It's a Shame!

laknox wrote:

Me Again wrote:

LBL 1206 wrote:
I read about the failures and problems of Chinese manufactured tires on forums ranging from the popup to the 5th wheel. it seems to me if there is such an epidemic of failures across the the total RV community and not just by the authors of reported problems on these forums; why isn't the NHTSB involved? they have been on other tire failures such as with the Firestone tires back in 1998/99. I am thinking maybe those that are having these major tire problems need to document them and send it to the NHTSB. The alleged problem(s) is/are with the tire industry and not w/the RV manufacturer or the RV dealership...

Go to boating or horse trailer forums and you read about the same issues. China has little to do with it, as the issues occurred before production was moved there.

The problem is with the basic premise that a lightly constructed tire with inflated ratings can perform at freeway speeds hour after hour, when you are using a tire design that was intended for local service and limited use on utility type trailers.

One does not have to look much farther than Goodyear with two trailer only tires that they market to see the problem. The Marathon rated to 3420 weight is at 35.4 pounds and is a poly carcass tire. The G614 rated to 3750(only 330 pounds more) weighs in a 57.5 pounds and has a steel ply carcass. Goodyear markets their Marathon as an "Economical" trailer tire. The G614 is an expensive high quality tire.

Highly regarded LT tires like the Michelin XPS Rib and Bridgestone Duravis R250 weigh 55.41 and 60 pounds.

To address your other question about the NHTSB, these are not normal passenger carrying tires so they remain below the radar.

If you purchased a new 60-80K car or pickup would you accept cheap tires that fail at these higher rates?

Because vehicle and trailer manufacturers are not the warranty station for tires, the trailer industry lured by the inflated higher weight ratings and dirt cheap price they get them for are like drug users that just can not kick the habit!!!

Collectively we need to send them to rehab by demanding higher quality tires at time of ordering or purchasing! And get the trailer correctly placarded for the tires installed.

If they will not comply, then move on down the street to a company that will, as having a placard with ST tires listed is becoming similar to having the plague, when you try to replace them.

Chris

One of the issues that I've run across with boat and smaller horse trailers, is the low clearance between the fenders and the tires, which allows heat to build up to excessive levels. I first heard about it when a friend went through a number of tires on his boat trailer...until an "old hand" at an out-of the way tire shop said that was the issue. Friend raised the fenders 2" and never blew another tire. If the NTSB, or even the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Comission), simply came out and said that all trailer tires delivered on a new trailer of =any= sort, must be rated to carry the entire GVW of the trailer (or even GVW + 5%), with no up-rating of existing tires allowed, it would solve a lot of the issues. You can't tell me that the demand for heavier tires wouldn't also kick in some economies of scale as more and more heavier tires were needed to satisfy this requirement.

Lyle