Anyone had good luck with Tow Max? - Page 2

judgerr · 05-14-2014, 01:53 PM

Wow, didn't mean to cause any problems. Just wanted to know if everyone was having problem or just some people. I guess there I no definitive answer. Blow outs may come months after hitting a bad chuck hole. Lord knows with the roads we have now days you can't hardly not hit any!
Anyhow thanks for all replies, all opinions are appreciated. But all I asked was if any one had good luck with them. If you changed them without using them then that's fine, but not really answering the question!
Anyhow Thanks to all!

Threebutchers · 05-14-2014, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by judgerr

Wow, didn't mean to cause any problems.

It was a valid and important question. Glad you asked it.

I hope the thread stays on track (first hand experience) and doesn't get locked.....

Camper_bob · 05-14-2014, 05:42 PM

I have Towmax on my trailer from the factory. I have about 5k miles on them so far, and they seem to be fine. I don't have plans to replace them until it's time to do so, but I can tell you that I'm constantly watching them and checking on them. Honestly, the stories about their quality scare me, and if they blow up, I don't think I'll be surprised. I may replace them early if I have the money to do so, but for now I'm working with what I have and watching them closely with a skeptical eye.

fastercat · 05-14-2014, 06:32 PM

I have towmax on my 26' boat trailer and they have lasted 5 years so far, they are better than any other tire I have put on it, just my 2 cents.

KLGard · 06-12-2015, 01:21 PM

I didn't worry about the Tow Max tires last year when I purchased my 2013 Eagle Premier 321RLTS. However, after about 3000 miles on them, I had one that developed a bubble, the inside was coming apart. I replaced that one. That was 3 months ago. Then 2 days ago while traveling through Kansas another one actually blew. We have been checking them constantly, making sure they are inflated properly, keeping our speed below 65. We are having all new tires put on in a few days. We do have some damage from the blow out over the wheel well and on the side of the 5'er. The tire that blew still looked nearly new, as did the one we replaced 3 months ago.

DocBrown · 06-12-2015, 01:43 PM

15" tires? I'm thinking so. There were 2 much more recent threads than this where a couple of of us were digging into the facts a bit, in other words putting aside anecdotal postings.

I think at least some of us have come to some interesting conclusions.

1) The factory tires on most trailers, but especially 30'+ and 5vers are marginal at best as far as their weight ratings go
2) Nearly all TowMax failures are with 15" tires. I've seen a couple of postings with 14" and only one with 13". In fact those of us with 13" tires are reporting pretty much normal life out of our tires (mine are in thier 3rd season).

RedHorse1 · 06-12-2015, 04:59 PM

We had about 7500mi on a set. They were close to the 3 yr mark and I've been meticulous about pressures and speed. My Tire Minder watched the pressures and temps when we were moving. I set the cruise for 60 and they never saw a speed over 65.
We had 2 fail in a 75 mi stretch and a third was ready to fail. I've replaced them with G'year 614's.
I'm not a fan of TM tires.
That said, there are many folks that get good to great service out of them.
I didn't.

namusmc65 · 06-12-2015, 05:31 PM

I have 235/80R16's on my 2014 Eagle 33.5RETS and have about 10,000 miles on them in 2 years. Keep them at 80 psi and don't run over 65. After all this flack about tow max we pulled them off for inspection before our last trip. The front tires were showing slightly more wear so we rotated them to the back. They still look almost like new so we are trucking on down the road. We do keep a check on them each time we stop.

arkhillbilly · 06-12-2015, 05:41 PM

When I bought my 2012 t/t, the forum was full of good and bad on the good year st tire. The eagle had good year tires, scared me, so I bought a extra spare and rim, just in case. Got about 6 thousand on them, and never a problem. Is it good luck or they decent tires? Is it good or bad luck with the tm tire?

RLS1955 · 06-12-2015, 07:24 PM

Over the last two days we have had two failures (non-repairable), one actual blow out and the 4th tire is showing separation signs. I now have the spare on the ground, three new ones and the separating one for a spare. They have less than 4,000 miles on them have been meticulously inflated to 80 lbs been monitored by a TPMS and have been pulled at 65 mph 99% of those miles. They are 235/80R/16's on my Pinnacle. I am not a fan.

KiltDog · 06-12-2015, 07:42 PM

In my first season I put 1K on my factory issued towmax - no issues. 15" load range C, I think. My plan was to replace every 3 yrs, which seems like about 3K miles of towing with my camping habits. Most likely won't be putting a new set of towmax tires on at that point due to their reputation, even if I don't have problems with the current set. Heard good things about maxxis but no personal experience.

3'senough · 06-12-2015, 07:45 PM

Most of the Premier and Pinnacles have 16" E rated tires. Mine were just replaced with Maxxis 8008's. I hope there live up to their rep.

I caught my failure (belt seperation and bubble on inside wall) while doing maintenance and was meticulous with pressure and my C Control set at 63. A little over 3K if you factor in the delivery miles and less than 2 years. Aug 13 date code. Make sure you file a failure through NHTSA.

DustyGeek · 06-12-2015, 09:47 PM

Our previous trailer had Tow Max tires. We put about 7500 miles on them during the 2.5 years we had it (got it new and did 26 trips, 70 nights and 7500 miles). The only issue we had was self-inflicted, when I clipped a storm sewer on an overly tight turn and punctured the sidewall. Aside from that, they wore evenly and had no bubbles or other detectable defects.

I was extremely vigilant about tire pressure, always checking it before moving the trailer if it sat more than a day or two, or we had towed it for more than a few hours and stopped overnight. That probably helped.

It's not quite long enough to say I had "good" luck with them, but I certainly didn't have bad luck. I wasn't quite as careful with the speed as others mentioned above. We have some 70MPH roads here in VA and I usually made use of them, but never really exceeding 70.

I will say that the axles and tires were rated to carry 10,000lbs, but our trailer only grossed 8200lbs and 1100 of that was tongue weight. That may have contributed heavily to our success.

cariboocreek · 06-13-2015, 05:08 AM

I had good luck....they got me home from the dealer. I went almost immediately with the 17.5 inch upgrade. My vacation time is quite limited and a ruined vacation because of a cheap set of tires just isn't worth it. Besides if I want to gamble I'll head to Vegas for a weekend.

Ela1948 · 06-13-2015, 05:42 AM

i use them on 2 boat trailers with no issues. I am convinced that being anywhere close to weight capacity is a major factor in issues with tow max. The other thing that plays into it is when the tire was made. I had a tire put on a dump trailer the other day and when I checked the build date it was already over 2 years old. I know that it was not warehoused by my dealer because he had to get it in for me. Needless to say, I had him remove it and got something with a newer build date.

rick danger · 06-13-2015, 05:50 AM

Well, just went out to look at my tires after reading this unnerving thread. Not to deviate to far from the OP's TM title, but it seems related an not worth a new thread. They put "westlake" tires on mine. Chinese of course. no big surprise there. D range on an Octane 273. Any feedback on these? I have about 3500 miles on them and am leaving next week for Montana/Idaho and expect 5-6k more before I get home.

KLGard · 06-14-2015, 01:13 PM

I should have said the size of our Tow Max tires are 235/80R/16.

Ela1948 · 06-14-2015, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rick danger

Well, just went out to look at my tires after reading this unnerving thread. Not to deviate to far from the OP's TM title, but it seems related an not worth a new thread. They put "westlake" tires on mine. Chinese of course. no big surprise there. D range on an Octane 273. Any feedback on these? I have about 3500 miles on them and am leaving next week for Montana/Idaho and expect 5-6k more before I get home.

I think that they are on a par with Tow Max. Keep your tire pressure up and your speed down. All Chinese tires are not junk!! All tow max are not junk. They do seem to have a higher degree of failure when the tire is near its maximum wt. You don't always know the circumstances of the failures that you read about. Diligence on speed and pressure are needed regardless of brand. Consider a TPS system. I don't hit the road without them. You can develop a slow leak and you will never know it without a tire system.

rick danger · 06-14-2015, 02:12 PM

I guess its just fingers crossed for now. If I took the time to dismount for TPM I'ld toss them and get something good. T agree about the TPM though. I have them on two of my bikes and they are great. Will probably install a set with my next tire change.

Ela1948 · 06-14-2015, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rick danger

I guess its just fingers crossed for now. If I took the time to dismount for TPM I'ld toss them and get something good. T agree about the TPM though. I have them on two of my bikes and they are great. Will probably install a set with my next tire change.

I have the tire minder and they are an add on. They go in place of your valve cap. There is no breaking down unless you decide to change out the valve stems with metal stems.

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