maxxis trailer tires
Here's an update on a post I made in July about the Maxxis tires I bought for our TT. In March of 2011 I bought a set of Maxxis M8008 tires for our TT. I upped the size to 215/75/14 from the original ...
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Sometimes you do get a few bad ones.
I bought 4 new Maxxis tires in November 2011. When installed each was 6-18 months from manufacture. In the next 4000 miles/18 months they all failed, separated by at least 2 months and 600+ towing miles.
One deflated with a screw through the sidewall (screw from my own yard, my fault).
One blew spectacularly at speed (less than an hour from home after a 3 week/2200 mile trip), tore up a wheel well.
One threw all the tread (on the Interstate in Nashville; across 4 lanes to an exit) but remained inflated.
One showed a palm-sized bulge on my morning walkaround (Finger Lakes area, NY).
Replacements for the evil 4 above: 2 Maxxis, 2 whatever I could find on the road - one Towmaster and one Gremax.
In 40 years before 2011, I remember one trailer tire that blew – and was more than a decade old.
In the 5500 miles since May, zero tire problems.
Per CAT scales, the tires are loaded at 82% of capacity. I check tire pressure every travel day. Every couple of hours when we stop, I walk around with a thermometer and check/inspect each tire – that’s how I found the screw, and the bulge. The tires are stored outside and under load but covered. I drive at 58, almost never over 60. None of that has changed since 2010. I do check tire dates now, but none of the 4 above were more than 3 years old.
The tires that failed can’t have been in a bad batch: each was built in a different month. The two curbside tires went first; for a while I thought shoulder debris was the problem. The next two were the streetside pair. The trailer moved less than 600 yards on the blown tire.
I think sometimes something interesting happens to tires waiting in storage before sale. Maybe they bake in Phoenix too long. Maybe someone drove a forklift over these four.
Or, of course, sometimes the tire fairy just feels devilish.
I bought 4 new Maxxis tires in November 2011. When installed each was 6-18 months from manufacture. In the next 4000 miles/18 months they all failed, separated by at least 2 months and 600+ towing miles.
One deflated with a screw through the sidewall (screw from my own yard, my fault).
One blew spectacularly at speed (less than an hour from home after a 3 week/2200 mile trip), tore up a wheel well.
One threw all the tread (on the Interstate in Nashville; across 4 lanes to an exit) but remained inflated.
One showed a palm-sized bulge on my morning walkaround (Finger Lakes area, NY).
Replacements for the evil 4 above: 2 Maxxis, 2 whatever I could find on the road - one Towmaster and one Gremax.
In 40 years before 2011, I remember one trailer tire that blew – and was more than a decade old.
In the 5500 miles since May, zero tire problems.
Per CAT scales, the tires are loaded at 82% of capacity. I check tire pressure every travel day. Every couple of hours when we stop, I walk around with a thermometer and check/inspect each tire – that’s how I found the screw, and the bulge. The tires are stored outside and under load but covered. I drive at 58, almost never over 60. None of that has changed since 2010. I do check tire dates now, but none of the 4 above were more than 3 years old.
The tires that failed can’t have been in a bad batch: each was built in a different month. The two curbside tires went first; for a while I thought shoulder debris was the problem. The next two were the streetside pair. The trailer moved less than 600 yards on the blown tire.
I think sometimes something interesting happens to tires waiting in storage before sale. Maybe they bake in Phoenix too long. Maybe someone drove a forklift over these four.
Or, of course, sometimes the tire fairy just feels devilish.
