Tires

[FLSTS03]

I wonder if Keystone should look into 'bullet proofing wheel wells and underbellies" so damage to the Rv is kept to a minimun. As someone mentioned, causes for blowout can be many and any of us can replace tires to favorite tire at will or as budget allows. It's a shame one $150 tire can do $3,800 plus in damages. Was not there a tire out not to long ago that would not go flat/blowout, and if so sounds like a perfect rv tire.

Steve

[adelmoll]

That is the worst part... Our blowout did damage to the underbelly thankfully instead of going the other way and getting the paneling.. You can imagine the trouble we would have to go through to replace that when we have the full body paint on our Big Sky? Bill is still trying to fix our damage. I only hope it gets completed before the critters find there way in. It has been very cold at night and I know they are looking for a nice warm belly to hide in.

Helen

[Joyce H]

Haven't posted in some time, but just had to put our comment and experience here on this subject.

We also have a new 2008 Big Sky which we ordered and purchased in December 2007, while in FL.

Unfortunately this unit also had inferior tires. When we started home this year in May, we had not one, but two blow outs. Our first blow out the tire totally shredded, the second one split all the way around in the middle of the tread. Both were on the drivers side which has three of the four slides. We also had trouble finding replacements and found one for the first blowout after several hours of calling around. For the second blowout we could not find an ST and ended up purchasing two LTs to put on the unit so we would at least have matching tires on one axle (this was done on the advice of our son-in-law, who was in the tire business for many years). So now we had purchased three tires for two blow outs.

When we finally got home we had son-in-law check the tires and we also discovered they were Carlisle tires. We decided it was time to put safty first..these tires only had about 5000 miles on them.

I got on the MOC forum to see what tires others were using and we made a decision on the Goodyear G614s. We went to the closest Camping World (in Winchester, VA) and had them order four new tires and a few weeks later they were installed. When we leave for FL in early October, we hope we will at least be riding on safe tires!

In doing our research we had a hard time finding tires that were listed to support the proper weight. We do not know what caused out blow outs, but I was following the unit in my car when they occurred and I can assure you there was nothing in the road. We also check tire pressure regularly and knew the tires were properly inflated.

So it appears Keystone needs to do some extra research on tire quality. I do not believe the tires they are using are the proper ones for the weight of out units. In defense of the RV industry though, I believe it was Camping World that told us all RV manufacturers are required to use ST tires. I must say this is our third Montana and the first one on which we have had tire problems.

As Tom just said it is hard to believe we have had to buy seven new tires for a unit that is less than two years old!

[adelmoll]

Thanks Joyce for your imput... We just did not feel right with the Michelin's that had a load rate of 3200# for single axle and e-mailed Michelin.. They confirmed that they did not feel they were correct for our 7000# axles so the dealer that put them on is going to exchange them for the G-rated Carlisle (not from China) for just about $20.00 per tire... They only thing that is required is that we have HD rims which the Big Sky says that we have so instead of getting out of the Metro early tomorrow, we will backtrack about 40 miles to the West and and get the ones that are rated for 3900# per tire... We were told that we should be able to run them for about 85-90 psi instead of the max of 95 psi because we should be under-loaded... If anyone can tell us different, we would appreciate all info before we head out on the road tomorrow for Florida and all points in between.

Helen

[Delaine and Lindy]

I can't comment on any other G rated tires except the Goodyear G614's. I have ran the Goodyear 614's on three different 5th wheels and never ever had a tire issue. I ran them on the Cambridge 358 made by Keystone, Awesome 5th wheel but was very heavy. I now have Goodyear G114's on 17.5" wheels with 8,000 axes and we are heavy. If I was buying tires for a Big Sky and if the rims would support 110 lbs of air I would only buy the Goodyear G614's. The G614's run cooler and are made in the USA. I'm for sure no tire expert but this was our experience first hand. Good Luck with your Choice. GBY....


P.S. I do have a John Deere tractor that has Carlisle tires !!!

[mail2us]

Sorry about the tire problem Helen and Bill.

What has occurred to me in reading this thread, is when new MOC members come on and indicate readiness to purchase a new 5th wheel Big Sky or Montana, they should try/consider negotiating tire options before signing. Not sure how what would result in but just a thought. Some newbies often overlook tires and they seem to be the most prevalent problem issue on the MOC. I know I overlooked it. We dumped our Missions last month for Bridgestone Duravis 500's LT's. We had two that separated and found them on inspection. Lonnie gave me some great info and options for our Montana. Be safe. Dennis

[SlickWillie]

I don't think we'll ever get anywhere with the import tire problem as long as everyone just replaces their tires. I just searched the NHTSA database, and with all the Mission tire failures we have read about, there are only 13 complaints filed; one of them being one I filed. That will never get a response from NHTSA. I can't blame them; the stats they have just doesn't show a problem with the tires.

[adelmoll]

Hi Dennis and Judy.. That might be an option during the sale but in my opinion this should be something that is done at the Keystone level.. If the dealer needs to trade tires they will be paying for the new tires over and above the ones Keystone puts on.. If Keystone gave us a chance of either having the tires they are installing now or upgrading to an F or G-range tire then the cost should only be the difference between the two... I say this carefully because I now know that to have the F or G rated tires they should only be put on HD wheels and I'm not sure how many of the Montana's have that. I can only speak for the Big Sky whose brochure say's it has HD wheels.

Helen

[5rvers]

I still have my Tacoma's on my Monty, but I'm looking to replace them with Firestone Transforce HD. The Tacoma's are over five years old now.

Lou

[FRED S]

Well here is one more for the Mission failure log,was lucky no damage, found the tread seperation and leak the morning after ariving in FL Dec. 2007 Changed to Goodyear Wrangler LT tires, no problems scince. Fred

[mail2us]

I agree Helen that it should start with the manufacturer. I also believe SlickWillie's comment that as a consumer we generally move on and the complaint log remains incomplete. I merely mention a new member purchase now because the tire issue has been a long and lingering one with no apparent near future remedy.

I think the wheels after 07 are 110 psi rated, but not sure on that aspect. Our 08 is rated at 110 PSI.

[Dave e Victoria]

I'm glad Delaine and Lindy had good luck with the tires on their Cambridge. We have the same trailer and have experienced 4 blowouts since we have owned it. The first was due to leaking cast aluminum rims. The next two were tire failures and did real serious damage both tho the under side of the coach as well as the outside panels. That happened at about 15000 miles. I replaced all tires with new Goodyear "G" rated tires. This year, after about 10,000 additional miles we lost the tread on one tire. My plan is to replace all tires again before we leave next spring. As far as I know, Goodyear is still the only option for this application other than various Chinese brands.

I feel the root of this whole problem is that the trailer designs are just marginal. If you take the combined tire ratings and subtract that from the gross weight rating of the trailer, you end up with the pin weight. That says there is NO safety margin at all. I would have been more than happy to have a third axle to get some margin and save all the stupid tire failures. BTW, it is not just keystone that designs this way. But, speaking as an engineer with more than 30 years of experience, whoever does it IMHO borders on incompetent.

[adelmoll]

During our 350 mile travels today thru Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana we saw three RV's on the side of the road with flat tires... All different brands.. Light weight and heavy. Something is wrong with this scenario.

Helen