tow max tire failure

We bought our Bighorn new in 2010 and it came with Towmaxx tires. They lasted till this July. Tire separation but they were due to be replaced next year. We replaced with Towmaxx from Les Schwab, and they said the same - good tires. After really studying about tire failures, etc., we have not problem with the TowMaxx. Les Schwab stands behind their products and we have a full warranty certificate with it. We will be using their free service annually to have the tires checked and will maintain the full PSI as recommended by our RV dealership.

How fast are you pulling the trailer? I wonder if speed might be part of the equation for the frequent failures.

I just bought a new Silverado and brought it home and had Discount Tire put 4 new Maxxis on it and they took the towmax in trade. I had Towmax on my other 5ver and had one go bad within 2000 mi. and then replaced all of them. I am not taking any chances with them on a new 5ver.

My rig is exactly one year old and had been pulled around 6,000 miles, when in July, I pulled into a campground in Wyoming and noticed one tire looked kinda low. Pulled the wheel off and saw that the outer rubber was cut open about 3 inches on the inner side of the tire and had separated. This was not due to hitting anything. I think it blew 'softly' and slowly leaked down over several miles as opposed to 'explosively'. The tread also seemed to be raised upward and the mechanic said that meant it was separating internally. It still had 20 pounds of pressure in it. I figure that if I had driven too much further all the remaining air would have leaked out, putting the entire weight of the rig on that side onto the one remaining tire with possibly real ugly consequences. I always run at 55-58 mph and always had the tires inflated to 80 pounds. Still had lots of tread. So they were not abused. I've read lots of tire posts on rv.net so I tried to keep an eye on them. I had wanted to finish my traveling for this year (full timing) and then get new tires but NOT ! I understand that you can't judge when to replace an ST tire by the number of miles you put on them. But these TowMax tires seem to fail internally regardless of age or miles. Shouldn't I expect to get more then one year out of them ? No need to answer. I really do think it should be illegal to sell (or install as OEM) TowMax tires. How can these things possibly be DOT approved ?? I replaced all 4 OEM tires with Maxxis M8008s.

Very simply, Tow Max tires are time bombs. All you have to do is a Search of RV.net and you will get many pages of stories. Start with the 5th wheel forum. It seems like the heavier trailers are the ones that have the most trouble.

ReneeG, there's one thing you may want to look in to. When these tires blow, they can cause thousands of dollars in damage to the trailer. You may want to find out what Les Schwab's policy/warranty is regarding paying for that damage.

Tim

Tim, Aware of the damage that can happen when tire tread separates, which is what happened to us. Insurance comprehensive took care of it. After showing the tires to a national RV tire expert, to our RV dealer, and to our local tire shop, all experts, I can agree that the condition of the tires was expected for the age of them and how we used them. Bottom line, it could've been prevented by us. We are taking a different approach this time, but again with the warranty provided by the tire shop and opinions on the tires by our RV dealership (well respected in this area) and the national RV tire expert, both DH and I are comfortable with what we have.

Interesting that Maxxis is highly regarded. Our last RV came with Maxxis. We bought it brand new and within 2 years, the tires were showing signs of aging and cracking on the sidewalls and those tires had been manufactured the same year as the TT. We had to replace them.

I bought a 2006 carriage 5th wheel new and it came with tow max tires. I made up my mind if I had problems with one tire they all would go. Had 7,000 miles on the tires when the two on the right side were growing . The back one also had a bubble on the inside side wall. What got my attention is my shock would not fit between the tires is what got me looking. I replaced all 5 tires with XP Ribs. Have not had a tire problem since

handsome51 wrote:
I bought a 2006 carriage 5th wheel new and it came with tow max tires. I made up my mind if I had problems with one tire they all would go. Had 7,000 miles on the tires when the two on the right side were growing . The back one also had a bubble on the inside side wall. What got my attention is my shock would not fit between the tires is what got me looking. I replaced all 5 tires with XP Ribs. Have not had a tire problem since

7,000 miles? How many years is that, seasons?

ReneeG wrote:

handsome51 wrote:
I bought a 2006 carriage 5th wheel new and it came with tow max tires. I made up my mind if I had problems with one tire they all would go. Had 7,000 miles on the tires when the two on the right side were growing . The back one also had a bubble on the inside side wall. What got my attention is my shock would not fit between the tires is what got me looking. I replaced all 5 tires with XP Ribs. Have not had a tire problem since

7,000 miles? How many years is that, seasons?

I took delivery in Sept.2006 and in Sept 2007 I was 137 miles from the house in Louisana at a casio when I had the tire problem. I put the spare on and bought another china made tire to get me back to the house. While I was in Lousiana I called my tire guy and ordered 5 XP Ribs. By the end of the week I had 5 good tires on the trailer. I am on the 2nd set of XP Ribs now. I replace the tires every 5 years by the date on the tire. That is cheaper then getting the trailer repaired plus buying tires.

handsome51 wrote:

ReneeG wrote:

handsome51 wrote:
I bought a 2006 carriage 5th wheel new and it came with tow max tires. I made up my mind if I had problems with one tire they all would go. Had 7,000 miles on the tires when the two on the right side were growing . The back one also had a bubble on the inside side wall. What got my attention is my shock would not fit between the tires is what got me looking. I replaced all 5 tires with XP Ribs. Have not had a tire problem since

7,000 miles? How many years is that, seasons?

I took delivery in Sept.2006 and in Sept 2007 I was 137 miles from the house in Louisana at a casio when I had the tire problem. I put the spare on and bought another china made tire to get me back to the house. While I was in Lousiana I called my tire guy and ordered 5 XP Ribs. By the end of the week I had 5 good tires on the trailer. I am on the 2nd set of XP Ribs now. I replace the tires every 5 years by the date on the tire. That is cheaper then getting the trailer repaired plus buying tires.

Did you report the tire failure? That to me sounds like true tire failure. Problem with a lot of reports here is that no one reports the problems. If the manufacturers don't know they can't fix the problem and there are no statistics. For us, we truly had a legitimate problem with the age of the tire so we didn't report it. I was told to keep a copy of the DOT's on hand, so that if they failed prematurely, I'd have a reference to report them, and you bet I would. Not reporting the problems is kind of like having a bad neighbor. Rather than dealing with it head on, you move. The poor next guy has to deal with it.

You said you are on the second set of XP Ribs, with the date ranges you listed, it appears that you are replacing them every 4 years or so, is that right? If so, that's about right and right on for any towable tire based on how long it sits in one spot in between. Our Towmaxx tires lasted 4 years and had we had them inspected regularly, we would've known they were going bad from age and possibly being under inflated. That alone will do damage.

Did you report the tire failure? That to me sounds like true tire failure. Problem with a lot of reports here is that no one reports the problems. If the manufacturers don't know they can't fix the problem and there are no statistics. For us, we truly had a legitimate problem with the age of the tire so we didn't report it. I was told to keep a copy of the DOT's on hand, so that if they failed prematurely, I'd have a reference to report them, and you bet I would. Not reporting the problems is kind of like having a bad neighbor. Rather than dealing with it head on, you move. The poor next guy has to deal with it.




I found out through the carriage forum that their was a few people that had good luck with the towmax tires. But their were more that did not. I try to stay away from anything made in china if I can. The problem is not where it is made but that their seems to be no quality control in china like their should be. A good example is when I put a aux. fuel tank in front of my tail gate. I put a electric fuel pump to help move the fuel. I had used this type of pump since the late 60s and never had a problem with one. 9month later on a trip the fuel pump failed. Well I said things do fail. So I carried a spare and installed it. 9 months later it failed on a trip and I put the spare on. I looked and the pump was made in china. When I got home I got on the internet and found a fuel pump just like what I was using except it said made in USA. I did not wait for the one I put on during the trip to fail again. I put the made in USA pump on. That was in the first of 2008 . I still have the same pump on the truck and it works great. That is why I try to stay away from made in china if I can. You might pay a few dollars more for something made in the USA. But you only have to buy it once.