Westlake tire fail

[Thorvald]

Thanks for this thread guys. Wonder why GD doesn't use Goodyear Endurance like Jayco, strange... everything else seems to be top notch except for tires.

I'll start shopping for a source for Endurance tires in Southern Ontario in preparation. Safety comes before saving a few dollars.

Cheers
Tim

[Cate&Rob]

Thanks for this thread guys. Wonder why GD doesn't use Goodyear Endurance like Jayco, strange... everything else seems to be top notch except for tires.

I'll start shopping for a source for Endurance tires in Southern Ontario in preparation. Safety comes before saving a few dollars.

Cheers
Tim

Tim - There are a number of Westlake tire threads on this forum. Just enter "Westlake" into the search tool in the upper right corner. Strong opinions in both directions. Many (including myself) have travelled thousands (sometimes tens of thousands) of trouble free miles on Westlakes. The problems certainly do seem to occur more often with the heavier 5ers. Everybody is expecting Endurance to be a good tire . . . but they have only been on the road for less than a year and in very limited numbers.

Rob

[lunchbox]

Tim - There are a number of Westlake tire threads on this forum. Just enter "Westlake" into the search tool in the upper right corner. Strong opinions in both directions. Many (including myself) have travelled thousands (sometimes tens of thousands) of trouble free miles on Westlakes. The problems certainly do seem to occur more often with the heavier 5ers. Everybody is expecting Endurance to be a good tire . . . but they have only been on the road for less than a year and in very limited numbers.

Rob

If they have a 367 BHS, they have the follow up to my 2016 357 BHS Grand Design so it's of similar length. I don't know if the length plays a factor in this instance but based on weight rating of the tire it shouldn't have been taxed in the least. Mine is listed at 6400lb axles and the tires are rated at 7k with full pressure, meaning we were at least 10% lower than the rating of the tire assuming max axle load which isn't the case for us as we weighed in about 600lbs below max Cargo carrying capacity while having the westlake tires on the trailer. That leads me to believe it isn't a weight problem. In addition, I have my G rated tires pumped to 100psi which gives it a similar weight rating to the Westlakes at 80lbs (3500lb load rating) and checked tire temperature at every stop on my trip a week ago and they were warm, but not hot in the least, leading me to believe the tires weren't heating up excessively either. The warmest tires were actually the front tires of the truck (the rears were much cooler), and that is likely because it has the weight of the engine in addition to the additional trailer weight.

Maybe I got a bad batch of tires (all had the same Date code on them), but I just don't think the tires are built well enough for moving a lot/harsh turns while backing into sites since they are steel belted, not all steel construction. I had a guy with them on a flatbed trailer who said they took a beating for 2 years and were fine for him, so maybe they're ok for non/rv type situations for trailering.

I know I have obvious bias and maybe I'm wrong but I will never have Westlakes on any trailer I own in the future unless it's strictly for a trailer for something like a flatbed with a Caterpillar or something that's only worth a couple thousand, not on my much more expensive RV.

[Thorvald]

Thanks Rob, that does put things into perspective. Especially since mine will be on the "much lighter" end compared to you guys lol. I'll keep a good eye on them and check temps etc.

Cheers
Tim

[JKellerJr]

Tim - There are a number of Westlake tire threads on this forum. Just enter "Westlake" into the search tool in the upper right corner. Strong opinions in both directions. Many (including myself) have travelled thousands (sometimes tens of thousands) of trouble free miles on Westlakes. The problems certainly do seem to occur more often with the heavier 5ers. Everybody is expecting Endurance to be a good tire . . . but they have only been on the road for less than a year and in very limited numbers.

Rob

And I know of at least one endurance failure so far from a dealer friend who sells Jayco. The side wall just blew out.

[ecolonna]

Get rid of those Westlakes STs. Had 2 failures recently with a 3rd on the way with 6-7k miles on the tires. Double checked, axles/wheels not overloaded and I checked inflation before every trip, 80 PSI. Not overheated, they just failed (tread completely detached) but stayed inflated. There were a number of cuts in the treads on a 3rd tire. Replaced them with Sailun G rated Light commercial grade STs. The Grand Design rims are rated for 120 PSI, or at least on my 2016 357 BHS they were. Currently working with insurance to try and get my deductible back from the damage the tires caused to my trailer when the tread detached.

I am very interested in this. The same thing happened to my Westlake and caused significant damage to my trailer. The tires aren't even 2 years old. I have a 350M and noticed once the tread delaminated from the tire (stayed inflated) that the load rating of these tires does not even equal the dry weight of the vehicle. I am towing my trailer from the dealer to our storage and it was empty so the tires were not overloaded.

Why would Grand Design put a substandard tires on the trailer but more importantly why would they put a tire on a trailer that doesn't appear to be able to handle the dry weight of the vehicle let alone GVWR?!

Has anyone had Grand Design weigh in on their tire issues? I feel they should replace these tires with something more suitable to the vehicle. I have no confidence in any of these tires any longer.