Change tires on BRAND NEW TRAILER???

[1bigmess]

Originally Posted by danking49

Okay, given that all ST tires seem to be made in China, are they all "China bombs"? Or are some better than others?

You're probably gonna get a slew of answers that won't really answer your question, but I am very interested in what others have to say.

I would appreciate it if anyone that tells us of their experience with a particular brand of tires they would also say if they were using TPMS too.

Thanks in advance.

[timetogo]

Can you define China Bomb? Are all tires made in the USA or Europe immune to failure?
When US manufacturers outsourced, they made money but consumers haven't saved a nickel and quality has been suspect.

[ralphie]

If you're buying a new TT perhaps the mfgr. offers a wheel/tire upgrade.

[danking49]

Originally Posted by 1bigmess

You're probably gonna get a slew of answers that won't really answer your question, but I am very interested in what others have to say.

I would appreciate it if anyone that tells us of their experience with a particular brand of tires they would also say if they were using TPMS too.

Thanks in advance.

Exactly. While it might be fun to slam everything made in China as junk, the fact of the matter is U.S. manufacturers simply do not make ST tires for our trailers. It would be a lot more constructive to simply share what tires work well. Personally, I've never changed a tire on the four trailers I've had over the past 20 some years; all ran fine on whatever they came with from the factory. No TPMS, but I do check tire pressure every morning when towing my toys. Have they really gotten worse, or is there just more rhetoric?

[2500HD]

Originally Posted by danking49

Exactly. While it might be fun to slam everything made in China as junk, the fact of the matter is U.S. manufacturers simply do not make ST tires for our trailers. It would be a lot more constructive to simply share what tires work well. Personally, I've never changed a tire on the four trailers I've had over the past 20 some years; all ran fine on whatever they came with from the factory. No TPMS, but I do check tire pressure every morning when towing my toys. Have they really gotten worse, or is there just more rhetoric?

I used to run whatever tires and not pay much attention to them but after a blow out two years ago that caused about $2,000 worth of damage I'm scared into looking at date codes and being overly cautious about china brands.

Turns out we probably won't be getting the new trailer anyway. I'm having a hard time going into more debt when our current trailer is paid for and works well. It already has good tires so I won't have to worry about that.

[RVGuy1966]

Ok, my interest is peaked now. I never take anything for granted when it comes to pulling my TT and Family to our favorite destinations. I bought my TT back in 2013 and other than the dealer over inflating my tires EVERY time I took it to them my normal process was to check tire pressure, lug nuts torque and WDH torque every time I stopped for gas. and when starting and stopping my trip. I do not have a spare which scares me and IS my first order of business when I get her back from the shop. I might have about 3 grand in mileage on the tires which are original. didn't see much wear at all but its been sitting for several months now and I know that cant be good for them. Anyone go this long without issues and am I at the middle or end of life on these tires even if they look good on inspection?

[Dr-G]

I bought new tires for my car trailer and had all intents to replace them with the old ones to sit for the winter but I ran out of time.

My new TT that will be delivered next month has 205/75/14 load range C and I called my mechanic to look into other options with a higher load range but you are still limited by axle strength so I may just replace them with a better quality load range C tire just for peace of mind.

[FastEagle]

Originally Posted by Dr-G

I bought new tires for my car trailer and had all intents to replace them with the old ones to sit for the winter but I ran out of time.

My new TT that will be delivered next month has 205/75/14 load range C and I called my mechanic to look into other options with a higher load range but you are still limited by axle strength so I may just replace them with a better quality load range C tire just for peace of mind.

The axle's load capacity does not limit excess tire load capacity. Excess tire load capacity is highly desired for RV trailer tires. It's those reserves that will get you longer tire usage life.

[IronCobra]

So my take.. Most trailers from any brand owned by Forest River (asside from the top end brands like Cardinal and Cedar Creek) will be fitted with Constancy brand tires. Travel trailer will have either 14 or 15" tires and Fifth Wheels will generally have 15 or 16" tires (depending on weight and model). I am an engineer (one that actually specializes in this field) and was very concerned about the tires we received on ouir 2016 travel trailer and even our newer 2016 Fifth Wheel. When I saw the Constancy name (not ever having hearing about them) I thought of upgrading to a better tire instantly. I did searches as well as called Forest River to find out more information about them. What I found was actually pretty interesting.

My findings:
Are they made in China? Yes, such are 99% of virtually every ST tire made (including most brands that most people think arnt).
Are they cheap tires: yes, they cost about 2/3rds as much as a Maxxis or Carlisle tires (sometimes even less).
Are they Radial tires? Yes! They are no longer the bias ply tires that built the China Bomb reputation just a few years back (pre 2015 / 2016 RVs)
Are they risky to use? Very subjective question because most people have different experiences with all sorts of tire brands, including more "popular" brands.
Are they a good tire? Yes! Overwhelmingly so! Yeah, that answer caught most of you off guard (and karma may kick me in the butt for saying that), but Constancy tires are put on at least 80% of all new pullable RVs from the factory. The engineer from Forest river who i spoke with said since switching to these tires, their failure complaint rate dropped significantly and they almost never hear of problems anymore. These tires are put to the test everyday for thousands of miles just to be delivered to dealerships and RV shows around the country. Most people will probably not experience a tire failure in the entire time they own the trailer with them. Some will of course. Some will experience a major failure that could cause $$$ I'm damage. But I believe the chance of that happening is equal to any ST tire on the market. Most of the time it is caused by tire damage, dry rot, rapid air loss leading to delamination, and hundreds of other scenarios that arnt related to the engineering failure of the tires. Most can be easily prevented if the owner runs a ,TPMS system to catch potential issues as or before they occure.

My take? Check you date codes, check your tire pressure, check for abnormal damage, check for dry rott...... Asside from that, run them until it makes sense to replace them. That might be 1000 miles or it could be 30,000 miles. Might not have better luck with any other brand after all.

[JIMNLIN]

Originally Posted by timetogo

Can you define China Bomb? Are all tires made in the USA or Europe immune to failure?
When US manufacturers outsourced, they made money but consumers haven't saved a nickel and quality has been suspect.

Even before our USA tire makers outsourced their ST tire lines to other countries and all were made in the USA we had the same issues with them all across the trailer industry (including RVs ).
The ST tire is a low tech low cost tire and IMO for long term use had a poor design (rounded sidewall profile for a smoother ride). We called then the ST bombs.

After ST tire production was moved over seas (mostly china) they became known as "chine bombs".

The euro commercial class tire like the Kumho 857 or the Sailun S637 or several sizes of the Maxxis U-168 LT class and USA P and LT have a much better long term rep when used in a trailer position than the ST tire made in china or the USA.

[timetogo]

Bought a new trailer in 1995 that came with Made in the USA radial Marathones. No flats or problems. They were still on the trailer when we sold it 7 years later.

[Titanguy]

Bought new 16k 5th wheel in July. By September had the tires upgraded to 17.5 H rated tires. I was in the tire industry for 40 years and the RV Industry under tires 80% of the applications.
Look at the GVWR of your personal vehicle. Add the total load of the tires on the ground divided by the GVWR. You will come up with a number between 65%-75% loaded.
We have no issues the tires on our personal vehicles yet they are made by the same manufacturers of ST tires. We should be loading the tires on our trailers to 65%-75% of the tires rated loads. Magically your problems will disappear.

You can contact me thru performancetrailerbraking.com

[boondockonly]

I had the same worries as you, plus in my opinion the factory installed tires were pretty narrow.

Get 4 carlisle dura-trail E load rated tires and call it done.
I went 1 size larger and the tt feels much more stable goin down the road.

[rarebear.nm]

When we bought our 5th wheeler I had the dealer replace the new "Asian" ST tires with Goodyear G614 RST, load range G, including the spare. The dealer gave me nearly full cost credit on the bombs. I use a TPMS and always check the tire pressures by hand every morning prior to departure along with wheel torque values. My rig has a CO2 tank allowing me to top off any low tire in a few moments, I carry 100 PSI in the trailer tires. I cruse at 65 mph max and enjoy the view. Never had a tire problem. Someday there will be a nail or bad pot hole, but life has its bumps.