Tire Failure-Update IV

I used to run BFG's on my truck until the last couple sets had problems. Now I run Toyo's and it's an amazing difference in quality IMO. I could never keep the BFG's balanced but in contrast the Toyo's are so true that after the initial install I never need to balance them for the life of the tire.

Do you do this often in your travels? Tire stresses are often written about on this forum. Here is a video about side loads.

Click here

FastEagle

Allworth wrote:
You gotta love it when somebody driving a diesel pusher tells us about trailer tires.

Commercial TA's are not overloaded at 4500# per axle. Just guessing, but it sounds like road hazard or a single tire production failure. Was the trailer damaged?

Yes, they make ST (Special Trailer) tires. Unfortunately most of them are worthless due to lack of quality control at the offshore plants.

A large number of fiver owners have tens of thousands of happy miles on Commercial TA setups.

X2 !!!

B.O.

Charlie D. wrote:
It's me again. Getting around to replacing the T/A's with Firestone's and took two of the tire/rims in to a Michelin/BFG dealer and asked them to check them out. They said one was fine and another had a broken belt. Asked about an adjustment and their question was'Did you buy the tires from us" My response was 'No, I was traveling, had tire problrems and had to buy them while on the road." Their response "Sorry, can't help you because you didn't buy from us."

I have now had one failure with the entire tread coming off-see pictures. Two with broken belts and one tire O.K. What are the odds of having those 3 tires fail because of road hazard and not belt failure? Tires are 2 years old and about 10,000 miles,

Obviously, that dealer really doesn't want your business...

Lyle

It's me again. Getting around to replacing the T/A's with Firestone's and took two of the tire/rims in to a Michelin/BFG dealer and asked them to check them out. They said one was fine and another had a broken belt. Asked about an adjustment and their question was'Did you buy the tires from us" My response was 'No, I was traveling, had tire problrems and had to buy them while on the road." Their response "Sorry, can't help you because you didn't buy from us."

I have now had one failure with the entire tread coming off-see pictures. Two with broken belts and one tire O.K. What are the odds of having those 3 tires fail because of road hazard and not belt failure? Tires are 2 years old and about 10,000 miles,

Thank You CapriRacer

Lowsuv wrote:
CapriRacer ,
Were any wheel failures the cause of a tire failure ?
Were the wheel failures caused by too much psi ?

I am not aware of any tire failures that can be attributed to wheel failures - except to say, that a cracked wheel that leaks out air, or a structural failure of the wheel that damages the tire during the failure process are not included in that list.

Also, there have been issues with wheels that have caused tire failures, but the wheel didn't fail. The wheel was just defective.

I am also not aware of any wheel failures caused by too much inflation pressure. I have tried repeatedly to get the low-down on designing wheels and whether too high of inflation pressure has real significance to the stresses - as opposed to the stress caused by load on the wheel (and tire). 4 times now I have gotten an indication that inflation pressure is not significant, but none of those is as definitive as I would like. I'm taking that to mean that somewhere there is something definitive, but I just haven't found it.

So I'm taking the stance that directionally using higher inflation pressure reduces the risk of failure - including a wheel failure even if you exceed the maximum inflation pressure stamped on the wheel. (and I'm talking about - say - using 80 psi on a wheel stamped 65 psi max.) I know that is controversial, and I ordinarily wouldn't make that sort of recommendation, but if that is the only available option, I think it would be better than doing nothing.

CapriRacer ,
Were any wheel failures the cause of a tire failure ?
Were the wheel failures caused by too much psi ?

Picked up the second BFG from the Firestone dealer. They had the area of belt failure marked. As I said on a previous post, the tire looked like it had a crown when inflated. Off the rim the tire lost it's bulge but it showed a slope from side to side about 2 feet long. When I pushed on the demounted tire in the area of the belt damage I could hear crackle (for lack of a better word) bit the rest of the tire did not.

I did fill out a form from the NTHSA and they acknowledged receipt.

See the post by Jackandn20 who posted about 2 failures of the same tire on the Fifth wheel forum

laknox wrote:
I would definitely forward the pictures of the failed tire as well as the one that's showing signs of failure, to BFG, "for their information in the interests of consumer safety". Mention that a tire professional at a national tire store confirmed what he was seeing on the unfailed tire exactly matches your tire failure. Don't ask for anything, but do mention that the new set of non-BFG tires as well as the repairs to the trailer cost $X.XX, again, for their information. Keep the old tires and let them know that you will keep them available for inspection "to improve consumer safety" at =your= convenience for a certain amount of time, after which you will dispose of them. Also send them the link to this thread. I do like your attitude and do appreciate you taking the time to be pretty informative without going off. Personally, I think I'd've simply filed an insurance claim and let =them= fight it out with the tire company while I went camping. :-)

Lyle

Kyle,

Just so you and everyone else understands, I used to be the guy that would get those sorts of letters/email/phone calls forwarded to me. The company I worked for would have handled the situation differently, but that's not what I want to point out.

What I want to point out is that sending an additional letter/email/phone call is pretty much useless in promoting consumer safety from the company's perspective. They are already aware of the situation and there was a response, and in their mind, the issue is settled.

Plus, that "tire professional" who looked at the tire and declared it had a defect? Well, from the company's perspective, he is an amateur and his opinion is not to be relied upon. The proof to that statement is that a professional would have named the defect (Yes, they have names and people in the know use those names.)

So bottomline, while it might make one feel better to forward the pictures, they will be recycled to the virtual circular file without ever being considered.

There are only 2 things that will do any good at this point:

1) Filing a report with NHTSA

2) Escalating the claim - either higher up the management chain or filing a claim in small claims court.

Charlie D. wrote:
Lyle-I like your thinking. I left the tire at the Firestone dealer but will go by tomorrow and pick it up.

Yes, be sure to do that until you are absolutely 100% sure you are done. That tire is your evidence.