All the tire discussions have me scared AND confused.

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X-Treme

X-Treme

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 21, 2010
Posts
45
Location
Sherwood Park (Edmonton), Alberta, Canada
Ok. So... I have these "dreaded" (as everyone is calling them) Powerking Towmax's tires on my Alpine and have been hearing pretty much nothing but bad things about them, and now I'm almost scared to take my trailer on another trip. Now, it seems like most, if not all, are suggesting going with Maxxis tires. A lot of talk about staying away, with every ounce of our being, from Chinese tires. So, today, I phone one of our tire distributors (I own an auto repair business) and ask about Maxxis tires. Guy asks me why I want to go to Maxxis so badly, so I tell him that I wanna stay away from the "Chinese crap". He tells me that Maxxis tires are manufactured in China by the Cheng Shin Rubber company. As a matter of fact, if you Google that company, the very first Search that comes up is Maxxis tires.

So, now, what gives? Now, what the heck am I supposed to do? Park it and never take it out again?

Help!!!
 
You have discovered the danger of the internet - Too Much Information and often not many facts to back it up! Kind of reminds me of the "Made in Japan" "junk" back when I was a kid. Now Made in Japan generally means high quality.

Lots of things are made in China and not all are shoddy.  Some companies are making products to reliable standards and some are just building cheap and fast. Even Goodyear and Michelin have tire factories in China.  So how do we know which is an OK one?  Tough to say except by reputation.  You want a company that has a solid American distribution network with distributors and dealers who will stand behind the product. They have a reputation to uphold and don't want to be known for selling junk.

Maxxis built a reputation with specialty tires and has grown their business to more general purpose stuff. Michelin, Goodyear, etc. we know. Other Chinese-made brands???  All I can say is "be wary" of those you haven't heard of and can't find much information about. They may be fine, but do you want to be the guinea pig? If you travel far from home and have a problem, do you want to have a dealer near by who can help you out? Etc.
 
One way to allay your tire fears is to consider tire pressure monitors. They worked great for me when 3 of my "inferior" tires on my new trailer went bad during a trip out west.


Bob
 
Ah yes, the "dreaded PowerKing TowMax tires".  Well, I just got back from an 1100 mile trip on my "dreaded PowerKing TowMax" tires.  I ran 65 MPH the whole way and bounced over some miserable sections of road.  The tires ran cool as a cucumber, and I didn't lose a minutes sleep.  I closely examined the tires when I got back and saw no problems whatsoever.

So why am I not losing any sleep?
-  I pay attention religiously to tire pressure, checking before each departure.
-  I don't travel in particularly hot climates, low 90's tops.
-  I have plenty of load headroom.  The four tires total 8800# capacity (I think, TT now in storage), and the actual load on the four is around 6500#.

I realize not everyone has this kind of breathing room in terms of loading and temperatures.  But IMHO if you are not maxing out loads and temperatures and if you drive sanely, it is possible to rest easy on the TowMax's.
 
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