Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum - View Single Post

skypilot · 06-12-2009, 11:18 AM

Bill - First -- welcome to the forum.

This tire issue is long standing and, like any other problem, you are hearing of the problems quite a few have had. There are others who have had no problem at all with their tires and, for the most part, they just sit on the side, copying the mail as they say. (There are several who, as you will see, have reported their good fortunes as well but like the old cliche that goes along the lines of "when you get good service, you might tell one or two, when you receive bad service you tell 10 to 20 people." The difference is here (the Internet) you can now tell 10 to 20 thousand !! ))

Now that said, there are some tires that have had a history of problems with Montana as well as several other brands of trailers. The Mission tires are probably the most notable of late here on the Montana forum. Goodyear had a significant problem with their Marathons a while back and that seems to have been resolved, although we are now seeing more posts concerning the Goodyear Marathons. FreeStar is another brand that is coming out now and we are starting to see some issues with them as well, again, not a large number but enough to notice that the number of posts is increasing.

Glenn and LonnieB, both excellent sources of information concerning tires, have repeated said (and I'm paraphrasing this from my memory so apologies if I mis-state anything) - there are problems with any make of tire and tire company. The biggest thing is to make sure your trailer is not over loaded, that your tires are properly aired up each morning, and that you keep an eye on them to ensure they are not wearing abnormally (which could indicate an alignment or overweight condition on a particular wheel/axle assembly). Oh, and replace the rubber valve stems that come original equipment with a good quality all metal valve stem on all wheels.

Many others have recommended, as do I, that you invest in a tire pressure alert system -- there are several makes on the market and the Montana forum has several threads discussing these. We even have a couple of members who are dealers for them and service after the sale is excellent.

Lastly, keep an eye on the tires. (I said that before, didn't I?) As I mentioned, there are many members who have traveled thousands, 10s of thousands, of tire incident free miles.

Keep us posted as you get your new trailer and begin the new adventures. Best wishes.

06-12-2009, 11:18 AM	#22
skypilot Montana Master Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Manhattan Posts: 1,144 M.O.C. #1846	Bill - First -- welcome to the forum. This tire issue is long standing and, like any other problem, you are hearing of the problems quite a few have had. There are others who have had no problem at all with their tires and, for the most part, they just sit on the side, copying the mail as they say. (There are several who, as you will see, have reported their good fortunes as well but like the old cliche that goes along the lines of "when you get good service, you might tell one or two, when you receive bad service you tell 10 to 20 people." The difference is here (the Internet) you can now tell 10 to 20 thousand !! )) Now that said, there are some tires that have had a history of problems with Montana as well as several other brands of trailers. The Mission tires are probably the most notable of late here on the Montana forum. Goodyear had a significant problem with their Marathons a while back and that seems to have been resolved, although we are now seeing more posts concerning the Goodyear Marathons. FreeStar is another brand that is coming out now and we are starting to see some issues with them as well, again, not a large number but enough to notice that the number of posts is increasing. Glenn and LonnieB, both excellent sources of information concerning tires, have repeated said (and I'm paraphrasing this from my memory so apologies if I mis-state anything) - there are problems with any make of tire and tire company. The biggest thing is to make sure your trailer is not over loaded, that your tires are properly aired up each morning, and that you keep an eye on them to ensure they are not wearing abnormally (which could indicate an alignment or overweight condition on a particular wheel/axle assembly). Oh, and replace the rubber valve stems that come original equipment with a good quality all metal valve stem on all wheels. Many others have recommended, as do I, that you invest in a tire pressure alert system -- there are several makes on the market and the Montana forum has several threads discussing these. We even have a couple of members who are dealers for them and service after the sale is excellent. Lastly, keep an eye on the tires. (I said that before, didn't I?) As I mentioned, there are many members who have traveled thousands, 10s of thousands, of tire incident free miles. Keep us posted as you get your new trailer and begin the new adventures. Best wishes.