Tires on a 5th wheel and aggravation

[Schnizzy]

This is not a request for help, rather an experience to share.
Tenth year in our 3rd 5th Wheel. We had 2 blowouts in the first due to old tires, my fault.
This 5th wheel is less than 5 years old and we had 3 blowouts, explosions on the way from Maine to Florida this year. The damage to the camper was almost $500. DOT dates are 5 years old. They have less than 5000 miles. A 4th tire blew up while attached to the back of the RV, not even on the ground.
These are China bomb tires, Castle Rock. We tried to claim a warranty but so far, we might see $210 for 2 tires. We submitted photos of DOT numbers for 3 tires. The distributor responds the tires exploded because they were overloaded. Yep, that explains why one did not leak on the back of the camper, rather it freaking exploded, as in gun shot exploded.

The point is , when you buy, demand the best tires. It is no fun crawling around under a camper when you are 74, it is 29F outside and the 18 wheelers want to give you a sway.

If a tire blows up, take lots of photos including the brand of tire, size, damage, DOT number which is only on one side, 4 numerical digits, as in 0519, 5th week year 2019.

My RV dealer in Maine reports the new RVs are arriving with good tires. Good news.

Advice to RV dealers; do not send a camper down the road with China bombs. Know your customers, they will not think highly of you if you sell RVs with junk tires.

[ZeeLet50]

The rule of thumb for trailer tires is no more than 5 years to replace. With the cheap ST ones that were used from 2015 to 2020 I would say 4 years. Thats when I replaced mine with a set of Maxxis tires. They are not LT but much better than the China bombs that came with the trailer. Age is a bigger factor than milage IMHO.

[Thermoguy]

Michelle.S wrote:
The Marathons were BAD, if on a new camper you would be lucky to get it home before you had a blow-out.

My 5th Wheel had Marathon tires when I bought it. They were 6 years old when they went. But, when they went, they went... One blew, 2 were out of round, the others were fine but replaced when I replaced everything.

[Lantley]

Ultimately that is the problem! How can a brand new camper with brand new tires possibly need all of its' tires replaced?
An experienced RV'er knows they send them out brand new from the factory with with junk tires.
A rookie RV'er finds out the hard way.
Unfortunately once upon a time we were all rookies.

[Michelle_S]

The Marathons were BAD, if on a new camper you would be lucky to get it home before you had a blow-out.

[mt1729]

You can buy it or not but I've had two tires blow out over the years that I was using as spares. They were both good looking tires. They were Good Year marathons and neither one was on the ground and neither one had any discernible flaws. They also had the right amount of air pressure. It happens. I was in the house when the 2nd one blew. I heard a big bang went out and there was pieces of my spare tire cover all over and a big hole in the tire.

[valhalla360]

Unless it was massively overinflated in subfreezing temperatures and then taken immediately to 100F+ temps...not buying that an unmounted spare tire just exploded unless there was more to the story. Was it chaffing against a piece of metal or something?

What were the CAT scale numbers, inflation and actual age/miles on the ones that blew while under load?

Not saying there aren't different qualities of tires but if it sounds unbelievable, most of the time it is.

[JIMNLIN]

OP wrote:
This is not a request for help, rather an experience to share.

Your story sound like many other other rv website members over the years with issues from low quality ST tires. More so some years back.
We have some very good ST tires made in China on the market now unlike 10-20 years ago when all ST tires were called may pops and all were made in the USA.

Not many 16" LT tire sizes and higher load ranges for 7k-8k axles on the market.
Goodyear G614 RST in a LT235/85-16 G at 3750 lbs.

Hercules H-901 LT 235/85-16 G @ 3750 lbs capacity.

Sailun S637 235/75-17.5" load H @ 6005 lbs.
""""""""""""245/70-17.5" load H @ 6005 lbs.These are a all position tire for commercial trucks and trailers.
They work great on RV trucks and trailers.

All above are a commercial grade all steel ply carcass.

[Michelle_S]

NMDriver2 wrote:
LT tires never ST.

You can't run LT tires on many of the newer bigger Rigs, as they just do not have the load capacity for 7K axles without even talking 8K axles, that will fit. I need 17.5" tires and don't know of any LTs in my size

[time2roll]

My advice would be to run the oem cheepo tires not more that a year.
Get replacements where the tire load range covers the full trailer GVWR.

+1 for GY Endurance.

[Thermoguy]

NMDriver2 wrote:
LT tires never ST.

Running Goodyear Wrangler LT tires on both my 5th wheel and Gooseneck, perfect tire for my weight. My last set on my gooseneck lasted way past date where I should have replaced them and never had a problem. I would buy LT tires if it is within the weight of the trailer - if not, go with F or G tires. Not a fan of ST tires as they are not tested and do not have the same standards as a LT tire.

[Cummins12V98]

GY ENDURANCE, simply try to find a NON ROAD HAZARD claim. You most likely will NOT. Stellar record since introduction in early 2017. Expensive??? Don't thin k so.

[laknox]

If you =have= to use ST tires, there =are= decent ones out there. GY Endurance are some of the better ones, though more expensive. I'm not a GY fan, but that's what I ended up having to put on my KZ when I needed to replace the OEM tires. So far, I'm satisifed with them. Could have saved about $100 on a set if I could have had them in time before a trip.

Lyle

[NMDriver2]

LT tires never ST.

[Lantley]

While I feel your pain as a 10 year RV'er you got to know you need quality tires by now. Don't count on the dealer to provide quality tires. ultimately it is your knowledge and responsibility to avoid china bombs.
If you were a newbie I'd understand but as a 10 year RV'er and someone who has played the RV blowout game you got to be savvy enough to protect/save yourself.
Preventative maintenance and keen awareness is key to successful R$V ownership if you slack in these areas it will come back to bite you.
I have been bitten by tires before. While I agree OEM tires have improved.
It still maybe necessary/wise to replace tires on a brand new RV.
The dealer will not tell you that but 10 years of experience will.
You are new to the forum and my comments may appear to be a bit course and blunt that is not my intent.
If you read these forums you will find cheap tires and blowouts is an old reoccurring issue that can be only be resolved by knowing your towing parameters and weight and by buying premium tires.