Tire Blow-out scenario's please, single axle only

[VTR]

Those of you that have had a blow out hauling a single axle TT, what took place and what kinda of damage occurred. After we purchased or single axle TT, I now wish I had purchased a double axle. Any stories you are interested in sharing please do.

[tatest]

Did not have a blowout, rather a tread separation followed by rapid deflation (which is more common than actual blowouts in the overloaded tire scenario).

I remember it as my Mom driving, but my brother insists I was behind the wheel. The vibration from the tread separation was felt through the hitch to the tow vehicle, so we were already slowing down when the tire deflated. The trailer rode on the flapping rubber and rim until we got it stopped off the side of the road.

Damage? Flapping tread tore up the fiber insulating board covering the bottom of the TT, but did not damage anything else.

This was early 1960s on two-lane mountain highways, climbing a grade, so we were probably at about 35-45 mph. Today, towing 70-80 mph on superhighways, you might have 4X the energy in the pieces flying off the tire, and a more precarious control situation.

I have two RVing friends who have lost control from these tire situations at superhighway speeds, in one case the TT broke the hitch and rolled on its side, in the other it stayed attached and took the truck over onto its top. Having tandem axles didn't seen to help the situation, with one tire down the trailers went into accelerating sway. In both cases, the TT was pretty close to max weight ratomg for the tow vehicle, and close to the weight of the tow vehicle.

A single axle trailer is going to be lighter, so may not have as much influence on the dynamics. OTOH, you might be towing a lightweight trailer because the tow vehicle is also small and light.

An actual blowout, sudden and total deflation without warning, is something really different, with respect to handling it. There is no time to react, or slow down, before you are on the rim. Same for zipper failures, which are more common on radial tires than the blowouts we used to get with tube-type bias ply tires.

[VTR]

Thanks for the replies. I do check pressure and temp/condition of tires when we gas up, as well as the hubs. Would hate to have one, but probably will. Should have asked who has never had a blow out, that might yield some interesting results.

[coolbreeze01]

I never had a flat, let alone a blowout on my single axle trailers. I ran larger tires than OE with an E load rating when I owned them.

[russkerri]

We had a blow out with on our single-axle travel trailer. We were driving, and my husband said, "This feels really weird all of a sudden." I looked out the window to see smoke pouring out of the side of the trailer. We realized the tire had blown and pulled over. Luckily, there was no loss of control or any other danger. We had noticed the tire looked low that morning and meant to check it at the gas station, but we got distracted. We learned out lesson and now check the tire pressure before hitting the road.

On the return trip on the same trip, we were hauling bikes in the camper, and one managed to rub against the stove knobs in just the right way, turning on the propane. We stopped for gas and heard the carbon monoxide beeping. When we opened the door, the propane smell hit us, and we realized what had happened.

Live and learn!

[RCMAN46]

rexlion wrote:
I had a tire blow loudly, at about 62-63 mph last year. IIRC the tire was 3 years and 8 months old according to the date stamp. It was properly inflated at 50 psi cold (I even had a TPM sensor on the valve stem). The good news is, the trailer handled fine and I easily came to a stop on the shoulder with no control problems.

Did the TPMS notify you of the tire failure?

I have seen many trailers go several miles before it was noticed the tire had very low pressure even with a single axle trailer.

[2manytoyz]

I have a different input. First, mine is a tandem axle, so I won't tell you how "I think" it might fair versus a blowout on a single axle.

I will tell you the blowouts on my trailer, my BIL's trailer, and a friend's trailer, had NO visual indications of a failure prior to coming apart.

Tire pressure had been checked that morning. No checks or cracks in the sidewalls, tires not overloaded, and trailer not exceeding the 65 MPH rating of ST tires. No warning!

One of my blowouts was violent, shaking the trailer as it came apart. Another had pieces coming off, but never felt it. I had someone pull up next to us, and point towards our trailer. That's NEVER a good sign!

The tire barely slapped the side of the trailer on this one:





This is from another trip:



My BIL's tire failure:



If you look closely, these are all Goodyear Marathon tires.

I've since replaced all of them, including the spare, with Maxxis tires. They are highly recommended on this forum, and my friend who's popped more tires than anyone I know. Even had two fail on a single trip at different locations. He's not had any failure since either.

Make sure you have a filled spare, the capability of raising your trailer since the wheel will be all the way to the ground, and that your lug wrench actually fits the lugs. As stupid as the last part sounds, my trailer has fancy aluminum wheels. The lugs are recessed in skinny holes. It takes a thin walled socket to reach them. I discovered this on the side of a hwy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRC-xuGGGHk

I now own a Tire Minder Tire Pressure Monitoring System. VERY easy to install and use. About $200 online. It displays realtime pressure for each tire, and temperature. Sudden pressure loss results in an alarm. The sensors simply screw onto the valve stems in place of the valve caps. The batteries in the sensors are also easy to replace when needed.

[kvangil]

Had a PUP that had a blow-out at about 65mph. Didn't hear or feel it happen. I just happened to look in the sideview mirror and see the PUP bobbing up and down a bit more on the left side than the right. Then I started to see pieces of rubber flying. Changed it on the side of the highway, went to the nearest Farm & Fleet and bought a new rim/tire combo, then continued on our way. Wasn't too bad an experience. Like someone else said, the scariest part was changing the flat on the drivers' side on the side of the highway with semi's flying by at 70mph....

[tonymull]

Compared to a front blowout on your tow vehicle...well there's no comparison.

[jerem0621]

I just went to a single axle PUP. Previous TT was a tandem axle. Don't worry, it's really okay to have a single axle. Just pay attention to age and pressure and pay attention to how the tires look. Any new bulges and replace them.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[alcaracu]

in 2008 I had one go on my single axle hi lo around palm springs Ca. on rte 5 ( worst road I ever hauled on) doing about 55 mph in rush hour traffic in about 95 degrees. was on drivers side and sounded like a rifle shot. trailer handled well and was able to pull over and call GSRA. did do a bit of damage to the wheel well which I repaired with duct tape till I got back to FL. and made permanrnt repair.

[Bedlam]

We had a little pop up tent trailer that liked to eat tires. At least once a season one or the other would fail but we never found the cause (speed, weight and alignment were fine). I have destroyed a tire on a tandem axle toy hauler because I didn't know it went flat until it started making a slapping sound (no TPMS on this trailer). None of my flats have been "death grip" terrifying. I think it was scarier to replace my own tire along side the road than wait for road service.

[rexlion]

I had a tire blow loudly, at about 62-63 mph last year. IIRC the tire was 3 years and 8 months old according to the date stamp. It was properly inflated at 50 psi cold (I even had a TPM sensor on the valve stem). The good news is, the trailer handled fine and I easily came to a stop on the shoulder with no control problems.

[southernkilowat]

Had one blow last year on a back road running about 50mph. When it blew it sounded just like a rifle shot in the cab, followed by quite a bit of wiggle on the back end. Didn't tear up anything but the tire, and it was shredded. Tire was only a year and a half old so maybe I ran over something in the highway and didn't see it, or maybe it was a bad tire? Either way, 20 minutes later I was back on the road.

[jfkmk]

Don't worry about the single axle. Take care of the tires as mentioned above. Check the air pressure in the morning and do a quick visual when you stop for fuel or breaks. Pay attention to scraping curbs, etc. replace the tires every 3-5 years. I have never had a blowout following these precautions.