Had my first tire blowout today. Have a 2003 Jayco Granite Ridge 3100ss that we picked up little over a year ago. Coming home blew the passenger side inside rear tire, luckily right at exit off freeway and a short distance to tire store. Tires less than 2 years old, less than 6,000 miles, 80 pounds pressure. I have cut as much weight as possible, outside storage to a minimum, but still had the blow out. So the question is: can I solve this problem without getting the load G wheels/tires or do I sell the rig? We travel 85 miles to camp, I drive 60 mph or less, unit drives like a dream so I feel weight distribution must be OK. I am at a crossroad here, we love the rig but from what I read in the forum here there is no solution other than going to heavy duty rims/tires, may be time to sell the C. Any reliable tires out there you recommend other than light duty truck tires that will fit stock rims? Thanks in advance. Jerry.

I have used Firestone Transforce tires, load range E. This is my second set, the first were load range D. Used them from 2004 to ~2009 or 10, saw some cracking and replaced them with the current set. The current ones still look great, probably will replace them next year with the same. We now have 44000 miles on the rig.

My question first is were the tires 2 years old from purchase date or build date? Many tire stores will sell old tires that are still in stock. What size tires do you need?

x2 on the actual age of the tires. Let me add, Rear Inner has three things going against it:1. If all four rear tires are same diameter and pressure (and they must be) a crowned road puts just a little more load on both inners.2. Inner duals don't see the air flow that outers do, and probably run a little hotter. But the passenger side inner on E-Series receives heat from the tailpipe.3. If we drivers drop the outer dual off the right shoulder of the road, ALL of that side's weight gets thrown to the inner dual.I like to think that if some college graduate engineer thought the design called for "more" tire, s/he would have specified so. But then, some MBA might say not to go overboard on tire cost.

First, weigh all four corners of the RV at the wheels. That will tell you if any one set of wheels is overloaded. If it is, then decide how, if possible, to reduce the loading at that corner, or get higher rated wheels and tires to carry that load.Just because you had a blow out does not mean you are overloaded or you need to sell the RV. The tire could have been defective, the valve stem experienced a rapid failure, or a road hazard caused the problem.

Tires do fail. We do not like it and you can take all the precautions you want but they can fail. You do mention how you have trimmed weights on the RV are You over loaded? And X2 on age of tire not buy date.One precaution I would take now is to replace the passenger side rear outer tire. Reason it has been subjected to a major overload.

Had first blowout | Good Sam Community

26 Replies

ronfisherman
Moderator
Jul 31, 2013
I used to recommend Discount Tire for steel valve stems. My recent visit to my local Discount Tire got me this statement from sales person.
"That must be old stuff. We do not have them anymore." They need to get their employees trained on what's available to customers.
j-d
Explorer II
Jul 31, 2013
I've only gone to Discount for incidentals, never a set of tires, alignment or the like. Yet I've found them very courteous and professional. I also haven't heard anything negative about them.
If I had metal valves, I might consider AIRLESS extenders, but I would want them mounted to WHEELS, not hubcaps or simulators.
I'm very happy having custom brass valves, Borg/Dually Valve in our case.
TyroneandGladys
Explorer
Jul 31, 2013
powderman426 wrote:
Its not like metal valve stems are expensive, so why not go with the best you can get??

Discount Tire put metal valve stems on when we bought tires for our RV at no additional cost.
powderman426
Explorer
Jul 31, 2013
Its not like metal valve stems are expensive, so why not go with the best you can get??
ron_sky
Explorer
Jul 30, 2013
my old tires were michelin ltx load E they were 5yrs old with 25000mis
on them.we went to AK with old tires ,,total miles put on tires were 10,000mi the tires
never gave up.my new tires are michelin LTX..AK roads are good CANADA
roads up north will destroy a rv
hammer21661
Explorer
Jul 30, 2013
Rickson makes 19.5 inch wheels for any thing. Located in Maryland.
rockhillmanor
Explorer II
Jul 30, 2013
.
j-d
Explorer II
Jul 29, 2013
This good explanation from Tire Rack summarizes three types of valves:
1. Rubber Snap-In: Available for .453 and .625 hole diameters, 65 PSI maximum. These have an all-rubber look, exposing only enough brass to screw a cap onto.
2. High Pressure Snap-In: Available for .453 and .625 hole diameters, 80 PSI maximum for .453 and 100 PSI for .625. These have a rubber-base look, exposing a clearly visible length of brass between the rim and the cap.
3. High Pressure METAL Clamp-In: Available in .453 and .625, both can handle up to 200 PSI.

I should be able to say "Nuff Said" at this point but should add:
1. E-Series comes with .453 holes.
2. At 80 PSI we max out the rating of "High Pressure" Snap-In valves.
3. Those who want to go to Load Range G tires can't get away with only getting Clamp-In valves because the Wheel itself has a max pressure rating of 80PSI.
4. Many Tire Jockeys became Tire Jockeys because it pays $.50/hour more than flipping hamburgers. Without supervision they'll pick what fits in the hole. Unless you specify METAL.
ron_dittmer
Explorer III
Jul 29, 2013
Valve stem ratings......CLICK HERE.

I would assume the original tires sold on an E350/E450 would have the proper valve stems. But what happens when a tire shop installs the replacements? Are they installing the right valve stems?
rockhillmanor
Explorer II
Jul 29, 2013
Tubeless rubber snap-in valves allow a maximum cold tire
inflation pressure of 65 psi
and are designed for passenger car, light-duty trailer and light truck....

Tubeless snap-in valves for high-pressure applications are designed for medium and heavy-duty trucks and trailers and must be used when recommended cold tire
inflation pressures exceed 65 psi
....

High-pressure metal clamp-in valves can be used with virtually any wheel and are highly recommended for all track activities, as well as when vehicle
speeds may exceed 130 mph.
Metal clamp-in valves use a rubber grommet to seal against the wheel when their retaining nut is tightened. While metal clamp-in valve design and styling can result in retaining nuts hidden inside the wheel or visible outside, those with the retaining nut on the outside offer a practical benefit of allowing retaining nut tightness to be checked and adjusted without having to remove the tire from the wheel. Metal clamp-in valves
allow a maximum operating pressure of 200 psi
and are....

All "I" know is I put steel on all 6 of my tires. I do NOT want to ever have to go thru a blowout on a MH ever again. AND, I guess I am good to go 130 mph now! :B

Good info and pics on valve stems:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=208

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Had first blowout

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