ol Bombero-JC
USA
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Joined: 06/24/2004
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rcharles wrote:I love how you never hear about the tires like above with 27000+ miles. I know there are more people with good experiences.
Well Charles - don't know how much "lurking" you've done on here before posting . . . . .
but - try a search on "Tires", "Chinese Tires", "Tire failures",
and any tire brand names (take your pick). LOTS of reading available!
"Bad" tire experiences often result in "bad" things happening to your 5er. Trailer wheel wells aren't like car/truck wheel wells.
Very "BAD" Karma!
Often folks will see a thread "in progress" - and jump in with their success story. Also, they "often" don't say what the success story tires are on - sometimes it's a TT - not a FW.
So - it's not uncommon to get some good mileage out of "whatever"
brand tires.
Lots depend on usage, load - as well as country of "origin".
China is quite capable of producing all sorts of quality products!
They deliver what the "brand" wants . . . and pays for,
whether it's tires, generators, the LCD TV you're watching, or the computer monitor you're reading this on.
But - bottom line for Fifth Wheel Tires is . . .
Ya gets what ya pays for !!!!! -
and usually Chinese mfg ST Tires (with few exceptions) are just not worth paying for.
Use that search feature - and see what's been on here for years!
~
Roll on!
JC
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Mile High
Lone Tree, CO
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Joined: 02/05/2008
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I doubt anybody "specs" junk. I have tried to get an injection mold product manufacturered for a personal patent, and I looked to China through a broker. They made a prototype for me that started one of the worse nightmares I ever got into. They altered the product to ease production and hounded me for months wanting to go into production with the "junk" they tried to impose on me as an alternative. They were very difficult to deal with, as they conveniently couldn't speak english or misunderstood the translation when appropriate, and all is done overseas over the phone at odd hours. As it turns out I denied the contract and it took a lawyer to watch over them to ensure they didn't go into production without the patent. I found a local USA company to build the part and it has been wonderful. I could have increased my profit margin by nearly 400 percent using China, but elected not to. The profit carrot is more often than not, too much for the big companies to resist, and they have the wear-with-all to overcome warranty and lawsuit issues. Once one company jumps, the rest are obligated to stay in the competition race. It is a sad state of affairs, but I assure you, no spec calls out "junk" on purpose.
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SuperdutyII
AZ
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Joined: 09/30/2009
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It is really hard to find good suppliers in China as well as Taiwan, Singapore, India and Malaysia included. A US manufacturer cannot throw a purchasing requirement to an asian supplier w/o a whole lot of work to qualify the supplier for that product. I suspect that is where the quality issues are showing up because the US manufacturer isn't doing the hard work that is necessary to get a quality product. Asians know how to build stuff cheap but they need to taught how to build quality products consistently. I'm not sure US RV manufacturers know how to teach them and hold them accountable. Primarily because their own quality standards are so low and they unfortunately are not really held accountable by their customers. At the risk of repetition. Until we RV buyers demand higher quality nothing will change. And BTW, higher quality doesn't necessarily cost more. Think about what the manufacturers have to include in their sales prices to cover expected warrantly expenses! 5%??? What would happen to prices if they didn't have that expense? High quality costs less in many cases. And if achieved, talk about customer loyalty. But then we wouldn't have anything to talk about here on this forum! :-)
But lets not direct our disgust at each other. Lets direct our disatisfaction with the manufacturers who selected and sold these poor tires on their products. Until we become critical customers nothing will change. I doubt any of us know what all the problems are but we don't need to know. We just have to quit accepting anything less than high quality. Successful manufactures will have to respond to what their customers demand or will go out of business. It is our responsibility to educate future buyers of RV's to be as critical as we are. That is why thse kinds of discussions are so helpful to others.
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richfaa
Ohio
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Joined: 04/24/2005
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" I'll go with anything except "made in China", or Citgo (Hugo Chavez). " Well I am not a Fan of Chavez and we do avoid Citgo. However Will What brand of PC are you using that was entirely manufactured in the USA. You own nothing that was "made in China" that is admirable .. but how do you do that???
Superdutyll.. your post are a pleasure to read and are right on...
06 Montana 3400. 08 Ford F-350 6.4L
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FastEagle
Taylors, SC
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Joined: 03/05/2007
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rcharles wrote:I recently purchased a new to me trailer with 16"E range missions. I know mission has a bad reputation. Are there more problems with 15"s then 16"s ?? Going keep these tires till at least spring and wondering if my size is a problem size??
The Mission ST235/80R16E has a 3500# load range rating and some manufacturers such as NuWa or Keystone have used them on 7000# axles. Regardless of the size axle, it appears that the Mission has a short life span and you should consider replacing them at the three year mark or 12,000 miles or whatever comes first. That's not to say that you are in that category. But, all ST tires have shorter life expectancies (3-5 years) and mileage expectations (5,000 – 12,000 with some newer designs boasting 22,000) than Light Truck tires. That's not an endorsement for the LT tire. It's just a fact. All Keystone products with the 6000# axles are going back to the Goodyear Marathon tire for the 2010 models. Good luck on trying to find them anytime soon as nobody currently has any 16” Marathons made in the USA.
FastEagle
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FastEagle
Taylors, SC
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SuperdutyII wrote:Mile High,
I agree that most if not all Chinese tires have had problems. But having several years of experience getting products manufactured in China at extremely high quality standards it would be my guess is the US purchaser isn't setting the design and manufacturing standards properly. And qualifying and testing the products to make sure they do meet those standards. My guess would be they are supplying the purchase specifications to the Chinese manufacturers and assuming the Chinese manufacturers are meeting those specifications. Not properly qualifying the products. It doesn't work that way, especially when there are severe cost pressures. The RV is built using lowest cost bidders (suppliers) components. Not all are apparently living up to acceptable quality standards but it still is the RV Manufacturers responsibilty to make sure they are. The qaulity level is determined by what mangement defines as acceptable. No design requirements, no vender qualification or incoming inspection? Garbage in, Garbage out.
All tires on USA highways with a DOT stamped on the side of them have been tested and approved.
And you are absolutely right about the Manufacturers. They are the approving authority for the tires they place on their products.
FastEagle
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FastEagle
Taylors, SC
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Trailer manufacturers are not all by themselves when it comes to being responsible for the tires supplied to the consumers. I took my wife’s car in for a normal service interval this afternoon and while waiting around for it to be returned to me I browsed around in the showroom. There were six cars in there and an inspection of the tires revealed that there were five tire brands. Two Goodyear and one each Michelin, Hancock, Pirelli, & Continental. I wish I had taken time to check the country of origin. I bet there were a minimum of three involved.
FastEagle
p.s. If you have a car or truck, any car or truck. You have MADE IN CHINA products.
* This post was
edited 11/04/09 09:13pm by FastEagle *
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Mile High
Lone Tree, CO
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Joined: 02/05/2008
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I understand that many of you are out to change the entire RV industry single handedly, and would like all to join in a love-in to increase quality - but as far as RV tires, which I think was the topic - I have found it much easier to just replace the Chinese junk tires with USA tires after taking delivery - and carry on. The rest of you go forth and do well! Keep us posted on your progress.
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SuperdutyII
AZ
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Mile High,
I guess that is why the current qaulity level is what it is in RV's.
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richfaa
Ohio
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There are many here who "understand" and far more who have not a clue. The consumer has the power to improve quality in any industry by not purchasing the product and letting the manufacturer know of their dissatisfaction. As long as we the consumer continue to purchase what we consider to be a low quality product and do little more than complain and point fingers on forums such as these....nothing will change. Single handedly we can make a impact..If we do something..Let the manufacturer know how you feel about the quality of their product. Most manufacturer's have a way to do that on their web sites..Since I have a Keystone product I will pick on them. They ask input... There are a bunch of things we do not like about keystone.. They use Lippet frames, they use Chinese tires. Tell them what you do not like about the product.. that should be easy. Then the hard part..tell them what they should do to improve the product and why it will benefit them and the consumer. Get involved.
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