Decided to take a winter camping trip over the weekend, and had a wonderful time. Except on the way home. About 30 minutes into the trip, left rear time blew a baseball sized hole in the top sidewall. Pulled over and changed to the spare (never been on the ground), and headed back out. 45 minutes later, the left rear tire (former spare) blew again... software sized hole in the same position. Called Good Sam roadside (scary/humorous experience there as well:E)and was back on the road with 2 new tires in a few hours. Thank heavens there was no damnage to the coach. Take away is, replace those POS Towmax tires as soon as you can. BTW, anyone have experience with Sotera? Assume it's another Chinese brand, but it's all the warehouse had. Will try to post some pictures/links of the first blowout. Hole is just left of 12:00 in the first picture and 5:00 in the second.

You're extremely lucky - Offbrand and cheap tires just aren't worth the headaches and potential loss of life to mess around with. I just put 5 new Maxxis on my new Lance travel trailer.Almost all RV mfgs use the lowest common denominator tires that they can get away with.

After all the horror stories I replaced all 5 of mine shortly after we took delivery of our Sundance. Went with BFG Commercial TAs.

No Chinese tires for me. My Voltage came with Akuret tires (China). First thing I did was to remove them and have Michelin XPS Ribs installed.If you're insistent on ST tires I would recommend Maxxis M8008 that are made in Thailand and have a good reputation around here. I just put some on my boat trailer.

Haven't you got the memo? The tires are fine it is all your fault... you ran them low, drove too fast, moved the trailer, sprayed them with armor all ;)Unfortunately your experience is the same as many who learned the hard way. My FIL has ignored my warnings; he made it this first season with no issues but I have my bets on this year.

Another Towmax victim | Good Sam Community

TGPILOT
Explorer
Feb 02, 2015
Good to know, thanks

Tom
Me_Again
Explorer III
Jan 30, 2015
TGPILOT wrote:
rattleNsmoke wrote:
Don't discount Cooper LT tires either! They are American made and relatively inexpensive.

I bought Michelin XP Ribs today, but had looked at the Coopers. My dealer said that "Yes most of them were made in either Texarkana and Ohio, but that the LT's were made in China". That's why I went with the XP's.

You will not be sorry tomorrow or 6 or 7 years from tomorrow! I ran XPX ribs for 6.5 years and sold them for 200 bucks. Now have Bridgestone Duravis 250's. Still have a brand new XPS Rib hanging under the front of the trailer that we put there in 2005. Chris
TGPILOT
Explorer
Jan 30, 2015
rattleNsmoke wrote:
Don't discount Cooper LT tires either! They are American made and relatively inexpensive.

I bought Michelin XP Ribs today, but had looked at the Coopers. My dealer said that "Yes most of them were made in either Texarkana and Ohio, but that the LT's were made in China". That's why I went with the XP's.
TGPILOT
Explorer
Jan 30, 2015
Well, after being with out an RV for the past nine years I broke down and bought another 5R. It had ST tires on it, that probably hadn't been run 2500 miles on the RV sat since 07.

I got on here and spent the last two months reviewing RV tires. I was almost ready to put on the tow max tires, but at the last minute today, I broke down and bought the Michelin XP ribs. With a 14 ply they are rated at 3700, the same as the ST's were. The cost was out of sight at $1,600 for five, but hopefully these will be the last tires I ever have to buy for it. Just hope I have no blow outs.
MO_Trout_Bum
Explorer
Jan 26, 2015
cbconway wrote:
Dtank wrote:
cbconway wrote:
I just replaced the tires on my 3 week old fiver with a set of Goodyear Marathons, increasing the load range from C to D. No guarantees, but it evens the odds a bit and reduces my anxiety considerably. I see it as part of the purchase price.

The odds are not "even" - unfortunately, *not even* close..:(

Do a search on GY Marathons here -including the archives- (limiting to 5th wheels = 874 matches in 44 pages) or any other RV forums.

BTW - Marathons are mfg in China, and still plenty of negatives even when they were mfg in USA!
(Would have given you my USA mfg set of 5 w/about 3K miles free - but would have felt guilty.....or liable, LOL!)

"Anxiety reduction" - well sort of.
GY will *usually* pay for damage repair/s to your trailer due to tire failure.

.

Thank you. That was certainly inspiring.

Yes, I had GY marathons on two different travel trailers. Had one set for three years and one for four. No problems on either set. We may end up going that route, as we are considering trading the Cougar off.

Thanks to everyone for your guidance and feedback! You have all been quite helpful as always.
cbconway
Explorer
Jan 25, 2015
Dtank wrote:
cbconway wrote:
I just replaced the tires on my 3 week old fiver with a set of Goodyear Marathons, increasing the load range from C to D. No guarantees, but it evens the odds a bit and reduces my anxiety considerably. I see it as part of the purchase price.

The odds are not "even" - unfortunately, *not even* close..:(

Do a search on GY Marathons here -including the archives- (limiting to 5th wheels = 874 matches in 44 pages) or any other RV forums.

BTW - Marathons are mfg in China, and still plenty of negatives even when they were mfg in USA!
(Would have given you my USA mfg set of 5 w/about 3K miles free - but would have felt guilty.....or liable, LOL!)

"Anxiety reduction" - well sort of.
GY will *usually* pay for damage repair/s to your trailer due to tire failure.

.

Thank you. That was certainly inspiring.
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Jan 24, 2015
Dtank wrote:
cbconway wrote:
I just replaced the tires on my 3 week old fiver with a set of Goodyear Marathons, increasing the load range from C to D. No guarantees, but it evens the odds a bit and reduces my anxiety considerably. I see it as part of the purchase price.

The odds are not "even" - unfortunately, *not even* close..:(

Do a search on GY Marathons here -including the archives- (limiting to 5th wheels = 874 matches in 44 pages) or any other RV forums.

BTW - Marathons are mfg in China, and still plenty of negatives even when they were mfg in USA!
(Would have given you my USA mfg set of 5 w/about 3K miles free - but would have felt guilty.....or liable, LOL!)

"Anxiety reduction" - well sort of.
GY will *usually* pay for damage repair/s to your trailer due to tire failure.

.

If it's a road hazard they won't. Other than that they stand behind their product.
Dtank
Explorer
Jan 24, 2015
cbconway wrote:
I just replaced the tires on my 3 week old fiver with a set of Goodyear Marathons, increasing the load range from C to D. No guarantees, but it evens the odds a bit and reduces my anxiety considerably. I see it as part of the purchase price.

The odds are not "even" - unfortunately, *not even* close..:(

Do a search on GY Marathons here -including the archives- (limiting to 5th wheels = 874 matches in 44 pages) or any other RV forums.

BTW - Marathons are mfg in China, and still plenty of negatives even when they were mfg in USA!
(Would have given you my USA mfg set of 5 w/about 3K miles free - but would have felt guilty.....or liable, LOL!)

"Anxiety reduction" - well sort of.
GY will *usually* pay for damage repair/s to your trailer due to tire failure.

.
CKNSLS
Explorer
Jan 24, 2015
Paul Clancy wrote:
A 2012 bought in 2011. I'd guess those towmax tires date code 4-5 years.

The tires should have been replaced at least a year ago. It's always the tires...not the owners.

The tires aged out.
MO_Trout_Bum
Explorer
Jan 24, 2015
Paul Clancy wrote:
A 2012 bought in 2011. I'd guess those towmax tires date code 4-5 years.

You are correct. I noticed the date code on one of the tires and it was 2011. So, tires are up to 4 years old. So, blame is on me as well for not replacing until now.

Won't be going anywhere until tires are replaced.