Tire question? Castle Rock 225/75 r15

Ex-Halfton Guy wrote:
Hey Guys
Anyone have personal experiences with these tires? Or just know anything about them? They came on our new 5th wheel we bought from a dealer last year. How bad are they? Going on a long trip next month. I always keep them covered and always have them at max psi 65. Thoughts

How lucky do you feel. Haven't dealt with that brand myself.

I have a 2016 Jayco 23RLSW that came with China bomb Ranier ST tires.

Ran them for 2 years with no issues.

Last summer we did a 8700 mile, 2 month coast to coast road trip and I decided to replace them with Goodyear Endurance ST tires before we left.Stayed the same size but went up 1 load range.

Would the Ranier's have lasted with no issues? I didn't want to find out the hard way in the middle of nowhere, with part of the siding damaged.

It was a hot spring & summer on the trip. Heat is the killer on tires.

Good maintenance goes a long way. Check pressures daily on the road.

I always cover my tires also and use Aerospace 303 protectant, which doesn't contain silicone.

It's a roll of the dice for sure, but I wanted to minimize any issues that might happen and ruin my trip that I had been planning for a year.

Fourteen thousand miles on my toyhauler , Castle Rocks still look good !

RobWNY wrote:
I have Castle Rock tires on our FR 5th wheel we bought new last year. We have 1000 miles on them and I'm not replacing them until I need to. We'll put another 1,500 miles on this summer and then another 1,200 on our trip to Florida in the fall. Keep cold tire pressure where it's supposed to be and you should be fine. I did buy a TPMS for them though. If I were to lose pressure in a tire, I want to know right away so I can get off the road and change the tire. Just my opinion but I think a lot of trailer damage comes from tires that break apart because they've been run on flat for a while and they shred. Probably more times damage is done that way than from a true blowout situation.

similar experience with us. first TT we bought couple of years ago had castle rocks. 18 months, approx 5000 towing miles never had a problem. always checked pressure before towing and kept at recommended psi 65. never towed over 65mph, (never wanted or needed to). had TPMS.

Sell them while they look new and do your self a favor and buy a set of GY ENDURANCE.

OP wrote:
Hey Guys
Anyone have personal experiences with these tires? Or just know anything about them?

Besides rv and non rv trailering websites I mentioned is clicky link and search tire complaints....then click on brands name.....then tire line. There are 16 or so Lionshead complaints with most tire lines names mentioned were Castle Rocks. Others just said Lionhead.
Whats not known is how old the tires are in the complaints.
NHTSA goes through their tire complaints ever 2-3 years and deletes them especially when whoever filled out the complaint didn't give the proper information.

Ex-Halfton Guy wrote:
Hey Guys
Anyone have personal experiences with these tires? Or just know anything about them? They came on our new 5th wheel we bought from a dealer last year. How bad are they? Going on a long trip next month. I always keep them covered and always have them at max psi 65. Thoughts

Condemning an entire industry on unsubstantiated feedback about high usage OEM brands is just poor reporting.

The China manufactured ST tires are improving every year. IMO, much of the early failure problems with ST tires was/is self inflicted with OEM tires not having any or very little load capacity reserves and a low speed restriction to 65 MPH.

With the increase in load capacity reserves mandated by RVIA and the increase in speed restrictions to 75 MPH or higher, the tires on those vehicles so equipped will be much more robust than those 4-5 years ago.

Ex-Halfton Guy wrote:
Hey Guys
Anyone have personal experiences with these tires? Or just know anything about them? They came on our new 5th wheel we bought from a dealer last year. How bad are they? Going on a long trip next month. I always keep them covered and always have them at max psi 65. Thoughts

I've bought three 5th wheel RV trailers and 11-13 other non rv GN /bumper pull trailers with 14"/15"/16" size tires over the last 30 years. I always run the cheap OEM tires for the first year on my RV trailer then sell them on CL to some guy with a lawn service trailer/etc.
My non RV trailers I make a deal with the equipment mfg or the dealer for a better brand of tire. It pays in the long run. We can find out more input about any brand tire on the net at all the different RV and non RV trailering websites. The issues are the same coast to coast.

Now if your trailer isn't on the interstate most of its road miles making 8k-12k miles a year then the cheap off brand tire may work for you.....but not for others.

I have Castlerock tires on my TT. I have about 2000 miles on them. I am replacing them. Never had an issue but I do not have much confidence in a tire that is concave in the tread area. All other tires I have seen are all convex, bow out. These tires tread area bow inward. Lionshead indicates they are designed that way. OK. I would rather replace the tires than take the chance of having damage done to my trailer. If I do have a tire issue there is no guarantee there will be trailer damage but why risk it?

I have Castle Rock tires on our FR 5th wheel we bought new last year. We have 1000 miles on them and I'm not replacing them until I need to. We'll put another 1,500 miles on this summer and then another 1,200 on our trip to Florida in the fall. Keep cold tire pressure where it's supposed to be and you should be fine. I did buy a TPMS for them though. If I were to lose pressure in a tire, I want to know right away so I can get off the road and change the tire. Just my opinion but I think a lot of trailer damage comes from tires that break apart because they've been run on flat for a while and they shred. Probably more times damage is done that way than from a true blowout situation.

Search the Forest River Forum for your answer. Tons of experience and opinions on Castle Rock there.