsible for tire failures. There are a lot of unknowns when it comes to the death of an individual tire. But think of this, what kind of tires do you want to be running when you are on a 6 month 6 or 10 thousand mile trip. TowMax 16 inch at 3520 LBS on a 15000 LB rig or G614 at 3750 LBS each or G114 at 4800 each. I think at a very minimum I would choose the 614s. But ideally I would go (I did buy) with the G114 with a 75 mph rating. At any rate you are absolutely correct, have your took pouch ready, and check those tires before you roll it an inch.

 

[Jim.Allison]

Re: If our trailers are going to 'sit'... they don't need tires on them!

I don't buy it . . .

I think that is a line of BS that the dealerships give us to change the subject when we bring this up to them.

The Heartland website and their brochures brag about the fact that "We don't skimp on the tires!"

And our dealer told us the very same thing about the BlowMax tires that came standard on our 2013 Trail Runner!

And if these tires are just made to "sit", I'd like someone to point to any tire manufacturer's website where it says that in their specs!

Not too mention that they typically want to replace them with the same tire, or want us to buy the same tire to put back on the trailers!

And let us not forget that the tire companies have paid for many repairs to trailers that were damaged by said blowouts, which means that they are admitting to us that these tires are NOT delivery/sitting around tires, but are meant for travel!

The reason this has not been dealt with is that not enough people complain to the right people. Fact is that I bet that RV dealers get calls everyday about blown tires. They either know or should know that what they are installing on their units are intact inferior. It is going to bite them one day.

 

[Jim.Allison]

Re: The best we can really do...

For peace of mind, what you should really do is to take your trailer to a good and respected tire store and have them check out your tires.

They should be able tell you if there is a problem with them.

And probably the very best thing you can do is to get those trailer tires balanced!

I need to do that myself . . .



Now I'm not saying that we shouldn't keep an eye on our trailer tires, but I am starting to think that many here are over analyzing what they need to do and could perhaps be bringing on more issues by being over protective of their tires with their efforts.

The best that we can really do is to make sure that our tires are filled to pressure before we leave on a journey and keep an eye on them each time we stop, checking for uneven wear, bubbles, and perhaps looking for nails or other puncture wounds.

But tweaking and adjusting tire pressures at each stop along the way could be doing more harm than good as we can't really get an accurate read on them when they are hot.

And adding cold air to a hot tire can't be good!

Which brings me to another thought . . .

Is nitrogen really good for our tires or can it actually be bad for the rubber?

And, for those who use nitrogen in your trailer tires, what good is having it in the tires unless you carry a tank of it for when you do need to tweak the pressure?

I'm sure someone will chime in with "You can alway add air to nitrogen!" . . .

Well, if this is the case, then why even bother with it!

I honestly think that nitrogen is just a way for the tire stores to collect an extra $20 bucks from us whenever we visit . . .

Heck . . . the other day I scuffed my passenger side trailer tires on a curb . . .

If I were to believe many of the tire posts here in the chats, I should run right over to the tire store and replace them all as I have just damaged my tires beyond use!

Upon inspection, I just barely rubbed them on the curb . . . but that is not the point!

I use the 78% nitrogen mix in my trailer tires.

 

[JohnD]

Re: If our trailers are going to 'sit'... they don't need tires on them!

The reason this has not been dealt with is that not enough people complain to the right people. Fact is that I bet that RV dealers get calls everyday about blown tires. They either know or should know that what they are installing on their units are intact inferior. It is going to bite them one day.

A couple of weeks ago while I had my trailer at the dealership getting some work done on it, I was walking around the lot checking out some of the new 2014/15 Heartland models they had in stock, and I noticed that not a single one of them had BlowMax Power King's on them.

They all had 'Tow King' tires on them, which I think could possibly be BlowMax tires renamed . . .

 

[Birchwood]

Hi All

Just 2 cents here; A cursory review of travel trailer blogs will indicate a tire problem exist within the industry. Some brand names pop up more than others. We cannot draw any statistical conclusions from this observation, because most of those tires are private label and can only be tracked back to the actual manufacturer through the serial number. But we can combine that with our personal experience. I bought my BC3650RL last fall. I picked it up in Ohio and pulled it back to San Antonio. On my next "shakedown" cruise I blew a tire 50 miles into the trip. Since I'm a newbie, I tend to watch every detail, checking my cold tire pressures among the details. Sooooooooo since I lost a TowMax within 1650 miles I started checking the internet and ran into this huge controversy. All I got to say is; "Where there is smoke there is fire." I dont think that I will stick with a tire system that is obviously inadequate and resulted in $2000 in damage to a brand new rig. Most of the wheels that come with the 16 inch China bombs, are rated at 3750 LB and 110 PSI while the tires are only 3520 at 80 psi. My suggestion is to immediately go to the Goodyear G614, rated at 3750 at 110 PSI, which will immediately improve your tire system by 1000 lbs. forget about the LT/ST controversy, the G614 is a trailer tire even though it says LT. If you have a big rig, and you intend to do some real traveling, I strongly recommend buying 17.5 inch wheels and running the G114 tire. This will eliminate all doubt and these tires will last the lifetime of your rig. If you seriously think that you are going to pull your rig around on a tire that weighs 35 lbs while the tire on the truck that you pull your rig with, weighs 60 lbs, keep thinking. That China bomb will be wrapped around your axel soon enough. IMHO

"This will eliminate all doubt and these tires will last the lifetime of your rig" You talking about the brand or a set of G614 will last the life of the rig.Goodyear recommends replacement every 6 years

 

[JohnD]

Tire inflation and safety - get those tires balanced!

Just got back from having my trailer tires balanced . . .

They discovered that one of the rims was bent, so that is now my spare tire!

Also had them inspect the tires and all seems to be OK!

We are headed out on Monday for our first campout of the season!