Tow Master Tires

Maybe at some point it will be acknowledged that the testing standards for ST tire s are not comprehensive enough for their use on RV trailers that travel at freeway speeds. Chris

duchmaster wrote:
Something to think about. Since tires are a D.O.T. complaince regulation,why are manufactures allowed to put inferior tires on?
Second why would a good reliable manufacture want to put them on and risk accidents.
Third we pay alot of money for these units and none of us want to be caught aong the road with blo- outs or risk some ones life because no apparently cares from the manufacture about the safety or is it they just care about the bottom line $$$$$$.
Duchmaster

I've been coming back to this post for a couple of days now. I think it deserves some answers. Of course they will be my answers, and, as with all discussions my answers will not please everyone.

I've done a little editing to the original post, both are here so you can see those edits.

Something to think about. Since tires are a D.O.T. compliance regulation, why are manufactures allowed to put inferior tires on?

I think the best answer to that statement would be; Inferior tires would have to be identified by some type of scientific method.

Second why would a good reliable manufacture want to put them on and risk accidents.

The vehicle manufacturer has nothing to do with tire manufacturing. Like us, they just use the product. Tire manufacturers build tires to specifications designed for the tire's use, in this case, the Special Trailer tire. Then they produce an industry standard - tire inflation to load capacity - chart for vehicle manufacturer's to use in their tire selection process. It is the ultimate responsibility of the vehicle manufacturer for tire selection and vehicle fitments. Put yourself in the seat of the vehicle manufacturer's procurement agent for tires. A prerequisite for that position probably doesn't require the agent to be a tire expert. So they are going to use the information available to them for purchasing tires. As long as they satisfy the government's minimum regulations for tire fitment to the vehicle they are purchasing tires for, they can purchase from a wide variety of brand names, maybe even different sizes.


Third we pay a lot of money for these units and none of us want to be caught along the road with blowouts or risk someone's life because apparently no one from the manufacture cares about the safety.

Some manufacturers seek feedback and act upon it. Others do not. The bottom line here and what will get a manufacturer's attention, is reporting your failures to NHTSA. Unfortunately none have resulted in any safety recalls for ST tires. In the tire industry, individual defective tires are to be expected. With all things built by man, mistakes will be made. What will trigger a safety recall is defects found in an entire lot/series of tires.

Maybe they just care about the bottom line, $$$$$$.
We are capitalist and have to compete with other capitalists. Tires that are safe on paper are expected to be safe on the vehicle they are to serve on.


I have stayed away from judgments here. To be fair to the tire industry we should all do our part to find out what may have caused our tire failures.

FastEagle

ramzrig wrote:
Just had our third blowout in three trips with our 5er. The tires range from 1 1/2 years old to 10 months old. Two happened this summer in 100+ degree weather. Yesterday's happened in cool weather. Trailer is not overloaded. Tires are ALWAYS inflated to 80 lbs. and I tow at not more than 60 mph. Blowouts have occurred in all but one wheel location. No unusual tread wear on tires.

Anyone else having issues with these tires? Thinking of Maxxis tires next. Thoughts????

Once upon a time we lived in your part of the country for four years, (NAS Lemoore). There was a place in Hanford where we often rented dual axle camping trailers for our trips up into the mountain parks and forests. Whenever we went to get a trailer we would have to wait for the owner's maintenance people to go and get the wheel assemblies from a cool room storage area. He told us that none of the trailer tires would last more than two years out in that heat and it didn't matter if they were covered or not.

Just sort of thinking out loud.

FastEagle

10,000 miles on the last ST's and still going strong. Traded to a 5'er with ST's and 4,000 ,miles latter still doing good. Sure it's not 20,000 but give me 3-4 years and we'll see how they do. FWIW, both are/were GY Marathons.
Next tires will be LT's, not for longevity as much as they will allow me to run 65-70 when I can w/o worrying.

It's not to say that there isn't some really cheap ST tires being made, but it's no different than anything else. You usually get what you pay for.

diesel man 03 wrote:
I put tow master tires on our camper per the dealer recommendation, one trip south and another coming up shortly, will let everyone know how it goes, tires look good to me, went from 8 ply to the 10 ply and I think that will help.

We have had Towmasters on two units for the last nine years with nothing but a valve stem failure.when I needed to replace one set when they timed out I did so wit Towmasters. Our local tire dealer got mine over night and said he sell a lot of them with no problems at all. JMHO jb

Something to think about. Since tires are a D.O.T. complaince regulation,why are manufactures allowed to put inferior tires on?
Second why would a good reliable manufacture want to put them on and risk accidents.
Third we pay alot of money for these units and none of us want to be caught aong the road with blo- outs or risk some ones life because no apparently cares from the manufacture about the safety or is it they just care about the bottom line $$$$$$.
Duchmaster

I put tow master tires on our camper per the dealer recommendation, one trip south and another coming up shortly, will let everyone know how it goes, tires look good to me, went from 8 ply to the 10 ply and I think that will help.

Tow Master Tires?


Don't !!!

ramzrig wrote:
Just had our third blowout in three trips with our 5er. The tires range from 1 1/2 years old to 10 months old. Two happened this summer in 100+ degree weather. Yesterday's happened in cool weather. Trailer is not overloaded. Tires are ALWAYS inflated to 80 lbs. and I tow at not more than 60 mph. Blowouts have occurred in all but one wheel location. No unusual tread wear on tires.

Anyone else having issues with these tires? Thinking of Maxxis tires next. Thoughts????

Not going to question you tire maintenance. Just want to know IF you had "curbed" them. Meaning had you dragged them over the curbs in a turn? According to the trucking industry. "Most" trailer tire failures are actually due to turning too sharp, and pulling your trailer tires across a curb. It seems when the tire scrubs against the curb to climb it. The belts in the side wall can be damaged, which can cause the tread to separate from the side wall. Hitting the curb straight on, at a slow speed doesn't hurt them. Its when the side wall take the hit, that you have a problem.

BTW. EVERYBODY drags their trailer across a curb eventually.

azjeffh wrote:

artguys wrote:
.....One poster on this thread talked about his automatic system...nice but many times they're unreliable. I've bought and tested those units and don't recommend them...Nothing is better than a eyes on thump of each tire.

So what does an 80 PSI thump sound like when compared to a 65 PSI thump? Is there a tire thumping book we can buy? :W

I find it odd you would recommend against a TPMS. Can't be thumping your tires while in motion, but you certainly can pick up a road hazard. A thumper won't find out until the next stop while a TPMS'er finds out while still moving (if losing enough air). I'd also be interested in what TPMS units you tested and what were the failure modes.

Tire thumping doesn't tell us a psi but can find a tire with a different sound than the others. There is a big difference in sound between a tire with 65 or 80 psi.
A TPMS will not tell the operator if the tires tread has separated but a thumper will in the hands of a experienced operator. Some have reported their TPMS not going off even after loosing the entire tread.

I lived with a hickory tire thumper on the road some years ago before TPMS was available. If I was on the road today I would still have old hickory and a TPMS especially on a trailer with any type of tire.
Best of both worlds.