6 blown tires and bent axel- help!

thomasmnile wrote:

Francesca Knowles wrote:


It's my belief that since most trailers are delivered by contract drivers who make more money the faster they go, many likely arrive at dealers with tires that have been compromised due to having been made to exceed their 65 mph. speed limit for extended periods of time, and in some cases for very long distances.

Good point. I've seen more than a few towables hauled by transport guys flyin' down Interstates...............

You should read some of the forums those guys post in! I remember one post from a guy that was bragging about having made TWO 1600 mile round trip deliveries in three days. Topic was how to get around "rest requirements" for commercial licences, but of prime interest to me was just how fast he must have had to go on those OEM speed-limited tires that belonged to someone else.

I'd add that in this particular case, the evidence of someone having abused the O.P.'s tires seems clear- the rig arrived at the dealer having had a blowout!

And I disagree that six blowouts indicates axle trouble instead of causing it. Such a cascade-of-blowouts is so predictable that most trailer tire sites advise that after just one such at-speed event, the tire on the same side should be replaced since it likely suffered internal damage from the sudden taking up of the extra load. Here's the exact language at one such site

Carlyle wrote:
– If a tire fails on a tandem axle trailer, replace both tires on that side.

It's also considered good practice to carefully inspect the tires on the other side in case they too, were damaged.

The dealer did NONE of that in response to the very first event, instead just passed what were likely seriously compromised tires along to the fellow who thought he was buying a "new" trailer. It's no wonder they continued to blow, and Lippert- for once- seems to me to have a very good point that it's not their fault. No axles are designed to endure such repeated abuse.

That does NOT make this the O.P.'s fault...I think the evidence points to/at the folks he got the trailer from. Those supposedly brand new tires were not just "used" when he got them, they were used up.