Update on Chinese tire performance
We have 1 more camping trip planned for this year then it will be 4 years with these "china bombs". ...knock on wood! Few posters give true long term reports on equipment they try so I thought a r...
Forum Discussion
My OEM TowMaster tires (one variant of China Bomb) were 8 years old (from date of manufacture) and had about 30K miles on them when I replaced them due to concerns about their age.
One of their replacements (West Lake variant of China Bomb) failed on the first trip - obviously punctured by the piece of metal stuck in the tire. The other three and the replacement have about 10K miles on them and are still doing fine.
Some things to ask everyone that has a reported failure:
1. Have they ever exceeded the weight rating of the tire? (Keep in mind that not all tires are loaded evenly - it's not just the weight of the trailer less tongue weight divided by 4. If the loading is uneven, the trailer could weigh more on one side than the other. It's easier to have this happen if the trailer's weight is close to the max for the tires.)
2. Have they ever towed with the tire under-inflated?
3. Have they ever exceeded the tires' speed rating? (Many are only rated for 65 mph.)
If the answer is yes to any, then there's a chance the failure was a result of damage that happened at that time, even if the failure occurred weeks or months later.
One of their replacements (West Lake variant of China Bomb) failed on the first trip - obviously punctured by the piece of metal stuck in the tire. The other three and the replacement have about 10K miles on them and are still doing fine.
Some things to ask everyone that has a reported failure:
1. Have they ever exceeded the weight rating of the tire? (Keep in mind that not all tires are loaded evenly - it's not just the weight of the trailer less tongue weight divided by 4. If the loading is uneven, the trailer could weigh more on one side than the other. It's easier to have this happen if the trailer's weight is close to the max for the tires.)
2. Have they ever towed with the tire under-inflated?
3. Have they ever exceeded the tires' speed rating? (Many are only rated for 65 mph.)
If the answer is yes to any, then there's a chance the failure was a result of damage that happened at that time, even if the failure occurred weeks or months later.
