Another Tire Question

[Leo_Smith]

My wife and I are looking at purchasing a new Keystone Cougar 24SABWE. After being on this forum for awhile, I am assuming that the standard tires that come with this trailer are junk. If so, what are your recommendations for replacement tires? We are looking at a long road trip to the Grand Canyon this summer and prefer not to have a tire failure in the middle of nowhere. Thanks!

[Huntindog]

Leo Smith wrote:
My wife and I are looking at purchasing a new Keystone Cougar 24SABWE. After being on this forum for awhile, I am assuming that the standard tires that come with this trailer are junk. If so, what are your recommendations for replacement tires? We are looking at a long road trip to the Grand Canyon this summer and prefer not to have a tire failure in the middle of nowhere. Thanks!

Since you haven't bought it yet, you are in a very good position.
Make sure it has 6 lug rims. That will make going to 16" rims easy. They can do this for you as part of the sale... Or go all the way and insist on 16" tires upfront. Expect to pay some more though as they are not cheap

[rbpru]

There is nothing wrong with upgrading to a premium tire, I in theory you should get a longer wearing rubber, perhaps a bit more durability and more consistency. True or not that is the expectation.

Still there is nothing to prevent road hazards, sharp objects, under-inflation uneven wear and etc.


I do not know that any one brand or tire type has shown to be vastly superior to any other and we know from time to time even the biggest name brands have had issues.

[Doug33]

My 2014 Keystone came with Trailer King tires, which I have never heard of. In almost 2 years I haven't had any issues.

[fla-gypsy]

rbpru wrote:
Upgrading to a better tire is generally a good idea. But considering all factory supplied OEM tires junk is share folly.

The factory is going to install the least expensive tire that will do the job. Last year more than 300,000 TTs were sold; that is well over 1 million tires last year alone. The industry has been at this million tire sales volume for several years. Just how many TTs have you seen on the side of the road?

Also, what do you suppose is the failure rate per million of the brand you are buying?

Your analysis while most likely accurate is little comfort when YOU are the one on the side of the road with a shredded tire and body damage thus the never ending quest for the best tire possible.

[rbpru]

Upgrading to a better tire is generally a good idea. But considering all factory supplied OEM tires junk is share folly.

The factory is going to install the least expensive tire that will do the job. Last year more than 300,000 TTs were sold; that is well over 1 million tires last year alone. The industry has been at this million tire sales volume for several years. Just how many TTs have you seen on the side of the road?

Also, what do you suppose is the failure rate per million of the brand you are buying?

[scbwr]

I just had Maxxis put on my trailer. The original tires haven't given me any trouble during the past year with a couple of long (3k) trips. But, for peace of mind, I had the Maxiis installed before our 4K+ trip out west.

[2manytoyz]

If it comes with Goodyear Marathon tires, replace them soon! I've had two fail without warning, as has my BIL, and a local friend.

I trust them so little, I've even replaced the new/unused spare.

I couldn't find a local dealer that carried Maxxis tires of the size I needed.

I bought mine online here: http://www.performanceplustire.com/

They were $100 each (good price!), and shipping for all 4 added $19.95. Shipped quickly. I have no affiliation with anyone.

Zero failures since. FWIW, replacing a blown tire on the side of a busy hwy SUCKS!

[fla-gypsy]

I also use nothing but Maxxis for ST tires.

[2012Coleman]

Maxxis lists Discount Tire as a dealer, but they are not in stock locally. I plan on having them order a set for me. A DT location near me will install them on site - or so they say on their web site.

[Sandia_Man]

My vote is for Maxxis as well for an ST tire. Looking online it appears that TT comes with 15" Load Rated D tires that can carry (2540# each) quite a bit more than the entire GVWR of your Cougar. My TT is closer to 10K# loaded and came with the same size china bomb tires and I managed to get 2 camping seasons and over 15K miles on them before replacing them all with Maxxis 8008s. Keep them properly aired up and don't push the 65mph limit too often and they should give you at least a season or two.

Of course nothing beats peace of mind which is the main reason we replaced our stock tires with Maxxis after a couple of years. Still going strong after 4 years and over 20K miles, just came back from an extended spring break and they performed well. Definitely will go at least one more year, maybe two before replacing again if we haven't purchased a new rig by then. Any reputable tire dealer can get Maxxis 8008 tires, obviously most will try and sell you the ST tire that gives them the largest profit margin. Enjoy your new Cougar!!!

[midnightsadie]

make the tire a part of the deal, they,ll whine and say no but when your walking out the door ,it,ll happen.maxxis

[BubbaChris]

Similar to the post from jfkmk - The advice I received was similar to current electronics. If it doesn't fail in the first 90-days it isn't likely to be a problem.

Our "problem tire" on our pre-owned 2013 was because of an alignment problem. It's now our spare, and the other 4 have over 3,000 miles of trouble free towing on them since we bought it.

With brand-new you may be able to get the dealer to swap them out for a better quality product at less than what it would cost you through a tire shop. Good luck with the new TT

[2oldman]

If you'd care to read others' responses to this very popular question: tires in heading in TT

[jfkmk]

It's brand new, run what you have for a few years.