rv tires aka china bombs

[jmckinley]

Retorquing lug nuts on new vehicles is always a good idea, especially with aluminum wheels. Like someone else said, it's recommended in every car owner's manual.

And, why would you imagine that a tire dealer would torque your wheels right? Ever see a torque wrench anywhere in a tire shop? Overtorquing with an air wrench is the norm, and that is almost as bad as undertorquing.

I always check lug nut torques as soon as I get the vehicle home if wheels have been off for any reason, then recheck after a few hundred miles.

[BCooke]

No one has ever accuses me of being normal......
I carry a impact set to use with the torque wrench I carry.

[Passin Thru]

Rich and Carin, Welcome. Tires come with a manu. date on them so look at yours. If you have Michelin, Bridgestones or Toyos you should have good tires for a few years. 7 Years is a long life for tires and look for checking (cracks) in the sidewalls. Make sure your MH is either garaged or by-make covers for the tires. Slows down the seathering. Also, religiously check tire pressure. I think yours should be 90 lb. but once again check the sidewall. To those of you who worry about the Chinese Bombs (now the Homeland security is at my door) , we had 3 blow out between VA and FL last year,we replaced ours with 16 inch Michelin LT tires and never looked back. Tracking is better, smoother ride and no blowouts.

[Passin Thru]

COSTCO dealers always torque wheel lugs, on my pickup it's 90 ft lb.

[Dunner]

The Discount Tire stores I go to use "torque" sticks and a torque wrench.

[csdavis62]

Originally Posted by BCooke

Well......
Ford manual: On vehicles equipped with dual rear wheels, retighten the wheel lug nuts to the specified torque at 100 miles (160 km), and again at 500 miles (800 km) of new vehicle operation and after any wheel disturbance (tire rotation, change flat tire, wheel removal,etc.)

So I can see a trailer at 50-200 miles.

You have taught me something there I have to be honest. I have purchased I cannot tell you how many new vehicles and not once have I ever been told BTW you need to re torque your wheel nuts every X miles.... So it is news to me that was ever a requirement.

Thank you for bringing that forward.... I stand corrected

BTW Based on your feedback I do plan on taking my torque wrench with me when we head south for Key Largo tomorrow. Will Drive a short distance and stop and recheck them along the way from time to time....

[BCooke]

Before getting the dually..... I never read the...... what do they call it................ manual...... yea, never read it either.
With the investment I figured I would parooze it and low and behold........

[HD4Mark]

When we had new Michelins put on at a truck tire center they asked me to come back after 100 miles for them to retorque the lug nuts. I asked them after if they were still good and the answer was yes. They didn't charge me any more but I gave the guys $10 beer money.

As a side note on "china bombs". Are there other people besides me that buy a brand of tire (and other things) partly because it is American made? I can deal with Canadian made too though eh.

[RustyJC]

Originally Posted by HD4Mark

As a side note on "china bombs". Are there other people besides me that buy a brand of tire (and other things) partly because it is American made? I can deal with Canadian made too though eh.

I hate to say it, but all the tire problems I've had on 5th wheels have been with American-made tires (Goodyear Marathons and G614 RSTs). The Michelin XPS Ribs I changed to on a previous 5th wheel were made in Belgium, and the Michelin XTAs under our current 5th wheel were made in Germany. None of the Michelins have ever given me any problems.

Rusty

[csdavis62]

The Bridgestone Duravis I purchased at Costco are stamped "made in Japan" which when I was young would have been a cause for concern. However long ago that turned into a sign of quality. The Japanese became master manufacturers many years ago (hello Lexus) so that is reassuring to me.

BTW I pulled my wheels and tires myself since Costco could not deal with a 44' unit however.... I did see them working on other cars while waiting for my work to be completed and they used a torque wrench on everyone I observed come and go....

Last comment; went and retrieved the 5th wheel from storage to prep to leave for FL tomorrow so I got the first pull in with the new tires. Only had to drive about 15 miles but the early indication is that it tows much better than before. I have to navigate mostly two lane curvy slightly hilly road to get back to the house, tracking behind the truck and stability feel way up over the Towmax tires... Excited to see what if pulls like on the interstate.

[Dunner]

I was pleased to know that the Toyo's I put on my MH were made in Japan.

[jtall2671]

Ok, never really had tire troubles with campers until my last one. So now, we've just took ownership of a 2014 Fuzion 342. Checked the tires and they are Trailer King ST235/80R16E. These tires are good for 3520 lbs each. Camper dry is 12988. Throw in a couple atv's, water, gas and essentials and I can see these tires will be at max load. Even taking off for the hitch loading, it's still a high load on these tires. Looked at the Michelin XPS Ribs and Goodyear G614's. Ribs won't get much better weight carrying but the 614's do. The 614's also require higher spec rims. Would be around 2500 for complete set with spare. So looks like I may be ordering the 614's soon.
On a side note, the new Fuzion's with the Chrome package will be coming with G rated tires. Is someone waking up in the camper industry?

[RustyJC]

If I were buying new wheels and tires, I'd go ahead and step up to the 17.5" load range H/J tires rated 4805 lbs in the 215/75R-17.5 size. Take your choice, both Goodyear (G114) and Michelin (XTA) make these tires, as do other manufacturers.

Rusty

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by jmckinley

And, why would you imagine that a tire dealer would torque your wheels right? Ever see a torque wrench anywhere in a tire shop? Overtorquing with an air wrench is the norm, and that is almost as bad as undertorquing.

Yes, I have both at Costco and Les Schwab and they used them on every vehicle.