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TucsonJim's avatar
TucsonJim
Explorer II
Jun 24, 2013

Odd Tire Problem!

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.

32 Replies

  • 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
  • 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.