Have you had experience with the Greenball brand of tires? Transmaster/Towmaster/etc

Have you had experience with the Greenball brand of tires? I had never heard of them.

I went to Discount Tire (AZ) to check on ST225/75R15 trailer tire prices. The clerk recommended the Greenball Transmaster 10ply E-rated for $103. He liked the tread better than the Greenball Towmaster 10ply E-rated $108. (It’s pretty rare for a salesman to recommend anything cheaper!) There is also a $16 charge for mounting/balance/metal valvestem for a grand total of $398(?incl tax).

From the internet - comments range from “stay away” to “no problems”. I know folks will post negatives if they have problems, but rarely post positives if they work great.

From what I have learned here – trailer tires are only good from 3-5 years. My tires are marked:
Left – 0902 == 9th week of 2002 ....................Goodyear Marathon Radial
Right – 5204GF == 52nd week of 2004...............DURO Radial DS2100
Spare – 329 == 32nd week of 1999 (or 1989?) don’t know why old tire appeared on a 2002 TM.

So it looks like I’m getting close to the 3 year age limit <grin!>.


ps. The clerk also mentioned that the trailer tires loose 1/3 of their life every year. Therefore I am thinking that if they try to sell me older tires, such as 6 month old date code tires, then I could demand 1/6 of the price off of tire&mounting. Because I will have to replace them in another 2.5 years. Or am I just dreaming again?


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[Wavery]

Originally Posted by LiveTicker

Have you had experience with the Greenball brand of tires? I had never heard of them ... The clerk also mentioned that the trailer tires loose 1/3 of their life every year. Therefore I am thinking that if they try to sell me older tires, such as 6 month old date code tires, then I could demand 1/6 of the price off of tire&mounting. Because I will have to replace them in another 2.5 years. Or am I just dreaming again?

You can "Demand" anything you want......doesn't mean they'll do it...

Never heard of them....... Then again..... I never heard of Maxxis 6 months before I bought them either....

http://greenball.com/about.html

My main concern is nationwide warranty service. As for tires lose 1/3 of their tire life, I find that bogus. Current posts have discussed the six year tire rule.

Your trailer tires are warranted against failures due to factory defective materials and workmanship for 2 years from invoice date of purchase (verified with original (or copy of) invoice. If invoice is not available the 2 years will be based on the date of manufacture. That information is found in the DOT code.

http://greenball.com/warranty.html

Run, Forest, Run. Run away.

[T and C]

The Greenball website says that they get their tires from two sources: 1. Cheng Shin in Taiwan. 2. Goodyear.

Tom

[thewayneo]

I just replaced the original 14" Goodyear Marathons on my 2006 2619. They were totally trouble-free and a friend is now using them on his utility trailer. I purchased 15" ST225/75 Marathon's from Discount Tire for $112 each, plus balancing, etc. I look forward to the same excellent service I got from the originals and they are clearly marked "MADE IN USA".

I'm finally back in the big city. Discount Tire had a "cyber monday online" sale of $25 off 2 tires /$50 off 4 tires.
So I hitched up and ran over to get 3 new tires. (Forgot trailer mirrors and new license plate - didn't get caught - lucky day).
I like Discount Tire because they have free rotations and stores in most cities that I frequent.

The Greenballs were $99 and Carlise were $115(?). Bought the cheaper ones and got metal stems (thanks to forum for that advise - also made sure he jacked up frame not axel). Thanks BeachBoy for the warranty link.
Further research found Greenball was mentioned here back in 2001:[http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...nball#post5472]

When the kid started unmounting the old tires I double checked with him that he was putting metal valve stems in. He implied that was another fee, but he would just put them in free. One of the old tires I was running on_ had a raised section of tread. He said that was separation and the tire would have blown up soon.

Then just before he bolted on a new side tire he noticed a small bulge in the side of the new tire. He marked it and went back and mounted another new tire. I'm glad he noticed it but if a brand new tire will do that, I wonder about the 3 tires I got....

Question #1:
Should I run back and try to get the extra 3 year warranty? It costs $16.50 per tire. [http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/bro...ertificate.jsp]
The Greenball warranty covers 2 years defects only and no installation/balancing etc. [http://greenball.com/warranty.html]
I don't have any long trips planned this year - maybe 2000-4000 miles next year. I can afford to self-insure this.

Questions #2:
The kid had a hellofa time getting the new spare tire in and then closing the spare tire rack. Am I correct that the new tire having 10 layers is noticeably thicker than the range D with 8 layers? Would the diameter also be bigger?
Maybe I gotta do one of these Spare Tire Rack Modifications:[http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ead.php?t=5828]


ps. Date codes were week 34 year 2011 - fairly fresh. Week 34 = August 22-28, 2011. We are now in week 48.

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Prices each for your reference:
$99.00 Greenball Towmaster V Trailer Tire(49085) ST225/75R15/E1 117 B
$1.98 Environmental Fee (State Required)
$2.50 Tire Disposal Fee
FREE Valve Stems, Lifetime Rotations
$16.00 Installation & Lifetime Spin Balancing

-$25.00 Online Order Savings
$333.44 Subtotal
$25.02 AZ 8.95% Sales Tax
$358.46 Total "Out the Door" Price
----------------------------------------------

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[Bill]

My experience with tire warranties, normal or extended, is not good. There are just too many ways to wiggle out of them.

Just my experience.

Bill

FWIW when my Marathons failed I replaced them with Towmaster. I never looked to see who made them.

I don't recall the date. The TM started out new in April 2005. I think the failure was fall 2008.

4 years on the Marathons. So far, 3 years on the towmasters.

RSN (Real Soon Now) I will start getting nervous.

I would save the money on the extended warranty and spend it on a tire monitoring system (http://www.tsttruck.com/Product_List.html) The cost of the tire replacement will in many cases will be minimal compared to the cost of repairing the damage a blowout will do to the TM. The monitoring system should provide some warning of tire failure short of a major object induced blowout.