Goodyear G114 upgrade

[Long Island Happy Camper]

Is there an option or a possibility to upgrade the tires on the GD Momentum from the Westlake CR960A to the Goodyear G114?

 

[Bill Fenech]

Unfortunately we do not have a tire option available. Please give me a call tomorrow and let's put our heads together to see what we can come up with. I would like to hear your comments about tires.

Thanks,

Bill

 

[clc530]

Bill if you will Goggle Westlake tires you will find a lot of recalls and problems with blow outs, i changed mine out. You really need and upgrade.
Charles

 

[Bill Fenech]

Thanks for the heads up. I will Google Westlake.

 

[maybuy385th]

I too am very concerned about the tires on the Momentum 385, we have placed an order, I asked about the tires at one of the RV shows. Is it possible to upgrade the tires to Goodyear? Thank you

 

[cuttinchief]

I don't know but wouldn't they have upgraded these tires after the NTSB recall in 2012. But I agree most want a quality tire on these machines since any RV is a major investment. Because your product is only as strong as it's weakest link. I don't have a huge problem but it would be nice to have an option.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/09/business/main3152147.shtml

 

[Big Mike]

Tires are also a concern of mine, did you guys come up with anything...my Momentum is on order.

thanks,

Big Mike

 

[TucsonJim]

I agree. The tires are the key area of focus for me. In the last five years, I've had five sets of tires on my last fifth wheel due to serious defects. Chinese tires are affectionately known on other forums as "China bombs". I'm surprised GD hasn't heard of the issues with these tires.

 

[Tumbleweeds]

Bill, we reluctantly made our purchase with 15" tires AND the Westlake tires. Our dealer assured us that you had assured them there have been no problems with these tires on Grand Design. I went on trust and faith. If I have a premature failure I promise to revisit this and hope to convince you a change is needed. I would love to discuss this with you as well.

 

[Bill Fenech]

Hi Tumbleweeds

Please send me a message with your phone number and I will call you. I keep trying to learn more about tires and I discussed this with a tire distributor while I was at a dealership in Az. This past weekend. I keep hearing the importance of proper inflation.

Regards,

Bill

 

[Glazier]

I have never owned a fifth wheel with China Bombs on it. I have several trailers, Gooseneck, Enclosed Bumper Pull, Utility Bumper Pull, I have zero problems using ST tires on any them. I will put the Westlakes that I took off on another trailer. It's not worth the damage a cheap tire would cause if it explodes under a plastic fender of a fiberglass sided trailer. Cheap tires just make no sense, I would add it to the unit price, then advertise it in the features of the coach. People shopping these units are intelligent enough to do simple math, they also understand attention to detail. No shortcut cheap tires, typically will translate to a coach builder concerned with customer safety, customers will brag on the builder for installing high quality tires. Grand Design could pass this added cost to the customer, stick out their chest and just say "Were better than that", were not selling that type of tire. This day of social media blabber mouths, people would run wild with this new found approach of listening to the RV Community. Don't even make it an option, call it a Grand Design Standard.

 

[TucsonJim]

[quote author=Bill Fenech link=topic=112.msg3617#msg3617 date=1394501211]
Hi Tumbleweeds

Please send me a message with your phone number and I will call you. I keep trying to learn more about tires and I discussed this with a tire distributor while I was at a dealership in Az. This past weekend. I keep hearing the importance of proper inflation.

Regards,

Bill

Bill - Here's a history of our last five years of "China Bombs"

1. Picked up new FW from dealer in Tucson. Got it home, and loaded it up. We had not taken it on it's first trip yet. I heard air hissing from one of the tires. There was a large split between the tread and the sidewall. Further inspection indicated that all four of the tires on the road had steel belt and tread separation. We contacted the dealer who contacted the manufacturer (Keystone) who admitted that they'd been having problems with these tires. We had to postpone our trip while we paid for five new tires at Discount tire. Once that was done, we had to wait two months for reimbursement from Keystone.

2. We put about 800 miles on those tires with no surprises. Then, I headed out for a 100 mile camping trip. I made sure all the tires were set to 80 psi. Less than 15 miles from home, one of the tires disintegrated, tore out the fender and fender skirt and caused an insurance claim to fix the damage. Discount tires replaced all five tires at no charge.

3. On a warm summer day last year, my wife and I were relaxing when we heard a noise that literally sounded like a bomb going off. We walked over to the RV, and the "China Bomb" tire did just that. The spare tire blew up and destroyed the spare tire cover. Now this tire had never touched the ground, and was less than one year old. I check the tire pressure in all five tires every 60 days, and they were never more than 2-3 pounds below 80 PSI. This tire blew out the sidewall from the bead to the cap, and 2/3 of the cap had been blown loose. If anyone had been near it, they could have been seriously injured. So, I headed back to Discount tire and they once again replaced all five tires with another Chinese brand.

With my history, and the history I read every day on RV.net, I'm quite worried about putting our lives on the line with tires made in China. I know GD has an excellent quality reputation, but I was really taken aback when I saw the types of tires you selected to put on these rigs. I'm so concerned, that I guess I'm going to take five brand new tires off a brand new RV and purchase new tires at my expense.

If you look at the signatures of many forum members here, you'll see that they have already changed out their tires. I would be thrilled if my new Reflection was delivered with Michelin XPS ribs or Goodyear G114s instead of the tires that are currently scheduled to be delivered.

 

[2hams]

Bill,

We also had read about tire problems. We changed our previous trailer (Keystone product) to 16" rims and LT tires and traveled 25K miles with no problems. After coordinating with Micah Staley to ensure that 16" would fit, we purchased our Reflection. Our dealer was having difficulty ordering rims and tires, so we swapped from our trade.

It would be nice to have an option for 16" wheels on the shorter Reflections.

Kay

 

[Bill Fenech]

All:

Thanks for the input. Should I try to see if our Tire supplier could attend the Rallye?

Bill

 

[Dave and Monica]

[quote author=Bill Fenech link=topic=112.msg3643#msg3643 date=1394550286]
All:

Thanks for the input. Should I try to see if our Tire supplier could attend the Rallye?

Bill
[/quote]

It would probably be a good idea if they're interested in attending. There's lots to be read that refers to tire blowouts caused by under-inflation, high speed and overloading. As we can easily control inflation and speed, the harder question to answer is loading, particularly side to side. Perhaps the tire supplier could have a set-up to enable the weighing on each individual tire on the camper so we'd know where we are relation to axle and tire loading.

Dave

 

[Bill Fenech]

I will check into having the tire supplier at the Rally.

 

[cuttinchief]

[quote author=Bill Fenech link=topic=112.msg3643#msg3643 date=1394550286]
All:

Thanks for the input. Should I try to see if our Tire supplier could attend the Rallye?

I think that would be a great idea Bill? Customer confidence is very important as you know and you have a great product.

Bill
[/quote]

 

[gordofuchs]

In reference to the tires that are standard issue on Grand Design;
My wife and I just signed a contract for a new Momentum 305 through General RV in Canton, Ohio. During the last few months, I have done a lot of research on fifth wheels and what is underneath all the fluff. I would agree that one of the major weak links is the choice of tires that are standard issue on each unit. I also have made numerous inquiries as to whether or not we could have the tires upgraded, as an option. Each time, I was told that is not possible. I was not comfortable with that response, but felt that overall the 305 was a quality built unit, and yes we did do the factory tour.
I have decided that when we do get the unit, the first stop I will make is a tire shop where the tires will be changed over to something in the G rating, MADE IN THE USA.
In conclusion, if Grand Design does decide to do a tire upgrade, I would hope that they would contact me, as I would be willing to pay extra for a quality tire upgrade.

Gordon and Janet Fuchs
Northfield Center, Ohio

 

[Tumbleweeds]

Hello Bill,

i tried to to send a private message and could not, so I'm posting this on the public forum. Please call me at 410.925.8873. Thank you for reaching out and I look forward to talking with you about this.

Hi Tumbleweeds

Please send me a message with your phone number and I will call you. I keep trying to learn more about tires and I discussed this with a tire distributor while I was at a dealership in Az. This past weekend. I keep hearing the importance of proper inflation.

Regards,

Bill

 

[Tumbleweeds]

Bill, this is the first article I found about Westlake and Chinese tires in general. It's from a web site called Cars Direct. There's so much of this out there it's no wonder that this and first hand experiences are raising lots of questions. My tires were made in 2013, but that doesn't seem to make any difference. This is just to illustrate what lots of us Grand Design owners are seeing and hearing about tires. Makes me very nervous.

If you're looking to replace the tires on your car or truck, you'll probably want to know which tire companies are most recommended as well as those that are best to avoid. There are many quality tire manufacturers that provide good-quality tires for American consumers. While most of the better quality tires are made by American manufacturers, there are some high quality imported tires as well. However, there are some imported tires that you should definitely avoid.


See our New Car Tires Buying Guide >>


Brands of Tires to Avoid at All Costs


In recent years, many Chinese tire manufacturers have come under attack for making substandard and unsafe tires available for sale in the United States. Furthermore, some Chinese manufacturers have been the subject of forced recalls by many state Attorney Generals and the Federal Trade Commission. While there are many variations of Chinese import tires that have come under attack, companies that have been the subject of forced government recalls include:


Westlake Tires
AKS Tires
Telluride tires
Compass Tires
All of these brands of cheap tires are made by the China-based Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Company; furthermore, it is alleged that these tires lack even the most basic of safety features such as gum strips which are a rubber feature that helps prevent steel belts inside the tire from separating or damaging the rubber.


5 Advantages of New Tires >>


While these 4 brands are definitely brands you should stay away from, many motor industry experts recommend staying away from Chinese brands altogether. While some Chinese-made tires are a little better than the brands mentioned above, most Chinese-imported tires lack safety and performance features such as belt stiffeners, bead wedges and nylon cap plies that are considered to be industry standards these days. In short, don't buy cheap, imported Chinese tires. If you're searching for good values on discounted tires, consider tires from quality American manufacturers like Goodyear or Cooper Tires. All of these companies offer low-cost, high-quality tires that will fit most budgets.