Towmax by Power King – Facts

[Jim.Allison]

How many complaints for the ST tires made by Dynamic Tire, one of the manufacturers of the TowMax. Mine was a dynamic Tire Manufacturing/TowMax.

As of this posting:

1. 37 complaints have been filed at the NHTSA.

2. Zero recalls, investigations or service bulletins have been issued by the NHTSA.

3. Out of the 37 complaints, 10 where filed by Heartland owners as follows:

a. Four in 2013
b. Five in 2012
c. One in 2010
​

4. 36 HOC Forum treads started with the word “Towmax” in the title.*

5. 69 mentions of Towmax in HOC Forum threads.*

6. Unknown millions of Towmax tires delivered each year.

7. Unknown thousands of Towmax tires delivered on Heartland brand each year.

8. Power King provides 24/7 Roadside Assistance for two years from the date of purchase.

9. Power King provides a Premium Limited Warranty (Affective Aug. 2012), Premium Limited Warranty (Prior to Aug. 1, 2012).

(*) Results from the HOC Forum search engine.

---

Bonus tidbits:

105 complaints have been filed at the NHTSA for the Goodyear Marathon tire. (34 during the same period as the Towmax above.)

6 complaints have been filed at the NHTSA for the Mission ST tire.

15 complaints have been filed at the NHTSA for the Loadstar ST tire by Kenda Karrier.

1 complaint has been filed at the NHTSA for the XPS Rib tire by Michelin.

Zero complaints have been filed at the NHTSA for the Maxxis ST Radial M8008.

Braking down the Carlisle stats is not easy. Carlisle currently has 5 different model trailer tires. I discovered in the past that there are several tire models reported in the wrong category by submitters on the NHTSA site. Below is the best I'll provide.

Also, in past research on Carlisle, the company made a significant shift in the product line and production in the year 2010. They purchased the Chinese plant that year and placed their company supervisors there to oversee the product line. Therefore, all the Carlisle tires made after 2010 are better.

Although I have had some Carlisle failures, none failed due to defects. Even the two tires I had that were made in 2010 failed due to an axle shifting that caused the tires to overheat from friction. They failed 6 months later.

53 complaints have been filed at the NHTSA for the Radial Tail (RH) tire by Carlisle.
a. 2007 – 5
b. 2008 -14
c. 2009 -10
d. 2010 -7
e. 2011 -6
f. 2012 -5
g. 2013 -6

1 complaint has been filed at the NHTSA for the Sport Trail tire by Carlisle. (2011)

6 complaints have been filed at the NHTSA for the USA Trail LRF tire by Carlisle. (2007-2010)

203 complaints have been filed at the NHTSA for a variety styles and sizes of tires by Carlisle. (2001-2012) **

** Sorry, I'm not going to spend the time to break that down. It looked like the majority were 15" tires.


All are welcome to perform your own search here: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchSafetyIssues

 

[Jim.Allison]

This is not necessarily a TowMax tire issue. This may be a manufacturing and marketing issue. What disturbs me is that my rig comes with inadequate tires on it. This is the true heart of the question. I as a buyer am not educated enough on the tires applied to my rig. I buy on faith. It was not until my Dynamic Tire manufactured TowMax tire failed at 1800 miles that I began to do research on the topic. That research revealed that the wheels provided by Heartland were rated for 3750 lbs and 110 psi. And the optional tire, Goodyear G614 was offered by Heartland as an option. I can see the tire BRAND being the option but not the tire CAPACITY.

Heartland OEM BC3650RL; TowMax ST235 80 R 16 at 3520 lbs at 80 psi.

Heartland could have easily installed; TowMax ST235 85 R 16 3640 lbs at 80 psi. Regarding this tire, heartland could have considered this over its little brother the 80R for 120 lbs increase but chose not to. So not only did they choose the cheap tire they chose the cheapest 16 in available to them.

Heartland offered as an option; Goodyear G614 LT 235 LRG 14 PR 16, 3750 at 110 psi (matches OEM wheels)

It is true that all I have is anecdotal evidence and little empirical evidence, but I have heard is said before, "if it looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, it is probably a duck."

A famous philosopher, William of Ockham once said regarding succinctness; Ockham's Razor states; that one should proceed to simpler theories until cimplicity can be traded for greater explanatory power. The simplest available theory need not be accurate.

My theory is that the 1) Towmax tires and ST tires in the same class have no special characteristics that make them superior to LT tires of the past. 2) The tire only meets the required specification and do not exceed them (unlike automotive tires). 3) ANY operation outside the design properties destroys the integrity of the tire. 4) ST tires of this class are not suitable for the application, in that the user will violate the design parameters of the tire under NORMAL use i.e. tight turns, and backing turns that almost roll the tire off the rim, occasional curb strike (intense or mild). Just to name a few.

I spent a lot of time in Tucson, Arizona and I can tell you that the desert floor can reach 130 plus. Hot enough to blow the seals on automotive airconditioning systems, and cause severe problems with automotive tires. Delamination of automotive tires is a problem particularly in the desert. I doubt that Dynamic Tire/TowMax tires can handle 65 mph highway speeds encountered from west Texas, New Mexico, Arizona.

The reason that NTSB and other agencies do not have long list of these tire failures, is that no-one pens a comprehensive letter concerning the facts. If they do its an incoherent rambling concerning all the hardship they encountered as a result of the failure.

TowMax, and Heartland should be carbon copied any letters you write. There will come a point when everyone will realize that they know of the problem and failed to act which comes under the heading of NEGLIGENCE.

BTW, I just got my letter from Dynamic Tire/TowMax offering me $125 for my damages in exchange for a release of liability. There reasoning is that the tire was over loaded. To that I have to agree, it was over loaded in that it was not capable of carrying the load of my slightly loaded 5th wheel. I will post the letter later on this evening for all to read.

 

[brianlajoie]

If you use a digital gauge when inflating your tires and have a TPMS I see no reason to crawl around inspecting tires at each gas stop. I don't.
I do keep an eye on the pressure reading on my TPMS as it is my first line of defense.

Could you recommend a good digital gauge? I looked for one locally before my first trip but ended up with the long stick type. I get three different pressure readings per tire. One from my stick guage, one from my small compressor and one from the TPMS. I used the one from the TPMS because that is what I look at all the time.

 

[JohnD]

Towmax by Power King – Facts or Fiction...who can know or tell?

Could you recommend a good digital gauge? I looked for one locally before my first trip but ended up with the long stick type. I get three different pressure readings per tire. One from my stick gauge, one from my small compressor and one from the TPMS. I used the one from the TPMS because that is what I look at all the time.

My question(s) is (are) this . . .

How do we know any of the gauges are accurate?

Or who's gauge is accurate . . . ?

Or which TPMS is reading correctly . . .

The truth is . . . nobody really knows and we are just taking their (TPMS manufacturers) word for it that it is giving us correct information.

And giving them lots of dollars for a system that really doesn't work the way it is supposed to be intended to work.

When my car tires were replaced about a month ago, the tire shop swore that all of the tires were inflated to 32 PSI, yet the GM factory installed TPMS said that all of them were at least 5 PSI or more higher than that, and each tire was 3-6 PSI apart from each other . . . not a one of them reading the same as another tire (and the TPMS always has and still reads way off like this)!

And my digital tire pressure gauge that I bought at Advance Auto showed that all four tires were indeed inflated the same, only it read that each tire was inflated to 26 PSI.

I then grabbed my Walmart Special $1.59 stick pressure gauge, which read each tire at 31 PSI.


Hhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...............................!!!!!

By the by, I did these tire readings in the parking lot of the tire store in the shade before I left the store.

 

[donr827]

JohnD, I read a review on tire gauges somewhere on the internet. It tested around 8 of the most popular gauges. Can not think of the name of the sire where I found it. Might try some searching on the internet. I will try to find it when I have some more time..........Don

 

[wdk450]

My TPMS (Tire Trakker) says that they check their sensors with NBS traceable calibration devices. But yes, there is about a 5 psi difference in these from my digital tire gauge. I would hope that the good tire shops have the most checked and accurate pressure gauges around. Calibration (Metrology) labs exist in most big cities, but their rates are pretty high.

I did a little online research on this and came up with a Consumer Reports article on tire pressure gauges. I don't subscribe to their service, but the page linked below has their top 2 choices included in the accessible text: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/tire-pressure-gauges/buying-guide.htm

BTW, I also did an Amazon search that can be qualified with terms like"calibrated" or "professional". They had a dial type with a connecting hose there for $129. I hope that is pretty accurate.

 

[JohnD]

I'll bet that most (if not all) tire shops make each of their employees buy their own tire pressure gauges, which means that most likely they are using the same tire pressure gauges that us, the consumer, uses.

 

[SeattleLion]

These threads inevitably lead to this point where someone attempts to analyze the actual performance of Tow Max versus other tires. I initially got very worried about my OEM tires. I'm less worried now. The fact is that I own a 13,500 lb trailer (loaded). That's heavy. 11,300 lbs are riding on the four ST tires. Based on ratings (rounding numbers a bit), Each tire has to carry 2,850 lbs and is rated for 3,500 lbs. That is 81% of capacity. The axles are rated at 7,000 lbs each. So, I have a 19% margin in terms of loading. I am pretty sure that Heartland did similar calculation at the MGWR of 15,500 lbs (that comes out to around 12,000 lbs on the tires or 3,000 lbs each - a 15% margin) and decided that was adequate.

It is true that one side of the trailer could be heavier than the other. The design of my Bighorn has the controllable weight nicely balanced. Tanks are centered on the long axis, the slides appear to balance one another; the short slide (kitchen) with its appliances and food, etc. are offset by the longer, heavier slide for the livingroom with the lighter table, chairs, and recliners. It is still possible to be loading one side more than the other. But even if I load one side 500 lbs more than the other, the margin on the tires should handle that since it would only add 250 lbs/tire on that side.

It appears to me that the greater risk is road hazards and bearing or other axle component failures that stress the tires. It also seems to me that heat is the biggest enemy here. It is with other kinds of tires. Apparently delamination is one of the more common causes of failure. However, with all that said, I wonder what percentage of Bighorns, for example, suffer a blowout in the first five years of their lives? That number would be most instructive. I also wonder if anyone has real numbers regarding the relative failure rate of G614's. Last, I wonder if the failure rate goes down on any tire if the trailer owner monitors tire pressure carefully.

So, if I make sure that I inflate to 80psi (at 70 deg F.) and then monitor all four tires with a TPMS, am I significantly reducing the chances of a blowout? I hope so. But you know, there are no studies to prove that. According to TST, only one company actually did a study to understand the effect of temperature on tire failure. I think it was Michelin. TST defaults their TPMS to alarm when that temp is approached. Beyond that, I just don't know what I can do.

 

[TravelTiger]

If you use a digital gauge when inflating your tires and have a TPMS I see no reason to crawl around inspecting tires at each gas stop. I don't.
I do keep an eye on the pressure reading on my TPMS as it is my first line of defense.

Because the OP has TowMax, bubbles have been reported as a sign if failure, sometimes just sitting still. Inspecting every 200 miles visually or by touching might catch this before TPMS reported anything unusual. I watch my TPMS regularly too, but how reliably can you judge a tire failure is "About to happen"? We found broken belts in a TowMax tire when the tire was fully inflated and not showing any signs of failure. I found a bulge on the tread, with my hand.

I've also discovered potential tread separation starting with a small crack, by visual inspection... Not by TPMS.


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[Jim.Allison]

I actually found a great digital tire gauge at sears, for a reasonable price. I have several gauges, old and new, all of them read real close to the same reading across the board, I feel it is accurate enough for my purposes. The worst gauge was an analog gauge that I bought at a famous auto parts store. I took it back. My Sears digital gauge is accurate to the onboard TPMS on my RAM, so I feel I'm on safe ground for $10. Here is the link to the AccuTire I bought from Sears.

http://www.accutiregauge.com/digita...ccutire-ms-4021b-standard-digital-tire-gauge/

 

[tireman9]

Could you recommend a good digital gauge? I looked for one locally before my first trip but ended up with the long stick type. I get three different pressure readings per tire. One from my stick guage, one from my small compressor and one from the TPMS. I used the one from the TPMS because that is what I look at all the time.

I have a number of posts on gauges on my blog (see my signature)
There is a list of "Labels" on the right side of the blog so just click on the item of interest.

When you have time you might want to work through all the posts. I wouldn't expect you to remember all ths info but in the future you might remember that there is a source for your questions to be answered without having to wait for email reply.

 

[tireman9]

I actually found a great digital tire gauge at sears, for a reasonable price. I have several gauges, old and new, all of them read real close to the same reading across the board, I feel it is accurate enough for my purposes. The worst gauge was an analog gauge that I bought at a famous auto parts store. I took it back. My Sears digital gauge is accurate to the onboard TPMS on my RAM, so I feel I'm on safe ground for $10. Here is the link to the AccuTire I bought from Sears.

http://www.accutiregauge.com/digita...ccutire-ms-4021b-standard-digital-tire-gauge/

Accutire is my "Master" . Also available at Amazon.

 

[tireman9]

These threads inevitably lead to this point where someone attempts to analyze the actual performance of Tow Max versus other tires. I initially got very worried about my OEM tires. I'm less worried now. The fact is that I own a 13,500 lb trailer (loaded). That's heavy. 11,300 lbs are riding on the four ST tires. Based on ratings (rounding numbers a bit), Each tire has to carry 2,850 lbs and is rated for 3,500 lbs. That is 81% of capacity. The axles are rated at 7,000 lbs each. So, I have a 19% margin in terms of loading. I am pretty sure that Heartland did similar calculation at the MGWR of 15,500 lbs (that comes out to around 12,000 lbs on the tires or 3,000 lbs each - a 15% margin) and decided that was adequate.

It is true that one side of the trailer could be heavier than the other. The design of my Bighorn has the controllable weight nicely balanced. Tanks are centered on the long axis, the slides appear to balance one another; the short slide (kitchen) with its appliances and food, etc. are offset by the longer, heavier slide for the livingroom with the lighter table, chairs, and recliners. It is still possible to be loading one side more than the other. But even if I load one side 500 lbs more than the other, the margin on the tires should handle that since it would only add 250 lbs/tire on that side.

It appears to me that the greater risk is road hazards and bearing or other axle component failures that stress the tires. It also seems to me that heat is the biggest enemy here. It is with other kinds of tires. Apparently delamination is one of the more common causes of failure. However, with all that said, I wonder what percentage of Bighorns, for example, suffer a blowout in the first five years of their lives? That number would be most instructive. I also wonder if anyone has real numbers regarding the relative failure rate of G614's. Last, I wonder if the failure rate goes down on any tire if the trailer owner monitors tire pressure carefully.

So, if I make sure that I inflate to 80psi (at 70 deg F.) and then monitor all four tires with a TPMS, am I significantly reducing the chances of a blowout? I hope so. But you know, there are no studies to prove that. According to TST, only one company actually did a study to understand the effect of temperature on tire failure. I think it was Michelin. TST defaults their TPMS to alarm when that temp is approached. Beyond that, I just don't know what I can do.

Noted your statement "inflate to 80psi (at 70 deg F.) " To me this implies you think the "Cold" inflation needs to be adjusted when the Ambient temperature is different than 70°F. This is not correct. "Cold" tire inflation means when the tire is at ambient temperature and not warmed by either being driven or in Sunlight.
The definition from US Tire & Rim Association is Cold Inflation Pressure is the inflation pressure taken with tires at the prevailing atmospheric temperatures and do not include any inflation build-up due to vehicle operation


In real life this means before the tire has been driven one mile. It also implies that the tire has not been exposed to external warming from being in the Sunlight. We have shown that when a tire in in sunlight for as little as 30 minutes the temperature can rise by almost 40°F which will give you a higher than Ambient pressure reading.

You should wait at least 2 hours with 3 preferred after end of the day driving to give your tires a chance to equalize temperature with ambient air temperature. During this time the tire should be in full shade.


RE unbalance. It is not unusual to find the range of loading of heavy individual tire to light loaded individual tire to be in the range of 600# to over 1,000#

Axles are seldom 50/50 and side to side on an individual axle is many times closer to 45/55 than 50/50

Glad tou use TPMS as the most frequest cause of "Blowouts" is a loss of air from puncture or leak at the valve.

 

[Jim.Allison]

I always use the Accutire to confirm what my inflation gauge shows me. It does!

Accutire is my "Master" . Also available at Amazon.

 

[JohnD]

I urge everyone to get their trailer tires balanced.

They do not come balanced from the Heartland factory, and when I had mine done a couple of months ago, they discovered that one of the wheels that came on my 2013 Trail Runner was bent and/or warped!

It is now my spare, but I think I need to see if it can be replaced under warranty since it came from the factory this way!

By the by . . . not a single one of them was balanced, including the bent/warped one!

 

[tireman9]

I urge everyone to get their trailer tires balanced.

They do not come balanced from the Heartland factory, and when I had mine done a couple of months ago, they discovered that one of the wheels that came on my 2013 Trail Runner was bent and/or warped!

It is now my spare, but I think I need to see if it can be replaced under warranty since it came from the factory this way!

By the by . . . not a single one of them was balanced, including the bent/warped one!

Why should RV assemblers balance the tires? IMO
1. It would cost them money
2. If they find a defective tire or wheel they would have to fix it
3. If they wait for the owner to find the problems in all probability the RV is out of warranty or the owner is not willing to spend the time and money to return the defective part to the assembly plant so the assembly plant avoided having to take responsibility for the bad part or poor workmanship.

 

[JohnD]

Why should RV assemblers balance the tires? IMO
1. It would cost them money
2. If they find a defective tire or wheel they would have to fix it
3. If they wait for the owner to find the problems in all probability the RV is out of warranty or the owner is not willing to spend the time and money to return the defective part to the assembly plant so the assembly plant avoided having to take responsibility for the bad part or poor workmanship.

You left one out . . .

4. Might cost them an extra $5 in manufacturing costs . . .

 

[Jim.Allison]

I will bet they order the tire and rim assemblies en-mass, they can order them balanced also. With the number they buy, I bet their cost would be nothing.

 

[Stormvet]

I know I am probably in the minority, but I thought it would be fair to give my opinion/experience with Tow Max tires.
I just completed a 7000 mile trip with my Cyclone 3950, at approx. 17K lb.
I had no problems with the tires even though some of the roads in the NE are terrible.
I do feel that the fact I had the tires balanced and I put TMPS sensors on all the tires to monitor the temps. and pressures helped and at least gave me more confidence. I only added about 2-3 lbs pressure once to bring all tires into similar range.
I think much of the problems arise when the tires are out of balance or under pressure and people are not aware of it.

 

[Tool958]

I know I am probably in the minority, but I thought it would be fair to give my opinion/experience with Tow Max tires.
I just completed a 7000 mile trip with my Cyclone 3950, at approx. 17K lb.
I had no problems with the tires even though some of the roads in the NE are terrible.
I do feel that the fact I had the tires balanced and I put TMPS sensors on all the tires to monitor the temps. and pressures helped and at least gave me more confidence. I only added about 2-3 lbs pressure once to bring all tires into similar range.
I think much of the problems arise when the tires are out of balance or under pressure and people are not aware of it.

We had all of the above on our Cyclone including keeping to 65 mph or slower, all because I had read about the Tomax problems when we bought our 5th wheel. It made no difference on our first trip out to Sturgis. The first bulge happened on the way from Yellowstone to Denver. They probably had less than 3000 miles on them. Got it changed and replaced them in Loveland, Co. with Coopers. When they changed them, they found another bulge that developed from the first blow-out to Loveland. This was 2 years ago. Last year, on the way home from Sturgis again, we lost one of the Coopers the same way. It developed a bulge on the inside of the tire and started going down slow. We were still following the same regiment we had with the Tomax's. It made no difference with neither sets. I believe in both sets of tires they were overloaded due to having both bikes in the garage and having full tanks in the fresh water and gasoline tank. Hopefully going to the heavier ply Sailun tires and running 110# will solve our problem. Heartland offering the factory upgrade to the heavier tires tells something about what's going on with them. I personally think the Tomax's are too close to being over weight coming from the the factory, especially before loading the garage. The factory max weight in the garage does not take into account all of the things you add after buying, that adds more weight to the total.


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