Tires after over 2 years sitting

[joebedford]

Today was the first time in over two years that our 5er moved. Normally, I'd do the wheel servicing but I decided that I'd rather pay somebody else to do it.

So today was a warm up for the hour long trip to the service centre in a week's time. All tires looked good but two of the six were down to 30lbs. The other 4 were down a bit to 65lbs which is what I'd expect.

I pumped them all up to 80lbs and will keep a close eye on the two leaky ones.

I'm pretty good at looking at a tire and being able to tell if it's down a bit but I think in this case the two other tires on each side were holding up the deinflated ones making them look normal.

The lesson I learned today is not to trust my eye - a gauge is the way to go. Also, I'm wondering why two of my six tires would go flat. Maybe in the rush to install them at the start of the pandemic they didn't get the rims clean?

The other thing we were trying today is DW's new trike and my bike - will they fit? I got them both in the toy hauler but I'm going to have to take the saddle bags and guards off my bike to account for sway going down the road.

[Grit_dog]

Now we're talking about replacing 2 year old tires and putting campers up on blocks if they sit un-used for a few months? LOL

[Grit_dog]

midnightsadie wrote:
are these tires sitting the sun? if so ,I,m replace them.but I,m sure others won,t.I had one blow on the road ,I won,t take a chance again.

Drunk post?
OP has 2 year old tires....

[way2roll]

How old are your tires? you stated this:

"Maybe in the rush to install them at the start of the pandemic they didn't get the rims clean?"

Which leads me to believe these were new tires installed in 2020 and are somewhere near 2-3 years old now. Normally this wouldn't be an issue if they were ran regularly but since they have been sitting and not moving, with weight on them for 2 years, and a few of those were underinflated they might be a hazard now. I would have them thoroughly inspected to see if there are any cracks or dry rot and not just on the sidewalls. Tires can develop dry rot cracks in the tread and are harder to see. And there still could be damage you can't see. Weight on an underinflated tire for long periods could damage the belts in the tire.

Hard pill to swallow but your "new" tires might need replacing. Or roll the dice.

I just had 2 blowouts on 3 year old tires. Granted they were cheaper tires but beyond the price of the tires is damage to the RV. And it is taking months to get parts like j wrap to fix it. Luckily the RV is still usable but it's very risky running suspect tires. I don't want to be doom and gloom, but after what I just went through I take the matter pretty seriously.

I have considered that if I need to leave my FW sit for more than 2 months unused I would pull the wheels, put the RV on cribbing and store the wheels/tires in my conditioned garage.

[JimK-NY]

midnightsadie wrote:
are these tires sitting the sun? if so ,I,m replace them.but I,m sure others won,t.I had one blow on the road ,I won,t take a chance again.

Covering tires or parking in the shade will not stop dry rot. I had a pickup tire under the bed of the pickup for 4 years. It dry rotted and had to be replaced. Sitting unused is tough on tires. Tires contain chemicals that work to the surface due to use. Those chemicals help prevent oxidation from air and ozone. If your tires have been sitting without use for a couple of years and are also 4-5 years old, it is time to replace them. Leaks are a whole other issue.

[MFL]

It would have been better for your tires to check them occasionally, while sitting for 2 years, and air them properly. Just towing the TH several times, over that period, would have been a good thing too.

Some wheels, by design seal better to the tires than others. The same for tires, some seal better to wheel lips. Many trailer wheels are not designed to the same specs as a car or truck wheel, which can cause a little air loss over extended time.

Good idea to check the 2 low tires going forward, for cracks, bulges, and air pressure.

Jerry

[jjrbus]

"experts" consider a tire run 20% under inflated to be run flat! A catastrophic failure can not only be very inconvenient but also do lots of damage! The most damage I have seen was on this site at $20,000! TPMS for me.

[midnightsadie]

are these tires sitting the sun? if so ,I,m replace them.but I,m sure others won,t.I had one blow on the road ,I won,t take a chance again.

[BarabooBob]

I installed a Tire Pressure Monitoring System on my TT & truck and will not tow without one ever again. I want to know what my pressures is at this exact time, not what it was last night when I LOOKED at them.
I paid about $400 for mine with 6 sensors but compared to body damage from a blow out, it was cheap.

[Lwiddis]

Were the tires covered during their two year vacation? I have never run a tire that didn’t “look good” by the way. Some weren’t good but they looked good.