Towmax blowout 2 days ago

mlpeloquin

Well-known member
I know most of you swear by Sailun and Goodyear, but I going give Prometer a chance. My coach is heavy and I like the specs on the tire. PRO METER ST235/85R16 14 ply load range G 10/32'' deep tread 31" diameter tire built to carry 4400 lbs @ 110 psi single ad 3850 lbs @ 110 psi dual. 150 a tire not bad. I know someone who pulls heavy loads all around the gulf south and he says he loves them.

the only specification information I could find on the Prometer is this and note the max weight rating is not 4400lbs, but 4080lbs. Also watch the max speed rating. the Sailuns and Goodyear G614's are 75mph tires. I would not advise going 75mph with 75mph tires nor 65mph with 65mph tires. Always derate from the maximum rated specifications on everything, tires, bolts,etc., except tire air pressure.

NEW TRAILER TIRES 235 85 16 PRO METER/LING LONG ALL STEEL 14 PLY ST235/85R16:
$195


NEW PREMIUM TRAILER TIRES
ST235/85R16

*PRO METER F835
5 RIB 'ALL STEEL' RADIAL


*14 PLY (LOAD RANGE G)---TUBELESS 129L LOAD INDEX RATED
$195.00 WITH FREE SHIPPING (PER TIRE)


SIMPLY SELECT THE QUANTITY YOU NEED. $195.00 EACH. PLEASE CHECK QUANTITY STILL AVAILABLE BEFORE CHECKING OUT. *THIS IS THE SAME TIRE AS THE LING LONG, NOW BRANDED PRO METER !!11/32” DEEP ORIGINAL TREAD


APPROX. DIAMETER OF THIS TIRE IS 30.25"
THIS 14 PLY TIRE IS BUILT TO CARRY 4,080 LBS @ 110 p.s.i. (SINGLE) & 3,640 LBS @ 110 p.s.i. (DUAL)
 

Hemi392

Member
Just had a Tow max tire failure today. Thank God I had tire pressure monitors on the trailer and one went off so we had stopped at a rest area for something else but I went back to check the tire that was setting off the alarm and sure enough this is what I found!!IMG_5410.JPGIMG_5409.jpgIMG_5411.JPG
What can I do about it? 5000 miles on it. Any suggestions for replacements??


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jnbhobe

Well-known member
We have no idea what rig you have, if your wheels will handle 110psi look at the Sailun S-637
 

Rollin_Free

Well-known member
That was really close to having trailer damage. Good luck was definitely on your side. As another said without your trailer specifics it impossible to recommend replacements. I'm guessing with an eight bolt rim your trailer is heavy. Your trailer GVWR should also be included in your response.
 

Hemi392

Member
Sorry about that. 2015 Cyclone 3010 toy hauler 36'. Tires are 235 80-R16s. Yes 8 bolt rims and gvwr is 15500
2 axle 7k each


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Hemi392

Member
So an update to my tire issue. 2 of the 4 towmax tires were bad. The 2nd tire had air bubbles between the tread and the inside ply. Just getting ready to fail. TBC Wholesale is who warranties the towmax did give me a prorated value on the 2 tires. However I shouldn't have to be replacing tires on a rig that just 1 year old. Heartland should step up and do the right thing for all who have had this issue. IMG_5472.JPG


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mlpeloquin

Well-known member
When you purchase a car, the dealership always states that the tire warranty is with the manufacture of the tire. So it is with the RV industry.
 

jam1on1

Member
we have an 2014 bighorn used three times lost three tires as belts separated tow max would only give like 25.00 a tire for pro rate ended by biting the bullet a bought 4 g 614 goodyear tires
 

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
we have an 2014 bighorn used three times lost three tires as belts separated tow max would only give like 25.00 a tire for pro rate ended by biting the bullet a bought 4 g 614 goodyear tires

Don't forget to change out the spare tire . . .

If it is a BlowMax, it is just as good (bad) as the rest you are replacing and can't be trusted . . . even as a spare!
 

tireman9

Well-known member
I was on the bypass around Atlanta when the explosion occurred. The tread completely separated and the tin in front of the garage steps was folded under 8-12". I was in the right lane going 55-60 and was able to immediately pull over. The extra wide shoulder was nice.

I was not aware of the towmax / blowmax saga until this happened. I am currently in the Baileyton Tn area and will be getting it repaired at http://www.triamrv.com

i will be looking for someone in the immediate area to provide a good deal on goodyear or sailun tires to replace all of mine.

View attachment 43448View attachment 43449View attachment 43450View attachment 43451


From the pictures it appears you had a Belt Separation and not a Run Low Flex Blowout.

Separations can many times be discovered with proper inspection.
 

1_oldgoat

Well-known member
I find it interesting that Heartland is still using towmax tires with so many failures, our blowout of one included in the many. I couldn't find the Sailuns??sp?? We would hve had to mail order a set and needed tires asapand couldn't wait but did we find a decent tire for replacement, Westlakes, and since we are selling our fw because of warrenty issues with Heartland, we are looking at new rigs and noticed other mnufactures use the westlakes for stock tires as well, so far so good, the towmax we had fail had a buldge in the sidewall, two others did to and had i found a replacement set before the last trip we made with them.on our fw, we wouldn't hve had any troubles, hindsight..... Dealing with the warrenty company on them proved to be a pain in the rear, we had no dealers close by for me to take the tires to so i gave up, and had to pay a disposal fee for them, 5 new tires and pay for getting rid of the bad set, what a rip.......
 

Garykcpa

Member
I might as well add my photo to the group. Blowmaxx blowout on I15 just outside of Barstow CA. Fortunately not much damage to fender skirt or trailer. Replaced it with the spare. When we got back to Las Vegas and we replaced all five tires with Goodyear tires.
 

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BigGuy82

Well-known member
I was on the bypass around Atlanta when the explosion occurred. The tread completely separated and the tin in front of the garage steps was folded under 8-12". I was in the right lane going 55-60 and was able to immediately pull over. The extra wide shoulder was nice.

I was not aware of the towmax / blowmax saga until this happened. I am currently in the Baileyton Tn area and will be getting it repaired at http://www.triamrv.com

i will be looking for someone in the immediate area to provide a good deal on goodyear or sailun tires to replace all of mine.

View attachment 43448View attachment 43449View attachment 43450View attachment 43451

This is an endless saga. Fortunately, no one has been injured or killed due to this obviously defective product line. The best advice in this situation is simple - if you have these things, get them off your rig. It's sad that the the government doesn't jump on these clowns with both feet.


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tireman9

Well-known member
I find it interesting that Heartland is still using towmax tires with so many failures, our blowout of one included in the many. I couldn't find the Sailuns??sp?? We would hve had to mail order a set and needed tires asapand couldn't wait but did we find a decent tire for replacement, Westlakes, and since we are selling our fw because of warrenty issues with Heartland, we are looking at new rigs and noticed other mnufactures use the westlakes for stock tires as well, so far so good, the towmax we had fail had a buldge in the sidewall, two others did to and had i found a replacement set before the last trip we made with them.on our fw, we wouldn't hve had any troubles, hindsight..... Dealing with the warrenty company on them proved to be a pain in the rear, we had no dealers close by for me to take the tires to so i gave up, and had to pay a disposal fee for them, 5 new tires and pay for getting rid of the bad set, what a rip.......

Do you have pictures of the failed tire?

Have you filed a complaint with NHTSA. Until we get complaints to them they can not possibly take any action. While recalls on RV items are infrequent we only have ourselve (RV owners) to blame.

- - - Updated - - -

I might as well add my photo to the group. Blowmaxx blowout on I15 just outside of Barstow CA. Fortunately not much damage to fender skirt or trailer. Replaced it with the spare. When we got back to Las Vegas and we replaced all five tires with Goodyear tires.

Strange appearance. What is that at 7 to 8 oclock in the picture?
Is the sidewall "broken on the inside of the tire?

Did you get warning from your TPMS?

How did you discover the air loss?

Se my other post re NHTSA

- - - Updated - - -

This is an endless saga. Fortunately, no one has been injured or killed due to this obviously defective product line. The best advice in this situation is simple - if you have these things, get them off your rig. It's sad that the the government doesn't jump on these clowns with both feet.


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Again. DOT can't jump on RV tire companies: without evidence. Can't develop evidence without investigation Can't start investigation without numbers of tire failures reported along with full tire DOT. Complaining on RV forums is no better than complaining as we sit around a campfire. I have covered this a number of times in my blog, including the How To info.
 

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
Again. DOT can't jump on RV tire companies: without evidence. Can't develop evidence without investigation Can't start investigation without numbers of tire failures reported along with full tire DOT. Complaining on RV forums is no better than complaining as we sit around a campfire. I have covered this a number of times in my blog, including the How To info.

While I agree with you in theory on this, I do believe that NAFTA people have just as much access to Google, Yelp, and all of the other places that the general public like to complain about stuff online.

Using the excuse of "no evidence" is just that . . . an excuse!

And I'm willing to wager a gallon of Fireball that they know all about this secret 'BlowMax' issue that it seems only those of us here on the Heartland Forum knows about . . .

They are just choosing not to do anything about it.


FlatBlowMaxTires-IMAG0217.jpg

Brand new 2015 Heartland 5th-wheel on the lot at LaMesa RV in Tuczon, AZ (Jan. 2016)
 

tireman9

Well-known member
NHTSA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement. Not quite the same thing.

NHTSA is the agency in US DOT Dept of Transportation that has responsibility to accumulate data, conduct investigations and order recalls. They have a budget and as such have to prioritize. If people do not file actionable complaints they have no reason to go on fishing expedition.

One major problem with tire failures is that vehicle owners seldom are able to provide meaningful or accurate information on the tires that failed. The full DOT serial is a key component. Few owners have bothered to record the S/N

It is also true that a great percentage have no clue on the tire size or even the Make and model of the tires they own.

NHTSA does order recalls such as on air bags, electrical components and tires. You can visit their site and look at information on tires you own to see if any of your tires are under recall. You can also see if there are complaints.

Towmax had a recall in Nov 2014 on a labeling problem. What is more telling is that there are only 27 complaints on file. With tens or hundreds of thousands of tires from Towmax how would you justify expending limited resources (Federal budget) on initiating an investigation when owners don't seem to be having significant number of problems?
 

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
I think you know that I meant NHTSA . . .

I was at work so doing 1 1/2 things at the same time . . . :rolleyes:
 

Hemi392

Member
I had read about all the towmax problems and put tire pressure monitors on the cyclone and doggone if I hadn't I would've blown one on I 495 last summer. We had just stopped because my granddaughter was crying and while in the rest area my pressure alarm went off, I thought it was screwed up but no. The tire had no visible signs on the outside however when I felt the backside the rubber was split and separated from the belts. We threw the spare on, got home and found the tire in front of that one had huge bubbles on the inside. Trailer had about 2500 miles on it at this point. Changed them all to continentals put my pressure gauges on them and haven't looked back. It's a sad thing when this continues to happen. Totally avoidable if heartland would just admit the tires suck,recall them, and replace. I hope no one has been injured by all this.


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