Fed up with tire blow outs!!!

[rollindownthero]

I purchased a 2018 Prime Time Tracer 253Air in April. For Father's day my daughter got me a Good Sam membership with roadside assistance, thank God!

I have used the TT once a month since May. Have had 3 tires blow out, 2 just this weekend, Labor Day weekend. It has been 3 different tires, different positions on the TT. The TT has double axles. Labor Day weekend had one blow out on my way to my destination, then another one on the way home on Monday. The tires on the TT when I bought it are Towmax 205/75R14's. The TT is not overloaded as I only use it for weekends so just the minimum stuff needed. The guy that came to change it on Friday said I need to get either D or E load rated tires. Currently they are C rated. He said they are just to light of a tire for a TT. Saturday I got another tire however couldn't find a D or E rated one any where. So ended up with another C rated just so I would have something for a spare. Was told by several tire places that to get the D or E rated they would have to be ordered. So before my next trip going to be ordering 5 D or E rated tires and put them on. Hopefully this will solve the issue. If not don't know what else to do.

Has anyone else had this frequent of blow outs or is it just my luck?

BTW, I can't say enough good about the roadside assistance. After you call they get ahold of someone that's closest to your location. Whoever they get ahold of then send you a text message with approximate arrival time. Friday night they said within an hour, actually got there within 45 minutes. Monday they said within 35 minutes and got there within 15 minutes. So way to go!!!

One strange thing is that all 3 blow out have happened on the same Hwy within about 10 miles of the same spot. No work is being done to the road and didn't run over anything. Guess I should go a different route next time.

[Hannibal]

I do the same with LRE tires in place of LRD. 70 psi is good for the ride and extra capacity. With the primitive suspension our travel trailers have, tires are our first line of suspension. Too hard will beat the trailer unnecessarily. OP, ya done good! Watch those curbs and tire pressures.

[2112]

I was going to ask about tire pressure. Were you assuring proper pressure before each trip? Mine lose a little over time from sitting in the hot Texas sun.

I upgraded mine from LRD to Endurance LRE. D's max at 65psi while E's max at 80psi. I aired the new E's to 80 psi and it was like riding on basketballs. Way too bouncy. I have found 68psi provides the best experience for me. I provided you a load/pressure chart for a reason.

[rollindownthero]

Well the Goodyear tires are on. Only towed it from the tire place to where I store it, about 4 miles. No flat in that distance.....lol. My next trip is scheduled for first part of November, will have to wait to see what happens. I also ordered tire covers while not in use. The sun here in Florida eats away at everything! Where I got the tires they had a special that if you spent over $500 you got $100 off. So the 4 new Goodyear's were $500.

Yes I have 14" rims. Was told E rated tires are not available in 14". Same with light truck tires. Would have to go to 15" for those. That would have been another $500 or so to go to 15".

Hopefully I won't have any more issues. Will also be checking the pressure before each trip.

[aftermath]

To the OP, glad you got this figured out. You will be happy with the New Goodyear tires.

In the first 5 or 6 replies no one talked about the load range of your original tires. They were quick to talk "China bombs" as if this was the issue. I purchased a new Starcraft hybrid back around 2005 and it came with LRC Carlisle tires. The maximum payload of the tires was just slightly above the GVW of the trailer. Very close, almost no cushion. I lost a tire soon. It was NOT the country of origin that was the issue it was the poor match of tire to trailer.

When people say "air them to the max" this only is true if you have a low payload capacity. To get the maximum payload you have to have the max air pressure on the side of the tire. Anything less will cause the tire to flex which builds heat which weakens the tire which....well you know all about what happens next. I now have an Airstream and run LRE tires which might be a bit of overkill. They are the Carlisle HD Radials and have been fantastic tires. Over 20K miles on these and after I set the PSI to 70 in the spring, I usually don't have to adjust them. The LRE gave me tires with speed rating of 81 MPH, with max inflation of 80 PSI. I will never go 81 and I don't inflate to 80 but I do like the cushion of safety.

I prefer ST tires. They are designed for trailers and have stronger sidewalls which help deal with the flexing they get when turning tight corners and backing up. Dragging tires in camping spots does stress the sidewalls. Again, the most important thing when it comes to tires is to make sure you have a load range sufficient to carry the weight of the trailer with a good amount of cushion. Best wishes.

[StirCrazy]

dont know if it has been asked or not, but what valve stems were in the rim. as in were they rubber or metal valve stems?

Steve

[whjco]

bgum wrote:
That's why they are known as China bombs. You can also consider light truck tires. Whatever inflate to max when cold. If you go with trailer tires go to E rated.

He says that he has 14" rims. I think that the max rating he can go to is D rated.

[FlyboyTR56]

JIMNLIN wrote:

A common missed thing about multiple blowouts on tandem axle rigs usually starts with minimal tire capacity. When one blows out, all the weight is instantly transferred to the one remaining tire. Which is now grossly overloaded.

"Grossly overloaded".....This is a common statement we see on mostly rv websites. There is a small amount of transferred weight but not enough for a gross overload.
If the tire that lost its pressure and has been ran flat long enough it will shred from rolling on the pavement... and can slap/beat the other tire with steel tread belts causing cuts/bruises which can lead to issues down the road.
If the operator hasn't paid attention in his mirrors or running at nite and can't see in his mirrors the flat tire can run long enough to grind the tires sidewall away as its rolling all the way down to and including the trailer wheels rim which will also grind down, as its rolling, and on down to the wheel centers. With no load on the ruined wheel then the good tire is taking all the flat tires load.
When I was pulling for a living I've seen this happen mostly at nite with aluminum wheels. They won't throw a spark shower like steel wheels so the driver can miss the event that he would have seen in daylite.

Excellent point! All these years and I never really thought about a tire coming apart doing damage to the other tire! I could see where that could be possible.

[ppine]

Buy some better tires with a higher rating.
Slow down.
Add some air pressure.
Blow outs, say more than one every 5 years is not normal at all.

[RidgeRunner24]

Last trip had 2 flats,limped in to a gas station with tire thumping. Bough 4 new tires. At camp ground next day, new tire was flat. Took it in for repair and no problems found, seal or some debris in valve stem, go figure!
Carry a good bottle jack.

[JIMNLIN]

A common missed thing about multiple blowouts on tandem axle rigs usually starts with minimal tire capacity. When one blows out, all the weight is instantly transferred to the one remaining tire. Which is now grossly overloaded.

"Grossly overloaded".....This is a common statement we see on mostly rv websites. There is a small amount of transferred weight but not enough for a gross overload.
If the tire that lost its pressure and has been ran flat long enough it will shred from rolling on the pavement... and can slap/beat the other tire with steel tread belts causing cuts/bruises which can lead to issues down the road.
If the operator hasn't paid attention in his mirrors or running at nite and can't see in his mirrors the flat tire can run long enough to grind the tires sidewall away as its rolling all the way down to and including the trailer wheels rim which will also grind down, as its rolling, and on down to the wheel centers. With no load on the ruined wheel then the good tire is taking all the flat tires load.
When I was pulling for a living I've seen this happen mostly at nite with aluminum wheels. They won't throw a spark shower like steel wheels so the driver can miss the event that he would have seen in daylite.

[FlyboyTR56]

I have become a big believer in the Goodyear Endurance ST tire. I have over 25k miles on them in the past 24 months. We also used them on previous travel trailer (much heavier) with no problems.

A common missed thing about multiple blowouts on tandem axle rigs usually starts with minimal tire capacity. When one blows out, all the weight is instantly transferred to the one remaining tire. Which is now grossly overloaded. Depending on how long it gets pulled before the driver realizes something isn't right...causes the tire to get hot quickly. Now you put on your spare and the next surprise is when the over-worked/loaded tire blows out.

Yes....go to a D or E rated tire. Let your tire dealer order them if needed.

Check your air pressure EVERY morning!

At every stop quickly lay your hands on each axle hub and the tire...get a feel for what is normal. Using an infrared thermometer is also a good thing. When we stop, my wife checks with the thermometer and I check with my hands. Double insurance.

Buy a quality tire pressure/temperature monitor so you can see what your trailer tires are doing. Most blowouts don't occur without something leading up to the event...loosing pressure and tire getting hot.

FlyboyTR56

[JRscooby]

2112 wrote:
Congratulations on your purchase. Money well spent.
Below is the inflation chart for your new tires.

On a vehicle you are riding in, I can see lower pressure for smooth ride. For a trailer, put them to max.

[Grit_dog]

^ And to that, I would not just replace a tire because it was "overloaded" for say 30 seconds while getting pulled off the road after a blow out.
Different story if the blowout isn't noticed and the trailer runs some distance on 1 tire.

[LarryJM]

dodge guy wrote:

LarryJM wrote:

dodge guy wrote:

lane hog wrote:

rollindowntheroad wrote:

All 3 tires did not blow at the same time. The first to go was the driver side rear. This weekend the passenger side rear blew on my way to the campground. On my way home the passenger side front went. Each time I heard the tire pop I pulled over immediately.

Yep, and when the drivers rear went out, you immediately overloaded the other three tires. Repeat for the other two losses -- the remaining tire on that side

Doesn't matter how quickly you reacted -- they still had to carry extra weight, and suddenly at speed.

Unless they are torsion axles not true. A standard trailer with an equalizer between the springs distributes the weight between the axles evenly, that's why it's called an equalizer.

However, the range of the equalizer function IMO won't compensate for for the loss of a tire nor is it designed to do so.

Larry

The distance the axle can move is quite a bit more than height of the sidewall of a tire.

Again my previous statement clearly has the caveat IMO in it since I'm no expert and I don't see how that small "equalizer triangle that connects to two axles springs together would allow that much movement to ensure that each ground contact have equal weights on them. I just know I sure would not assume to be the case and I would still replace tires in pairs because of the excessive overloading should you loose one tire on a side of a tandem axle trailer.

Larry