Dealer comment on tire problems........ - Page 2 - Montana Owners Club

Dean A Van Peursem · 01-07-2009, 12:37 PM

Your experience with TireCo is exactly opposite of mine. However, I did tell them I had one tire with tread seperation. That may be the difference.

ols1932 · 01-08-2009, 05:58 AM

shortrnd,
You definitely should not deflate your tires after running for a period of time. They should be set to 80 psi (cold) or whatever is stated on the sidewall of your tires. The tire manufacturer sets that as the maximum pressure for carrying a full load, taking into consideration the heat buildup after running for a period of time.

What I do when we are traveling is to "feel" the tires upon stopping at a rest stop (or wherever) just to sense whether or not there is any excessive heat. I also check the hubs by "feel" just to make sure there isn't any abnormal heat given off by a bad bearing or such.

If you deflate the tires as you mentioned then you will be running under inflated and will seriously wear the tires abnormally. In addition, under inflation will cause the tires to heat up even more.

Orv

G-Dude · 01-09-2009, 04:09 AM

Please don't be fooled if you have Missions on your late model Montana or Everest or SOB and haven't had a failure yet. You are at high risk of tire failure! We have a 2007 Montana 3295 and went as far as balancing and putting nitrogen in the tires like Nascar does in the race cars to keep them cool. This week while traveling from Indiana to Florida we talked to a neighbor at Deer Run RV Park in Troy, Alabama. He shared with us the failure that he had on his 08 Big Sky that caused over a $1000. worth of damage to his coach. Yikes!!
Because of all the stories about these "maypop" Missions I check at every fuel stop for pressure and any visible signs of failure. Last fuel stop for the day was Marianna,Fla and I questioned the looks of the right rear. It appeared to look like it was over inflated. The center of the tire looked like it was taking all the weight. Pressure was 95 psi so I dropped it to 85 and checked them all. We drove to Ocala, Silver River State Park and set up. Next day wanted to go mountain biking but noticed as we were leaving that that right rear was now flat!! Thank the Lord it happened at the site in stead of on the road. I went out to get internet service so that I could go to this site for the Tireco 800 phone number but ended up with no success(connection problem).
I called one of the local RV Dealers for a tire service center recommendation. He recommended Belleview Tire Center,so I called them and talked to Brad Heath who is the owner, made an appointment for the next A.M. @ 10A.M. to get four new tires. We left the park in the A.M. with our spare "maypop" on the right rear and went to their
shop. We pulled in and they got right on the job. We were in and out of there in 30 minutes with a new set of four all inflated to 80 PSI, balanced, and refilled with nitrogen. They were a very busy tire center, but the employees worked as a team and the place was spotless. It was a great experience in a bad situation. If anyone has need of tire service in the Ocala area, we would highly recommend Belleveiw Tire Center 352-245-BRAD.
I will call Tireco but should have done that before I had this issue. I believe that the cost of the tires will be far less than the damage to your RV if one of these little bombs explode on the road at speed.
Rick

LeonardW · 01-10-2009, 12:48 PM

After reading so much tire talk on the MOC I dicided to remove the tires and wheels off our Montana 3000RK and take to tire shop for new high pressure valve stems and tire balance. All five (took spare as well as four on ground) took between 3 and 4 oz of weight. During break down to install new valve stems check of tires (Mission) all looked good. Tires are just over a year old and only a couple of thousand miles. By the amount of weight required you can guess how they must have been jumping around at 60-65 MPH.
Len

Dean A Van Peursem · 01-10-2009, 05:20 PM

LeonardW,

We didn't start to see Mission tire problems until about 8-10,000 miles. And then two went bad within 1600 miles of each other. Replaced all five. On a late 2006 Montana 3400RL.

richfaa · 01-11-2009, 04:24 AM

We ran our mission tires @10K miles + with no problems and normal wear.We did change them out as we had little confidence they would run another 10K miles(about another year)

biznsa · 01-11-2009, 05:14 AM

We just purchased an '09 and it had Goodyear Marathons. While checking the sidewalls, I noticed "Made in China" stamped on the side. Hopefully, I won't have the issues you folks with Mission tires had.

ols1932 · 01-11-2009, 05:36 AM

Not to beat a dead horse, but tires should be inflated to the desired pressure (maximum psi according to load) when cold and should not be deflated during travel. Tires normally heat up when traveling and the tire manufacturers allow for this when they state on the sidewall of each tire what the maximum (cold) pressure should be. By "cold" they are talking about what the pressure should be in the morning before you start traveling. If when checking in the morning, one tire is less than 80 psi (or whatever your maximum psi is) and you don't have any means of inflating, you can drive to nearest station and fill the tire to the maximum pressure as measured against one of the other tires that had the proper cold pressure when measured before you started. This tire will heat up some, thus when inflating the low-pressured tire, you can bring its pressure up to what the other tires are now.

Hope this isn't too confusing.

Orv

Delaine and Lindy · 01-12-2009, 03:26 AM

All my tires are at the manufactors recomended pressure. I run Goodyear G-614's and the side wall pressure is 110 lbs. I always keep them at 110 lbs but the pressure will increase when they heat up. I have the Pressure Pro system so I know at a finger touch what the pressure is at any time. I never lower my air pressure when we are at our destination. Before movement I plug up the PPS and if needed will then set the pressure were the manufactor says it should be. I also run my Chevy 1 ton at the recomended pressure, and have no problem with the ride. If and when we have to replace our G614's I will if we still have this 5er will upgraded to 17" wheel and tires (H rated) which I think is what is now being used on the (SOB) we have now, we already have the 8,000 lbs axles. The G614' always run cool, and the wear is great. GBY.......

I am not a Tire expert but this is from actual experience from many miles of travel thru all types of weather except COLD weather which I try to avoid at all times. But I know for a fact that heat is the major problems for tires. Most all failures are from Heat.

Dean A Van Peursem · 01-12-2009, 04:06 AM

The major problem with Mission Tires is they were designed and manufactured by Mission and selected by Keystone Montana. I am amazed how well Keystone gets off the hook for selecting such a poor tire. Obviously Keystone doesn't have any kind of engineering/performance criteria that would catch something like the Mission problem before selection for use on our 5th wheels. After all the problems we have had with our late 2006 3400R, we wonder if there really is an engineering or quality control department at Keystone. The Mission tire name seems to have disappeared on new tires. I'd bet heavily the old Mission tire factory is still producing tires just under a different name. Probably "Freestar".

SlickWillie · 01-12-2009, 08:45 AM

Dean, IIRC, the Missions are manufactured by Nankang in China. The reason Keystone selected them had to do with cost and nothing else. Just like everything else they use in their RV's. BTW, I'm not singling Keystone out. It appears to me that is the way the whole RV industry (or what is left of it) operates. It is hard for me to have compassion for an industry that takes no pride in the workmanship and quality of it's products. JMHO

shortrnd · 01-12-2009, 01:50 PM

after reading all of the postings, all of which are factual, my primary question still remains, what is it is going to take. a major accident, God forbid, thousands of dollars in damages, injury or death. keystone, tireco, both must know there is a major problem, so why not a recall. i like others intend to replace all ficve of my tires upon return to home base.my expense of the replacement will not compare to the piece of mind that we will have while travling about this beautiful country. so now i am burying the proverbial dead horse. happy traveling

ols1932 · 01-12-2009, 02:01 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by shortrnd

after reading all of the postings, all of which are factual, my primary question still remains, what is it is going to take. a major accident, God forbid, thousands of dollars in damages, injury or death. keystone, tireco, both must know there is a major problem, so why not a recall. i like others intend to replace all ficve of my tires upon return to home base.my expense of the replacement will not compare to the piece of mind that we will have while travling about this beautiful country. so now i am burying the proverbial dead horse. happy traveling

You have the right idea. For peace of mind, have the tires replaced yourself. I wouldn't wait for some company to maybe, just maybe, to reimburse me. Having had my problem with tires, I didn't go back to the tire company. I just had them replaced. And, I don't have any savings, so money is important to me. But traveling safely is the best way to go.

Orv

shortrnd · 01-16-2009, 07:23 AM

after much thought and deliberation my good freinds, i have replaced the proverbial missions with 5 brand new goodyears,i now have peace of mind that the missions will not blow on me, but the kick is that the goodyears are attatched to a brand new beautiful 2009 montana 38r. go figure, i showed them hahahha. went to the lazy days show in tampa fla and they me a deal that i would have been foolish to turn down/ we are extremly happy . even met the keystone rep who asnwerd tons of questions.till the next problem pops up,,,, go steelers

Coloradotsm54 · 09-04-2009, 05:46 AM

Having heard from many a Montana and other FIVER owners, I have great concern as to the safety of the tires that came on our 2007 Mountaineer...of course they are made in China,,,,that alone is an issue...anyone have experience with the Goodyear Unisteel G614 series tires?? I want to dump this Chinese rubber for some USA products...all comments welcome !! and any supportive criticism on what to stay away from...

cheers!!

Terry and Beth

HamRad · 09-04-2009, 07:02 AM

Terry and Beth,
There are several recent discussions about this very issue. You may want to simply read some of the info in those threads. I think that right now there must be at least 4 or 5 tire discussions going on.

Dennis

exav8tr · 09-04-2009, 10:17 AM

Coloradotsm54, Welcome to "The Best Darned Forum on the WWW!" The G614's are high pressure tires, at least they max at 110psi. You have to have rims that will support the higher pressures if you plan on putting more than 80 psi in them. It would help us answer your questions if you tell us (preferably in your signature), what year and model Montana you have as not all Montanas can accept the 614's without a wheel change. Most of us list our tow vehicle also so all know how to help with a particular question.

Again, Welcome!!!!!

washley1 · 09-09-2009, 02:57 PM

Coloradodotsm54, I had bad tire experience last spring on my new Big Sky 365REQ, and went to the G614's. ANd yes, I had to buy new rims to take the pressure, but I am real happy with the outcome. Over 7000 miles and 6 months since I put them on, and have not had a single issue. I used nitrogen to get to 110 PSI, and have only lost 5 PSI over all that time and distance. I check them every time I move.

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