Replacing Power King Tow Max RV Tires

Last October I had a tire on my RV separate doing $2600 in damage. It only had about 12,000 miles on it and was properly inflated. I even had a tire pressure monitoring system which gave me no warning at all.

Working with a subrogation specialist from my insurance company, I discovered the tire, a Power King Tow Max, was made in China and distributed through a Canadian company, Dynamic Tire, which did everything it could to delay taking the tire back for inspection. After three months, they finally had me ship the tire to them only to deny my claim two months later. The subrogation agent indicated that she would continue to pursue the matter in as much as she had four other claims with this same tire.

Knowing that I had three more of these tires on the RV, I decided to replace them with something else. In doing my research, I was shocked at the number of fifth wheels that have had tire separations. It appears that the RV manufacturers choose to go with tires that are rated too close to their max load for the vehicle. For this reason, I chose to move from “E” class tires to “G” which at 110 psi are rated at 3750 pounds (make sure your rims/wheels are made for 110 psi). Time will tell if I made the right decision.

Here are some links detailing other owners’ experience with the Power King Tow Max: http://www.aboutautomobile.com/Tire/Complaint/Power+King/Towmax/Tire+Tread+and+Belt, http://www.vehicletire.com/Complaint/Power+King/Towmax, and http://www.heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/29525-Tire-separating-after-200-miles-Power-King-Towmaster