So Called "China Bomb " Tires

[rideandslide]

Hello All

Been doing a lot of research on new Trailer Tires ( with help from the Forum ), since one of my 3 year old,factory tires suffer belt separation. I keep seeing so much criticism on China or foreign made tires. The only American made trailer tire is the Goodyear Endurance, all others, even other Goodyears and Carlisle are made overseas. So if you have a TT with any other tire besides Goodyear Endurance, you have some kind of "China/Overseas Bomb " I'm sure there are some very bad China made tires out there, but, to me, the major blame should be on our TT manufactures. They put the bare minimum tire, that is running at, near, or over max capacity all the time. With time and any abuse failure is eminent . Off the soap box now !

My new tires will be D vs. the stock C, no E's in 14 inch. no matter the brand.

[dustyone]

Rideandslide, you have said it well. We also need to remember our own involvement. Speed, bad tire pressure also make tires go pop. None of us like to claim our own involvement. That is why stressing tire management to any new rver is one of the best things we can do to help them. If it helps to build habits we can enjoy the rvs.

[60sumtin]

I guess if one doesn't like the 'china bombs' that came with the trailer from the factory any owner is free to change them out for whatever tickles their fancy. No one is forced to continue using them.

Personally I think most of the blowouts are caused by owner negligence. But who'll admit that. Very few.

Off my soap box now.

[powerboatr]

two cents

our hauler trailer has been through goodyears st.
carlisle, towmax and the infamous tex star, plus a few odd brands...in an emergency

the trailer is 7 years old, i have replaced all four tires now 6 times.

carlisle has been the only brand to offer replacement tires at their exspense.

they still all SUCK.

next year i am upgrading to 16 or 17 inch rims and go with truck tires.
i always check pressures and overall visuals every time out and still loose tires for no apparent reasons.
not overloaded, and no over speed.
road conditions i think is the culprit. we have abrasive overlays on the asphalt and potholes that beat the fire out of them.

[keymastr]

A lot of the problems with trailer tires comes from tight turns where one tire is scrubbing across the ground, sometimes nearly folding sideways. No wonder the belts slip. They claim that the sidewalls of ST tires are made to be more foregiving of this torture than passenger or LT tires but I could not say whether that is true or yet another internet myth.

I do know that the Endurance tires are the first real redesign Goodyear has made in many years and should be a much better tire. They have been on the market for over a year now and many folks have 10s of thousands of miles on them without the rash of blowouts that others experienced for awhile. 5 years ago you couldn't give a set of Carlisles away and every forum was riddled with threads of them blowing up with hardly any miles on them. Then they came out with their HD line and the stories went away.

We are not talking about a ton of savings going with the off brand so for that reason I will stick with the name brands but I believe keeping them inflated properly and trying not to turn too sharp will go a long way to preventing the blowouts and tread separation issues no matter which tires you buy.

PS. get them balanced, they will last much longer and your trailer suspension will too.

[Dropthejacks]

Originally Posted by 60sumtin

Personally I think most of the blowouts are caused by owner negligence. But who'll admit that. Very few.

I would agree. I'm sure many of the RVs we see sitting along the side of the Interstates are there because the owners checked their tires in the spring and now six months later and 6 trips in, they wonder what happened after they neglected to check them again. Another reason I decided to go to the Goodyears though, is it is simple to find a Goodyear rep to complain to. Try that with a Trailer King or other China made rubber.

[xrated]

Not every tire made outside of the U.S. is junk. I've used the Maxxis 8008 tires on three different trailers and have never had one issue....ever! They are a known quality tire and lots and lots of trailer owners use them. Country of origin is Thailand I believe.

[wa8yxm]

Just one comment.. Not just Tires from China that go BOOM
I have a China made A/C and the fan (The condenser fan) Went BOOM
The replacement fan was a Coleman fan so now it sucks where it used to blow. .Makes cleaning very easy.. But that's actually two stories in one.

[aether_one]

Originally Posted by rideandslide

Hello All

Been doing a lot of research on new Trailer Tires ( with help from the Forum ), since one of my 3 year old,factory tires suffer belt separation. I keep seeing so much criticism on China or foreign made tires. The only American made trailer tire is the Goodyear Endurance, all others, even other Goodyears and Carlisle are made overseas. So if you have a TT with any other tire besides Goodyear Endurance, you have some kind of "China/Overseas Bomb " I'm sure there are some very bad China made tires out there, but, to me, the major blame should be on our TT manufactures. They put the bare minimum tire, that is running at, near, or over max capacity all the time. With time and any abuse failure is eminent . Off the soap box now !

My new tires will be D vs. the stock C, no E's in 14 inch. no matter the brand.

Yep, original tires are rated at the axle capacity and as you said, run close to their max rating.

When I had a TT with 14" tires rather than replace the just the tires I opted to replace the wheels as well as go to a "D" rated tire. Lots more "breathing room" with that combination.

[lynnmor]

Originally Posted by Dropthejacks

I'm sure many of the RVs we see sitting along the side of the Interstates are there because the owners checked their tires in the spring and now six months later and 6 trips in, they wonder what happened after they neglected to check them again. .

Did you happen to notice if it was the truck or the trailer tire that failed? Same owner and same roads, so I wonder where the fault lies.

[ralphie]

ST tires, generally, have not been made to any standard because they're not tested like those tires carrying passengers. Add to that, RV mfgrs. will almost always, IMHO, save a buck wherever they can. So, we buyers get what we're given. If you're a knowledgeable buyer, you're going to shell out a few more bucks to upgrade your tires.

[Super Thirty]

Our previous trailer had 14” tires that were discussed on the forum as “ China bombs” . I looked at getting a higher rated tire but no such luck in 14” so turned to 15”. Lots of them available only one slight problem no clearance in the wheel wells. I decided to run out the tires but kept a close eye on them at each stop and checked the pressures before each trip and each leg of the trip. Ended up we didn’t have any issues and sold the trailer with those tires on it. I think the regular inspections and pressure monitoring helped for sure but I applied that same process to my truck and I can’t claim the same experience. Belt separation can occur it seems regardless of how good you maintain them.

[Dropthejacks]

Originally Posted by lynnmor

Did you happen to notice if it was the truck or the trailer tire that failed? Same owner and same roads, so I wonder where the fault lies.

Most of the ones I see are standing with their hands on their hips staring at where their fender used to be on the RV, lol. The tires on the haul vehicles tend to be built to a higher standard, so they handle it better when abused. But most of the ST tires coming out of China are already borderline being up to the task at hand (RV manufacturers rarely go overboard in this area). Running aged tires low on air pressure is a sure recipe for a bad day coming.

[ron55]

at rest stops I checked out what trucks pulling heavy loaded lowboy trailers with 16" and 17" tires and they all had Michelin Rib LT
expensive yes, but beats blow outs