Blowout issues

[SabreCanuck]

I am constantly reading about people that have a blowout on tire mfg such and such or camper mfg such and such and instantly replace all four tires with the current "latest and greatest". Some go so far as to say they are blaming the mfg of trailer for not chipping in on cost under warranty.

I am curious why so many people don't think about road hazards that could potentially cause a blowout? Nails, chunk of cement, pothole, basic road hazard stuff. Why always so passionate about blaming the mfg for something that could very well be just Stuff happens?

How can the mfg of tire or camper not know the driver didn't drag the trailer across a curb causing the damage?

Sometimes I feel sorry for the manufacturers.

[Whiskey_River]

Well I'll get in. I think RV tire's not being used is also part of the problem. Your pick-up or car in your garage or drive way gets used everyday, or couple/three times a week. The tires get heated up, cool down, heated/cooled, they get to flex and are not sitting in the same spot for 6 months or more. Now RV's, most sit most of the time, weather indoors or out. Couple trips during the summer maybe, then a thousand mile trip to Florida or Arizona and sit for 4 to 6 months. Some covered, some not. Some move during the seasons so as not to "flat spot" them, most not. And while sitting for 5 or 6 months, the air pressure drops and instead of having 80psi when parked, 5 months later the psi is 65. So RV tires are abused somewhat just by not being used.
And as SabreCanuck says, all the road debris may cause a weakening tire that blows 6 months later when you hit nothing. And the DOT's of all the states have not been able to design a bridge abutment or expansion joint to join the bridge to the existing ground does cause some teeth jarring moments.

[troubledwaters]

So here is a case in point. On my last trailer I ran the original tires for 12 years and never had a failure. Yes 12 years; well past their expected life span, however, they didn't show signs of old age cracking, etc. Had one tire that got a nail in it, never exploded, I plugged it and ran it.

So what does all this prove, nothing. Luck of the draw is just as likely the culprit as anything. My current trailer has the original tires on it and I will continue to run them until they are not suitable for the road. That could be 2 years could be 10.

I'd be willing to bet there are more people running their rigs with the original tires from the manufacturer then those that replace them. And how often do you see one beside the road with an exploded tire. About one out of a thousand RV's on the road. I have personally only seen 2 in 20 years of RVing; and who's to say those two were even made in China tires.

[JIMNLIN]

This thread reminds me of Ford 6.0/6.4 PSD problems that some members blamed other psd owners for those engines problems.

Poor quality tires and poorly designed tires aren't the tire owners fault.

Case in point is Goodyear Marathon ST tires....and Goodyear Wrangler HT...and Goodyears G614 all were very problematic with zippers and tread loss.
I'm no Goodyear fan but to their credit they stepped up made had a redesign on the Marathons with the new circle S embossed on the sidewall. They went from a 5k-7k tire to a 15k tire with fewer reported issues.

Same with the Goodyear LT235/85-16 E Wrangler H/T tires that came oem on some rv and non rv trailers. Goodyear did a redesign also on this tire some time in the early '00 era. Now we don't see trailer owners reporting those type issues.

Same with the G614 which had a terrible record pre '08/'09 era. Goodyear did a redesign on them sometime in that era and are a vastly improved tire.

Same with Carlisle ST tires. There were hundreds of Carlisle ST complaints on NHTSA.gov tire complaints website several years ago.
Carlisle came out with a new RH design in early '13 and was a big player for Carlisle. Now the Carlisle HD just came out in '16 and should put Carlisle way ahead in the ST C/D/E tire game.

Are tire mfg to blame for their poorly designed tires that came apart with just 1500-2500 miles of service.... as their before and after record shows you bet.

[fj12ryder]

SabreCanuck wrote:

rjxj wrote:
If a lot of it is road hazard why aren't the vehicle tires flat more often? Vehicle leads rig.

Obviously Not the same quality of tire and specifications. I'm NOT disputing that an LT tire is a better tire than an ST tire. That wasn't my point. My point is that anyone (perhaps millions) can run ST tires perfectly fine if/when they run them PROPERLY. So, let's remove the "ROAD HAZARD" comment for two seconds. What about twisting, turning, overheating, excessive speed, etc.? It never comes up....

Nobody ever asks "FRED" (sorry Fred) how they drive or turn or park or outside temperature, speed, etc.... The immediate answer is "junk tires, go buy 4 new ones".

There are replies here in regards to tread separation, even on LT tires. The most common cause of Tread separation is due to excessive twisting which over-stretches the bond between tread and tire. May not blow out while you are twisting but the damage is there. when you add speed/heat to that tire it stretches to the breaking point and BOOM. Perhaps think about how/when/where you park and how those tires are twisting and change those habits.

Review your driving habits, or go spend a grand on better tires. The first option is rarely discussed or advised as it is always the "junk tires"...

Part of the problem with your theory is that when the tires that a person had problems with are replaced, there are rarely any more issues with exploding tires. If it were simply a matter of "twisting, turning, overheating, excessive speed, etc." then the issue would return and there would be more exploding tires. But that rarely happens.

If one set of tires simply cannot handle the stresses and loads which they supposedly are designed to do, that would suggest to me that they are indeed junk tires.

[fj12ryder]

Just a data point: I've never had a violent blowout on any tire on any vehicle I've ever owned...until I had two happen on my 2 year old 5th wheel toyhauler. They happened after less than 8,000 miles and were the Carlisle tires. I replaced all 6 tires when I got home with Sailun S637, and in probably twice as many miles and years have had no more issues.

It seems to be stretching the bounds of coincidence that I had 33 percent of my trailer tires suffer road hazard and basically explode, but I've had none since and with nearly twice as many miles. The tires that came on my toyhauler were simply not built strong enough to withstand the stresses of carrying a heavy trailer. They might have been okay on something that weighed less than 5,000 lbs.

[SabreCanuck]

rjxj wrote:
If a lot of it is road hazard why aren't the vehicle tires flat more often? Vehicle leads rig.

Obviously Not the same quality of tire and specifications. I'm NOT disputing that an LT tire is a better tire than an ST tire. That wasn't my point. My point is that anyone (perhaps millions) can run ST tires perfectly fine if/when they run them PROPERLY. So, let's remove the "ROAD HAZARD" comment for two seconds. What about twisting, turning, overheating, excessive speed, etc.? It never comes up....

Nobody ever asks "FRED" (sorry Fred) how they drive or turn or park or outside temperature, speed, etc.... The immediate answer is "junk tires, go buy 4 new ones".

There are replies here in regards to tread separation, even on LT tires. The most common cause of Tread separation is due to excessive twisting which over-stretches the bond between tread and tire. May not blow out while you are twisting but the damage is there. when you add speed/heat to that tire it stretches to the breaking point and BOOM. Perhaps think about how/when/where you park and how those tires are twisting and change those habits.

Review your driving habits, or go spend a grand on better tires. The first option is rarely discussed or advised as it is always the "junk tires"...

[Me_Again]

Here is a true indicator.

1. Carlisle has tried to improve their radial trail tire twice in recent years.

2. Goodyear just announced their new Endurance ST tire.

If it is not the tire, why are these two LARGE tire industry players trying to improve their product?

[azrving]

If a lot of it is road hazard why aren't the vehicle tires flat more often? Vehicle leads rig.

[SabreCanuck]

I think the responses validate my point. It's a little un-realistic to think that every single blowout or tread separation is due to crappy tires.. I'm not saying that there are not bad tires out there, they are just like anything else manufactured and some may be better than others. But there are so many other reasons why a tire blows besides "junk tires" or "china bombs".

Those reasons never get discussed or suggested, it's always the tires fault and the user ends up spending thousands of dollars on 'the next best thing'.

Marketing I guess. LOL

[garyemunson]

My 2 cents is that it IS road hazard in most cases. Usually the tire is so shredded that determining the cause afterwards is not possible. With any RV, you are generally driving long distances each day giving a picked up nail plenty of time to 'slow leak' the tire to the danger zone and subsequent failure. In the tow vehicle, you'd likely notice some weird handling and get out and find the bad tire before it gets hot enough to fail. All the more reason to have a TPMS.

[MitchF150]

Think about what happens to dual axle trailer tires when they are subjected to curves and backing up and such.. Ever notice how much flex goes on with the tires on a sharp curve or backing up tight?

They twist and get all out of shape in so many ways..

Why do you get a blister on your foot or hand or finger doing out of the ordinary things??

Anyway, no idea where that comparison came out, but I've not had a "blow out" on any tire I've owned on my RV or vehicle.. Sure, I've run over things that caused the air to go out of the tire, but never an all out blow out..

Guess I've been lucky all this time? Over 30 years of towing stuff from coast to coast too..

Mitch

[Bionic_Man]

I think it is more than just "junk tires". I've had at least 4 tread separations (including one last year) on my 5er since I bought it new in 2002. It has LT tires. That are not "junk Chinese". It is stored inside. I've never had tires that are over 6 years old. And I check the tire pressure before every trip.

I have never had a tread separation on a car/truck/suv. And those get a lot more miles.

[work2much]

If a truck has a 12k GVWR with 6 tires and a 2 axle trailer has the same axle weight with 4 tires and less suspension travel and cheap tires....

[time2roll]

What road hazard will trigger my entire tread to come off?
Tire was still holding air just fine when I changed it.

[azdryheat]

I saw a spare tire that was mounted on the rear bumper of a 5th wheel and covered with a nice cover. The tire blew up on the bumper and blew out a hole in the cover. Cheap Chinese junk. I run only LT tires on my trailers and have never had a problem.

The first thing I did to our new toy hauler pictured below was to put 6 Michelin XPS Ribs truck tires on it. Cost me $2100 but well worth it. No tire problems in 3 years. The cheap Chinese tires that were taken off had gone from the Indiana plant to Tucson AZ and looked about worn out.