TOWMAX TIRES: I will add my recent experience

[sailsmith]

I have a 2014 Sundance 3270RES we purchased March 2014. Of course, it came with Towmax tires. On August 8, 2015 we were traveling from Houston to Oklahoma City and had a blowout just north of Madisonville TX on the driver's side rear axle tire. The tires had approximately 4400 miles on them with no visible signs of wear. A tire service was sent out by Good Sam's Roadside Service and put my spare on for the blown tire.

This was unsettling to have this time consuming problem since my wife had recently had chemo treatments and double mastectomy and hysterectomy surgery.

We got back on the road and 16 miles later blew out another tire on the door side front axle. Since now we had no spare and it was getting late, we were not brought 2 new tires until the next morning. Again, via Good Sams. Not a good story since the 2 "Chinese" tires ended up costing me $764 which under the circumstances I was stuck with to get back on the road.

This past Tuesday, September 8, 2015, we were on our way from Houston to the Lufkin, TX area, the 3rd Towmax tire on the door side rear axle blew out. We again had the spare put on by road service This time we went back to New Caney, TX and bought 2 tires and also replaced the 4th Towmax tire before it had a chance to blow.

The first two blowouts did not cause any body damage. The 3rd one tore up a lot. The door side fender skirt and the slide out skirt were beat up and broken.

What is the best procedure for getting the damage repaired and the skirts replaced?

Best regards,

Doyle and Sharon Smith

 

[danemayer]

Hi sailsmith,

Sorry about the damage to your rig. If you put in a claim with your insurance company, the adjuster can point you to body shops that work on RVs.

If you still have any of the blown tires, you might consider making them available to NHTSA for independent failure analysis. If they find a manufacturing defect, it could result in tires on the road being replaced before any more blow out.

 

[jmgratz]

Sorry about you tire issues. You might try filing a claim with Tredit tire as they are the tire supplier for Heartland.

 

[Bill-Cathy]

Really sorry to hear of your bad tire experiences. We just picked up or Heartland Gateway. I've read so many stories of "Blowmaster" tires going bad I'm searching for a good replacement. I can't find any ST tires not made in China. I'm thinking of going to a LT tire.

 

[danemayer]

Really sorry to hear of your bad tire experiences. We just picked up or Heartland Gateway. I've read so many stories of "Blowmaster" tires going bad I'm searching for a good replacement. I can't find any ST tires not made in China. I'm thinking of going to a LT tire.

Check the inside of your rims to make sure they're rated for 110 psi / 3750 lbs, and consider moving up to a load range G tire like the Sailun S637 or the Goodyear G614. That'll give you additional margin from a load perspective. The Goodyear G614 costs about twice as much, is rated for 75 mph max speed, and Goodyear has a practice of paying for repairs if a G614 fails. The Sailuns have a good rep and I don't think anyone has reported a failure.

 

[Jim Posz]

I have a 2014 Sundance 3310CL. Due to the many negative reports on Towmax tires I replaced them ASAP with Maxxis tires in the same size. This is our second Sundance 5th wheel; the first had at least 15,000 miles on the Maxxis tires with no problems, and this one probably has 6 or 7,000 miles without problems. Yes, they are imported but seem to be much better made. This is probably a lot less money than going to a LT tire. FYI Discount Tire sells these tires. Jim P.

 

[LEONTROSS]

I have a 2013 Greystone 5th wheel with Towmax st235/80/r16 tires. I was headed back home this last Tuesday and I experienced the worst tire blow out in 45 years of towing trailers. It pretty much exploded. No tread left and steel cord sticking straight out, ripped rim to rim with my trailer fender sent flying in pieces. I looked the tires over before I broke camp and they looked fine. Only traveled about 100 miles when it blew. After reading several other articles on trailer tire failures I worried about leaving the other 3 tires on. With no visible sidewall checkering or tread separation, these tires probably don't have 5000 mile on them. I really don't want to buy new tires. I thinking about having them removed by a tire shop and inspected inside for hidden problems. Has anyone else tried this?

 

[kowAlski631]

Buy new tires. We thought the same thing - that we could wait on a purchase by becoming vigilant and having someone check over the remaining tires. Nope. Next failure was a huge sidewall bulge, then an obvious separation literally overnight, and lastly another blowout with damage to the hydraulic system. Not worth the stress.

 

[danemayer]

I have a 2013 Greystone 5th wheel with Towmax st235/80/r16 tires. I was headed back home this last Tuesday and I experienced the worst tire blow out in 45 years of towing trailers. It pretty much exploded. No tread left and steel cord sticking straight out, ripped rim to rim with my trailer fender sent flying in pieces. I looked the tires over before I broke camp and they looked fine. Only traveled about 100 miles when it blew. After reading several other articles on trailer tire failures I worried about leaving the other 3 tires on. With no visible sidewall checkering or tread separation, these tires probably don't have 5000 mile on them. I really don't want to buy new tires. I thinking about having them removed by a tire shop and inspected inside for hidden problems. Has anyone else tried this?

Hi LeonTross,

Sorry to hear about your blowout. From what I've read, tires can have internal damage that's not visible, even with the tire dismounted. Also, I always wonder about the expertise of tire shop employees. And when one tire blows, that puts an extra load on the surviving tire on that side, which may result in a later blowout.

Your best bet is to replace them asap. Many people recommend Maxxis. If your rims are stamped for 110 psi / 3750 lbs, you could also upgrade to Load Range G tires, like the Sailun S637.

If you still have the blown tire, consider making it available to NHTSA for failure analysis. If they find a manufacturing defect, it would help everyone else who still has the same tire on their trailer.

 

[TxCowboy]

When we looked at replacing the Towmax tires on our Greystone earlier this year, we checked a lot of websites for pricing and availability. People are literally giving away the Towmax tires.

We bought some nice Goodyears for about $150 each installed which was about $50 more per tire than the price of the Towmax.

Do yourself a favor -- buy good tires. And don't forget to replace the spare tire.

 

[JohnD]

I recently sold the BlowMax tires and wheels that came on our previous 2013 Heartland Trail Runner . . .

When the guy bought them (for a small utility trailer), I told him the sale price was for the wheels and I was throwing in the tires for free . . . and that those tires were worth every penny (free)!

They will be OK for his use . . .



These only had around 5000 miles on them in 2 1/2 years.

 

[Thedonald]

This is so sad. This problem has been going on for over two years as told by varies owners with varies types of rigs, and yes it happened to me. Why can't this be stopped. I know several people who sent their tires in for inspection with no action. I was asked to take mine to a designated dealer and although the service personnel agreed their must be something wrong with the construction they could not pin point it and therefore nothing. I, like everyone I know who had this problem, bit the bullet and bought G's. All has been good since.

 

[LEONTROSS]

After a lot of research I'm going with a full set of LT265/75/R16 E ply rating and a load index #123. The load index number is more important than the ply rating. You can get E tires with a load index #109 = 2271# capacity vs a #123 = 3417#capacity with the same size tire. A quick trip to the scales to make sure the trailer is not over the load rating before i buy. I checked the date code on the blown tire and it's only a little over 3 years old. I am the 2nd owner of the fifth wheel and have no warranty to pursue. ST tires may be made for trailers but nowhere does a tire mfg. say you can't use a properly sized LT tire. With so many blown tires with very little miles it's likely ST tires were made to be inexpensive for trailer mfg'ers and not long life for the consumers.

 

[TravelTiger]

This is so sad. This problem has been going on for over two years as told by varies owners with varies types of rigs, and yes it happened to me. Why can't this be stopped. I know several people who sent their tires in for inspection with no action. I was asked to take mine to a designated dealer and although the service personnel agreed their must be something wrong with the construction they could not pin point it and therefore nothing. I, like everyone I know who had this problem, bit the bullet and bought G's. All has been good since.

Heartland is moving away from TowMax tires. It may be a slow process, but they are working on it.


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[macjj]

As you stated there is a lot said about "blowmax" - I had two go within 40 miles and a third ready to blow - also low milage. Good luck in getting the damage covered, I paid for repairs out of pocket. Warranty or insurance will cover "road hazard", the manufacturer will most likely state you were speeding on over/under inflated tires. The will most likely provide a check for $500, but it could take a year + to get the check. That is if you ship the defective tires back to them. Good luck, but the Goodyear is a very good suggestion


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[JohnD]

The key is to get rid of the BlowMax tires before you go anywhere with them.

On our previous 2013 Heartland Trail Runner, we never had an issue with the BlowMax tires in just under 5000 miles . . .

But the trailer itself was causing issues with the BlowMax tires (ie.- the trailer springs and axles were shot and the trailer was bottoming out on the tires)!

Luckily, when we bought the new Heartland Prowler 5th-wheel trailer, we were in the position to dump the Blowmax tires that came from the Heartland factory upon purchase!