Multiple Tire Blowouts

[ItsMeCarlos]

Hi all!

Noobie to the forum but have been lurking for a while.

Thanks for all the info you all share in this forum. It helps a lot more people that you know.

So I have an issue....

We own a 2017 Forest River Salem 30KQBSS TT. This is our first RV and we love it.

We usually just go up the road to Orlando maybe 2-3 times a year. This is just shy of 400 miles round trip.

During the summer of 2018, we make our 4th trip to Orlando and we get our first blowout on the passenger side. These were the original factory tires (I do not have the tire info on hand). The tires probably had around 1400 miles on them.

A little bit of background, I am very meticulous when it come to towing safety. I have towed in the past. I check all air pressures, inspect all tires, grease, lube, etc, etc... The tires looked in good shape.

Back to the blowout, I change the tire and I see the tire behind it (non blowout) has some of the steel threads embedded in it from the blowout tire.

I decided to change it out also as a safety precaution. Luckily I carry two spares.

It caused a lot of undercarriage damage as well as fender damage but I was able to duct tape and tie wrap everything so I can get back on the road. It was a mess.

We get to our destination and had roadside come and replace one of the tires since I now had no spare.

So now I had one spare tire on (can't remember the make), one new tire that roadside installed and the two original tires that came with the TT.

Made it home with no issues.

Before our next trip I installed two new tires. This time I purchased Load Range E tires. Originally all the tires before were Load Range D tires so I figured I would go with a higher range tire.

All my tires up to that point were Load Range D as per the manufactures recommendations.

I install my 2 new E tires (1 on front passenger, 1 on front driver) and I install my newer tire (roadside assistance replacement) as well as my newest spare tire.

Fast forward to this July 2019 (6th trip). This would be our second trip since our last blowout (about 500 miles on the new tires). One hour into our trip we get a blowout on the drivers side, rear tire. This was a load D tire. I replace it with one of my spares (Load D). It was another mess but got back on the road and finally made it to Orlando from Ft. Lauderdale.

Same trip driving back home (remember, this is a 200 mile trip one way), I get a low air pressure reading from my new wireless TMPS system I had purchased before our trip. On a side note I highly recommend one of these. It gave me peace of mind.

I pull over and sure enough as the TMPS said my passenger side rear wheel was way low on air and it was (air leak). This tire was also a Load D tire. Down to my 2nd and last spare, I change it out. This tire is also Load D.

Get back on the road.

About an hour later BOOM! Tire I just replaced blows out! @!%#%

Luckily it happened next to the rest area.

With no spare tires left, I call a local, mobile tire repair shop.

While I was waiting for him I'm trying to figure, 1. What the heck is going on. 2. I still will not have a spare if it happens again.

I called the tire guy before he got there and I told him to bring me two tires.

Gentleman comes out and replaces the blowout and the last remaining Load D tire with a Load E as per his recommendations.

A couple of hours later we (wife, our two kids and our dog) get back on the road. We made it home with no more issues.

Any ideas what can be happening?

I'm thinking of weight issues, so I looked at the manufactures weight and tire info on the trailer.

The GVWR is 9699 lbs.

On the tire and loading information sticker, it says " The combination weight of Cargo should Never Exceed 2731 lbs."

There is another yellow sticker that is labeled Recreational Vehicle Trailer Cargo Carrying Capacity that states the same thing. "The weight of the cargo should never exceeded 2731 lbs."

So am I missing something?

There is no way I am carrying more that 2,700 lbs of stuff in my trailer. Clothes and food for 7 days, games and the kids scooters, etc should be no where near that. I know, I should take the trailer to a local scale to know for sure.

So if by the manufactures numbers, GVWR 9699 lbs. plus Cargo 2731 lbs. totaling 12.430 lbs. can be safely towed.

Now here is the kicker, the tires that came with the trailer and the tires that are recommended from factory are Load Range D tires. Load range D tires have a max load 2540 lbs. per tire. My trailer is a dual axle (4 tires), so the total of the max weight for the tires should be 10,160 lbs. This is almost the weight of the TT without anything in it!!!

As per the TT label I should be able to load another 2700 lbs but there is no way these factory tires are manufactured to hold this.

So, am I missing something?
Am I reading the label wrong?
Did the manufacture mess something up?

Six tires on a two and a half year old TT with around 2700 miles.

I am in the process of contacting Forest River but I wanted to get some advice before I do.

Sorry for the long read.

I look forward to hearing your replies.

Thank you in advance!
Carlos

[twodownzero]

JIMNLIN wrote:

1. Find out your loaded weight to make sure you are not exceeding GVWR

Actually on a rv trailer its the axle load rating (tire..wheel...suspension...axle) we don't want to exceed.

A GVWR on a RV trailer can be the sum of the GAWRs plus hitch weight that the tow vehicle carries.

Weighing is a good idea on a truck trailer combo for a GCW. However the driver will need to know if a tow vehicles steer...drive...or trailer axle rating isn't over loaded.

When you weigh a trailer, the trailer axles go on a separate scale from the truck itself, which has separate scales for steer and drive. In other words, you'll have answers to all of those questions (GVW of tow unit, GCW, and axle weights for each truck axle and the trailer axles).

[JIMNLIN]

1. Find out your loaded weight to make sure you are not exceeding GVWR

Actually on a rv trailer its the axle load rating (tire..wheel...suspension...axle) we don't want to exceed.

A GVWR on a RV trailer can be the sum of the GAWRs plus hitch weight that the tow vehicle carries.

Weighing is a good idea on a truck trailer combo for a GCW. However the driver will need to know if a tow vehicles steer...drive...or trailer axle rating isn't over loaded.

ST tire failures??
I could write a good horror story about them when I was hauling for a living.
Most ST tire per rv trailer owner I've seen was a member on our TH forum. He had 11 Maxxis ruined in a 3 year period before he switched to LT tires. No issues after that.

[mlh]

In my opinion, I believe a lot of the China Bomb posts lately are caused by using tires that can't handle the weight. (Maybe the user is overloading the TT, maybe the factory installed too low of a load range tire) Since most of the TT's come with the china made tires, there are a lot of them out there. That means a greater number will fail when you are talking percentages. When they fail, all people hear are "change to good year endurance." When they replace tires, most go to load range E and above and no other issues. I'd be willing to bet that the load range fixed the issues and NOT the fact that it was a Good Year endurance tire. But....everyone has their own kool-aid to drink.

[mtofell1]

While I am generally on board with the whole, "China tires are terrible," thing, OP's experience is pretty amazing even for those standards. 6 blowouts in 2 years? I'd definitely look at the weights as well as the brakes to be sure they aren't locking up as someone mentioned.

[KM_Rolling]

It seems to have been narrowed down to 3 things-

1. Find out your loaded weight to make sure you are not exceeding GVWR

2. You may have had older and/or bad tires. Just because the trailer was only 2 years old does not mean the tires were only 2 years old.

3. Driving faster than the tires are rated for seems like a surefire way to have a failure.

Sharp turns should not cause a tire failure...hitting curbs, yeah, sharp maneuvering, no.

[ItsMeCarlos]

Thank you all for your replies and knowledge on this topic.

I really don't want to make this a China bomb thread and I apologize if I did. I'm sure everyone is tired about the same thing over and over.

I NOW know how to correctly read the GVWR and understand it. I was a bit confused but thank you for the clarifications. I will run it over a scale to know for sure and take it from there.

I just felt that in 2 years and 6 blowouts/flats later something else has to be the issue. Maybe also thought the Forest River might have to blame since they have had tire issues and recalls in the past. Just for clarification, I can not find any recalls on our model.

Many have asked about my speed, I usually travel around 65 mph, 70 if I need to pass. These D tires are rated for 65.

Someone asked about the breaks maybe dragging. I currently have the trailer on jack stands to keep weight off the trailer (just trying something different) and all 4 spin freely.

Someone asked about tire pressure, I keep them as per the tire manufactures recommendation. D tires I keep them at 65 psi, my new E tires at 80 psi. I check them before each road trip religiously. I carry a small compressor with me and fill as needed.

Also axle misalignment was brought up. Good idea! I have had tire failure in all 4 mount locations. If the axle was the case, wouldn't it just happen on the same tire constantly? I will still check it out. I guess the best way to do that is measure axle to axle on both side (driver/passenger) and the measurement should be pretty close to each other.

Someone also asked about potholes, curb and tight turns. No curbs, I don't drive like a maniac, I know the stretch of this road by now, to the point I know which lanes I should avoid do to the bad condition of it. Tight turns, the answer to that is yes. I have thought about this. This is the reason I now leave it on jack stands, tire off the ground. I am able to park it at home, to get in and out it is a tight squeeze. I do need to make a sharp turn to back it in. After I do back her in, I usually go forward and reverse a few feet to try and get that strain of the tires because of the turn. This has always stuck in my head as to maybe the cause, but then I think, if I always backup the same exact way when I park it, would the tire failure be in the same location? Maybe I just over think sometimes. Anyways, will see how she does with the tires off the ground next trip.

Someone asked about the tire heat. Like I mentioned, this last trip I installed a TPMS. The system also lets you know the temperature of each tire. I was watching this religiously. Right before one of the blowouts psi was at 68 and temp was at 104. I watched them the entire trip and no tire went above 106.

Also someone asked about the TPMS I purchased. This was my first time using it and I was happy with it.There is about a 6-8 second delay by the time the system picks up the signal reading. I know this because I heard the blowout first and it took a while for the alarm to go off on the systems headset. I did some research before buying this unit. One was that it reads over 80 psi. Some other systems out there do not. Has temp reading. Range was good for as per the reviews (from my trailer tires to the cab of my truck is about 37'). Another nice feature is you can set alarms for high and low PSI as well as alarms for temprature. Finally, the price was right for me at $70. Here is a link if your interested at the one I purchased. ***Link Removed*** Sorry, I can't add the link for some reason. I got it off Amazon, it's called CACAGOO Wireless TPMS Tire Pressure Monitoring System.

Thank you again for everyone's input, I greatly appreciate it.

I now have a few things to look into.

Stay safe,
Carlos

[dtappy3353]

Carlos...what was the TPMS you eventually installed? I am interested in purchasing one. Thank you.

[twodownzero]

What you are experiencing is exactly why I tell people on here do not buy tires made in China. They have no meaningful quality control and are garbage. I bet if you buy some Goodyear Endurance tires and keep them aired up you will not have any more problems.

[time2roll]

Carlisle makes six different trailer tires.
I would only use the Radial Trail HD with a speed rating at 75+

https://www.carlislebrandtires.com/our-products/product-detail/radial-trail-hd

[theoldwizard1]

campigloo wrote:
I’m on my third set of Carlisle radial trails.

Carlisle ! NEVER AGAIN !

Admittedly these were not radial, but both tires on a new boat trailer failed (total thread separation) within less than 2 years.

I replaced them with Nankook (NOT Hankook) bias tires. Used them for over 8 years. Not made in the US or China, but they were fine.

[Buckeyeclan]

Any hard turns manuvering in or out of storage? Tight turn are very hard on the tires on a twin axle

[marcsbigfoot20b]

What was the max pressure stamp on the side of the original D tires?
What PSI did you run those tires at?

I only ask because I saw a thread somewhere a guy was running 35 lbs in his D tires because the sticker said so.

[jjj]

As others have stated use a good quality American or other trusted tire. I just recently had problems with Michelin ms2 truck tires on my fiver with sidewall cracking at 6 years. I had a none brand tire named Tacoma usa tires that went 8 years no problems and no cracks. I had 10 year old Yokohomas on my truck with no cracks or problems. I now have a bad taste in my mouth about Michelin and will never use them again. I am going to try the Goodyear endurance or the Saliun tires next. My brother has been using the Goodyear endurance for a year now with no problems. Just use a good quality and trusted tire brand.

[KM_Rolling]

As others have noted, your total weight, including everything you're carrying (which includes water-fresh, gray & black) should not exceed your GVWR, which is a tad under 10,000 lbs.

Many things, as already noted, can contribute to a tire failure.

Being overloaded is easier than you think. Go across a CAT Scale to find out.

Another big thing is speed. Find out the speed rating of your tires. Some trailer tires are rated above 65 (75), but most are 65. I see folks regularly running faster than their tires are rated for.

Low psi, but you have your TPMS, so that should not be an issue.

Sounds like none of your E tires have failed, so you may have found the solution.

Edited to add: Meant to include. On my previous trailer I ran OEM, Made in China, Castle Rock tires. Kept them at Max recommended PSI, trailer was always loaded within 200 lbs of the max GVWR, never exceeded the speed rating of 75 mph, and ran them for a bit over 20,000 miles without a single issue. Still had good tread when I sold the trailer earlier this summer.

I was concerned with everyone talking negative about "China Bombs", but my experience was not bad. The majority of my travel was in mid 80 to mid 90 degrees, and some in 100+ degrees. Additionally we traveled some really bad roads with a lot of very bad potholes. I was very impressed with how they held up.

On our new trailer we have the same China Brand tires. Less than 2,000 miles on them. We'll see how they hold up.

[campigloo]

I’m on my third set of Carlisle radial trails. They’re 10 ply, wear evenly and run cool at around 65. I’m not sure about truck tires on a TT, some say the side wall on the truck tire is not stiff enough for the squirming that trailers inflict. Just don’t know but you might want to keep it in mind. Had you run over something while towing? Maybe a curb or a really nasty pothole? That damage can hide for a while. If your trailer sits for months at a time that can also cause problems. Keep them inflated to 80.
Good luck!