Didn't Believe about the Chinese Tires

westend wrote:
Marauder,
Did you dodge the bullet and get by with no other damage? Hoping so.:)

When the lefty rear blew there was no damage to the trailer. Thank goodness i brought the drive on jack and my 18V lithium 1/2" drive impact wrench with the appropriate socket. As soon as I was back on the road i stopped at the next camping world and bought a new spare. It was a Goodyear Marathon as that is all they had. About five hours later on I 75 South less that two miles from the I-4 interchange the right rear blew. That was nasty, it took off the right fender and smashed a big dent in the wheel well. When I went to change it out the tire belt had wrapped around the axle between the brake drum backing plate and the leaf spring perch and spring. It was a bear to get it unwrapped so I could change the tire. The because of the slope of the breakdown lane The axle was an inch to low to put the spare on. So I used the right rear stabilization jack top lift as it was an emergency and lift the trailer to install the tire. It worked great and there seems like no damage to the jack or the trailer frame. I will order a new fender and make the repairs to the fender well before our next trip. My wife and I feel very blessed that we could take care of ourselves and not have to wait multiple hours for road side assistance to arrive to assist us.

SprinklerMan wrote:

Bird Freak wrote:
I'm just curious here and not trying to start a China tire war. Where did this age old wisdom of a tire must be replaced after 5 years come from? Was it a tire manufacturer or just some people decided you should buy new ones? There are a bunch of tires out there that run a lot more years than that. Where was something credible in print?

I own 6 tandem axle trailers and 2 single axle trailers ( including my TT), with spares thats 36 tires . Am I replacing them every 5 years , no way , thats why I run LT tires on the heavy tandems that see highway miles , on the local light weight ( dont carry anywhere their capacity ) I run passenger tires . The trailers that go to the landfill get the ST tires . ( they are the sacrifical tires). I replace tires when they are either worn out or are showing a problem .

Sprinklerman knows his stuff because he has to .
There are way too many folks on here praising their brand new Maxxis tires from Chang-Shin Rubber of Taiwan .
These guys are slapping each other on the back yet they fail to understand that the single best thing to do at replacement time is to make an actual upgrade to LT rated tires .
There are frequent posts about ST tire failures but next to none about LT tire failures .
About one/two maxxis / Chang-Shin failure reported per month for the last couple of years .
Thanks to Sprinklerman for some common sense gained by experience .
LT tires prevent failure when you need it most : on vacation !

I have no idea why so many have tire problems? :S

I have towed for over 35 years and have had one blowout. I believe that was a nail that I did not catch in time.

Cheap China tires for about the last 15 to 20 years. All brands and all makes. Never a problem. Almost always over 70 MPH and this year up to 80 for hours at a time.

I will say they did not last. 5 to 7 thousand and they were done. They were also all bias tires so maybe that was the trick?

Just went to Maxis SBR this year. I will see how they do. Put 5,600 miles on this year with no problems. I expect more of the same.

We will see.

2012Coleman wrote:

pasusan wrote:

ReneeG wrote:

Lostincanada wrote:
I'm guessing they were original equipment? So 5 yr old tires grenade, don't think it had anything to do with them being Chinese.

Just my very humble opinion.

I agree.

You all who believe it is acceptable and normal for tires to "grenade" when they are 5 years old show your age... Or lack thereof.

Our 1974 travel trailer had the original tires on it in 2006 when we got rid of it. They had gone thousands of miles and lasted... 32 years. (They weren't Chinese.)

Well, I give up... What were they?

Well, let's see... Nope - can't remember.

I just know they weren't Chinese since that was before everything was made in China.

5 years is the accepted age limit, many mfg's also state this. My last set of MH tires peeled apart 5 years to the day I bought them. I have had Michelins go 7 and still looked good, but will not do that again.

One thing, Manufacturers use drivers to tow new trailers to dealers. They run them 80+ mph, and kill the new tires. They are limited to 65MPH. When you buy a new trailer, you are buying******tires...

SprinklerMan wrote:

Bird Freak wrote:
I'm just curious here and not trying to start a China tire war. Where did this age old wisdom of a tire must be replaced after 5 years come from? Was it a tire manufacturer or just some people decided you should buy new ones? There are a bunch of tires out there that run a lot more years than that. Where was something credible in print?

I own 6 tandem axle trailers and 2 single axle trailers ( including my TT), with spares thats 36 tires . Am I replacing them every 5 years , no way , thats why I run LT tires on the heavy tandems that see highway miles , on the local light weight ( dont carry anywhere their capacity ) I run passenger tires . The trailers that go to the landfill get the ST tires . ( they are the sacrifical tires). I replace tires when they are either worn out or are showing a problem .

same for me. I have two car trailers now. One open and one 36 ft enclosed for the show truck. I have never changed tires because of just age and only blown two tires on my fiver. Both Nexen Lts about 3 years old. Just junk tires. As long as they look good and not cracking out I run them.

Bird Freak wrote:
I'm just curious here and not trying to start a China tire war. Where did this age old wisdom of a tire must be replaced after 5 years come from? Was it a tire manufacturer or just some people decided you should buy new ones? There are a bunch of tires out there that run a lot more years than that. Where was something credible in print?

I own 6 tandem axle trailers and 2 single axle trailers ( including my TT), with spares thats 36 tires . Am I replacing them every 5 years , no way , thats why I run LT tires on the heavy tandems that see highway miles , on the local light weight ( dont carry anywhere their capacity ) I run passenger tires . The trailers that go to the landfill get the ST tires . ( they are the sacrifical tires). I replace tires when they are either worn out or are showing a problem .

dee74 wrote:
In my opinion many tire problems may be caused by speed. I keep my st tires at 60 or below and maintain the proper air pressure. I have put about 1500 miles on this summer and they look brand new and they were factory equipment. The person that goes by me at 75mph or more towing a tt is often the one that is pushing the limits on the tires.

That was me going by , my tires are rated for 95 mph , so I still had 20 mph as a cushion. Just kidding , I was doing 67 mph

aftermath wrote:
I was a victim of Carlisle tires blowing on my new trailer. I had been reading the forum for some time during the height of the China bashing period. I had a new Starcraft and aired the tires up to the max before each trip. I kept my speeds down to under 65 and checked the tires at each break we took. One unraveled on me and did some minor damage to the trailer. I jumped on the bandwagon and agreed with the "anti-China" crowd and even some who used the term "Asian".

Looking back, I think my problem had more to do with the class C tire rating and not where it was manufactured. I had just barely enough carrying capacity to cover the GVW rating of the trailer. When people post that they got rid of their "China bombs" they usually describe their new tires and the improved weight rating they went with. Ah, no problems now!

Also, be aware that most trailer tires today are made in China or Asia. I run Maxxis now and they are made in Taiwan.

Why do they want you to replace trailer tires at 5 years? I did hear an argument that said that your TV tires are constantly being used. The flexing of the tire keeps the oil in the rubber of the tire "working". When you park a trailer for months at a time there is no flexing of the tires and the oil in the compound doesn't behave like in a regular car tire. I don't know if this means they "dry out" or what, but it did make a little sense when people ask why trailer tires need to be replaced regularly.

Not ours - the TV sits in the garage exactly the same amount of time as our TT. We've definitely not replaced tires every 5 years.

aftermath wrote:
I was a victim of Carlisle tires blowing on my new trailer. I had been reading the forum for some time during the height of the China bashing period. I had a new Starcraft and aired the tires up to the max before each trip. I kept my speeds down to under 65 and checked the tires at each break we took. One unraveled on me and did some minor damage to the trailer. I jumped on the bandwagon and agreed with the "anti-China" crowd and even some who used the term "Asian".

Looking back, I think my problem had more to do with the class C tire rating and not where it was manufactured. I had just barely enough carrying capacity to cover the GVW rating of the trailer. When people post that they got rid of their "China bombs" they usually describe their new tires and the improved weight rating they went with. Ah, no problems now!

Also, be aware that most trailer tires today are made in China or Asia. I run Maxxis now and they are made in Taiwan.

Why do they want you to replace trailer tires at 5 years? I did hear an argument that said that your TV tires are constantly being used. The flexing of the tire keeps the oil in the rubber of the tire "working". When you park a trailer for months at a time there is no flexing of the tires and the oil in the compound doesn't behave like in a regular car tire. I don't know if this means they "dry out" or what, but it did make a little sense when people ask why trailer tires need to be replaced regularly.

Another thing I have read in the past about new trailers is the tires not being inflated properly when towed from the manufacture to the dealer. Even more so at some of the speeds the drivers tow at, which I have seen myself by some drivers, but not all!

Two bad combos even before the new owners take delivery of the trailer!