Tires

[tooth ferry]

Mon HC 2014 ,Towmax original tires. About 7000miles on tires dated week 29 of 2013. Driving it out of storage shed I heard a noise that I thought might be a stuck brake. When I got it outside I found that a 4" x 9" piece tread was missing. Luckily my tire dealer was only 1/2 mile away. When he checked the other three he found tread separation on all of them. He is a Towmax dealer and asked if I wanted to replace these with Towmax. NO WAY. The only tires he had that would fit were LT Firestone Transforce. I was going to a meeting 275 miles away that I needed to be at that night. He had me on the road in about an hour. Trailer towed fine. Has anyone had experience with Firestone Transforce LT on their 5er? Good I hope.

[WaltBennett]

I put them on right after taking delivery of our '10 that still had Marathons on it. On our second long vacation now with about 15k miles and no problems at all save for a nail I picked up at a 'country' fuel stop. Tire was plugged, but still leaks a little. Usually run between 60 and 65 mph. Can't count the number of curbs I've run over. Have to make tight turns to back into our driveway. Wouldn't go back to STs for anything.

[WeBeFulltime]

I ran the Firestones on my previous truck (2007 Ram 2500 4x4) with great success. No problems at all in about 3 years and 30,000 miles towing Montana included.

[1Happycamper]

I also have Firestone Transforce HT tires and am very happy with them.

[PSFORD99]

quote:Originally posted by 1Happycamper

I also have Firestone Transforce HT tires and am very happy with them.

Wish I could say the same about mine ,they came on my new 2014 Ram, and with 13K on them I will be lucky to get much over 20K on them, they are over half worn out .They have been rotated twice ,and will be due again in a couple thousand miles. That is pretty much the same sentiment on the Cummins forum, wearing out pretty fast . IMO its a pretty crappy tire for a major tire manufacturer .

[CalandLinda]

quote:Originally posted by tooth ferry

Mon HC 2014 ,Towmax original tires. About 7000miles on tires dated week 29 of 2013. Driving it out of storage shed I heard a noise that I thought might be a stuck brake. When I got it outside I found that a 4" x 9" piece tread was missing. Luckily my tire dealer was only 1/2 mile away. When he checked the other three he found tread separation on all of them. He is a Towmax dealer and asked if I wanted to replace these with Towmax. NO WAY. The only tires he had that would fit were LT Firestone Transforce. I was going to a meeting 275 miles away that I needed to be at that night. He had me on the road in about an hour. Trailer towed fine. Has anyone had experience with Firestone Transforce LT on their 5er? Good I hope.

A Firestone quote: "Never select a tire with a smaller size, or with less load carrying capacity, than the tire specified on the vehicle tire placard."

It can be found in the reference: http://www.tiresafety.com/images/Tir...t%20Manual.pdf

page #3

[steelpony5555]

LT tires will carry more weight at faster speeds then any cheap ST tire other then a G rated tire. Why?....because the government requires then to pass tests at higher speeds, carrying heavier weight loads for longer periods of time then what's on the sidewall. Testing for ST tires is a joke, they are only required to pass bare minimum tests at less then Hwy speeds. Why? ...because one is a passenger vehicle and the other is a trailer.....they don't care how expensive your trailer is. So trailer manufactures can use the cheaper tire with the blessings of the US government. It's why high end trailers will come with LT tires from the factory...it's the reason my trailer can do 70 mph for the past 5 years, which I would never do with ST tires. Now I do not advocate the use of LT tires on the heavy weights, that's G-614 territory, but for 13K lbs and less, don't forget the pin weight is on the truck, they are the better choice then ST tires no matter what the load capacity it says on the placard. Remember that was put there by the factory because they were too cheap to put LT tires on it, not because they can carry more weight.

OP....lots of folks have used the TransForce on their trailers....

[1retired06]

I have used transforce tires for the past 12 years on rigs and trucks, and I like them.. Have never had a blowout or any other issue with them. Got 55k on my old truck and just put a new set on my 6.7.

[sambam]

I have the Transforce on my truck. They're fine. Can't speak for the trailer but if I had 6k axles, I wouldn't hesitate.

[Dam Worker]

I have not used Firestone tires since the driver side front tire lost all the tread and beat the hell out of my truck. I guess the nice thing is that I was able to limp down the shoulder of the freeway into the next town on the steel belts as I still had full pressure. Got to a Les Schwab and replace that one and one other that you could see the tread separating from the rest of the tire. Lot of lawsuits around that time on Ford Explorers rolling over when tire tread separated causing numerous injury and or deaths. Of corse back at home the local Firestone dealer said he would not even talk to me. Said there was a 800 number and that would get me a lawyer. Never used them again. I actually liked the stiffer sidewall in those tires compared to Michelin. Like everything else I am sure they are making better products now. It seems like they all have a bad design every now and then AKA Maribomb ect.

Tom Marty