Odd Tire Problem!

[TucsonJim]

Last year, I replaced my fiver's spare tire with a new Towmaster tire. A few months later, I was at home and heard a loud noise outside. I checked around, and the spare tire had completely ruptured, blew off the tread and split the sidewall. It is a load range "E" tire and I had it inflated to 70psi. It was covered with a white tire cover. I attributed it to just a "bad" tire, even though the temp here in Arizona was about 105 at the time. There was no evidence of sun damage anywhere on the tire. It was replaced under warranty by Discount Tire. It had never been on the ground.

Yesterday, the exact same thing happened again! This tire had a Date Code of 2011 (week 24). Exact same kind of rupture. Now, Discount is telling me to bring the rig in and have all the tires replaced (at no charge). Has anyone ever had a blow out on an unused spare tire that was inflated correctly and protected from sun damage? Especially when it had never been in use.

[Reelay]

TucsonJim wrote:
Well, I finally had all five tires changed out. In addition to the blown spare, three of the other tires had separated steel belts and were ready to fail. The Carlisle tires are on the rig and I'm heading out tomorrow. I'll see how they do. All the research I've been doing says that there isn't a really good tire out there.

Don't forget to recheck torque after a couple hundred miles. I lost a tire and wheel after new tires were replaced. Over torqueing can be just as bad as under torque.

[Me_Again]

[gitane59]

TucsonJim wrote:
Well, I finally had all five tires changed out. In addition to the blown spare, three of the other tires had separated steel belts and were ready to fail. The Carlisle tires are on the rig and I'm heading out tomorrow. I'll see how they do. All the research I've been doing says that there isn't a really good tire out there.

All I can say is good luck to you. I would have made a very different decision since I do believe their are good tire alternatives out there that experience has shown have a much better track record than Carlisle's.

[TucsonJim]

Well, I finally had all five tires changed out. In addition to the blown spare, three of the other tires had separated steel belts and were ready to fail. The Carlisle tires are on the rig and I'm heading out tomorrow. I'll see how they do. All the research I've been doing says that there isn't a really good tire out there.

[Grady23]

FWIW --- Carlisle has a tire labeled "Carlisle USA" that is "supposed"to be made in amaerica --- I'm SURE I'll be corrected if I'm wrong. I've had them on my boat trailer for 3 years with no problems.. That being said -- I agree that a heavier rated tire "E" or "G" rated would be better --

[Atom_Ant]

Jim and Barb wrote:
Please buy American

Why? I got a bit of a rub with that. Why would I buy American out of Loyalty, when the very company I might be buying from has no loyalty to Americans. For Example, why would I go out of my way to buy a Goodyear tire, when Goodyear themselves outsourced the tire to China?

I'll buy whatever works.

[Jim_and_Barb]

Please buy American

[laknox]

TucsonJim wrote:
The fifth wheel is a 28 foot Keystone Cougar. The original tires were 225-75R15, Load Range D. All four of them were bad when I got it home, and Keystone agreed to replace them all, including the spare. Discount tire sold me the Tow Master tires in load range E. The first set disintegrated due to weather in about 18 months. They were replaced with the same type. The ones on the ground appear to be okay, but the spare has "rapidly decompressed" two times now.

Every 30 days, I check the pressure in the tires and make sure it's maintained at 70-75 psi. I wipe them down with 303 Aerospace, and keep them covered from direct exposure to the sun.

So now, it appears that Discount is going to replace them with some alternate Chinese tires called "Carlisle".

I already know you're getting flak about the Carlisle's, but I ended up with a set of them on my FW as I couldn't wait for a set of Maxxis to be delivered. Discount told me that they are R speed rated (106 mph), so I figure that they should be able to handle my ususual 60-65 mph OK. I've since talked to several guys at 3 different Discount locations and asked if they were running these, and many of the guys have said they are. We'll see... So far, they've been trouble-free (touch wood).

Lyle

[kennethwooster]

Just hard to believe that we spend so much money for a rv. When I buy a new unit I quickly look at tires and if Chinese built or any cheap john unit I go find quality and change them out. Ive known of trailers that blew a tire and it cost up to 5000.00 to repair. My Cameo came with Duro. I ask the Colorado dealer if they were any good. Naturally said they were. When I got back to Texas I had Michelin LTs installed. Should have checked rvnet before signing on the dotted line. Check rvnet. Weve had a lot of tire experience among all of us!

[Swamp_Man]

It surprises me that none of you has called the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about this. If these tires are doing that, what kind of danger are they putting, you, your family, the others on the road, and even someone standing by the side of a road? Heard a lot of stories about (BL)Tow Masters. I think that it is time that the federal government does its job for a change.

[JEBar]

TucsonJim wrote:
The spare does have a Southern exposure most of the time. However, it is covered by a white cover. Also, there was no small cracks that you normally see with sun damage. Just a catastrophic separation.

with that being the case, the spare tire will be subject to higher temps which over time can produce a cumulative deterioration .... not as much as if it didn't have a cover but more nonetheless .... over the years we've had all to many tire failures with tires that looked perfect on the outside but which apparently had dry rot related issues inside .... about 10 years ago I started using KTB Liquid Tire Balancer and I'm convinced that it does help in reducing such problems .... we travel about 6 months each year, two trips each of which averages 4,000 - 5,000 miles .... our daughter uses her camper 8 - 10 times a year on short distance, weekend outings with a camping club .... a couple of months ago we replace the 5 year old G614's on our camper and the 5 year old Marathons on her campers .... this is the second set of G614's we've used the KTB fluid and so far, when the tires were removed and examined they showed no interior deterioration .... the same was true for the Marathons .... my connection with KTB is that I buy and use their product and I do so because I'm convinced it performs as advertised .... it should be noted, I do not use their puncture sealer .... I have no clue if using it could/would have helped with your issue but can see how it might

Jim

[Me_Again]

fivecodys wrote:


In another year or so I will have hit the "4-year you should buy new tires" mark.

I hate to replace these prematurely.

What are your thoughts?

Bill

Spin-Pull, Spin-Pull, Spin-Pull! Each year you load another chamber! At some unknown time there are no longer any empty ones, and when the hammer drops.......

Chris

[azjeffh]

Me Again wrote:
The picture above may look a little to much like his latest tire failure that he blamed on a road hazard.

Well, I did have to roll it over my sidewalk on to the gravel to get it next to the wall. Perhaps that was the cause :W

[TucsonJim]

JEBar wrote:

TucsonJim wrote:
The ones on the ground appear to be okay, but the spare has "rapidly decompressed" two times now.

is the camper parked so that the spare is exposed to more direct sunlight than the tires on the ground

Jim

The spare does have a Southern exposure most of the time. However, it is covered by a white cover. Also, there was no small cracks that you normally see with sun damage. Just a catastrophic separation.