2004 Keystone Cougar

I PURCHASED A 2004 COUGAR 5TH WHEEL MADE BY KEYSTONE RV IN APRIL OF 2005 FROM A LOCAL DEALER. SINCE THEN WE HAVE TAKEN TWO LONG TRIPS (OVER 500 MILES) AND EACH TIME HAVE HAD MULTIPLE BLOW-OUTS (2 ON THE FIRST TRIP AND 3 THIS LAST TRIP). THUS, I HAVE HAD TO REPLACE ALL FIVE TIRES THAT CAME WITH THE UNIT WITH BRAND-NEW TIRES. ALL OF THE BLOW-OUTS HAVE OCCURRED ON PUBLIC HIGHWAYS DOING 60MPH AND THERE WAS NO WARNING NOR COULD I FEEL THAT A TIRE HAD GONE. FORTUNATELY EITHER I NOTICED SMOKE IN MY SIDE MIRRORS OR A PASSERBY HAS ALERTED ME TO THE FAILED TIRE. I ALWAYS ENSURE PROPER TIRE INFLATION BEFORE TOWING AND CARRY AN AIR COMPRESSOR WITH ME. THUS, I DON'T SEE THAT I COULD HAVE DONE ANYTHING DIFFERENT TO PREVENT THESE TIRE FAILURES. THIS IS THE THIRD TRAILER THAT I'VE OWNED AND THE ONLY ONE THAT HAS HAD THESE TIRE FAILURES AND BEEN UNSAFE TO TOW. IN FACT, THE LAST BLOW-OUT DID SOME UNDERCARRIAGE AND WIRING HARNESS DAMAGE AS THE TREAD WRAPPED AROUND THE AXEL. *TR

TIRE BLOWOUT. TREAD SEPARATION FROM PLY CAUSING PROPERTY DAMAGE TO OUR 5TH WHEEL CAMPER ON JULY 27 2007. TIRES HAD LESS THAN 8,000 MILES AND WERE PROPERLY INFLATED. (TIRE INFLATION AND WALK AROUND HAD BEEN COMPLETED 60 MILES PRIOR TO BLOW OUT) THIS WAS THE SECOND TIRE TO FAIL ON THIS CAMPER. THE FIRST TIRE ALSO HAD TREAD SEPARATION. DEALER WOULD NOT CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY FOR FIRST TIRE SEPARATION NOR WOULD KEYSTONE THE MANUFACTURER OF THE CAMPER. WE HAVE NOT CONTACTED THE DEALER REGARDING THE SECOND BLOW OUT. THE MANUFACTURER IS MISSION MADE IN TAIWAN AND IS NOT LISTED ON THE MANUFACTURER LIST YOU PROVIDED. *JB

INCIDENT DESCRIPTION: WE PURCHASED A NEW 2004 KEYSTONE COUGAR TRAVEL TRAILER THAT I SAY HAVE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TIRES ON IT. WE HAD ONE BLOW OUT ON A LONG TRIP LAST YEAR, AND THIS FALL WE HAD TWO MORE BLOW OUT ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS AND ALL THREE DID (EACH CASE) ABOUT $1500.00 IN DAMAGE TO THE TRAILER. THE FIRST ONE, THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT TO THE TIRE WHEN WE GOT STOPPED. THE SECOND WAS SHREDDED TOO. THE THIRD WAS STARTING TO COME APART, AND THE FOURTH ONE I TOOK OF THE WHEN AND WAS STARTING TO SEPARATE INSIDE THE TIRE. THE BRAND NAME IS MISSION. MADE IN TAIWAN # ST 225/75/R15 LOAD RANGE D, TUBELESS. NUMBER ON THE TIRE IS A PHONE NUMBER, 800-227-8925. THESE TIRE HAVE COST ME THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN TRAILER REPAIRS FROM THE DAMAGE THEY DID BLOWING OUT. I DEMAND THAT SOMETHING BE DONE. CAN YOU TELL ME IF ANYONE ELSE HAS HAD TROUBLE? I DO HAVE TWO OF THE ONES LEFT FOR PROOF. *JB

WHILE OPERATION OF THE LIPPERT SLIDEOUT IN OUR '04 KEYSTONE 285EFS FIFTH WHEEL, THE SLIDE STOPPED. UPON INVESTIGATION (FOLLOWING WIRES, CHECKING FUSE, CONTACTS, ETC.) I FOUND BURNT OUT AND MELTED WIRE NUTS DIRECTLY BEHIND THE FUSE PANEL LYING IN SAWDUST. THE WIRES ARE 10 GAUGE (30 AMP). ONE STRIPPED END WAS AN INCH IN LENGTH WHILE THE OTHER WAS LESS THAN 1/16". THESE WIRES PROVIDE FULL 12 VOLT AMPERAGE TO OPERATE THE SLIDEOUT. THIS WAY OF STRIPPING WIRES FOR WIRE NUT ATTACHMENT IS NOT PRUDENT FOR A SAFE ELECTRICAL CONNECTION AND IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. I WOULD BELIEVE THAT KEYSTONE SHOULD USE "BARREL CONNECTORS" FOR THIS EXTREME AMPERAGE AND NOT PLASTIC WIRE-NUTS WITH IMPROPERLY STRIPPED WIRES. THERE'S MEMBERS ON THE KEYSTONE RV CAMPING GROUP SIGHT THAT HAVE ALSO EXPERIENCED THIS TYPE OF "BURN-OUT". THIS CAN AND COULD HAVE BEEN DEADLY. THE 30 AMP BREAKER NEVER TRIPPED. I ALSO TOOK PICTURES. *NM

TIRECO (MISSION TIRES) CAME STOCK ON A NEW 2004 COUGAR RV TRAILER AND WE'VE HAD 4 BLOWOUTS OUT OF THE 5 STOCK TIRES WITHIN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. CURRENTLY FILING COMPLAINT WITH COMPANY - EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO THE RV AND EXTREME POTENTIAL DAMAGE TO LIVES. DURING INTERNET SEARCH, FOUND NUMEROUS SIMILAR PROBLEMS WITH MANY CONSUMERS AND WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHY THESE TIRES ARE BEING RECALLED. *NM

ON A RECENT VACATION WE EXPERIENCED ONE INSTANCE OF TREAD SEPARATION CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE SIDE OF OUR 2004 COUGAR BY KEYSTONE FIFTH WHEEL AND ANOTHER INCIDENT OF SIDEWALL BLOWOUT CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE OPPOSITE SIDE. THE TIRES HAD BEEN PROPERLY MAINTAINED AND HAD 5000 MILES ON THEM. THEY WERE MISSION BRAND TIRES. THE FIRST TIRE HAD SO LITTLE LEFT THAT WE DID NOT SAVE IT BUT WE DID SAVE THE SECOND TIRE. MY GEICO INSURANCE ADJUSTER LOOKED AT IT AND BELIEVED IT TO BE DEFECTIVE AND ASKED ME TO CALL THE RV DEALER WHERE WE PURCHASED IT TO SEE IF THERE HAD BEEN ANY REPORTED INCIDENTS CONCERNING THE MISSION BRAND TIRES THAT CAME ON THE RIG. MY HUSBAND DID SO AND WAS TOLD BY A MANAGER THAT THIS WAS THE FIRST THAT HE KNEW OF. AFTER THAT I WENT ON THE INTERNET AND TYPED IN" MISSION TIRES "AND PRINTED OUT 20 PAGES OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT DAMAGE TO KEYSTONE RV'S WITH THESE TIRES. SO KEYSTONE KNOWS ABOUT IT AS WELL AS THE DEALER THAT SOLD IT TO US. KEYSTONE HAS KNOWINGLY NOT RECALLED A PRODUCT THAT IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS ONE THAT COULD RESULT IN SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH. THE MISSION TIRE COMPANY ALSO WAS NOTIFIED NUMEROUS TIMES BY MANY OF THESE COMPLAINANTS. IT IS AN ABSOLUTE OUTRAGE THAT BOTH THE KEYSTONE RV COMPANY AND THE MISSION TIRE COMPANY HAVE IGNORED SOMETHING SO SERIOUS. AND IT WAS ALSO AN OUTRAGE THAT THE RV DEALER LIED TO US ABOUT KNOWING NOTHING ABOUT THIS. ARE THEY WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO BE KILLED BEFORE THEY ADDRESS THIS? *NM

DT: 2004 KEYSTONE COUGAR. MISSION TIRES, ST225/75R15. THE CONSUMER STATED THE DRIVER'S SIDE REAR TIRE SEPARATED WITH LESS THAN 5,000 MILES WHILE DRIVING AT 35 MPH. THE TIRE HAS NOT BEEN INSPECTED TO SEE WHY THIS OCCURRED. MISSION WAS SENDING HIM A NEW TIRE. THIS HAPPENED ON SEPTEMBER 17, 2005. IT CAUSED NO PROPERTY DAMAGE OR ACCIDENT. THESE WERE THE ORIGINAL TIRES FOR THE TRAVEL TRAILER.*AK

DT: THE CONSUMER STATES THAT 5TH WHEEL TRAILER TIRES COMPLETELY FELL APART ON THE ROAD. THE WHOLE TREAD SEPARATED FROM THE SIDEWALL. THE SPEED WAS 55-60 MPH. THESE ARE MISSION TIRES THAT ARE MANUFACTURED IN CHINA BY NANGKUNG RUBBER TIRE COMPANY. THE LOCATION ON THE TRAILER IS THE REAR PASSENGER SIDE AND THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE. THE CONSUMER HAD TWO FAILURES. THE FIRST TIME THE TIRE FAILED IT DID $2,000 WORTH OF PROPERTY DAMAGE TO THE TRAILER. THE TIME FRAME WAS WITHIN A MONTH OF EACH OTHERS SEPARATION. THE CONSUMER REPLACED 4 TIRES WITH GOODYEAR TIRES. THE CONSUMER HAS DONE RESEARCH ON THE WEB AND FOUND THAT THERE WERE MANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE TIRES. THE WEBSITE ON RV.NET REQUESTED THAT CONSUMERS CONTACT NHTSA AND LISTED THE PHONE NUMBER FOR NHTSA. THE TIRES HAD LESS THAN 3,000 MILES ON THEM. THE TIRES WERE THE ORIGINAL TIRES THAT CAME ON THE TRAILER. THE TRAILER IS A 2004 KEYSTONE COUGAR. *AK

DT: THE CONTACT'S VEHICLE HAD TWO TIRE BLOW OUTS IN TWO DAYS. THE FIRST ONE WAS ON 6-01-05, AND THE SECOND ONE ON 6-02-05; BOTH WHILE DRIVING ON I-45. THE CONTACT SENT 4 TIRES BACK TO THE TIRE COMPANY, AND THEY DETERMINED THERE WAS A DEFECT IN AT LEAST ONE OF THE TIRES. SHE DID NOT NOTICE ANY VIBRATION OR BULGES IN THE TIRES. THE PSI ON THE TIRES WAS 50. THERE WAS ONLY 8,000 MILES ON THE TIRES. THEY WERE WELL MAINTAINED TIRES. THE BRAND OF THE TIRE WAS MISSION, AND THEY WERE ON A COUGAR FIFTH WHEEL TRAILER. THE FIRST TO BLOW WAS THE RIGHT REAR TIRE AND IT DAMAGED THE TRAILER. THEY WERE THE ORIGINAL TIRES PURCHASED WITH THE TRAILER.*AK

WHILE TRAVELING W/B ON ROUTE 50 IN ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, WE EXPERIENCED A BLOWN PASSENGER SIDE TIRE ON OUR 2004 KEYSTONE COUGAR TRAVEL TRAILER. THIS BLOWN TIRE, CAUSED THE TRAILER TO FALL ON ITS SIDE, COME BACK UP AND JACK KNIFE INTO OUR SUBURBAN, CAUSING A TOTAL LOSS TO THE COUGAR AND OVER $11,000.00 IN DAMAGE TO OUR 2004 SUBURBAN. THE TRAILER WAS ONLY USED FOR ONE SEASON AND THE TIRES HAD APPROXIMATELY 1000 MILES ON THEM. WE WERE TRAVELING AT APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. THE TIRE IN QUESTION WAS A MISSION LOAD MAX RADIAL ST225/75R15, UNKNOWN TIRE MANUFACTURER. *NM