Last year, I replaced my fiver's spare tire with a new Towmaster tire. A few months later, I was at home and heard a loud noise outside. I checked around, and the spare tire had completely ruptured, blew off the tread and split the sidewall. It is a load range "E" tire and I had it inflated to 70psi. It was covered with a white tire cover. I attributed it to just a "bad" tire, even though the temp here in Arizona was about 105 at the time. There was no evidence of sun damage anywhere on the tire. It was replaced under warranty by Discount Tire. It had never been on the ground.Yesterday, the exact same thing happened again! This tire had a Date Code of 2011 (week 24). Exact same kind of rupture. Now, Discount is telling me to bring the rig in and have all the tires replaced (at no charge). Has anyone ever had a blow out on an unused spare tire that was inflated correctly and protected from sun damage? Especially when it had never been in use.

That is absolutely bizarre! I would like to slam the tire brand or something, but I've never heard of even a bad tire brand doing that. Glad it wasn't the ones on the pavement.

TucsonJim wrote:Last year, I replaced my fiver's spare tire with a new Towmaster tire. A few months later, I was at home and heard a loud noise outside. I checked around, and the spare tire had completely ruptured, blew off the tread and split the sidewall. It is a load range "E" tire and I had it inflated to 70psi. It was covered with a white tire cover. I attributed it to just a "bad" tire, even though the temp here in Arizona was about 105 at the time. There was no evidence of sun damage anywhere on the tire. It was replaced under warranty by Discount Tire. It had never been on the ground.Yesterday, the exact same thing happened again! This tire had a Date Code of 2011 (week 24). Exact same kind of rupture. Now, Discount is telling me to bring the rig in and have all the tires replaced (at no charge). Has anyone ever had a blow out on an unused spare tire that was inflated correctly and protected from sun damage? Especially when it had never been in use.There have been several reports on here about unused spares blowing out, even ones that are stored underneath and are never exposed to sunlight. Invariably, all are Chinese-made junk. If you're stuck with 15" rims, check into getting Maxxis. They're made in Asia, but not China. Best of the lot, in most opinions. If you've got 16" rims, go with a good set of LT's. Bridgestone Duravis, Michelin Ribs are 2 of the best. Not cheap, but cheaper than ripping the side of your FW apart.Lyle

Your tires were 1 1/2 years old when you bought them. When I buy new tires I tell the dealer that I want "fresh" tires or no older than 3 months. Towmaster tires were on my new 5th wheel when I was negotating to buy the trailer. I asked the dealer who made Towmaster tires and he said he didn't know!!!!!!!!!!! I told him that I would buy the trailer only if he would put Good Year tires with a min. of 10 ply and "E" rated. I picked up the trailer and had Good year tires but "G" rated. Make me a happy camper:).

Oh Boy, get out your popcorn on this one!!!!!

Happens often here in the desert.

Odd Tire Problem! | Good Sam Community

32 Replies

Reelay
Explorer
Jun 29, 2013
TucsonJim wrote:
Well, I finally had all five tires changed out. In addition to the blown spare, three of the other tires had separated steel belts and were ready to fail. The Carlisle tires are on the rig and I'm heading out tomorrow. I'll see how they do. All the research I've been doing says that there isn't a really good tire out there.

Don't forget to recheck torque after a couple hundred miles. I lost a tire and wheel after new tires were replaced. Over torqueing can be just as bad as under torque.
Me_Again
Explorer III
Jun 28, 2013
gitane59
Explorer III
Jun 27, 2013
TucsonJim wrote:
Well, I finally had all five tires changed out. In addition to the blown spare, three of the other tires had separated steel belts and were ready to fail. The Carlisle tires are on the rig and I'm heading out tomorrow. I'll see how they do. All the research I've been doing says that there isn't a really good tire out there.

All I can say is good luck to you. I would have made a very different decision since I do believe their are good tire alternatives out there that experience has shown have a much better track record than Carlisle's.
TucsonJim
Explorer II
Jun 27, 2013
Well, I finally had all five tires changed out. In addition to the blown spare, three of the other tires had separated steel belts and were ready to fail. The Carlisle tires are on the rig and I'm heading out tomorrow. I'll see how they do. All the research I've been doing says that there isn't a really good tire out there.
Grady23
Explorer
Jun 27, 2013
FWIW --- Carlisle has a tire labeled "Carlisle USA" that is "supposed"to be made in amaerica --- I'm SURE I'll be corrected if I'm wrong. I've had them on my boat trailer for 3 years with no problems.. That being said -- I agree that a heavier rated tire "E" or "G" rated would be better --
Atom_Ant
Explorer
Jun 26, 2013
Jim and Barb wrote:
Please buy American
Why? I got a bit of a rub with that. Why would I buy American out of Loyalty, when the very company I might be buying from has no loyalty to Americans. For Example, why would I go out of my way to buy a Goodyear tire, when Goodyear themselves outsourced the tire to China?

I'll buy whatever works.
Jim_and_Barb
Explorer
Jun 26, 2013
Please buy American
laknox
Nomad
Jun 26, 2013
TucsonJim wrote:
The fifth wheel is a 28 foot Keystone Cougar. The original tires were 225-75R15, Load Range D. All four of them were bad when I got it home, and Keystone agreed to replace them all, including the spare. Discount tire sold me the Tow Master tires in load range E. The first set disintegrated due to weather in about 18 months. They were replaced with the same type. The ones on the ground appear to be okay, but the spare has "rapidly decompressed" two times now.

Every 30 days, I check the pressure in the tires and make sure it's maintained at 70-75 psi. I wipe them down with 303 Aerospace, and keep them covered from direct exposure to the sun.

So now, it appears that Discount is going to replace them with some alternate Chinese tires called "Carlisle".

I already know you're getting flak about the Carlisle's, but I ended up with a set of them on my FW as I couldn't wait for a set of Maxxis to be delivered. Discount told me that they are R speed rated (106 mph), so I figure that they should be able to handle my ususual 60-65 mph OK. I've since talked to several guys at 3 different Discount locations and asked if they were running these, and many of the guys have said they are. We'll see... So far, they've been trouble-free (touch wood).

Lyle
kennethwooster
Explorer
Jun 26, 2013
Just hard to believe that we spend so much money for a rv. When I buy a new unit I quickly look at tires and if Chinese built or any cheap john unit I go find quality and change them out. Ive known of trailers that blew a tire and it cost up to 5000.00 to repair. My Cameo came with Duro. I ask the Colorado dealer if they were any good. Naturally said they were. When I got back to Texas I had Michelin LTs installed. Should have checked rvnet before signing on the dotted line. Check rvnet. Weve had a lot of tire experience among all of us!
Swamp_Man
Explorer
Jun 26, 2013
It surprises me that none of you has called the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about this. If these tires are doing that, what kind of danger are they putting, you, your family, the others on the road, and even someone standing by the side of a road? Heard a lot of stories about (BL)Tow Masters. I think that it is time that the federal government does its job for a change.

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Odd Tire Problem!

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