Trailer has sat awhile, should I be scared about my tires?

wnjj wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
"I find it hard to believe that “blowouts” on 2-3 year old tires of any type is anything but a road hazard or overloaded/under inflated tire in most cases. Remember, one small screw can turn “properly inflated” to “under inflated” as you drive. Several year old tires are another matter."

You may find it hard to believe, but it's true. I blew out two tires that were barely 2 years and less than 8,000 miles. Pressures were good and not overloaded. In fact there was about 2500 lbs. on "E" rated 235/85-16 ST tires. Just poorly constructed tires.

You missed the first part where I said road hazard. I also said “most.” While you can control the load and check pressures it’s impossible for anyone to know of everything their tires come in contact with. You may have suffered from a terrible coincidence or something like what happened to me when a new snowmobile trailer tire failed hours later because the tire shop failed to notice the rim had a leak which is what killed the first one.

Valve stems fail, road hazards and slow leaks happen but yes, sometimes tires just fail because they are defective. Replacing tires sooner and sooner won’t help those cases.

You seem to have missed the facts that on this and every other RV forum.

No one has "flats", they are all "blowouts".

Imported ST tires are junk despite 99% of the RV towing public never having visited a forum, never having had a blowout, and literally a couple of million put on the road yearly on new RVs. The other fact is at NHTSA the numbers of recalls and complaints do not support the forum banter either.

No one on a forum has ever picked up a nail, slapped a pothole, clipped a curb, or anything else. It's always the tire manufacturers cheap construction.

When one has two blowouts at the same time that's road hazard. It's not because the one tire going down overloaded the other. It's also not because the no good manufacturer who can't make a decent tire, can also make them so consistent their defects show up at the same time.

OP,

Do you have a spare, a jack, and a lug wrench?
If so air them up to sidewall max and get on down the road.

fj12ryder wrote:
"I find it hard to believe that “blowouts” on 2-3 year old tires of any type is anything but a road hazard or overloaded/under inflated tire in most cases. Remember, one small screw can turn “properly inflated” to “under inflated” as you drive. Several year old tires are another matter."

You may find it hard to believe, but it's true. I blew out two tires that were barely 2 years and less than 8,000 miles. Pressures were good and not overloaded. In fact there was about 2500 lbs. on "E" rated 235/85-16 ST tires. Just poorly constructed tires.

You missed the first part where I said road hazard. I also said “most.” While you can control the load and check pressures it’s impossible for anyone to know of everything their tires come in contact with. You may have suffered from a terrible coincidence or something like what happened to me when a new snowmobile trailer tire failed hours later because the tire shop failed to notice the rim had a leak which is what killed the first one.

Valve stems fail, road hazards and slow leaks happen but yes, sometimes tires just fail because they are defective. Replacing tires sooner and sooner won’t help those cases.

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
So I should replace my tires every year?

The professional tire engineers (who work for the tire manufacturers) say YES! Why would you have any doubt?

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
"I find it hard to believe that “blowouts” on 2-3 year old tires of any type is anything but a road hazard or overloaded/under inflated tire in most cases. Remember, one small screw can turn “properly inflated” to “under inflated” as you drive. Several year old tires are another matter."

You may find it hard to believe, but it's true. I blew out two tires that were barely 2 years and less than 8,000 miles. Pressures were good and not overloaded. In fact there was about 2500 lbs. on "E" rated 235/85-16 ST tires. Just poorly constructed tires.

So I should replace my tires every year? :h

Absolutely, and you should get someone to help you get the right size, and someone to help you get somewhere safe. You probably shouldn't be out on your own.

fj12ryder wrote:
"I find it hard to believe that “blowouts” on 2-3 year old tires of any type is anything but a road hazard or overloaded/under inflated tire in most cases. Remember, one small screw can turn “properly inflated” to “under inflated” as you drive. Several year old tires are another matter."

You may find it hard to believe, but it's true. I blew out two tires that were barely 2 years and less than 8,000 miles. Pressures were good and not overloaded. In fact there was about 2500 lbs. on "E" rated 235/85-16 ST tires. Just poorly constructed tires.

So I should replace my tires every year? :h

^ Thanks for the compliment!
You’re correct, I meant that to be “within reason” and like most things it’s very subjective. A tire sitting in my driveway here in western WA will fare better than a tire sitting in a driveway in southern AZ. A full tire will fare better than a half flat tire. Etc.
I should add that I haven’t had trailer tire issues other than those I feel attributable to age, extreme UV exposure or because they had “Marathon” stamped on the side.

There is validity to excercising a tire for sure. Even newer radials take a bit of a “set” after not being flexed for long periods of time. Although on a much lesser scale than old bias tires. That there is proof it’s better to keep them rolling.

Not to jynx myself, but the boat tires are going on 8 or 9 years old now. Garaged year round and no long hot trips since before they were “expired”. I still trust them for local trips, but if I end up taking summer roadtrip they will be replaced.

The other part is heat and speed. While an old tire that is partially degraded may hold up fine on slow local trips, that same tire has a much higher potential for failure running 70-80 mph, loaded in 100deg summer temps.

If it is parked on concrete, look at the tread that is down on the concrete. I had "Big Time" cracking between the tread when doing this for 3 years in Minnesota, By the way, the sidewalls looked fine.
Brian

"IMO the greater issue is age, not regular use."

While the above comes from a very knowledgeable person, I would say this is not entirely true. IMO, a tire that sees regular use, will fare better than one that sees little use, considering both to be the same age. I believe running the tires often, helps to prevent premature cracking, in tread and sidewalls.

Jerry

"I find it hard to believe that “blowouts” on 2-3 year old tires of any type is anything but a road hazard or overloaded/under inflated tire in most cases. Remember, one small screw can turn “properly inflated” to “under inflated” as you drive. Several year old tires are another matter."

You may find it hard to believe, but it's true. I blew out two tires that were barely 2 years and less than 8,000 miles. Pressures were good and not overloaded. In fact there was about 2500 lbs. on "E" rated 235/85-16 ST tires. Just poorly constructed tires.