Blowout damage
I'm new here, so If I've missed an introduction page, apologies. My wife and I have been camping for twenty plus years. We started in a tent, moved up to a popup and about four years ago, bought a 2...
Forum Discussion
myredracer wrote:Pastorwes wrote:Sorry to hear about your damage.
I'm doing my research for replacements now, and I'm reading the forum posts about the ST versus LT tires.
Also radial or bias ply.
If you are running ST type tires, there are 3 golden rules - never tow under-inflated, overloaded and/or over the speed rating. Internal heat buildup kills ST tires and damage is cumulative. Pressure should be checked regularly. Going to a scale is a good idea. TTs can sometimes be heavier on one side due to a slide and what's in it. Until more recently, just about all ST tires have been rated 65 mph. If you want to reduce the risk of a blowout, follow these rules. Also when at speed, avoid sharp/sudden potholes, big drops in joints in adjoining concrete slabs & speed bumps and stay off road shoulders. Blowouts have much less to do with country of origin than how they were treated.
Check the tire's load capacity rating and compare to the TT's weight. You want in the order of 10-15% min. reserve load capacity rating and more is better. We upgraded from LRC to LRD and have about 30% reserve capacity. More reserve load capacity reduces internal heat buildup and risk of a blowout. Some TT manufacturer's install tires that have little reserve load capacity.
Replacing tires at 5 years of age is a good number to go by but could depend on how they were treated. Age would be from the date code on the tires not from date of installation. Sometimes installed tires can be already 1-2 years old before they get used. Even if ST tires look like new they need to be replaced, including the spare.
The new Goodyear Endurance tires are a good bet and supercede their Marathons. The Endurance tires are one load range higher compared to the tire size you will now have. Max speed rating is higher at 87 mph so no more having to keep one eye on your speedo or GPS all the time.
Using a TPMS is always recommended.
The RVtiresafety.net blog run by a retired tire engineer has tons of great info. on ST tires and other info. for RV-ers.
right on myredracer, I totally agree, its how the tires are used and maintained rather than where they from. Don't agree that 5 years is all you can get out of them. I use 'em till the tread is too thin. I can't figure out who got to the RV'ing community and convinced us that tires must be replaced every 3 to five years, total bunk. Been towing for 30 years never a blowout with all kinds of tire brands and lengths of service. Have no use for these TMPS or whatever, they register all over the place on my '08 HHR, don't trust em, just watch the tire edges each time you stop to see if they are running over or under the edge. Use a good tire gauge once in a while. The tire shops laugh at the people who rely on these things. Les Schwab stores laugh at the well meaning folks who believe you have to replace tires after just 3 or 4 years. Of course they'll take the money
