just wondering... tire shreads

[cdlaine]

So, as I gather from reading the variety of posts on the forum...

tire blows, tire shreads, $100's - 1000's dollars in damage...

any ideas how to prevent said calamity ? (other then tire pressure,

tire age, weight loads, all the frequently stated preventions.

, etc. ) I'm interested in after the blow-out. Is there some type

of re-inforcement that the industry could utilize ... my brother

had $ 2500 in damage to his TT siding from what would seem a

"routine blow out". Obviously an ounce of prevention...I know...

what about shielding ? Forgot to mention ...I'm aware of the "that's

why you carry insurance commentary".


Anything on the market ?


Charles

[RVman3252]

stripit wrote:
My tires are under my slide outs and one tire didn't blow but list the tread and caused damage to the bottom of the slide and the areas behind. As we were repairing the damage I figured had I had a shield above the tires that extended beyond where the tires could damage with a tire tread failure again that would stop much of the damage. So I went to the local heating and A/C shop that made sheet metal duct work to cut and bend me the sheets I needed. They had various thicknesses of metal and I chose the thickest and had it bent to fit exactly where I want it to go. About a dozen self taping screws per side and I'm kind of bullet proof now should it ever happen again. The use of a tire pressure monitor system is something I strongly recommend but if the tire just peels a tread without losing any pressure it won't show, but that is a rare occurrence. Normal tire failures are related to low tire pressures. I think my metal shields cost about 20 bucks each as I recall.

I know you think you're bullet-proof, but back in 1999, I was driving my pick-up on I-65 at a speed of 70 mph, empty (not pulling or hauling) on a new set of Michelem Tires, E rated, when the right rear tire blew.

When it blew (I stopped immediately) and walked around to the right side and was amazed at all of the damage. The side of the bed was gone behind the wheel, it tore the right rear brake lines off, it took the exhaust system and a lot of other damage. Back in 1999, it cost in excess of $8,000.00 to repair.

When these radial tire blow, the tread separates, but it doesn't completely "let go" thus creating kind of like a ball on the end of a chain... and just beats the heck out of the vehicle it's on... I took some pretty heavy duty parts of my truck. I am almost thinking we need to go back to nylon or bias ply tires again. These steel belts are causing the problems when the tire blows. I don't know what the cure is, but there has to be something that can detur all of these RV's from being torn up by tires blowing out.

I am own an Asphalt Company and we are constantly seeing these radial tires tearing things up, trailers, Dump Trucks, lowboys let alone pick-ups.

RVman / John

[deleted-2]

Line-X as a bombproof coating
I thought I had read or seen something about this when working for the Dept. of the Air Force.

Another link with a blast video

[time2roll]

I suppose it depends on what the LineX is attached to.

[Me_Again]

cdlaine wrote:
Thanks for all the insights... good conversation.

Am I incorrect in thinking that using the spray in
bed-liner stuff within the wheel well and the immediate
surrounding area (impact zone for shred) would not be
reasonable ? On my prior truck I had the stuff in the
bed and it was bullet proof for ten years.... thoughts ?


Charles

LineX and other products do well at what they are designed to do! They will not however stop the damage that a failed tire can cause! You might end up with fewer small pieces and more large pieces, BUT you will end up with pieces!

Chris

[MarkTwain]

IMHO 'ME AGAIN'

Lets just say that the tire industry and the trailer industry is not doing consumers many favors by supplying cheap tires OEM on new RV trailers. An educated consumer should not agree to drive off the dealers lot on cheap tires or tires that are overrated and barely meet the GAWR requirement.

Chris

X2,
Right on the money! Last year I bought a new 5th. wheel and the model I looked at on the lot had some"mission tires" and I had never heard of them. I asked the dealer who made the tires, " I really don't know". My response, No sale! either you put some Good Year G rated tires at no cost to me or the deal is off!!!! "Not a problem". Trailer arrived with the tires I wanted:) I had a great RV sales person and company to deal with. Guaranty RV in Junction City, Or.
As RV consumers we should collectively let the RV Manufactures that at the time of buying a new trailer, I want the option to put the tire of my choice on the rig or NO SALE!!!!! Most of us don't expect to get goods free, but I do expect to quality tires:):):)
Maybe Good Sam members should have this discussion with the powers to be at Good Sam and ask them exert some political pressure reflecting our concerns about RV tires. We as RV consumers have to start some where to get our voices heard.
Flat tire Dick

[deleted-2]

cdlaine wrote:
Thanks for all the insights... good conversation.

Am I incorrect in thinking that using the spray in
bed-liner stuff within the wheel well and the immediate
surrounding area (impact zone for shred) would not be
reasonable ? On my prior truck I had the stuff in the
bed and it was bullet proof for ten years.... thoughts ?


Charles

What was the name of the show where a commercial bedliner material was sprayed on the front of a wood structure.
Then explosives were set off in front of the building resulting in minimal damage.
It was kind of heavier duty MythBusters type show that didn't last a real long time.

[cdlaine]

Thanks for all the insights... good conversation.

Am I incorrect in thinking that using the spray in
bed-liner stuff within the wheel well and the immediate
surrounding area (impact zone for shred) would not be
reasonable ? On my prior truck I had the stuff in the
bed and it was bullet proof for ten years.... thoughts ?


Charles

[deleted-2]

cdlaine wrote:
So, as I gather from reading the variety of posts on the forum...

tire blows, tire shreads, $100's - 1000's dollars in damage...

Not much to add here I guess...
We did have a blowout about a year ago on five year old brand from Les Schwab.
Les Schwab replaced the tire under warranty believe it or not 🙂
No damage to the fiver other than a few rub marks.
I think it's the only time I appreciated having flipped axles.

I was sweating it all the way home because our spare was a 13 year old GoodYear Marathon :E

When we sold the trailer last April I urged the buyer to get new rubber as soon as possible.

[RandACampin]

Me Again wrote:

parkmanaa wrote:
IMHO 'ME AGAIN' has the best answer above. The Michelin XPS all-steel cord tire is undoubtedly the best commercial tire on the market. That tire has been around at least 15 years and I have yet to see or hear of a single complaint (some complain about the initial price, but ................)
I was in the tire industry for 40 years, did many scrap tire analysis, and questioning of persons who had tire failures. Most is classified in this order:
- cheap tires to begin with, or tires too small or low load-rated.
- poor maintenance of air pressure.
- overloading, usually having no idea what their rig really weighs loaded.
- Impact damage, i.e., hitting something in the road, holding your breath for a
few miles, then breathing again 'because I didn't ruin a tire'. Well, guess
what, you really did, sometimes it takes a few hundred miles to actually blow.
- failure to have tires inspected by a qualified tire technician beginning in
their 5th or 6th year.
- Lastly, tire age. Don't be snowed into thinking tires will self-destruct
after 5 or 6 years. Properly maintained, they should last a good 10 years.

Could be more reasons, but these are the ones that come to mind; in that order.

Me Again here! I think you are in tune with where I am at. Some tires, which includes most of the currently available ST tires just do not have a good track record! The two tires I noted(and I have used both) have not had the negative feed back that so many other tires get. I was lucky in that my trailer came OEM with 16" LT tires as an upgrade to the standard 15 ST tires. However they were Kenda Klever china bombs! Kenda gave me 110 each to remove them from service in the first year before they failed, and I installed Michelin XPS RIB which I ran for 6.5 years and 40K+ miles, then sold them on CL for 200 bucks. I installed Bridgestone Duravis R250's this go around and have been to Arizona and back on them twice. The R250 may be a better tire than the RIB and cost about 50 bucks less per tire. Which played into my choice of them this go around.

So having LT from the get go, I was not caught up in the ST tire night mare that some have become stuck in. I wrote this about tires back in 2009 and I believe that it is still worth a read.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/23161726/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm

This also is a good read! http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/23225970/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm

Lets just say that the tire industry and the trailer industry is not doing consumers many favors by supplying cheap tires OEM on new RV trailers. An educated consumer should not agree to drive off the dealers lot on cheap tires or tires that are overrated and barely meet the GAWR requirement.

Chris

Does every thread have to be about your LT tire sales? :S

[westend]

JJBIRISH wrote:
While a metal wheel well might be a good idea and not hurt anything or even help some… a blown tire and the resulting damage of the tread failing around is a fairly violent event… the metal wheel well not attached substantially to something strong enough to hold it in place could be ripped loose causing even more and worse damage…


OOPS, I forgot…

Yeah, keep that tape on you crazy monkey! LOL, just kidding, I enjoy your posts. 😉

A400 or better steel plate is what's used in garbage compactor trucks, military vehicles, etc.. I have a 3/16" plate of it as my welding table top surface. The stuff is practically abrasion-proof.

What I did for my M1 Abrams wheel well was to build a sturdy frame with 2 x 4's, clad the corners and exterior lower siding areas with aluminum, and then drill, glue, and screw the liner into the wheel well frame. This steel liner was then painted and covered with a Line X type product. It is overkill but I didn't want any issues in the future.

Under construction:


View of wheel well from below:

[falconman]

After suffering two blowouts on our Artic Fox last year along with some lower panel damage, I discovered that the damage might have been prevented. On the passenger slide side of the TT, the lower panel/ fender skirt is supported by a metal strip attached to the frame. One attached just ahead and one to the rear of the wheels. When the front tire blew, due to the forward tire rotation, the tread hit down on this strap and pulled the skirting down which resulted in minor damage which I was able to bend back into shape. Later, when the rear blew, the tread hit upward on the strap and pulled the lower panel upward bending it severely, requiring replacement of the entire panel. When the panel was replaced I had them leave off these two "supports". If I ever reattach them it will be with plastic bolts. You might take a look at the wheelwell areas and think about what damage may occur once the tire tread starts flapping. BTW, trashed the two year old Goodrich TA's and now have the XPS Ribs.

[Me_Again]

parkmanaa wrote:
IMHO 'ME AGAIN' has the best answer above. The Michelin XPS all-steel cord tire is undoubtedly the best commercial tire on the market. That tire has been around at least 15 years and I have yet to see or hear of a single complaint (some complain about the initial price, but ................)
I was in the tire industry for 40 years, did many scrap tire analysis, and questioning of persons who had tire failures. Most is classified in this order:
- cheap tires to begin with, or tires too small or low load-rated.
- poor maintenance of air pressure.
- overloading, usually having no idea what their rig really weighs loaded.
- Impact damage, i.e., hitting something in the road, holding your breath for a
few miles, then breathing again 'because I didn't ruin a tire'. Well, guess
what, you really did, sometimes it takes a few hundred miles to actually blow.
- failure to have tires inspected by a qualified tire technician beginning in
their 5th or 6th year.
- Lastly, tire age. Don't be snowed into thinking tires will self-destruct
after 5 or 6 years. Properly maintained, they should last a good 10 years.

Could be more reasons, but these are the ones that come to mind; in that order.

Me Again here! I think you are in tune with where I am at. Some tires, which includes most of the currently available ST tires just do not have a good track record! The two tires I noted(and I have used both) have not had the negative feed back that so many other tires get. I was lucky in that my trailer came OEM with 16" LT tires as an upgrade to the standard 15 ST tires. However they were Kenda Klever china bombs! Kenda gave me 110 each to remove them from service in the first year before they failed, and I installed Michelin XPS RIB which I ran for 6.5 years and 40K+ miles, then sold them on CL for 200 bucks. I installed Bridgestone Duravis R250's this go around and have been to Arizona and back on them twice. The R250 may be a better tire than the RIB and cost about 50 bucks less per tire. Which played into my choice of them this go around.

So having LT from the get go, I was not caught up in the ST tire night mare that some have become stuck in. I wrote this about tires back in 2009 and I believe that it is still worth a read.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/23161726/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm

This also is a good read! http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/23225970/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm

Lets just say that the tire industry and the trailer industry is not doing consumers many favors by supplying cheap tires OEM on new RV trailers. An educated consumer should not agree to drive off the dealers lot on cheap tires or tires that are overrated and barely meet the GAWR requirement.

Chris

[parkmanaa]

IMHO 'ME AGAIN' has the best answer above. The Michelin XPS all-steel cord tire is undoubtedly the best commercial tire on the market. That tire has been around at least 15 years and I have yet to see or hear of a single complaint (some complain about the initial price, but ................)
I was in the tire industry for 40 years, did many scrap tire analysis, and questioning of persons who had tire failures. Most is classified in this order:
- cheap tires to begin with, or tires too small or low load-rated.
- poor maintenance of air pressure.
- overloading, usually having no idea what their rig really weighs loaded.
- Impact damage, i.e., hitting something in the road, holding your breath for a
few miles, then breathing again 'because I didn't ruin a tire'. Well, guess
what, you really did, sometimes it takes a few hundred miles to actually blow.
- failure to have tires inspected by a qualified tire technician beginning in
their 5th or 6th year.
- Lastly, tire age. Don't be snowed into thinking tires will self-destruct
after 5 or 6 years. Properly maintained, they should last a good 10 years.

Could be more reasons, but these are the ones that come to mind; in that order.

[time2roll]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Short of diamond plating the underside & skirting.......NO

lol I just added 1/8" diamond plate in the wheel wells to mitigate damage during the next tire failure.
Ordered 1' x 8' from metalsdepot.com, 1 for each side.

[JJBIRISH]

While a metal wheel well might be a good idea and not hurt anything or even help some… a blown tire and the resulting damage of the tread failing around is a fairly violent event… the metal wheel well not attached substantially to something strong enough to hold it in place could be ripped loose causing even more and worse damage…


OOPS, I forgot…