Towmax blowout 2 days ago

[alexb2000]

Consider that these Chinese tire manufacturers can put anything they want on the side of their tires. These brands are blowing out left and right... so what can anyone do about it? Nothing and that is exactly the business model. Only thing you can do is not run them on your RV.

Take a Towmax 235/85/16 Load E tire is weights 36.1lbs and is rated to carry 3640lbs. at 80psi.

http://www.towmaxtires.com/tires/Landing.aspx?application=towmax2-product-line

Take a Goodyear G614 235/85/16 Load G tire weights 57.5lbs and is rated to carry 3750lbs. at 110psi.

http://www.goodyearrvtires.com/tire-selector.aspx

So a tire that weights that much more can only carry another 110lbs. load?

Just use some common sense.

 

[danemayer]

I find it very hard to believe that over 50% of RV manufacturers are selling RV's with one or more tire overloaded. To me, the RVSEF looks like a mouthpiece for the tire manufacturers putting out more BS on why tire failures are our fault.

RV manufacturers sell empty trailers. We load them up; often without knowing how much all our stuff weighs. So it's not the manufacturers selling overloaded units.

RVSEF is independent. You pay them to take measurements and let you know how your actual weight compares to the rated specs on truck and trailer.

 

[jakoenig1]

RV manufacturers sell empty trailers. We load them up; often without knowing how much all our stuff weighs. So it's not the manufacturers selling overloaded units.

RVSEF is independent. You pay them to take measurements and let you know how your actual weight compares to the rated specs on truck and trailer.

I know how much my stuff weighs. The trailer has 11,200 lbs on the axles, the pin weight is 3,500 lbs for a total of 14,700 lbs. The empty weight is 12,900 lbs, so I have 1,800 lbs of stuff. No wonder I am tired every time I load the thing. My wife has no mercy. I think your comment may explain where the 51 to 59% of "truck and trailers" are overloaded came from. My GVWR on my truck is 10,000 lbs. My truck with trailer is 11,500 lbs so I am part of that 59%. Any 2500 pulling a loaded 40 ft RV is over 10,000 LBS GVWR. I think there are many certification reasons why the manufacturers want to keep the GVWR at 10,000 on 2500 trucks. Do I believe my trailer is overloaded? No! Do I believe that uneven tire weight distribution is the cause of tire failures on trailers? No! You can bet the manufacturer of Towmax tires is still producing as many tires as he can and is selling them in the US under many other names. Tire retailers probably make $75 for every ST tire they sell and $30 for every LT tire they sell. What do you think they would recommend?

 

[tireman9]

I find it very hard to believe that over 50% of RV manufacturers are selling RV's with one or more tire overloaded. To me, the RVSEF looks like a mouthpiece for the tire manufacturers putting out more BS on why tire failures are our fault. By design, if a trailer is level, the front and rear tire on the same side has to have the same load. If the trailer is way out of level, this is not true but most trailers I have seen are pretty level. The pivot for the spring shackles between axles is there to equalize the loads to both axles, and distribute forces from bumps to both tires as it pivots. Yes, all trailers have side to side differences based on placement of appliances and storage. If there is a significant difference between the front and rear tire, the pivot has to be frozen or the trailer is way out of level front to rear.

The RVs are not over weight when sold. Few people pay much attention to the weight of the stuff they load on. Water is 8# a gal Propane is similar. While it may be true that the tires on one side have similar loads it is the placement of utilities and water and holding tanks that can end up with one side having 500 to 1000 more weight.
The other contributor is that many people simply do not think of the air pressure in their tires. Some don't even own a pressure gauge or the one they have is off by 10 to 20 psi (I do gauge checks and usually find 10 to 15% are off by more than 5 psi.)

The reason all new cars since 2007 come with TPMS is because so few check the air in their car tires. The Ford Explorer roll-over thing in 2000 brought this to light with over half of the explorers on the road having less than 20 psi in one or more of their tires when 30 is what was needed to prevent tire failures.

If you think the numbers are all wrong I suggest you simply check with 3 or 5 RVs next time you are at a campground. Compare the actual cold pressure with the pressure on the tire placard. This doesn't even address the actual load which can also be over GAWR.

 

[tireman9]

It is the air pressure that carries the load not the tire. If you think it's the tire then why do you bother to put air in your tires?

DOT has also done roadside air checks and find about 20 to 30% of vehicles are low on air But again this isn't addressing the load but if you start with that many low on air you als need to add a % that have the spec psi but are overloaded.

I know that many of you want to blame the tires from China but have you ever asked yourself how it is possible for an ST tire to carry 10 to 20% more load than an identical size LT tire with the same psi?
RV industry doesn't want to put better (LT) and more properly loaded (LT) tires on the trailers because they would need larger and more expensive tires, maybe even 6 in stead of 4 tires.
The RV buyers buy on low price and bobbles and mirrors not on quality.

Look at the tires on high end trailers vs the tires on entry level price trailers. Tire companies do not specify what tires or inflation is used on the trailer. It is by law the responsibility of the RV Mfg to spec the tires and inflation.

 

[JohnD]

"A place for my stuff . . ."

RV manufacturers sell empty trailers. We load them up; often without knowing how much all our stuff weighs. So it's not the manufacturers selling overloaded units.

We've been watching 'Goin RV' on the GAC Channel and a lot of the people on the show are always commenting on how little or how much storage there is and how much 'stuff' they want to fill it up with.

Or they'll point out the places that they want to mod in a few closets and/or drawer space so they can put even more stuff in it!

I suppose it is highly possible that often storage spaces are left out in some places in RV's to help keep us from overloading one side over the other due to heavy kitchen appliances and furniture.



When we got rid of our old 1978 Coachman TT in 2012 (when we got our first Heartland product) I was amazed at how much stuff we had in there . . .

There was a whole set of cast iron pots and pans and dutch ovens that we rarely ever used, tents, more sleeping bags than what the trailer would sleep (it slept 8 people comfortably), enough silverware to cover a platoon, a whole cubby full of firewood (in a state that is in constant fire ban), several lawn chairs, a big and heavy 20" tube TV . . . the list continues!

We just loaded it up with everything we 'thought' we would need and left it all packed up!



I still have a couple of stacks of stuff in the garage from the old Coachman . . .

Two trailers later and we know what to take and what not to take with us, and keep our stuff to a minimum.

 

[Bones]

It is the air pressure that carries the load not the tire. If you think it's the tire then why do you bother to put air in your tires?

DOT has also done roadside air checks and find about 20 to 30% of vehicles are low on air But again this isn't addressing the load but if you start with that many low on air you als need to add a % that have the spec psi but are overloaded.

I know that many of you want to blame the tires from China but have you ever asked yourself how it is possible for an ST tire to carry 10 to 20% more load than an identical size LT tire with the same psi?
RV industry doesn't want to put better (LT) and more properly loaded (LT) tires on the trailers because they would need larger and more expensive tires, maybe even 6 in stead of 4 tires.
The RV buyers buy on low price and bobbles and mirrors not on quality.

Look at the tires on high end trailers vs the tires on entry level price trailers. Tire companies do not specify what tires or inflation is used on the trailer. It is by law the responsibility of the RV Mfg to spec the tires and inflation.

It is a combination of air pressure and the tire which hold the air in. One can not function without the other.

 

[jakoenig1]

It is the air pressure that carries the load not the tire. If you think it's the tire then why do you bother to put air in your tires?

DOT has also done roadside air checks and find about 20 to 30% of vehicles are low on air But again this isn't addressing the load but if you start with that many low on air you als need to add a % that have the spec psi but are overloaded.

I know that many of you want to blame the tires from China but have you ever asked yourself how it is possible for an ST tire to carry 10 to 20% more load than an identical size LT tire with the same psi?
RV industry doesn't want to put better (LT) and more properly loaded (LT) tires on the trailers because they would need larger and more expensive tires, maybe even 6 in stead of 4 tires.
The RV buyers buy on low price and bobbles and mirrors not on quality.

Look at the tires on high end trailers vs the tires on entry level price trailers. Tire companies do not specify what tires or inflation is used on the trailer. It is by law the responsibility of the RV Mfg to spec the tires and inflation.

I have had TPMS on my trailer since new. I have a TPMS on my spare tire to make sure it is ready if I need it. I carry an air compressor and two spares (part of the 1800 lbs of stuff).

I would agree most car owners do not keep an eye on their tire pressure. I do believe that RV owners are painfully aware of the cost of running low tire pressure on their trailers. Up until my purchase of a 2009 bumper pull trailer, I had one blowout in 29 years of towing trailers. Since 2009, I have failed eight tires on two new trailers. Several did not last 2,000 miles and one year. Guess what the last eight tires had in common. They were from four different manufacturers. Two were purchased at retail stores for an average of $150 each. They were no better than the OEM tires.

Tires have always been marketed based on brand loyalty. Some people swear by Michelins, some Goodyear. There are hundreds of brands today, maybe thousands. You might as well use a dart board. Their is no incentive to keep quality high because you can simply rename the tire and keep selling it when word gets out that your tires are junk.

Do I believe some trailer tires fail due to low pressure, yes. Do I think it is 30 % of the failures, no. I would bet it is 10 % customer neglect/road hazard/overloading/all of the other manufacturer excuses and 90 % tire quality. Three of the tires I replaced still had the correct pressure in them when I took them for inspection. They had obvious tread separation that I caught during inspections.