Motor Home Tire Failures

Two blowouts, both Ohtsu brand, 245/70R19.5,

Tire 1 - 2yrs old, inside LR, ply separation probably from being underinflated
Tire 2 - 5yrs old, outside RR, ply separation.

Now running Michelins all 'round.

al

1 blowout

5 year old Right Steer Michelin XZA 3 285x80 22.5 LR H
DOT stamp 4208 bought new in March 2009
tire had 120lbs air
weight on tire was 5600lbs (tire rated at 6170lbs at 120lbs air)
side wall blowout no real known cause no cracking or checking
no visible signs of damage prior to blowout
no damage to coach and wife, I and 2 dogs were safe
could not get a road side service for 5 hours near Austin Tx
I run Truck Systems Tire monitor System
the blowout was a 4" diameter hole on inside side wall
Michelin says possible bad tire that eventually gave up or road hazard
Filed claim with no response to date (incident was early Aug 2014)
replace both steers with Michelin ZXA 3plus same size and LR
bought 3/4" drive HD impact wrench and 1000ft/lbs torque wrench
Will not be stuck again

Questioning value of roadside assistance

Sorry if this is too much info but it does happen

CTC

1 Blowout GoodYear G670 19.5" replaced with a new set of Hankook AH11's....

Two blowouts, over 24 years ago, on the Holiday Rambler, Goodyear 19.5 tires. The first blowout, actually a complete tread separation, was on an outside duel, I was able to limp about 20 miles into town. The tires were 8 years old at the time but they had good tread and I was young and inexperienced. The second blowout was on the way home from the same vacation, just outside of Las Vegas, when the inside duel on the same side blew, taking out some skirting and a few electrical connections. The cause was probably associated with excessive strain from the earlier 20 mile drive. I now replace my tires, even in excellent condition, every 6 years. Yes, very expensive, but I consider it the cost of maintenance.

Another bit of info that would be very helpful is to state if you bought the tire new or it came on a used motorhome that you purchased.

From what I have read many tire failures were tires that came on a used motorhome. My contention is that most motorhomers neglect their tires.

Walk around used motorhomes at a dealer and you'll see many tires that are low on air.

Thanks for the replies but I would appreciate it the the narrative could be kept to a minimum with the focus on the info requested.

Not that they are not interesting it just make digging the pertainant info out a bit more difficult.

What I'm hoping to achieve is a resource for tire buyers to look at factual info on which brands have documented failures.

bluwtr49 wrote:
Thanks for the replies but I would appreciate it the the narrative could be kept to a minimum with the focus on the info requested.

Not that they are not interesting it just make digging the pertainant info out a bit more difficult.

What I'm hoping to achieve is a resource for tire buyers to look at factual info on which brands have documented failures.

Just listing bands with failures is counter productive unless the HX of the tire, Weight on axle is known. Why bame a good tire for a different defect.

I have had 4 blowouts over the last ten years none of which I would attribute to the tire

I'm really not sure what this survey accomplishes. For a survey to any remote scientifically valid conclusion, one must survey total miles driven on every brand of tire being considered. In other words, the only valid statistic would be a failure per mile for X brand of tire. ANY OTHER CONCLUSION IS COMPLETELY INVALID. If 80% of OEM tires are of one particular brand, the reported failures will be disproportional for that brand. You need to have a separate survey for everyone who has not had a blowout to report the particular brand and how many blowout free miles they have driven.

Daveinet wrote:
I'm really not sure what this survey accomplishes. For a survey to any remote scientifically valid conclusion, one must survey total miles driven on every brand of tire being considered. In other words, the only valid statistic would be a failure per mile for X brand of tire. ANY OTHER CONCLUSION IS COMPLETELY INVALID. If 80% of OEM tires are of one particular brand, the reported failures will be disproportional for that brand. You need to have a separate survey for everyone who has not had a blowout to report the particular brand and how many blowout free miles they have driven.

From previous posts about tires don't forget to ask whether the driver checks his tire pressure by hitting them all with a bat, or he waits until he gets a warning from his TPMS and then inflates the offending tire at the next stop, which may be many miles down the road. :B

I had 1 and it was the tire, even Michelin rep agreed. I am not really blaming the tire, but was no cause for mine, just thankful it did not happen at 65mph.