Chinese Mission Tires - Montana Owners Club

welanagan · 04-18-2006, 05:07 AM

Does anyone have experience(good or bad with the Chinese tires supplied with the 2006 3500RL. I read in Highway Magazine of a problem with Chinese tires

scattershot · 04-18-2006, 05:30 AM

My new 2955RL came with them, but they were only on the rig long enough to get them to a tire shop and have them changed. I had very bad experiences with Carlisle tires, another Chinese brand, and I just won't take the chance. I consider all Chinese tires to be junk, and won't use them at all.

Do a search for tires, and you'll find some info.

Bob Pasternak · 04-18-2006, 06:28 AM

Scattershot: When did Carlisle tires start getting made in China? In my years of truck driving, I've hauled several loads of Carlisle tires from their factory in Carlisle, PA to Indianapolis. I am just curious.

HomeOnTheRoad · 04-18-2006, 06:43 AM

This forum has several reports of bad tires with Goodyear, Michelin, and others. But I have not seen bad reports about Mission tires. Lots of people worry but no one has reported bad experience that I seen yet. They might be bad but no reports yet. They might be good too.

richfaa · 04-18-2006, 07:08 AM

Just a thought. I am not saying the Chinese Mission tires are Top of the line. OEM tires, no matter what the origin are not top of the line. However, products made in China are of equal quality to products made here in the USA, (if you can find any that still are) Products made in China are produced with , by our standards, cheap labor, The average worker in China make .50/.75 cents a hour.If you have a HP PC it was made in China, Look around your home/office/ on your person..made in China.It is a sad fact but we can not compete in a Global economy, China, Japan, etc. with their social structure, work ethic are and will continue to kill us . I will say this again..You can buy a Honda, Toyota on any town/City in the USA. Try to find a Ford/ Buick, Dodge dealer in Tokyo and you will pay 3 times the price for one if you can get one. Our wounds are self inflected. From the Sunday newspaper.. Toyota will soon be the LARGEST auto manufacturer in the world..not GM, Not Ford..not any more..When will we wake up or is it already to late???

Fordzilla · 04-18-2006, 07:38 AM

Rich, I agree with you 100%

About tires, I had some Nankang tires on my last 5th wheel and blew out or had tire separation on 4 of the 5 original ones I started with within 3 years of ownership. I always checked the pressure and weighed it at least once per year to make sure I wasn't overloading them. The dealer replaced all the tires with new ones and I continued to have problems with bulging sidewalls and other belt separations problems. When I finally had enough I replaced the 4 main tires with coopers and kept the best Nankang for a spare.

richfaa · 04-18-2006, 08:17 AM

I have always used Coopers as replacement tires on my cars/trucks and Campers and have never had a single problem.The OEM tires that RV manufacturers put on units are lowest bidder, just meet the spec's and no more , tires. We all know that or should know that.We have always changed out our OEM Camper tires after 2 years or so. Now that our travel habits will change we will change the OEM tires out before we start our follow the sun winter travels this year.We would do that no matter where or by whom the OEM tires were made.

scattershot · 04-18-2006, 08:43 AM

Bob, not sure when the Carlisles were made, but sometime in the last couple of years, anyway. They had Made in China stamped on them.
I have seen a lot of stuff made in China lately, and must disagree with the above posts. Some of it may be OK, but when it comes to my tires, I won't take the chance. I stand by my original statement, Chinese tires are junk.

Bill Frisbee · 04-18-2006, 01:22 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

I have always used Coopers as replacement tires on my cars/trucks and Campers and have never had a single problem.The OEM tires that RV manufacturers put on units are lowest bidder, just meet the spec's and no more , tires. We all know that or should know that.We have always changed out our OEM Camper tires after 2 years or so. Now that our travel habits will change we will change the OEM tires out before we start our follow the sun winter travels this year.We would do that no matter where or by whom the OEM tires were made.

Rich ...

Will you be putting Coopers on your new 3400? If so, do you know which model you will choose? I am looking to replace the tires on my 3400 and also like Cooper Tires ... but they do not make an RV tire that I am aware of.

Thanks,

Bill

richfaa · 04-18-2006, 01:41 PM

I may have spoke before I knew what I was talking about,I had them on our TT but it weighed 7300lbs. I assumed they made Rv tires..maybe not. My tire guy who is also the person who bought my Terry TT has a Goodyear distributorship. He tires all our vehicles. He has 40 year in the tire business and knows far more about tires than I ever will.He tows a boat and a RV..he bought mine for his wife and they will park it at a permanet site at a campground so she can take the grandkids Camping.he will tire the 3400 and I trust his judgement.His comment about the Mission tire, without wanting to sell me tires, was what i related, They are low bidder, OEM tires, just within spec's and if you are going to do a lot of at speed, intersate,TPK driving..don't keep them long but he would say the same for a like USA tire.

scattershot · 04-18-2006, 03:22 PM

FWIW, I replaced mine with LT235/85R16E truck tires, B F Goodrich Commercial TA.

Fordzilla · 04-18-2006, 03:54 PM

If mine ever start to show wear I will replace them with light truck tires as well. Tire problems are why I have been saving some coins over the winter and plan to purchace a Doran tire monitering system. Hopefully it will warn me before I have a problem and it will not end in a blow out and tore up trailer.

Wrenchtraveller · 04-18-2006, 04:48 PM

Well I have the Mission crapolas on my 06 2955RL and even though they feel like a dishrag when they are unmounted they do have a 3520 pound weight rating, higher than an LT tire in the same size. I have talked to a couple of people who have had no issues with these tires so far so I am going to take a chance on my trip and give these things a chance. I do own the smallest Montana on the 06 line up, the 2955RL, so these things should have an easylife. One blow out and they are gone! I did get all 4 balanced and they really needed it badly. I have 80 PSI in them and they have held that pressure for over 2 weeks.

I was all set to go for a new set of Michelin LTs when I got the emails from people who had completed a long trip on the Missions with no problems. With the money I saved, I bought an auxilary 60 gal fuel tank to give me a good range and let me take advantage of cheaper prices in the good old USA. I filled that tank up today........225 bucks........ouch!

BigAl52 · 04-18-2006, 05:25 PM

I think I posted this on another thread for these tires and I will say it again. I picked up my new 2980 on Jan 13th of this year. It was in the snow and it was cold here untill just before we left for Texas on Feb24th. I never have added any air to these tires and they still have the same amount in them as when I picked up the trailer. Dolly and I returned from Corpus Christi and Galveston Texas on March 10th with no tire problems at all. I really don't see any problem with the tires. That is not to say that there are not better tires out there but the trucking company that I work for has problems with them all. I have seen the boss having to replace the back end of brand new trailers because of tire failure with brand new American and foreign made tires. Al

Thunderman · 04-19-2006, 05:07 AM

Believe Cooper Tire was the manufacture of Tacoma tires. Tacoma's use to be standard on Montana's.
I agree with the earlier post, the lowest bid gets the tire business.

Weldon

Fordzilla · 04-19-2006, 07:40 AM

Tacoma is what's on my '04 Montana. So far so good.

jimcar827 · 05-11-2006, 05:56 AM

Just my 2 cents....Just returned from a 3,000 mile trip with the Missions on my '06 Mountaineer 329RLS. Started trip with 80 psi, ended trip with 80 psi. Just felt for heat on most of the stops, all went well.
Jim

Wrenchtraveller · 05-11-2006, 03:52 PM

I have about 1500 miles on this trip. The Missions are running cool and hold their air pressure well.

No problems and I will be putting another 2000 miles on these tires before I get home.
I will post any issues.

JH Sechelt · 05-11-2006, 04:30 PM

Good to hear, Don

We put 2500 to 3000 on ours over spring break, no problem. put on another 1000 or so since, no problem.
I checked the tire pressure last week and all 4 were still at 80 lbs.
Going down to Leavenworth on the May long weekend, maybe 750 miles return, and the temp is suppose to get up in the the high 90's so I think that should tell a story. Keep us posted on your trip.

J&D

Montana Sky · 05-11-2006, 04:53 PM

J & D,
I was in Bend Oregon last summer for the Great North American RV Rally. On the way home the air temps got as high as 106 according to the temp gauge in the truck. You could just see the heat coming off the road infront of me, I stopped at a few rest areas and fuel stations to let both the truck and coach tires cool down. None of the 8 tires were hot, warm to the touch, but not hot or over heating. The coach tires held 80 psi the entire way there and back, I am thinking if I can do 106 air temps, 80's for you will be a breeze.

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