What is being done about Towmax Tires

[JohnD]

I like that line about operating "with little or no air pressure" . . . yeah . . . right . . .

Just like our flat axle on our Prowler with roughly 5000 miles on the trailer, and of course they (Dexter) blamed me saying I "must have overloaded the trailer".

But upon having it weighed . . . I was way under the capacity of the axles.

I am just going to have it fixed out of my own pocket.

I think that the axle probably got bent when we bought the Prowler as our dealership took both our new Prowler and our previous Trail Runner to a tire shop to have the tires swapped and I believe they may have jacked up the Prowler by the axles to do the tire swap.

That is the only thing that comes to mind that may have happened to the Prowler since we took delivery of it.

Of course, who knows what might have happened to it on it's way to Colorado from Indiana . . .

 

[BigGuy82]

Found my paperwork from dynamic tires. 905-595-5558 Ext. 507 Gabrielle.


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Many folks are confused about warranties, thinking that they are written to protect the buyer. Some would argue that they are written to protect both the buyer and the manufacturer. The truth is, if you read them carefully, they are clearly written to protect the manufacturer. Tires are a slam dunk - the buyer underinflated them and/or overloaded them. How can anyone prove otherwise? What it boils down to is that the buyer has to rely on the integrity and honesty of the supplier/manufacturer (who also needs to take a leap of faith in believing the buyer), because nobody is in the position to hire a legal team to challenge them for $600 worth of rubber and some trailer damage. In the case of Towmax tires, it seems that the sheer preponderance of the failures would indicate that the problems were caused by defective tires but who would ever admit that?

Personally, I've always had good luck with name brands - usually Goodyear. From what I read in these forums, Heartland seems to have a good rep. I've always come out on top when dealing with Ford. After a while, you get to know who the good ones are.

 

[SNOKING]

Just about 99.99 percent of tire warranties exclude consequential damages. Goodyear is the only one noted to routinely pay for trailer damage do to a tire failure. Chris

 

[danemayer]

Just about 99.99 percent of tire warranties exclude consequential damages. Goodyear is the only one noted to routinely pay for trailer damage do to a tire failure. Chris

Make that 100%. Goodyear's warranty statement also excludes consequential damages. Nevertheless, on selected tires, including the G614, they do routinely pay for trailer repairs. But they could change that practice at any time and still fulfill their warranty.

 

[Doublegranch]

I have two TowMaster tires on my trash trailer on the ranch. Today I noticed one tire was flat. I had not used the trailer in a couple of weeks and when I inspected it...wow the tire had blown up just sitting on the gravel pad. I have a couple of pic's on my camera I will down load later.
I was told these tires are made by tow max under a different name...not sure if that is true. I will take the tire back to Discount and see if they will make an adjustment for a new tire. It has less than 100 miles on it but is a couple of years old.

 

[Doublegranch]

Here is a follow up picture of the Tow Master tire that exploded on my trash trailer while sitting in front of the barn....This tire was in use just two weeks prior....The blow out was on the top side of the tire with both Inner & Outer sidewalls showing a clean vertical split from the rim up and into the blow out area. Almost like there was a seam in this location that gave out.

 

[BigGuy82]

Here is a follow up picture of the Tow Master tire that exploded on my trash trailer while sitting in front of the barn....This tire was in use just two weeks prior....The blow out was on the top side of the tire with both Inner & Outer sidewalls showing a clean vertical split from the rim up and into the blow out area. Almost like there was a seam in this location that gave out.

It is really concerning to read the saga of Towmax tires and the incidents surrounding their use. There's tons of complaints on just the Heartland forum, so one can only imagine what is happening with other brands. By now, someone should have raised this issue with the NTSB. These tires may be perfectly fine, but everything I've read here indicates a potential problem. If the NTSB agrees to check it out and they pass with flying colors, no harm, no foul. In fact, the distributor and the manufacturer should welcome this because right now, all they are getting is negative press. However, just writing about it on these forums won't ever truly address the matter.

If one of the moderators can advise me on how to print an entire thread, I'll print it and forward it to the NTSB. The worse that can happen is that they ignore me - the best is that we can save someone's backside. And no, this doesn't affect me personally as I don't have these, but somewhere out there is a family just looking forward to a good time, not a potential disaster.

 

[danemayer]

It is really concerning to read the saga of Towmax tires and the incidents surrounding their use. There's tons of complaints on just the Heartland forum, so one can only imagine what is happening with other brands. By now, someone should have raised this issue with the NTSB. These tires may be perfectly fine, but everything I've read here indicates a potential problem. If the NTSB agrees to check it out and they pass with flying colors, no harm, no foul. In fact, the distributor and the manufacturer should welcome this because right now, all they are getting is negative press. However, just writing about it on these forums won't ever truly address the matter.

If one of the moderators can advise me on how to print an entire thread, I'll print it and forward it to the NTSB. The worse that can happen is that they ignore me - the best is that we can save someone's backside. And no, this doesn't affect me personally as I don't have these, but somewhere out there is a family just looking forward to a good time, not a potential disaster.

If you go to the NHTSA website (Not NTSB), you'll see they have numerous complaints on Towmax tires. However, complaints without the DOT # and related information are not actionable. In addition, they really need to examine failed tire carcasses to independently determine the cause of failure. Unfortunately, most people either discard the carcass, or send it back to the distributor for a small payment.

You should be able to print a multi-page list of posts, advance to the next page, print another, advance, print and so on. But I think you'll be wasting your ink, paper and postage since these posts don't provide enough useful information for NHTSA to act. If anyone wants to help, send NHTSA a failed tire.

 

[BigGuy82]

If you go to the NHTSA website (Not NTSB), you'll see they have numerous complaints on Towmax tires. However, complaints without the DOT # and related information are not actionable. In addition, they really need to examine failed tire carcasses to independently determine the cause of failure. Unfortunately, most people either discard the carcass, or send it back to the distributor for a small payment.

You should be able to print a multi-page list of posts, advance to the next page, print another, advance, print and so on. But I think you'll be wasting your ink, paper and postage since these posts don't provide enough useful information for NHTSA to act. If anyone wants to help, send NHTSA a failed tire.

Too bad. Seems like posting here isn't accomplishing much other than venting. Oh well. Sooner or later, someone will pay the price.


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[TravelTiger]

Too bad. Seems like posting here isn't accomplishing much other than venting. Oh well. Sooner or later, someone will pay the price.


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It has done some good. 15.5k+ rigs are no longer coming from the factory with TowMax -- they have Sailun tires. Other lighter brands have a different tire as well, but not sure the exact brand name for each line.


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[Bigelk]

Hello all, I just had a towmax tire blow out this last sunday on my 2016 trailer on the third trip. It of course damaged my trailer. Unbelievable that heartland did not step up and get these tires off all heartland trailers as this is not a new issue. Of course they deflected the event to the tire company Dynamic who of course wants me to send the tire to a company in Tennessee whats left of the tire. Guess who has to fix the trailer ? Me. Shame on me for not reading the forum when I got the trailer. Has anyone been able to collect for repairs on their trailer ?

 

[danemayer]

Hello all, I just had a towmax tire blow out this last sunday on my 2016 trailer on the third trip. It of course damaged my trailer. Unbelievable that heartland did not step up and get these tires off all heartland trailers as this is not a new issue. Of course they deflected the event to the tire company Dynamic who of course wants me to send the tire to a company in Tennessee whats left of the tire. Guess who has to fix the trailer ? Me. Shame on me for not reading the forum when I got the trailer. Has anyone been able to collect for repairs on their trailer ?

If you have collision/comprehensive insurance on the trailer, it'll cover the repairs, less deductible of course.

 

[Bigelk]

Well a little update, on the towmax tire issue, Dynamic tire had all my tires shipped back to them after I got some replacements which I hope they will pay for. I read the sticker on my trailer and it says the tires should have been 14 ply or G rated. Why would any trailer company put ten ply tires on when it says it should have 14 ply. I notified Heartland about what happened and asked why these tires were put on this trailer. They had no answer and they wanted pictures of their sticker and my damage. I also was told to contact a company TBC and file a claim. They, told me to keep all receipts. I also checked the spare tire rim the white steel wheel and could find no pressure rating so I assume it can not handle 110 lbs of pressure which is the G rated tire pressure. ... have not found a recall yet ! Wow ! unbelievable what these companies do and get a way with it. Long story short get rid of any tow max tires and tell your friends about them. Take care and be safe out there !

 

[danemayer]

I read the sticker on my trailer and it says the tires should have been 14 ply or G rated. Why would any trailer company put ten ply tires on when it says it should have 14 ply.

Can you post a picture of the sticker here.

 

[TravelTiger]

BigElk, it could be the dealer swapped them. For someone who DID realize TowMax are bad tires. What coach do you have? The frames come in with no tires, and tires are one of the first things put on. If it's a BigHorn or Big Country, they only have a pallet of Sailun G rated tires to put on, I've seen it at the factory. If it's a Cyclone, Road Warrior or Edge Toyhauler, they have been using Sailun since 2013.

Please tell us what rig you have and it's GVWR.


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[LBR]

It is a grand possibility that the finger should be shaking at either your dealer if purchased from one who pulled a swaparoo of wheels and tires. There was another member several months ago that has this same story. His model/year was deduced to have had the Sailuns on from the factory, so his dealer was the middleman that may know what happened...lol.

Like TravelTiger stated, your model of 2016 coach will be necessary to help answer questions.

 

[Bigelk]

Ok, the trailer is a 2016 Torque TQ291 I bought it from a camp world in Dothan Al, I live in Arizona, I picked it up in Kerrville Tx, And found numerous issues right off the bat ! Unbelievable what I found inside and outside the trailer. I should have told the driver to take it back. They covered the damage and issues but I could not believe what was wrong. Any how they may have changed the tires for all I know at some point. I bought a Keystone trailer several years back from Holman Motors and there was nothing wrong with it and it was clean inside and out. I attached the sticker from my trailer. I think that if your trailer is rated for a certain weight than your tires need to handle it. Have a great week !

- - - Updated - - -

Forgot to give you the GVWR it is 16,250. I added up the weight that I normally carry with razor gas water everything and I was awfully close to the 10 ply tow max tire rating. Just wish I had done some research here earlier before my blow out. I just retired and am starting to travel more and do not want this type of issue. I know that all tires can blow if you don't watch them or hit something. I will update as things progress with my situation.

 

[JohnD]

Judging by that sticker it looks like your dealership swapped out the tires that came from the factory to make a deal with another trailer for another customer.

You may want to call them out on this, although since you've already signed the papers you may be out of luck.

 

[danemayer]

Ok, the trailer is a 2016 Torque TQ291 I bought it from a camp world in Dothan Al, I live in Arizona, I picked it up in Kerrville Tx, And found numerous issues right off the bat ! Unbelievable what I found inside and outside the trailer. I should have told the driver to take it back. They covered the damage and issues but I could not believe what was wrong. Any how they may have changed the tires for all I know at some point. I bought a Keystone trailer several years back from Holman Motors and there was nothing wrong with it and it was clean inside and out. I attached the sticker from my trailer. I think that if your trailer is rated for a certain weight than your tires need to handle it. Have a great week !

- - - Updated - - -

Forgot to give you the GVWR it is 16,250. I added up the weight that I normally carry with razor gas water everything and I was awfully close to the 10 ply tow max tire rating. Just wish I had done some research here earlier before my blow out. I just retired and am starting to travel more and do not want this type of issue. I know that all tires can blow if you don't watch them or hit something. I will update as things progress with my situation.

It's not impossible that the wrong wheels/tires were put on at the factory, but as others have suggested, it's way, way more likely the trailer left the plant with Load Range G Sailun S637 tires and they got swapped later. We frequently hear stories of dealers cannibalizing trailer 2 to get trailer 1 out the door. If the buyer before you knew of the Towmax reputation and demanded better tires, the dealer might have solved that problem by swapping tires/wheels between trailers.

 

[BigGuy82]

Ok, the trailer is a 2016 Torque TQ291 I bought it from a camp world in Dothan Al, I live in Arizona, I picked it up in Kerrville Tx, And found numerous issues right off the bat ! Unbelievable what I found inside and outside the trailer. I should have told the driver to take it back. They covered the damage and issues but I could not believe what was wrong. Any how they may have changed the tires for all I know at some point. I bought a Keystone trailer several years back from Holman Motors and there was nothing wrong with it and it was clean inside and out. I attached the sticker from my trailer. I think that if your trailer is rated for a certain weight than your tires need to handle it. Have a great week !

- - - Updated - - -

Forgot to give you the GVWR it is 16,250. I added up the weight that I normally carry with razor gas water everything and I was awfully close to the 10 ply tow max tire rating. Just wish I had done some research here earlier before my blow out. I just retired and am starting to travel more and do not want this type of issue. I know that all tires can blow if you don't watch them or hit something. I will update as things progress with my situation.

Lesson learned: never buy an RV without doing a complete inspection first. Not trying to be judgmental, just pointing out that buying a coach on the internet requires special precautions, like going to the selling dealer and checking the coach prior to accepting delivery. You might find what you want and save money online but you still need to do due diligence.

My money is on the dealer switching the tires. Considering they were Blowmax, it’s a miracle that it made it to TX! The good news is that Heartland is a solid company, so I’m sure they’ll help you as much as they can. Good luck.


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