Tow Max Again
- Thread starter bigdob24
- Start date
trading-time
Member
Ours were OK after 12,000 miles and two years, but we replaced them because of all the negative info.
Had a total of three that went bad, the first blew out and did about $1500 damage, the next two did not blow because we were saved by the TPMS that let us know they were loosing air, we we able to stop before they started to shred and cause damage. We have since installed LT tires and feel much better.
Jim.Allison
Well-known member
ST tires are the problem, and Towmax is the worst of the Towmax tires. The 16X6 in OEM rim is what keeps people handcuffed to ST tires. The only other tires that will accommodate that rim are the very expensive Goodyear G614 and its foreign equivalents. Just changing the rim will open up a world of LT tires (continuous duty) that will handle the load of your trailer.
A blame game has been created in the ST tire business. Its centered around abuse and poor quality.
First the installation of Power King/Towmax tires is the first bad move, the tire is flawed from the beginning. Then it is likely that your trailer was delivered to your dealer with under inflated tires, and the driver probably exceeded 65 MPH with the tire under inflated. Then you, or the dealer or both subject the tire to horrendous side loading while backing into a tight spot. The tire is doomed to failure. BUT other tires take the abuse and do not fail at the same rate as the Blowmax.
I overkilled tmy tire problem with the Goodyear G114. But there are many more alternatives available. If I had it to do again I would buy a wider set of rims and look to the LT tires. This is the cheapest and most practical solution. And you can do it for less than what a set of Chinese trailer tires cost. This is a solution that you will see popping up on other RV forums and it is gaining in popularity.
Dont let anyone tell you that you cannot put LT (or passenger) tires on a trailer. It is a false statement. But what is true you cannot put trailer tires on a passenger vehicle. They have been putting LT tires on trailers long before there was an ST tire.
If you find someone who has had a great experience with TowMax, ask them how many miles they have on their towmax, and then realize that the Goodyear G614 has a replacement warrantee for the first 2/32 of tread wear and a prorated warranty until the tread wear indicator is visible, this translates to about 50,000 plus miles on a trailer tire.
When it comes to Tomax, its not "if" it is "when" your tires blow.
A blame game has been created in the ST tire business. Its centered around abuse and poor quality.
First the installation of Power King/Towmax tires is the first bad move, the tire is flawed from the beginning. Then it is likely that your trailer was delivered to your dealer with under inflated tires, and the driver probably exceeded 65 MPH with the tire under inflated. Then you, or the dealer or both subject the tire to horrendous side loading while backing into a tight spot. The tire is doomed to failure. BUT other tires take the abuse and do not fail at the same rate as the Blowmax.
I overkilled tmy tire problem with the Goodyear G114. But there are many more alternatives available. If I had it to do again I would buy a wider set of rims and look to the LT tires. This is the cheapest and most practical solution. And you can do it for less than what a set of Chinese trailer tires cost. This is a solution that you will see popping up on other RV forums and it is gaining in popularity.
Dont let anyone tell you that you cannot put LT (or passenger) tires on a trailer. It is a false statement. But what is true you cannot put trailer tires on a passenger vehicle. They have been putting LT tires on trailers long before there was an ST tire.
If you find someone who has had a great experience with TowMax, ask them how many miles they have on their towmax, and then realize that the Goodyear G614 has a replacement warrantee for the first 2/32 of tread wear and a prorated warranty until the tread wear indicator is visible, this translates to about 50,000 plus miles on a trailer tire.
When it comes to Tomax, its not "if" it is "when" your tires blow.
Jim.Allison
Well-known member
Even on a 15500 GVW fiver the single wheel load is a nominal 3100 if fully loaded. A 3520 loaded rated tire should handle that easily. It is interesting to note that 8000 miles would still be within the G614 "replacement" warranty.
Jim.Allison
Well-known member
1800 for me on a new mostly empty trailer, after having been meticulously driven below 65 mph.
scottyb
Well-known member
Do a "Search" on this Forum then take notes, lots of notes!
Yes. There are dozens upon dozens of topics about these tires. When I bought mine 3 years ago, there were already dozens of reports about how bad they were.
branson4020
Icantre Member
To simply answer the OP's question without any implications - Yes, I wore out a set of Towmax tires without issue. Because of axle alignment issues, they only lasted about 20K miles.
Jim.Allison
Well-known member
The less than $600 Towmax solution........
This tire
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....rtnum=675R6THT
W/ this rim
http://www.trailer-wheels.com/16x7-H...l#.VQSrM4F4rmY
Equal a complete affordable solution to Towmax problem
Tires + Rim $280
X4 = 1120
Sell your Towmax and OEM rims -$500 to $800 ( got $800 on Craigslist for mine)
Total out of pocket 620 to 320 for continuous duty tire and heavy duty HiSpec rim.
Original Towmax spec
Nominal tire loading for a 15500 lb rig 3100 lbs considering 20% on pin and 100% loaded.
IMHO the LT 265 75 R 16 will handle our loads and at the right price, the new rims will open up the available tires in remote locations in case of failure.
If you have not seen a Transforce tire, you need to go look at them. They are one modern piece of work. You will see immediately why this tire might be a good choice for you.
I would do this mod, if I had it to do over again. Or I would do the G614. Problem with the G614 is that it is not available everywhere. Buying the G614 would cost you in the neighborhood of $1000 to $1100 if you sold your Towmax tires and kept your rims.
Or if buying Chinese tires does not bother you, you could buy the Sailun S637 X 16 (G614 equivalent) for about $612, and sell your Towmax for $200 to $300 and have a total out of pocket of about $300 to $400.
This tire
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....rtnum=675R6THT
W/ this rim
http://www.trailer-wheels.com/16x7-H...l#.VQSrM4F4rmY
Equal a complete affordable solution to Towmax problem
Tires + Rim $280
X4 = 1120
Sell your Towmax and OEM rims -$500 to $800 ( got $800 on Craigslist for mine)
Total out of pocket 620 to 320 for continuous duty tire and heavy duty HiSpec rim.
Original Towmax spec
| MAX24 | ST235/80R16* | E/10 | 10 | 3520 @ 80 | 3080@80 | 30.8 | 9.25 | 14.5 |
Nominal tire loading for a 15500 lb rig 3100 lbs considering 20% on pin and 100% loaded.
IMHO the LT 265 75 R 16 will handle our loads and at the right price, the new rims will open up the available tires in remote locations in case of failure.
If you have not seen a Transforce tire, you need to go look at them. They are one modern piece of work. You will see immediately why this tire might be a good choice for you.
I would do this mod, if I had it to do over again. Or I would do the G614. Problem with the G614 is that it is not available everywhere. Buying the G614 would cost you in the neighborhood of $1000 to $1100 if you sold your Towmax tires and kept your rims.
Or if buying Chinese tires does not bother you, you could buy the Sailun S637 X 16 (G614 equivalent) for about $612, and sell your Towmax for $200 to $300 and have a total out of pocket of about $300 to $400.
JohnD
Moved on to the next thing...
I have the Firestone Transforce HT's on my truck and have been seriously considering putting them on my Trail Runner (my BlowMaxes are worn out after my wheel bearing and axle failure in January), so they (BlowMaxes) will be replaced before the summer camping season begins.
My truck just rolled over 13,000 miles on the way home tonight, and those HT's still look like brand new!
However, the smallest they come in are 235-15's . . . and our trailer has 205-15's . . . so not sure if there is room for them.
The spring shop I am working with is working on an idea for raising our trailer about six inches, so then I may have the space for a larger diameter tire.
Right now I can't get my finger in between the top of the tires and the bottom of the floor when it is not on the jacks.
My truck just rolled over 13,000 miles on the way home tonight, and those HT's still look like brand new!
However, the smallest they come in are 235-15's . . . and our trailer has 205-15's . . . so not sure if there is room for them.
The spring shop I am working with is working on an idea for raising our trailer about six inches, so then I may have the space for a larger diameter tire.
Right now I can't get my finger in between the top of the tires and the bottom of the floor when it is not on the jacks.
Jim.Allison
Well-known member
It won't work for you right now, because it is going to get you for about 1.6 inches in diameter, so you would be sacrificing the room you currently have on the top by .80 inches. As far as the section width you need to look to see if you can afford about 1/2 inch behind the tire. Between the tires you will have to look to see if you can close that gap by 1.6 inches.
Then you will need to determine what the weight of that rig is and the corresponding load per tire to see if you can run the Transforce.
I saw the pics of your springs. What is the problem there? It looks bad, almost if the spring collapsed. You should have way more travel than that.
Then you will need to determine what the weight of that rig is and the corresponding load per tire to see if you can run the Transforce.
I saw the pics of your springs. What is the problem there? It looks bad, almost if the spring collapsed. You should have way more travel than that.
JohnD
Moved on to the next thing...
The space between the tires is very minimal as the Trail Runner axles seem to be much closer together than most of the other Heartland bumper-pull trailers.
Don't know for sure why this happened, but soon will be a non-issue.
However, before the new springs are made, it will be weighed!
Jim.Allison
Well-known member
Look at the Goodyear Cargo G26, you actually might gain some space between your wheels and increase the load rating. You did not share the brand and complete tire size so I could not make a comparison for you. But the G26 has 2 15 inch tires that are very close to what I think is your tire diameter.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Cargo+G26
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Cargo+G26
JohnD
Moved on to the next thing...
Our Trail Runner has 205/75R15-C BlowMax Power King's with around 6000 miles on them.
Those Goodyear tires look interesting . . .
JohnD
Moved on to the next thing...
You know what I find amazing is that for the (edit: size) BlowMax Power King's that are on my trailer . . . there are two of them . . . the difference just being the load rating.
And there is only a $5.00 price difference between the two per tire!
Here is a link: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...&pagenum=1&pagemark=1&manufacturer=Power+King
Too bad that the better ones weren't at least installed instead of the cheapies . . .
And there is only a $5.00 price difference between the two per tire!
Here is a link: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...&pagenum=1&pagemark=1&manufacturer=Power+King
Too bad that the better ones weren't at least installed instead of the cheapies . . .
Last edited:
avvidclif
Well-known member
I guess I missed something. Why would I replace the rims with the same size and brand? Just a different look. Why not just replace the tires?
