Michelin LT failure

[SeniorGNC]

Well, I never expected to be writing this but I had a blowout on my second set of Michelin 16” LT load range E tires. They were only a year old.

We were on our way back to Houston Tx a week ago from a long summer vacation loop through the southwest desert. (About a 3000 mile pull.) On the last day just a couple of hundred miles north of home on US 84 we lost a tire to what the tire store manager called a catastrophic blowout. (There were just some inner casing pieces between the beads.) This was during the heat wave, I think the outside air temperature was about 103 degF. I pull at 60 mph, checked my tire pressure in the morning as I started and thought I was good. All that came to an end when a car pulled up next to me and held up a sign saying “blowout”. Bummer.

I could not even tell I was down a tire. There was no indication based on handling. Last time I scaled I was about 8600 lbs total on the two 5200 lb trailer axles.

Now I don’t feel so invincible tire wise. It cold have been due to a bad tire, a leaky valve stem, road hazard, who knows?

Maybe it is time for RIBs on the trailer and a tire pressure monitoring system.

Good thing I carry a tire changing ramp and DOT triangles.

Oh well, time to go fix the damage to the trailer…

[BB_TX]

I have Michelin XPS Ribs on my 5er, 5 yrs and about 16,000 miles. Have been run at 65-70 across the Texas panhandle several times in temps up to 108 (by the truck outside temp display). Tires show very little wear and no weather checking. I may add 2-3 pounds of air at the start of a season and they are good the rest of the year.
Have used Michelin on my trucks and wife's cars/SUVs for many years and hundreds of thousands of miles and never a blowout and only a couple of flats. Actually never a true flat, just a low tire I noticed and had repaired before it went flat.
I did add a TPMS this year. Interesting to watch the pressures and temps. Pressures consistently rose 8-10 pounds after a period of highway driving. Temps on shady side barely rose above ambient air temp. Tires on sunny side rose 10-15 degrees above air temp. Comforting to be able to see the pressures/temps at any time to know how the tires are doing.

[powderman426]

Charlie D. wrote:
Op does not have a TPMS. I have had 3 blowouts, all ST tires. Never heard any of them. Last 2 had TPMS and I was alerted before damage. Not unusual to have blowouts and not hear them.

That was a rhetorical question as I knew he didn't have one or he wouldn't have been posting about having had a problem. Is there something to be learned here? I think so.

[5thwheeleroldma]

Yeah, you may have had a puncture, or loose valve stem, then ran it until it shredded. I had about 8 massive blowouts with Goodyear tires before I finally got wise and switched to the Michelins. We never missed a Goodyear blowout; it sounded like a stick of dynamite went off beside the road and rubber bits went everywhere; no one ever had to tell us. I've been using those same Michelins for about 10 years now and never a problem, not even a flat; except one time in the trailer shed when I had a loose valve stem and it went flat.

[Charlie_D_]

Op does not have a TPMS. I have had 3 blowouts, all ST tires. Never heard any of them. Last 2 had TPMS and I was alerted before damage. Not unusual to have blowouts and not hear them.

[powderman426]

Why didn't your TPMS alert you of impending failure?

[jamway]

SeniorGNC wrote:
Well, I never expected to be writing this but I had a blowout on my second set of Michelin 16” LT load range E tires. They were only a year old.

We were on our way back to Houston Tx a week ago from a long summer vacation loop through the southwest desert. (About a 3000 mile pull.) On the last day just a couple of hundred miles north of home on US 84 we lost a tire to what the tire store manager called a catastrophic blowout. (There were just some inner casing pieces between the beads.) This was during the heat wave, I think the outside air temperature was about 103 degF. I pull at 60 mph, checked my tire pressure in the morning as I started and thought I was good. All that came to an end when a car pulled up next to me and held up a sign saying “blowout”. Bummer.



I could not even tell I was down a tire. There was no indication based on handling. Last time I scaled I was about 8600 lbs total on the two 5200 lb trailer axles.

Now I don’t feel so invincible tire wise. It cold have been due to a bad tire, a leaky valve stem, road hazard, who knows?

Maybe it is time for RIBs on the trailer and a tire pressure monitoring system.

Good thing I carry a tire changing ramp and DOT triangles.

Oh well, time to go fix the damage to the trailer…

I think you run your tire flat from a puncture. I have always been able to hear a blowout. A blowout is loud and you will know it as soon as it happens.

[Cummins12V98]

SeniorGNC wrote:
Well, I never expected to be writing this but I had a blowout on my second set of Michelin 16” LT load range E tires. They were only a year old.

We were on our way back to Houston Tx a week ago from a long summer vacation loop through the southwest desert. (About a 3000 mile pull.) On the last day just a couple of hundred miles north of home on US 84 we lost a tire to what the tire store manager called a catastrophic blowout. (There were just some inner casing pieces between the beads.) This was during the heat wave, I think the outside air temperature was about 103 degF. I pull at 60 mph, checked my tire pressure in the morning as I started and thought I was good. All that came to an end when a car pulled up next to me and held up a sign saying “blowout”. Bummer.

I could not even tell I was down a tire. There was no indication based on handling. Last time I scaled I was about 8600 lbs total on the two 5200 lb trailer axles.

Now I don’t feel so invincible tire wise. It cold have been due to a bad tire, a leaky valve stem, road hazard, who knows?

Maybe it is time for RIBs on the trailer and a tire pressure monitoring system.

Good thing I carry a tire changing ramp and DOT triangles.

Oh well, time to go fix the damage to the trailer…

FYI, if they were GoodYear tires they would have paid for the damages.

[steelpony5555]

Hmmmm 8600 lbs is still a safe bet for even ST tires so Lord only know what happened to that tire. Could have been damaged somewhere else or maybe a factory mess up. But just the same I guess we have to expect tire failures even on LT tires since people get flats on their trucks and cars, just on them they know it right away and don't keep on driving shredding it to mini pieces.

[cdlaine]

Kevin,

Bummer. Hate to hear these stories... of course, you
know someone is going to bring up TPMS. So there,
I did it in an unthreatening manner.

BTW.. Michelin LT's on my Truck and last TT... as soon
as Im ready to change out on current 5ver the Michelin Lt's
will be at the top of my list. I've had good history with them...

Glad nobody was hurt.

Charles

[kennethwooster]

Im also running Michelin LT tires. I leave Texas and is usually hot but cool up here. I hate to hear you lost the Michelin.

[downtheroad]

Have you considered going to an ST tire??

(sorry, I couldn't resist starting it up.)
Bad deal all around, including the damage to your trailer...:(

[Bunklash]

Some people believe LT tires aren't a good fit for trailers. I'm told the sidewalls are built much more stiffly than the ST's. Theory is when doing tight turns, the stationary axles on the trailer cause the side-slide that can damage the sidewalls.