I need advice should I replace my Westlake tires or get a TPMS?

[BeerBrewer]

We purchased our first RV in May of 2019, so its not yet a year old. Last season we put over 4000 miles on it without any tire issues, but I watched them like a hawk. Well after reading all of the negative posts about Westlake tires I'm a tad nervous. Especially after reading the post quoted below, where GD claimed the failure rate in "only" 1/2 of a percent!! Well to me, that is an insanely high failure rate! So I need some advice from you more seasoned RVing experts (We're still newbies). I'm considering replacing my Westlake tires with Goodyear Endurance tires or should I keep them and get a TPMS so that I can monitor them better? My Transcend 26RLS trailer has ST225/75R15 E rated tires and its GVWR is 8465 but we currently weigh about 7500 lbs. Please don't suggest both, even if it is the obvious solution.

Your opinions are appreciated!

Thanks

GDRV has hired a new manager who's responsibility is to address social media concerns. His name is Tom Holt, and he's been very active on the Facebook owner's group. One of the topics of discussion that he has addressed is the continued usage of Westlake tires. Here is a quote from a response on the FB page:

" Grand Design has since it's inception has always used WestLake so right now we have approximately 300K tires on the road just with Grand Design that is the baseline. We also are required by the Tread Act to report all tire and wheel failures that we are notified of which is less than 1/2% since the companies inception. Additionally the Westlake has an outstanding warranty which is 5 years with a no questions asked 12 month replacement policy which according to Lion's Head our supplier of the tire again less than 1/2%."

I took a different look at the number. Even though he says the reported failure rate is "Less than 1/2%" I'm using a full 1/2% since not all failures are reported. At 1/2%, that means that there is one failure for every 200 tires. If a unit has four tires, it means that there is a 1 in 50 chance of a failure. If it has six tiers, then the probability is 1 in 33.3.

So, based on this information, it appears that one out of every 50 owners can expect a failure of a Westlake tire. Or 1 in 33.3 if you have a three axle unit. This appears to be a pretty accurate number based upon the reported failures we see on this forum and the FB page. When these tires fail, they typically take out the fender well material, insulation, subfloor, fenders, propane lines, etc. This often results in $2K - $4K in damage to the unit. Understand that Lion's Head will replace the tire, but not reimburse the owner for damage to their coach.

I would be very interested to find out the failure rates of Sailun, Maxxis, Goodyear G614 and Endurance tires compared to the Westlake brand.

I thought I'd share these numbers that Grand Design is using for the Westlake brand so owner's can make informed decisions about which tires they are running, and whether they want to to take preventive measures such as adding protection in the wheel wells in case they are one of the 1/50 recipients of a Westlake failure... BTW, doesn't this sound very familiar to the 1% failure rate they were advertising for the Lippert seal issue?

Jim
,

[theclarks]

Years ago before I knew better, I aired up all the tires and left for a 3 1/2 hour trip. Well 45 minutes into the trip we made an unplanned stop. During the walk around I discovered a low tire, 15-20 lbs low, who knows what would happened without that stop. . . . . . . We now run with TPMS. . . . . had 7k + on the 303 Westlakes before trading to the 337 with no plans of changing tire till 15k. . . . .

[livinthelife]

We purchased our first RV in May of 2019, so its not yet a year old. Last season we put over 4000 miles on it without any tire issues, but I watched them like a hawk. Well after reading all of the negative posts about Westlake tires I'm a tad nervous. Especially after reading the post quoted below, where GD claimed the failure rate in "only" 1/2 of a percent!! Well to me, that is an insanely high failure rate! So I need some advice from you more seasoned RVing experts (We're still newbies). I'm considering replacing my Westlake tires with Goodyear Endurance tires or should I keep them and get a TPMS so that I can monitor them better? My Transcend 26RLS trailer has ST225/75R15 E rated tires and its GVWR is 8465 but we currently weigh about 7500 lbs. Please don't suggest both, even if it is the obvious solution.

Your opinions are appreciated!

Thanks

My suggestion - get the Endurance tires AND the TPMS. We switched to Endurance after about 6 months with our rig when new, due to 2 tire (Westlake) failures in that time. But we already had the TPMS.

[Jerryr]

A TPMS will NOT alert you if a Westlake tire fails due to tread separation. Most times the tire will remain inflated while the outer treads separate from the tire and tear up your undercarriage and the side of your trailer.

It will alert you if you get a nail or a leaking valve stem that causes loss in pressure.

My Reflection 337RLS had a Westlake fail when it was being delivered from the factory to the dealership. I shortly after delivery had Goodyear G614s installed with metal stems and TPMS system.

[BeerBrewer]

Well I decided to heed your advice and I'm going to try and do both. So I went to BJs Warehouse and tried to order four Goodyear Endurance tires because they were running an $80 sale if you buy 4. Unfortunately, they could not work the order. They claimed that they don't work on trailer tires, even though they are listed on their web site. I even explained the I only need them installed on the wheels and that I didn't even want them balanced because we have Centamatic Balancers. Still the answer was no! So I called my local mechanic and he basically said the same thing only in much nicer way! I then requested a quote on line from Mavis tire to purchase and mount the 4 tires on the wheels and I haven't heard a thing and its been a couple days.

So am I missing something? Are trailer tires crazy hard to work on?

[bertschb]

... Please don't suggest both, even if it is the obvious solution...

Guess I won't make a suggestion then :-)

[livinthelife]

Well I decided to heed your advice and I'm going to try and do both. So I went to BJs Warehouse and tried to order four Goodyear Endurance tires because they were running an $80 sale if you buy 4. Unfortunately, they could not work the order. They claimed that they don't work on trailer tires, even though they are listed on their web site. I even explained the I only need them installed on the wheels and that I didn't even want them balanced because we have Centamatic Balancers. Still the answer was no! So I called my local mechanic and he basically said the same thing only in much nicer way! I then requested a quote on line from Mavis tire to purchase and mount the 4 tires on the wheels and I haven't heard a thing and its been a couple days.

So am I missing something? Are trailer tires crazy hard to work on?

We purchased our Goodyear Endurance online (through our Escapees membership). Got 10% off for being Escapee members, and they deliver them to the Goodyear place locally for mounting (included with purchase).

Now, my husband took the wheels off the rig and we took only those to the Goodyear place for mounting.

[Fsalmy]

USAA members can save 25% right now by ordering through Goodyear.com.

[jw^2 family]

We got our Goodyear Endurance tires from NTB. We got the Xtra Seal 17-428 metal valve stems from O'Reilly Auto Parts (had to order them). And we got our TireMinder Smart TPMS from Camping World.

[cforman61]

I haven't changed out the Westlake tires yet but I most likely will before we take a long trip. The last time I needed tires on my previous TT I simply pulled it down the street to Les Schwab and they took care of everything. Guess I better check to assure they are still installing them.