Another Tire Blowout

[vladio]

I bought Jayco Jay Feather hybrid new in 2014. It had 4 Towmax ST185/80R13 tires from the factory. Since owning the camper I've blown out 3 tires. Took the camper out for the first time this year last week and ended up on I81 between York and Harrisburg during rush-hour. The front passenger tire blew and took the plastic skirt with it. I've replaced each blown tire with Goodyear Marathon's so the rear axle has two new GY's and now I'm going to replace the blown tire from last week and the one remaining Towmax but I'm unsure what to put on it. I've not had probs with the Marathon's but have read nothing good about these tires. I'm just exhausted with being along the road with cars wizzing by - the camper before this Jayco was a pop-up that I had 2 blowout on it - and want to good tire, would hate to have to take off the two new Marathon's.

Anyone have experience with some good tires in the st185/80r13 size? I did search on here and go through a bunch of threads but I'm looking for some new info on newer tires - some of the threads were old and the tires mentioned are no longer in production.

Thanks in advance! From my research, this is a big problem. These Chinese tires aren't holding up.

[h82crash]

Bionic Man wrote:


So, you are stating that trailer tires are the same quality as a P or LT tire?

There is NO WAY quality is the same between the tires.

I agree wholeheartedly. An ST tire is not rated to go on ANY drive wheel or steering wheel. It might last a couple hundred miles on a car or truck, but I doubt it. The sidewalls are thin and super soft. The only reason I can think of why an inferior tire is made for trailers is it costs less. Less to make and less to the consumer.

I had a 5vr that GVWRd at 11500 with 15 inch ST on it. Blowouts constantly. 4 failed on one trip and were new. Couldn't find a 15 LT in the size/load rating. Had the shop check on 2 occasions for alignment, brake, bearing issues and it checked ok. I crawled under myself and checked alignment and for bent axles and all was fine. No one could tell me why my tires failed. The only suggestion beyond IDK was an old experience RVr said "springs" after telling my tale. He said they were under rated for my trailer weight and the tires had to absorb all the stress. But I digress.

After getting rid of that POS, I got a 14,500 GVWR 5vr with 16" LTs. I towed that thing 5000+ miles across AZ at 70-75 MPH and never a failure. Will not buy ST tires unless I end up with a trailer that has 17.5" G rated.

[richclover]

Installed today, Goodyear Endurance:



Decent trade-in for Chinese LR C OEM tires w/400 miles. Manager says he'll sell 'em quick 😉

[richclover]

deleted

[richclover]

WillT wrote:
Northwood put the Goodyear Endurance ST225/75R15 Load Range E on our Nash 26N witch has an 8900 lb GVWR. So far I really like them and the fact that they are probably more than the TT needs rather than less like the Marathon load range C that our previous TT had. I really like not worrying about a blowout caused by an overloaded tire. The only drawback perhaps is that the 80 psi inflation does cause a rougher ride for the dishes.

These tires were recommended by my local Big-O tire shop today. I think my new Coleman TT will accept the slightly bigger diameter. Will check later this week, next time I hook up.

Manager says he'll give me decent credit for my original equipment Chinese Constancy LY 188 ST205/75 R15, Load Range C. He sells lots of trailer tires this time of year. We're on I-80. He says most failures he sees are due to age.

GY Endurance load range E tires are speed rated to 87 mph, US-made and 2833 lbs max load. I'll spring for a set.

OTOH, a buddy of mine has been towing heavy equipment, travel and light cargo trailers all his life. He's claiming over 100,000 miles on a set of cargo trailer Chinese ST's. Go figure...

[lenr]

Acknowledging that some ST tires have recently upgraded their rated speeds, I would much rather drive 65 mph on an LT tire rated for 96 mph than an ST tire rated for 65 mph. In addition we feel that an LT tire is going to handle the Indiana chuck holes much better than an ST. We also upgraded from range D ST to range E LT just for added capacity to handle road abuse--no abuse by me of course.

[richclover]

Lynnmor wrote:

“...That shackle failure was in the making for a long time, it was not a sudden break from the current road conditions. ...”

I will respectfully disagree. I never had a problem with shackles before. The tire failure and resulting drag, over a couple of miles of unimproved road was certainly the cause. The failed tire was left rear and the shackles were on the front of the associated spring, attached to the pivot connecting to the front axle. The rear axle spring, luckily, wound up solidly wedged on the trailer frame leaving adequate clearance for the left side tires. With spare tire in place, we slowly nursed the rig another 2 miles to a camp site, juggled various jacks and replaced the shackles.

Also the opinion of the local tire shop and NAPA, where I bought the replacement shackles for the “Good Sam” guy and spares for my tool kit.

PS take another look at my tire photo. It wasn’t rolling “free” .

[wnjj]

Bionic Man wrote:
So, you are stating that trailer tires are the same quality as a P or LT tire? No way you will convince me of that. I am more diligent about checking tire pressure on my trailers than my cars - tested every trip. And I won't run ST tires any longer than 5 years from manufacture. Yet I still have easily had 5 times the number of tire failures on my trailers than I have on my personal vehicles. Plus, I likely put 30,000 miles/year driving cars/trucks vs towing maybe 8000 miles in a year.

Coming home from the lake/camping yesterday I saw at least 3 trailers on the side of the road with tire issues, but I don't remember seeing a car/truck with the same.

There is NO WAY quality is the same between the tires.

The quality may or may not be the same but the number of observed failures on trailers doesn't directly prove the point. Trailers are exposed to more hazards than the cars/trucks due to their wider track and inside track on corners. They are less likely to be noticed if a leak develops since you cannot feel the low tire. They are also more likely to be overloaded than most vehicle tires.

[Lynnmor]

richclover wrote:


The latest, on the toy hauler last year, wasn't detected for a couple of miles. Traveling 10-15 mph and lots of dust. We found the likely puncture spot in spite of the damage. Left rear tire so the drag broke the spring shackles. A really "Good Sam" came along and helped Wife and I change the tire and figure out how to get the rig to the nearest suitable camp spot. He had a couple of spare shackles and helped me change out the busted ones.

My new TT has LR C tires, 50 psi, likely the cheapest to be found. I'll try them for a season or two, then get a good set of LR E, upper end.

That shackle failure was in the making for a long time, it was not a sudden break from the current road conditions.

[2edgesword]

I had a KZ Spree Escape (E204S) with a towing weight of 4,500 lbs on 13" wheels. I sold it with 7,800 miles on the original tires and they looked practically new (substantial tread, even wear and no sidewall cracking). Before a trip I always checked tire pressure, drive at 55 ~ 60 mph (no hurry to get anywhere while on vacation) and never had a blowout.

I'm wondering if there is something askew with the trailer what is resulting in an unusual stress on the tires and causing these blowouts.

[Bionic_Man]

Ralph Cramden wrote:

time2roll wrote:

vladio wrote:
I checked the pressure last week an hour before it blew, it was right on 50.

'blew' is a very generic term. Could have been a road hazard that reduced pressure until the tire over heated and let go. Then the tire is shredded beyond recognition so the cause is not found.

Couple weeks ago I picked up a screw. I was lucky to notice a bit of tire bulge at a fuel stop. Pressure was down from 65 to 35 in just a few hours. Another couple hours and the whole tire could have 'blew' with no fault of the tire.

And yes I have had a tread come off and another with the tread separating ready to come off. Both still holding full pressure and obvious poor quality tire.

Time2......you know how it goes by now on these boards.....its always the tires fault. Never is it low pressure for whatever reason, overspeed, overload, a curb clip, or constant pull overs on debris filled shoulders of the road.

Going by these RV board tire threads, and knowing that the vast majority of towable RVs have Chinese ST tires OEM, I can't figure out why I don't see 200 people or more pulled over with "blowouts" every Friday and Sunday all summer on a 10 mile section of road here. It feeds 2 state parks and half a dozen private parks from a PA turnpike exit.

So, you are stating that trailer tires are the same quality as a P or LT tire? No way you will convince me of that. I am more diligent about checking tire pressure on my trailers than my cars - tested every trip. And I won't run ST tires any longer than 5 years from manufacture. Yet I still have easily had 5 times the number of tire failures on my trailers than I have on my personal vehicles. Plus, I likely put 30,000 miles/year driving cars/trucks vs towing maybe 8000 miles in a year.

Coming home from the lake/camping yesterday I saw at least 3 trailers on the side of the road with tire issues, but I don't remember seeing a car/truck with the same.

There is NO WAY quality is the same between the tires.

[richclover]

profdant139 wrote:
Rich --

Where was this stretch of killer road? I intend to avoid going there!

For photos, life is so good now, thanks to our moderator, 1492. Just go to this link below, drag your photo in, and then copy the computer code that pops up. Then just paste that code into your message, and voila!

Heaven Bless 1492, who created this amazing photo posting app for us

A forest service road north of Cokeville, WY. Lotsa crushed rock, recently graded for log trucks. We'll not go that way this year. The new TT is 10 feet longer and meeting a loaded log truck is iffy at best. Mostly one-lane and not many places to turn out. ANY dirt/gravel, unimproved road is a hazard, but you knew that 😉

Thanks for the photo tip!

[pnichols]

Your 13 inch rims are the bulk of your problem, regardless of the brand tires you use.

Go to 15 inch rims if at all possible. 13 inch rim tires just plain rotate too much per mile while carrying your RV's weight. This high amount of rotations per mile results in an extremely high amount of tire sidewall flexing per mile.

Tire sidewall flexing creates heat in the tires and it's this heat that's causing the tire material to fail too often. This situation of course gets worst with faster tow speeds and in higher outside temperatures.

After going to 15 inch rims ... then use the best quality and highest load range tires you can find and afford.

[profdant139]

Rich --

Where was this stretch of killer road? I intend to avoid going there!

For photos, life is so good now, thanks to our moderator, 1492. Just go to this link below, drag your photo in, and then copy the computer code that pops up. Then just paste that code into your message, and voila!

Heaven Bless 1492, who created this amazing photo posting app for us

[richclover]

[img][/img]

Ralph Cramden wrote:

time2roll wrote:

vladio wrote:
I checked the pressure last week an hour before it blew, it was right on 50.

'blew' is a very generic term. Could have been a road hazard that reduced pressure until the tire over heated and let go. Then the tire is shredded beyond recognition so the cause is not found.

Couple weeks ago I picked up a screw. I was lucky to notice a bit of tire bulge at a fuel stop. Pressure was down from 65 to 35 in just a few hours. Another couple hours and the whole tire could have 'blew' with no fault of the tire.

And yes I have had a tread come off and another with the tread separating ready to come off. Both still holding full pressure and obvious poor quality tire.

Time2......you know how it goes by now on these boards.....its always the tires fault. Never is it low pressure for whatever reason, overspeed, overload, a curb clip, or constant pull overs on debris filled shoulders of the road.

Going by these RV board tire threads, and knowing that the vast majority of towable RVs have Chinese ST tires OEM, I can't figure out why I don't see 200 people or more pulled over with "blowouts" every Friday and Sunday all summer on a 10 mile section of road here. It feeds 2 state parks and half a dozen private parks from a PA turnpike exit.

Yessir, Ralph, not always the tire, Although, IMHO, a higher-quality tire will withstand punishment better. I've had 3 flats over the years. Rough forest service roads. One on the truck and 2 on a toy hauler. 2 were confirmed sidewall punctures. The latest, on the toy hauler last year, wasn't detected for a couple of miles. Traveling 10-15 mph and lots of dust. We found the likely puncture spot in spite of the damage. Left rear tire so the drag broke the spring shackles. A really "Good Sam" came along and helped Wife and I change the tire and figure out how to get the rig to the nearest suitable camp spot. He had a couple of spare shackles and helped me change out the busted ones.

While we were changing the tire a pickup stopped a short way up the road. 2 flats. The "Good Sam" guy had been camping in the area for a week. He said ours and the truck flat tires totaled 7 on that stretch of road. That he knew about.

My new TT has LR C tires, 50 psi, likely the cheapest to be found. I'll try them for a season or two, then get a good set of LR E, upper end.
PS I gotta figure out to post a photo!