I had Nankings on a previous fiver, and three tires failed within two years. Usually weekend trips, with no more than a week at a time on trips. Replaced all four with Carlisles, and had no more trouble. I will say Nanking will send you a replacement tire, but that doesn.t help much when you are out in the 100 degree Texas sun changing those tires.
Earnest
2005 Chevrolet 2500HD Duramax w/Allison
2007 Legends 30CK3-SH5
the branded name is free star the tires are made buy Nankang and imported by tire-co i think the tire presure is 80 but i could be wrong
Read my link at the top of the page
And what I have been reading theses tires are junk kz rvs had a lot of problem with them here are some of the post I have read on them
We have a 2006 KZ Sportsmen. I had heard about the bad tires on them but thought mine were OK. They looked good. The brand on ours was NANKANG. Many threads about these tires.
Well - long story short - I had one actually blow apart on me and blew some of my trailer fender off! Luckily I had been off the highway for a few miles when this happened. I can only imagine what would have happened if I were going my normal speen on the toll road.
If you have NANKANG from Korea GET THEM OFF NOW!!!!!!!
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Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD Duramax/Allison, XM Radio, DVD
Tekonsha Prodigy, Reese Dual Cam, KZ Sportsmen 3004 (6500lbs loaded) Lovely Wife, 2 Boys and a little girl!
The Hondo Escapee RV Park (Lone Star), was my next stop on the fast run back to Nevada. Stayed here for a couple of days and then moved on.
When I was backing the trailer unto the parking space the last of my Chinese Nankang tires blew out. That was #5 tire to go so I had to get a replacement before continuing on.
My trip from Santa Maria to Coarsegold was highlighted by my third tire failure on my 5th wheel trailer. I had put all new Nankang trailer tires on it a bit over a year ago and with this problen, it's three that have failed. Don't ever buy this brand as they have very poor construction.
Lotsa problems with Nankang tires used on RV's; post your question to Greywolf in the Towing Forum and he'll educate you. I sure wouldn't use 'em.
Okay, I work at a dealership (which is a blast, by the way!). As far as we can see, there is no sign of a factory recall on NANKANG tires.
HOWEVER (COMMA):
We DO KNOW that a whole bunch of NANKANG tires have all of a sudden been going to pieces, and a trailer under warrantee service that has a shredded tire will get that tire replaced under warrantee from the manufacturer. We do a lot of warrantee work here.
Now - this means that NANKANG is not coughing up duckets over this. One hopes that the manufacturers are looking at all of this torn up rubber and thinking the same thing a biker would: "First time shame on YOU! SECOND time shame on us..." and will not use them anymore.
I don't think you can bring a new trailer in and just say "Look man, this sucker has NANKANGS on it, and I want them GONE!" because the deal was already signed, and it went through finance, and so on... But it does mean you are covered if they go bad on you. (assuming you are still within the warrantee period).
My best advice, is that if you are LOOKING AT A TRAILER RIGHT NOW do NOT accept it with NANKANGS on it. Make the salesman put it in the deal specifically the exact tires you want to have on it.
Whups...Nankang Separated on Spring Break Trip
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Well, I didn't take my own advice and paid the price. My intent was to replace them before the 2007 season but was short on time so off we went from VA to FL. In GA at a rest area by plum luck I noticed a flap of rubber hanging off the center tread of a Nankang on the trailer. Long story short, bought a new spare and drove on the original never used spare to continue the trip. Now she's at the shop and I'm getting estimates on replacing all 4.
I picked up my Big Country 2950 a couple of weeks ago, it came with Goodyear Marathons 235 80r 16 E
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05 Chevrolet 2500HD 4x4 Duramax/Allison. 2009 Heartland Big Country 2950RK 5th wheel,prodigy controller, 18k Reese signature series hitch, Line X bed liner
had Chine tires on the Bighorn 3400RL and one seperated and 7K damage done. I would really have to think about accepting the China tires on the Bighorn.
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Ken & Millie,
Min Pin & Chihuahua
06 GMC 3500, CC, Duramax/Allison
From: Ram35006 Sent: 12/6/2005 12:08 AM
We just took delivery of our new 2006 Escalade the 3rd week in November. After reading about all the bad reports about the Nakang and Freestyle tires we were planning on stopping on way home and doing a new tire trade for Goodyear tires. K-Z may have finally wised up, our new 5ver had Regroovable Load Range 'G' Goodyear Tires on it from the factory. Sounds like it's about time they took advise from their customer base.
Tires on K-Z units have been a point of contention for some time with K-Z owners. All in all the opinion of we K-Z owners are that the Nanking/Freestar etc. tires a basically junk. K-Z seems oblivious to the problem as they still use them in production. However if you complain to K-Z directly they seem to compensate for the lack of reliability. I myself bought a new Durango last year that had Nankings on it. I had just purchased Goodyears for my trade in and insisted that they put the Goodyears on the new trailer due to previous bad experiences with Nankings that came on the trailer that I traded in. This was before they were assisting with tire problems. I don't know why K-Z still insists on using these tires on new units. They do have a tire upgrade program on new sold units so it's obvious that they are aware of a problem. To me these tires are a large "black mark" on an otherwise good product.
Just my 2 cents.
Had problems with my Nanking Tires last month. Took trailer to my dealer and he replaced 3 out of 4, "on the ground", with Goodyears and put the "spare" on the ground (it was "new" as I'd never needed it. Only real problem I've had with the trailer and they fixed it with no questions asked. Can't complain.
PS: I've also added tire covers for while the trailer is sitting in the drive. Can't help but think that the beating the afternoon and evening sun was giving those tires was a big part of the problem.
Happy Camping!
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Turn Key, DW and Tilly, The Camping Boston Terrier
'03 Chevy 2500HD, 4X4, X-Cab, Long-Bed
'04 K-Z "Durango", 275RK ("Sunday Haus II")
Twin Kayaks, "The Ride" by Wilderness Systems
My kz new vision sportster fifth wheel trailer came equipped with "freestar" brand tires, made in china by nankang, and imported by tireco. on our first trip, about 1200 miles from home, i experienced a blowout. i called my dealer, who referred me to a factory rep at "kz". both indicated there has been problems with these tires, and told me to call tireco, who was handling the claims. they said that they would reimburse for replacement of any tires that were defective. i expressed my concern about the remaining tires, and they said to ship them all back for evaluation. i replaced all five, including the spare, at a cost of over $1100.00. i just received a check for them for $171.22, and their explanation was "four tires were used, one was defect", and will only replace the one that was "defect". they said they will ship the other four back to me, but i didn't think to ask who would pay the shipping. i have no way to prove the other four were defective, nor can i confirm the originals are being returned, rather than substitutes. i feel that i have been "taken" all the way around.
Purchased new 5th wheel travel trailer, equipped with nankang 205 7015 tires, in january 06. on july 31 06, started first long trip with trailer. on tuesday, aug 1 06, while traveling at about 60 mph, the right rear trailer tire disintegrated. the only remaining pieces of the tire is portions of the inner and outer sidewalls.
From: skullkid2007 Sent: 3/31/2006 4:04 AM
Bite the bullet! Do whatever you have to do, but GET RID OF ANY TIRES FROM TIRECO! My original set was stamped Nankang, but they all come from the same company. Took the rig to Ohio and back (from deep east Texas) without problems when it was brand new, but had tread separation failure this spring after traveling only 12 miles! I am currently in the process of having my claim handled by Tireco, but we are now 7 weeks into the deal and I still don't have a check.
Any money you spend on another brand will be money well spent.
Good luck.
Good luck on keeping any Milestar or Nankang tires. I got my settlement check from Tireco (parent company of Milestar / Freestar / Nankang) this week for replacing all four tires and repairing the damage caused when one gave out completely this past spring. I had only driven 12 miles when it happened, and had checked the pressure before the trip.
Should you experience any failure / damage, Tireco will work with you, but it will take about 8 weeks to get any settlement.
By the way, I conducted considerable research and eventually went with Carlisle tires.
Freestar tires/KZ, well just piping in to add my name to the list of blown Freestar tires on a KZ. Tire blew on our second trip. (can't image there's six hunderd total miles on the unit) Not sure why, it blew, but need to figure it out. Our toy hauler was empty so I'm a little nervous now about adding the additional weight of a couple of cycles and finding out what will happen. The other issue is the odd size of 235/80/16. Good luck finding a tire shop when you're in a jamb that's going to have the 80. Why put on such an odd size????
Bumping this thread to the top again,
On my way to Phoenix last week one of my Nankangs let go without warning, and tore up the side of our KZ.
I came back to see if there was anymore people still having problems with the Nankangs, and I found that since last July when I was watching this topic was that people are indeed still having problems. All I did was do search here on Nankangs and the number of different threads and posts is most disturbing.
Like another poster said in this or another thread, after reading all these posts about Nankangs, when one let go that was it for me and I replaced all 5 tires. The Nankangs just can't be trusted.
And like another poster with the same experience, I maintain my tires to a "t", and check them frequently while traveling (both visual, and with a heat gun). On my recent trip I had just stopped 10 minutes before for a "pit stop", had checked all the tires and was traveling along @ 55mph, and bang, the right rear tread seperated from the carcass without any kind of warning.
I have written KZ and requested them to fix the damage to our trailer since this a known problem to them, and to cover the cost of replacement tires.
I would appreciate any input/experience any of you have had with KZ and this subject.
Thanks,
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Dale "E" Covington
2005 F-250 Crew CB SB 4X4 diesel w/auto trans
2005 KZ Sportsmen Sportster 29P Fifth Wheel
2001 Husaberg FE501E
2004 Husaberg FE550E
"There is absolutely no authenticity, authority, or courage in anonymity
* This post was
edited 04/15/08 09:44pm by Janitor1 *
If they are offering to upgrade to Goodyear G614's for an additional $600...JUMP ON IT! It cost me over $1,200 to replace the "china bombs" on our rig with 614's, and not the least bit sorry we did it!
Oh, and by the way, G rated tires do require 110psi, E load take 80 psi. If I remember correctly you ordered the 3600RE...that takes G loads as it comes with 7,000lb axles.
Don't know about your dealer, but I can tell you, you won't be sorry you bought from Heartland. They are one great company to do business with...let the flames begin!!
Well I sent them an email tonight so I will have to wait and see here is what I wrote
I am very concerned about the tires I have been on the blogs and net looking up the free star tires and have been very surprised about what I have read so much so I don’t think I would have any confidence in them, I am attaching what I have found and read about the tries and have asked and started a blog on trailer life and heartland owners
When I call you and asked what kind of tires where on the trailer you originally told me good year see (attached email)I was very happy and thought that what I was getting then I got a email from Justin today so I was very disappointed to hear this
Mike,
Here are the shots for the new entertainment area for your new unit.
Also, we are now using GOODYEAR Marathon tires.
I hope this answers all of your questions.
Thanks for your business and welcome to the Heartland Family!
At this point I think the only thing that would satisfy me on the trailer is to have Goodyear tires on the trailer or a letter from heartland stating that if the tires fail that they would fix my trailer if any damage because of tire failed, at this point I am kind of tapped out I have used all my extra money just to get to this point I have a check for the trailer and the sales tax I am not willing to spend anymore money on the trailer
And if we can’t work anything out my next step would be get in touch with Justin at rvcapital to cancel the purchase
I really would not like to do that my wife has a big problem with that since she really likes they trailer as I do also, but I explained to her that we could not afford massive repair bill due to bad tires theses are some of the blogs I have found on the free star tires
Enjoy your rig.
If tires go south the the dealer or factory will make it good.
You will read post after post about bad tires from all tire brands.
Just ask your self how many tires has that brand sold?
25 posts X 4 tires = 100 bad tires.
No posts on good tires = 100,000 tires sold that are good.
Just enjoy your rig & don't worry about tires.
Keep e'm aired up and enjoy your travels!
2006 DODGE 2500 4x4 CC CTD 48re TRX
Pullright Super Glide 16K
Prodigy
Air bags
Bilsteins
Kipor 3500Ti
Garmin NUVI650
I purchased a Heartland Big Country 3250TS about eight months ago and drove it 4 miles to Discount Tires and had a set of Michelin XPS Ribs put on it before I went anywhere else with it. I have had experiences with Chinese tires with my prior rig and will not use them again. Had the rv dealer pay half the price ($1200.00) for the new tires. Took the Freestar tires to a tire shop and he got $100.00 for me on the piece of junk Freestars.
* This post was
edited 04/16/08 09:51pm by an administrator/moderator *
I would warn the dealer that I would not accept the new rig without the tires that were agreed upon at the agreed upon price.
Changing the tires later will cost you upwards of $1,000. See the post above mine. Spending an addditional $1000-$1200 on a new rig after delivery would leave a bad taste that I would probably never get over.
UPDATE: After e-mailing Heartland about my concerns with the tires, they worked with me and the issue is now resolved. I'm very happy with the outcome. I don't want to go into all of the details but will say that my Bighorn will have the Goodyear Marathon tires on it! I would like to thank everyone who worked with us at Heartland on this issue. Actually overall purchasing this RV has been a good experience.
Glad it worked out for you Janitor 1!! I feel bad for the folks that pick up a brand new rig and have to head straight to the tire shop. Something fubar about that!! My $0.02
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