Goodyear Factory Representative

[Franksrv44b]

Hello All, Frank here, I have a 2017 Entegra Aspire with GOODYEAR tires all around . 315s in the front and 295s for the rest. I got to experience my first right front blowout in October, after a little over 2 years of driving all over, especially my trip to Nevada and back to DC. Just for your info, I had the tryon bands on the front wheels and they kept the tire on the rim.

So why the blow out? I dont know, the factory rep from goodyear, after seeing a picture of the blowout stated looks like i didnt have enough pressure, what I do know is that after numerous CAT scales weights, didnt have individual wheel weights, my front axle weight was 15,680 lbs. I then divided by 2 to get the wheel weight, I then used the goodyear pressure chart to come up with 115 psi for the front tires. That is what I used when I traveled to Nevada and all the other trips.

After having a telephone conversation with the rep, she told me that I should ALWAYS use the manufacturers vehicle data plate, and that is 130 cold psi for the front, 90 psi for the drive wheels, and 100 psi for the tag wheels. So, that is what I do now. I also have a TPMS now and i have noticed that the pressures increase quick and that it went up for the front tires about 20 psi.

So the point to all this is to pass on the factory reps statment to me and to see how eveyone feels about using the data plate to set psi pressures.

Thanks
frank

[brobox]

Franks lots of post you can look up in the search bar on that subject. Goodyears got so bad with blowouts, Entegra quit using them. The same formula you used, so have many others with Michelin....they have not had a problem.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Ente...earch=irv2.com

[hdgoldie]

Frank, if you should always run the vehicle pressure, why does Goodyear supply weight/pressure charts? That would seem to be unnecessary if what the rep told you was factual. We were told that the engineers at our insurance company had determined that our blow out was caused by a faulty tire - and that they would be seeking reimbursement for the claim from Goodyear. Sounds to me like they are trying to avoid additional claims. What did your insurance company have to say?

[Victory Blue]

You found a rep that doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Unfortunately, reps without real knowledge are found at every company.


This is right from Goodyear’s website:

“Since RVs can be loaded with many different configurations, the load on each tire will vary. For this reason, actual air pressure required should be determined based on the load on each individual tire. Inflation pressure should be adjusted to handle the tire carrying the heaviest load, and all tires on the axle should be adjusted to this standard.”

Notice there’s no mention of always keeping the tires at the max cold pressure.

[Nowabeachbum]

Consider yourself lucky and go Michelin tire shopping! Goodyear has known tire issues that they will blame on everyone and everything except themselves! As Chuck said Entegra stopped using them.

[Gary.Jones]

Frank

There are a lot of different issues involved with your experience. You are asking for our opinions and experience, and I will give you mine. My opinion is that this Goodyear rep doesnt know her butt from a hole in the ground (that is an expression that I heard my mother say thousands of times over my childhood explaining why I did something dumb along with someone else that did something dumb)(and I think that any male phone rep would have the same problem). So, anyhow, with that stated.

As brobox has said, this issue has been dealt with 20 or 30 times on here. If you search you will find a lot of data and a lot of opinion. Here is my synthesis.

1.) Goodyear tires have been known for front tire blow outs and there have been more Goodyear front time blow-outs reported here in the past 4 - 5 years than anything else. The general consensus is that they are not a good tire to be running on the fronts of a motorhome.

2.) That consensus has led to some (many) owners taking the Goodyears off their steers and replacing them with another brand, usually Michelins even before the tires had not yet shown significant wear. They considered them unsafe.

3.) There is a report on here that there has been an old class action lawsuit against Goodyear for tire problems on motorhomes (I don't know this is fact or relevance, but it has been an issue).

4.) Using a CAT scale to get axle weights is not the same as doing 4-Corner weights, as it assumes that both sides of the axle have equal loads (load divided by 2). That is an incorrect assumption. (See also, Bill Kloos' comment above). One of our contributers here (DeeGee) has been wresteling with a side to side difference of over a ton on the front axle of his coach (His thread on that subject is up here recently right now). If he used his axle weights divided by 2 his weights looked much better.... if he used 4 cornerweights, his one tire was OVERLOADED and IMHO, a danger to drive. He realized his problem primarily because he got 4 corner weights. One process is good.... the other process is dangerous IMO.

5.) I think Chuck is right and that is to avoid problems, Entegra has now moved away from Goodyear tires on their motorcoaches. Again, my opinion is that Goodyear tires are cheaper and were used to lessen expense on one or two models of Entegra coaches. Lower price is probably not a better tire.

6.) Goodyear, and all other tire manufacturers publish an official manufacturer weight/pressure table for a reason. The reason is to show users minimum safe pressures to run in tires with a given load. If there was no reason to know load and safe pressures, there would be no need to publish such tables. The fact that Goodyear (and everyone else) publishes such a table argues strongly that the customer service rep is just "talking through her hat".

7.) My opinion is that the recommendation she gave you is nothing more than telling you what Goodyear's legal team has now instructed anyone who answers the phone to say, as it shifts responsibility (read legal liability) from them to the owners, or shares it with them.

8.) Entegra's main design people and upper echelon execs who have been dealing with coaches tell owners/me, if you ask, to run far less pressure in the tires than is shown in the face plate. Their recommendation to me was to do 4 corner weights and then consult the tables for a safe pressure that provides a reasonable "ride". If they were looking to avoid lawsuits, they would be stating, "Just look at the face plate".

9. Substantial temperature rises are a fact with tires at highway speeds. My Michelin 365s and my 315s before this on the Anthem would routinely increase pressure 20-35 psi "hot" at highway speeds compared to "cold" resting pressures. All tires are designed to do that.

10.) Finally, a tire rep looking at a pix of a blown out tire is simply spinning a story (IMO) if they say the tire looked like it had too little air. In my opinion, there is no way that one can discern that from looking at a blown tire image. That is in all likelihood "scape-goating", which simply says, "..... Then that is your problem".

Just my experience and opinion. Others may disagree.

And as usual, Bill cuts right to the core issue and devastates the Goodyear rep's advice.

Gary

[OldBeaver]

I have a simple rule with regard to tires - never buy a Goodyear.

This is based on my experience with car tires. Last time I bought Goodyear was over 10 years ago for my car. Long before the thread showed significant wear, I noticed a bubble developing on the sidewall of a least 2 tires. They were replaced with Michelin tires.
I know that these were passenger car tires, but I it was also the 3rd time I replaced Goodyear tires when the tread was still good.
In one instance I replaced Goodyears that were only a few months old and looked brand new because they had very poor braking traction on wet roads. These were their Aquatread tires which were specifically promoted as wet road tires.
I replaced them with a generic tire that cost less than half.

[Mr_D]

Country Coach had problems with Toyo tires and Toyo put out a letter to it's dealers prohibiting them from putting their tires on CC's. That letter can still be found on the internet.
As a result my owners manual states to only run the pressure shown on the Federal weight sticker and never reduce it for actual weight. This was reinforced during a tech presentation at a CC homecoming rally earlier this year. I have the 365/70 front and tag and 315/80 on the drive.

[Johnontheroad]

The Goodyear G670 295 tires on my Monaco quickly rivered and cupped and I replaced with Bridgestones. They were still in good shape when I traded it in.

My 2015 Aspire had G670 295 front and 275 rear. Some reseach showed that the 275 were a totally different build than the 295, and were considered good tires. So I left them on the back but went to Michelin X coach 295s on the front. Based on inflation charts and weighing the coach I run 110 in the fronts, gives me a nicer ride while still staying within load rating.

I was also told that the X Coach tires are built in France only, and only one production run per year. So if you’re looking for current date codes, there is only one per year.

[Franksrv44b]

Originally Posted by hdgoldie

Frank, if you should always run the vehicle pressure, why does Goodyear supply weight/pressure charts? That would seem to be unnecessary if what the rep told you was factual. We were told that the engineers at our insurance company had determined that our blow out was caused by a faulty tire - and that they would be seeking reimbursement for the claim from Goodyear. Sounds to me like they are trying to avoid additional claims. What did your insurance company have to say?

We didnt have any damage, no insurance involved, i couldnt keep the tire, no place to put it. I asked that same question on the tire pressur chart, didnt really get a good answer.

[Franksrv44b]

Originally Posted by Nowabeachbum

Consider yourself lucky and go Michelin tire shopping! Goodyear has known tire issues that they will blame on everyone and everything except themselves! As Chuck said Entegra stopped using them.

I just ordered from michelin advantage program, 2 Michelin X line Energy Z Coach for the front.

[Franksrv44b]

Originally Posted by Gary.Jones

Frank

There are a lot of different issues involved with your experience. You are asking for our opinions and experience, and I will give you mine. My opinion is that this Goodyear rep doesnt know her butt from a hole in the ground (that is an expression that I heard my mother say thousands of times over my childhood explaining why I did something dumb along with someone else that did something dumb)(and I think that any male phone rep would have the same problem). So, anyhow, with that stated.

As brobox has said, this issue has been dealt with 20 or 30 times on here. If you search you will find a lot of data and a lot of opinion. Here is my synthesis.

1.) Goodyear tires have been known for front tire blow outs and there have been more Goodyear front time blow-outs reported here in the past 4 - 5 years than anything else. The general consensus is that they are not a good tire to be running on the fronts of a motorhome.

2.) That consensus has led to some (many) owners taking the Goodyears off their steers and replacing them with another brand, usually Michelins even before the tires had not yet shown significant wear. They considered them unsafe.

3.) There is a report on here that there has been an old class action lawsuit against Goodyear for tire problems on motorhomes (I don't know this is fact or relevance, but it has been an issue).

4.) Using a CAT scale to get axle weights is not the same as doing 4-Corner weights, as it assumes that both sides of the axle have equal loads (load divided by 2). That is an incorrect assumption. (See also, Bill Kloos' comment above). One of our contributers here (DeeGee) has been wresteling with a side to side difference of over a ton on the front axle of his coach (His thread on that subject is up here recently right now). If he used his axle weights divided by 2 his weights looked much better.... if he used 4 cornerweights, his one tire was OVERLOADED and IMHO, a danger to drive. He realized his problem primarily because he got 4 corner weights. One process is good.... the other process is dangerous IMO.

5.) I think Chuck is right and that is to avoid problems, Entegra has now moved away from Goodyear tires on their motorcoaches. Again, my opinion is that Goodyear tires are cheaper and were used to lessen expense on one or two models of Entegra coaches. Lower price is probably not a better tire.

6.) Goodyear, and all other tire manufacturers publish an official manufacturer weight/pressure table for a reason. The reason is to show users minimum safe pressures to run in tires with a given load. If there was no reason to know load and safe pressures, there would be no need to publish such tables. The fact that Goodyear (and everyone else) publishes such a table argues strongly that the customer service rep is just "talking through her hat".

7.) My opinion is that the recommendation she gave you is nothing more than telling you what Goodyear's legal team has now instructed anyone who answers the phone to say, as it shifts responsibility (read legal liability) from them to the owners, or shares it with them.

8.) Entegra's main design people and upper echelon execs who have been dealing with coaches tell owners/me, if you ask, to run far less pressure in the tires than is shown in the face plate. Their recommendation to me was to do 4 corner weights and then consult the tables for a safe pressure that provides a reasonable "ride". If they were looking to avoid lawsuits, they would be stating, "Just look at the face plate".

9. Substantial temperature rises are a fact with tires at highway speeds. My Michelin 365s and my 315s before this on the Anthem would routinely increase pressure 20-35 psi "hot" at highway speeds compared to "cold" resting pressures. All tires are designed to do that.

10.) Finally, a tire rep looking at a pix of a blown out tire is simply spinning a story (IMO) if they say the tire looked like it had too little air. In my opinion, there is no way that one can discern that from looking at a blown tire image. That is in all likelihood "scape-goating", which simply says, "..... Then that is your problem".

Just my experience and opinion. Others may disagree.

And as usual, Bill cuts right to the core issue and devastates the Goodyear rep's advice.

Gary

Thanks Gary for the advice, i know your right about weighing the 4 corners, but its hard to do at the CAT scales, and I have not found any place that offers the four corner weighing. Hopefully, at the FMCA convention in Perry, Georgia next March, i can do just that.

[Franksrv44b]

Originally Posted by Johnontheroad

The Goodyear G670 295 tires on my Monaco quickly rivered and cupped and I replaced with Bridgestones. They were still in good shape when I traded it in.

My 2015 Aspire had G670 295 front and 275 rear. Some reseach showed that the 275 were a totally different build than the 295, and were considered good tires. So I left them on the back but went to Michelin X coach 295s on the front. Based on inflation charts and weighing the coach I run 110 in the fronts, gives me a nicer ride while still staying within load rating.

I was also told that the X Coach tires are built in France only, and only one production run per year. So if you’re looking for current date codes, there is only one per year.

Thanks for the info, so my X line energy Z Coach tires come in next week, didnt know they were made in France.

[Neverhome2]

Frank,

So sorry to hear of your blowout and glad to hear everyone is okay. We have a 2017 Insignia that had Goodyear tires also and having driven truck for over 40 years, tire maintenance and checking for tire issues is number one in my routine. This spring I noticed what to me was a broken cord on one of our steering tires. We had new Michelins put on within the month. We filed a claim with the NHTSA and took the tire to the local Goodyear rep. He told us that was probably not a broken cord but just the way the tire was manufactured. We explained that the bulge was not there when they were new and for the first year. So it could not have been a manufacturing issue. We weren't about to fight over the whole issue but my experience with Goodyear and tires had told me it was a broken cord.

I agree with the other posts that the rep provided you with BAD information. In my opinion you did nothing wrong in weighing and calculation. We also are running 115 on our new Michelin steering tires.

I would strongly suggest you file a claim with the NHTSA. You should not have had a blow out within the 2 years. If more people would file claims then maybe someone will wake up and say maybe there is a problem with these Goodyear tires. In my opinion they are the G159 tires from 20 years ago with a new number/name!