I did the roadmaster tires and 17.5" wheels myself. So far so good. It was amazing how heavy truck tires are.
Best thing you can do for any tires is balance, full air pressure and don't let them dry out.
Doug
Tow Max Blowout and Cyclone Damage
- Thread starter BarneyFife
- Start date
I did the roadmaster tires and 17.5" wheels myself. So far so good. It was amazing how heavy truck tires are.
Best thing you can do for any tires is balance, full air pressure and don't let them dry out.
Doug
WARNING !
Cooper only sells the Roadmaster tires, these are a Chinese bomb also. I had purchased 20 of these thanks for my rollbacks about two years ago because they were "cooper" tires. After install found I could not keep them in balance, had tremendous hops and shakes, changed tires still there, long story short, could never get more than a few thousand miles out of each tire before something went wrong!
Sent them all back, luckily the dealer I purchased them thru had been doing business with me fir several years.
I had the 245/70/19.5 and used them on rollbacks and medium duty trucks. We have also worked on other customer vehicles with issues and found these tires responsible for handling issues and poor wear.
I have Sailun tires that came on my Bighorn, I have nitrogen in them and use TST tire monitors. I am very nervous and know I should get G614, but they look great and are wearing perfect at this time, I have pulled this camper 12,500 miles in 18 months, guess I will consider my luck very good and quit pushing the issue, I will plan in getting the G614 this fall.
Brian
Cooper only sells the Roadmaster tires, these are a Chinese bomb also. I had purchased 20 of these thanks for my rollbacks about two years ago because they were "cooper" tires. After install found I could not keep them in balance, had tremendous hops and shakes, changed tires still there, long story short, could never get more than a few thousand miles out of each tire before something went wrong!
Sent them all back, luckily the dealer I purchased them thru had been doing business with me fir several years.
I had the 245/70/19.5 and used them on rollbacks and medium duty trucks. We have also worked on other customer vehicles with issues and found these tires responsible for handling issues and poor wear.
I have Sailun tires that came on my Bighorn, I have nitrogen in them and use TST tire monitors. I am very nervous and know I should get G614, but they look great and are wearing perfect at this time, I have pulled this camper 12,500 miles in 18 months, guess I will consider my luck very good and quit pushing the issue, I will plan in getting the G614 this fall.
Brian
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I too feel victim to one the Chinese bombs. The first I caught in time as it was just a small defect however going unnoticed I feel it was have had disasterous results. Most recently a week ago returning from Colorado we had one "blow up". We had stopped no longer than 15 minutes earlier to refuel and all appeared normal. I was signaled by a passing motorists something was amuck. Wasnt so lucky this time-damage to fender. Called Heartland and filed formal complaint to sales rep about these dangerous tires needed to be taken off the highway before serious accidents/deaths occured. We shall see how Heartland stands behind their product.
Brings a second and third thought. Whats the latest on the tire debate I should consider replacing these inferior tow max tires with and which tire pressure monitoring system is the latest and greatest. Cyclone 3800 owner.
Brings a second and third thought. Whats the latest on the tire debate I should consider replacing these inferior tow max tires with and which tire pressure monitoring system is the latest and greatest. Cyclone 3800 owner.
Bksvo
Well-known member
Unfortunately, I have now joined the Towmax horror victim group. We had one throw the tread 10 miles from home as we headed out for the weekend. A lot of damage, but all repairable. This is the second Towmax failure in 2 months for us (6k miles on the first, 8k on the second-trailer is 4 months old). Caught the first one before it blew. All were balanced and run a TPMS. Tire had full pressure until 30 seconds after it threw the tread.
TBC tire was good about reimbursing us for the first tire. I replaced all 6 with Carlyle tires from Discount tire after the latest event - the CSR from TBC is going to try to get me something for all of them, while they are working the insurance claim for the damage. So far it seems their customer service is top notch - hopefully that is also true for the damage claim. Even so, I won't be running their tires again.
TBC tire was good about reimbursing us for the first tire. I replaced all 6 with Carlyle tires from Discount tire after the latest event - the CSR from TBC is going to try to get me something for all of them, while they are working the insurance claim for the damage. So far it seems their customer service is top notch - hopefully that is also true for the damage claim. Even so, I won't be running their tires again.
scottyb
Well-known member
After reading about the Towmax's reputation, I did a lot of research and decided to change them before my 4100 made it's first trip. I had Michelin XPS Ribs mounted and purchased a TST TPMS. I just returned from a 1600 mi trip and loved the TST. I was hauling in 104 dergree temps through OKC on Labor Day, and it was very impressive watching the pressure and tire temperatures. We even noticed that the tires on the sunny side run a few degrees warmer than the tires on the shady side.
Sandpirate69
Well-known member
That's a great choice of tire if you have triple 6K axles. But those of us who have 7K axles are screwed. You either swap rims to ones that hold 110lbs of air and purchase goodyears or go to the 17.5" rims with a wide variety of tire selection. So, when you do the math both solve your dilema because you will be paying out the nose. So why not upgrade to the 17.5" and choose a tire at a better price. Remember , competition between tire companies is fierce, but not when you hold a grip on the 16" G rated tires.
scottyb
Well-known member
FWIW, Before I bought the Michellins, I couldn't find the pressure rating on my wheels, so I contacted the wheel manufacturer. They said their 8 bolt wheels are 3750 lb wheels, and therefore 110 psi rated, and assured me that I could run the G614's.
Sandpirate69
Well-known member
That's funny because when I called Treadit, I think that's the name of the company, I was told that the PSI rating was based on the number of spokes the wheel had. My original rims, which I stored in case I get the itch to upgrade, were not rated at 110 psi. But now I run the 17.5" on Michellins and I paid $92 less than if I had purchased the Goodyears. Don't get me wrong, i'm a Goodyear guy but my tire guy gets awsome prices on the michellins.
mattpopp
Trouble Maker
My rims (3750lb rated) that came on my Cyclone are rated for 110psi. This is what I gathered speaking to the Vendor(Tredit) that supplies these wheels to Heartland. These rims are made by TIRECO.
http://www.tredittire.com/Assets/ProductImages/T07_8lug_silver.jpg
http://www.tredittire.com/Assets/ProductImages/T07_8lug_silver.jpg
Attachments
TravelTiger
Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
Our rims were not stamped with psi, but say 3580LBS. Tredit confirmed they were 80psi max, even though they are 8-bolt.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
scottyb
Well-known member
My apologies for my choice of words. When I spoke to Tredit, I was inquiring about my specific wheel, which is the same one shown in mattpopp's photo. It comes in a 6 bolt and 8 bolt size. Their reply was specific to that particular wheel.
BarneyFife
Well-known member
Back to the OP of this thread. Finally was able to transfer photos from my phone to the web. Here's the damage from the TowMax blowout. Note the plastic fender has already been removed since it was just hanging on by a couple of screws.
BarneyFife
Well-known member
Note the tire. Where's the tread? Ridiculous.
BarneyFife
Well-known member
TravelTiger
Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
Thanks for clarifying! I didn't want folks judging the capacity by counting spokes.
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We had a TowMax sidewall blowout last month while traveling through Arkansas. It only had a few thousand miles on it. Did some damage to the top of the wheel well flare. Chock up another unhappy Tow Max customer.
Just a follow-up: While preparing for another trip 3 months ago a local tire shop discovered another bad TowMax tire, this one with 22" tread separation. Wouldn't have got far on that one. Then while traveling a hour south of Lake Havasu (Ca) towards Phoenix, another Tow Max blowout that wrapped around the axle. That was enough of TowMax. We changed all tires to Carlisle ST235/80R16 after much previous research. We were eventually reimbursed for the four Tow Max tires after showing documents from a couple tire shops we had to stop at for service that the remaining tread on all four tires was almost like new.
Just a follow-up: While preparing for another trip 3 months ago a local tire shop discovered another bad TowMax tire, this one with 22" tread separation. Wouldn't have got far on that one. Then while traveling a hour south of Lake Havasu (Ca) towards Phoenix, another Tow Max blowout that wrapped around the axle. That was enough of TowMax. We changed all tires to Carlisle ST235/80R16 after much previous research. We were eventually reimbursed for the four Tow Max tires after showing documents from a couple tire shops we had to stop at for service that the remaining tread on all four tires was almost like new.
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DW_Gray
Well-known member
I'm not the expert here but after reviewing Tireman9's blog (Roger Marble) it looks suspicious for blowout from underinflation. Consider sending him some pics and details. Check his blog here: A Tire Autopsy "Root Cause" Part 2
Note the tire. Where's the tread? Ridiculous.
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