Tire Issues

[RVhiker]

A lot of trailer owners of all brands have had tire failures. Count me as one of them. What tires are typically placed on new Jayco fifth wheels? Can other brands of tires be ordered in place of the standard? Have Jayco fifth wheel owners had issues with their factory supplied tires?

[yogi154]

We have Goodyear on ours. We had a Cardinal by Forest River. They had China tires they had bad inter liners. Never used the trailer till the tires were replaced.
I just put a tire pressure monitoring system on the rig. Pressure Pro system monitors all tire on the truck and trailer.

[healthi]

Our previous 17' Casita came with Marathon tires. The 2004-05's were notorious for blow-outs! We became one of the stats also fortunately no damage to our tt when it blew. So far with our new Jayco we have traveled 10k+ miles in weather conditions from cooler 40 degress to 106 degrees, rain and shine, and haven't had any problems. As with any of our tires, we keep the air pressure at the recommended pressure :)

[av8arkie]

Goodyear Marathons come on mine. My rule of thumb is if you ever feel deep down in the pit of your stomach or the thought of "blow-out" ever crosses your mind go buy new tires! Should never have problems.

[Gone Camping]

As noted on another thread I have Good Year Marathons load Range D on my Eagle and have not had any problems. My unit has a 13.5 GVW limit. :cool:

[Seann45]

GoodYears came factory on mine... made me very happy... they are my brand of choice.

[taviking22]

GoodYears came factory on mine... made me very happy... they are my brand of choice.

Ditto!

This is my third TT/5ver that came with GY Marathons and never a problem.
(Uh-oh! Did I just jinx myself?? :eek: )

Yes, there are other brands that should provide suitable usage just like there are brands that should likely be avoided.

[clutch]

Just because you have Good Year tires dosen't mean they are made in the USA. They also outsource some of their tires. Check the sidewalls. I also use a thermal gun and check tire temp and bearing temp at every stop. I do the sunny side first to get a good reading.

[renoman69]

Mine came with Marathons and before I put any wear on them I replaced them with Bridgestone Duravis 250's. Sold the Marathons and I don't worry any more. Until very recently Marathons were made in China and were junk. I would never put a Goodyear tire on anything I owned.

[Seann45]

I just hope everyone remembers that the speed rating on all ST tires is 60 mph.

[clutch]

I am glad to see that our new trailer at least has six lug wheels. I am not a fan of 15" trailer tires on a heavy trailer so by just buying wheels I can go with 16" tires and get load range E. I think our trailer has Good Years and I won't know if that is good or bad until I can read the writing on the sidewall.

[toolman22ia]

My camper is an 04 designer it came with the goodyear marathon radials. They are still on there, so they must not be too bad. Ive pulled all over the country, even on plenty of gravel. Keep tire pressure correct and they last forever,imo.

[edatlanta]

My Designer came with Good Year Marathons load range E. They were made in China and I'm not happy about that. My dealer agreed to switch them with USA made, but after checking every unit they had in stock, all Good Year tires were China made. I haven't looked at the date codes yet, but plan to do that in the next week or two.

[Hutashe]

I just hope everyone remembers that the speed rating on all ST tires is 60 mph.

Oops! :)

[RVhiker]

A minor piece of information. Actually, the usual "speed rating" on ST tires is 65mph: http://www.trailerlife.com/output.cfm?id=2355013:

"Trailer tires have no speed rating. Unlike automotive tires, which may be H (130 mph) or V (149 mph), for example, trailer tires do not have to pass the same high-speed tests that passenger-car tires must. All ST tires are rated at 65 mph — so pulling a trailer faster than that, especially when you don’t know if your tires are properly inflated and/or loaded, is inviting disaster."

[Haul n it all]

the goodyear marathon ST load range E tires on my 2010 designer are made in china. I put 4500 mi. on them last summer . I will consider 17.5 wheels and tires when i am ready for new tires. Never having a failure ,Priceless.
A lot of people who will not use china made tires also install TPMS systems on their tires which are also made in china . Kind of humorious.

[Mopar1973Man]

Well I hate to say it (without hi jacking a thread) but most everything today is made over seas... :(

I've got no problem with running foreign goods on my vehicles. It just that I've always had a tight maintenance schedule I stick too... So far I've never had a blow out in 25 years. I've only called for a tow truck once in 25 years of driving. So that got to speak highly of my vehicles.

[healthi]

Glad to hear 65mph is good. We usually travel that on the Interstates now that we have the truck pulling a tt :)

[Mopar1973Man]

With the pure size of travel trailers and 5th wheels and wind resistance it plain foolish to faster than 65 MPH ever... I don't care if the speed limit is 80 MPH...

Like in all my reading any speed above 55 MPH requires aerodymanic changes to aid MPG numbers. Well it rather hard to do that with a 30 foot long box that is 8 foot wide tied to the rear of the TV.

Also if something to go wrong say a blow out, sway, etc... At highier speeds it goes wrong quicker and give you much less time to react ot the problem at hand...

Towing fast or at a greater speed than needed is just plain foolish...

[edatlanta]

My daughter says the way I drive she will die of old age before we arrive, but I tow at 60mph on interstates and less than that on 2 lane. I will pull off on 2 lane when I can to let faster vehicles pass, but I'm simply not in a hurry. I'm retired. I will get there when I get there and I intend to do it safely.

[SmokerBill]

I've been guilty of pulling my TT too fast, but since I started driving slower (55-60 mph) I've started getting much better mileage, and my truck seems happier too.

And my tires are Marathons too. ST205/75R15, load range C.
Strange thing is, they are made in the USA, not China. So I guess all Marathons aren't made in China, yet. Manufacture date was the 8th week of 2010, so I'll probably wear them out before they hit 5 years old.

[namusmc65]

Well, Looks like I have the Goodyear Marathons on mine as well.

[Mopar1973Man]

I'm heading down tomorrow to have a set of tires put on my rig... I'll get more information on them when there mounted...

I know they are 225/75 R15 Load Range D's so...

More to come...:freak:

[MHbell]

I have had 3 blow outs on RV's in the past 25 plus years. All of them my fault.

Right Front tire on a 22,000 LB motor home. Michlin Tires, weather worn and 7 years old, 70 MPH. $3500.00 worth of damage

Right rear Trailer tire TT Under inflated overloaded and 65 MPH. Tore out wheel well and sewer lines.

Left Rear tire 35 ft invader fiver. 9 year old tire under inflated. Ruined Rim

In all 3 cases Excess speed, Under inflation, and age of tires.

I now change tires when they are 5 years old period. I keep them at the recommended tire pressure and don't drive more than 60 MPH. I inspect them at every stop.

It might be worth noting that all were USA made tires. I had a set of Double Coin Made in china tires on a Mtr HM with 40,000 Miles without a problem. also China made tires on a Forest River 5th wheel all types of terrain and driving conditions never had a problem.

Keep the speed down 50 to 60 and tire pressure at recommended pressure. change tires when 5 years old. You should not have problems.
Mel

[dg1971]

I just got through looking at my Goodyear Marathon tires that came on my 2008 Eagle. The date code was 4007. They have 5200 miles on them (counting the trip from Indiana to Texas after it was built) and the tread looks good. No cracking on the sides. I also looked at another Jayco in storage next to mine with Marathons and a date code of 1605. Obviously less tread but no sidewall cracking. I may have missed it somewhere but was wondering when Goodyear start importing these tires from China, if anyone knows.

[Sunshine]

I have had 3 blow outs on RV's in the past 25 plus years. All of them my fault.

Right Front tire on a 22,000 LB motor home. Michlin Tires, weather worn and 7 years old, 70 MPH. $3500.00 worth of damage

Right rear Trailer tire TT Under inflated overloaded and 65 MPH. Tore out wheel well and sewer lines.

Left Rear tire 35 ft invader fiver. 9 year old tire under inflated. Ruined Rim

In all 3 cases Excess speed, Under inflation, and age of tires.

I now change tires when they are 5 years old period. I keep them at the recommended tire pressure and don't drive more than 60 MPH. I inspect them at every stop.

It might be worth noting that all were USA made tires. I had a set of Double Coin Made in china tires on a Mtr HM with 40,000 Miles without a problem. also China made tires on a Forest River 5th wheel all types of terrain and driving conditions never had a problem.

Keep the speed down 50 to 60 and tire pressure at recommended pressure. change tires when 5 years old. You should not have problems.
Mel

Thanks so much for this info.... I was wondering what length of time tires should be changed and this sounds like a good rule of thumb to me. Do you change them out yourself or take them to the dealer? Not sure how involved it would be to jack up a 5er to change out tires.

[MHbell]

Thanks so much for this info.... I was wondering what length of time tires should be changed and this sounds like a good rule of thumb to me. Do you change them out yourself or take them to the dealer? Not sure how involved it would be to jack up a 5er to change out tires.

I take my RV's to a tire shop and have them changed out there. I usually get the tire dealer to give me a trade in for them as the tread is never worn out Just the age of the tires. another thing to consider is dual wheels and dual axles. If you have a blow out caused by under inflation on dual wheels or dual / triple axles, You should replace all tires on that side or both dual tires on that side. The reason why is if the tire blew out because of under inflation causes the other tires on that side of the RV to carry the whole load thus making them weaked by being overloaded and subject to a blowout further down the road. This is why some have as many as 2 or 3 blowouts on a trip or in a short period of time, when they only replaced the one tire on the side or duals that had a blowout from Under inflation.
Mel

[Richard Gaudet]

I had marathons on my 09 37RLQS had to change 2 last year due to wear and this year had one blow out thankfully it was before I got on the interstate cost $2000 to repare 5th. When returned home replaced all with G rated tires I belive that the OEM tires were maxed out for weight I check pressures before every trip and every and every 3-4 days while traveling. Currently on a 7000km trip through westeren Canada no problems????

[yddad45]

I always check my air pressure on my tow vehicle and TT before each trip. I drive 70 to 75mph on four lanes and 63 to 65 mph on two lane. I just can't hold that Diesel down, she loves to tow. I must admit I let here have the reins, I'm not retired so I'm always in a hurry to have fun.

[Sunshine]

I take my RV's to a tire shop and have them changed out there. I usually get the tire dealer to give me a trade in for them as the tread is never worn out Just the age of the tires. another thing to consider is dual wheels and dual axles. If you have a blow out caused by under inflation on dual wheels or dual / triple axles, You should replace all tires on that side or both dual tires on that side. The reason why is if the tire blew out because of under inflation causes the other tires on that side of the RV to carry the whole load thus making them weaked by being overloaded and subject to a blowout further down the road. This is why some have as many as 2 or 3 blowouts on a trip or in a short period of time, when they only replaced the one tire on the side or duals that had a blowout from Under inflation.
Mel

Thanks for the good info, Mel!

[Seann45]

I know I am lucky... I checked my Goodyear Marathons and they are all made in the USA....
Remember folks that it does not matter how the tire looks on the outside.. check the date of manufacture anything over 5 years old should be replaced.. and yes that is from date of manufacture not date of first use...

[rvrev2]

I run LT tires instead of ST tires on my old fiver. I just don't trust those ST tires after reading all the blow outs with them. I haven't heard of any blow outs (and I'm sure they exist) running LT tires with the appropriate load range. So far, I have no complaints with my LT's.

[edatlanta]

I can't run LT tires in my size due to the decreased load capacity vs ST's. I'm stuck with ST's or replacing the wheels and going to 110 psi G rated tires, which I am considering.