Tire Blowout
This past weekend we had two tires blowout on our way back from the Outer Banks. The same thing happened two years ago and at that time I replaced all 4 tires. So these on this trip were only two ye...
Forum Discussion
Keystone will provide tires on some models with load capacity that are loaded very close to the actual weight on them (total wt. minus tongue wt.). This may not be illegal, but it is plain wrong... You should have a min. of 10 percent reserve load capacity and 20 percent or more is better. If it has 14" LRC ST tires providing a total load capacity of 7040, I suspect that 2 or more will be overloaded. Before you even took it off the dealer's lot, I would have said it's a case of when, not *if* you will eventually have a blowout on this TT.
Their axles can also be loaded right up to their rating and be at risk of getting a bent axle. Look at the stickers on the axles and they will give you the rating info.
Internal heat will cause irreparable damage to an ST tire. It will happen over time and you won't necessarily be able to relate a failure/blowout to a particular trip. Besides towing above 65 mph, under-inflation and being overloaded will cause damage to an ST tire due to excessive internal heat buildup. A trailer can be quite a bit heavier on one side due to to a slide out and what's in it. That model of Passport has 2 slides on one side...
Tires should always be inflated to a "cold" psi. The morning is better and should be in the shade for at least 3 hours. NEVER let air out to reduce psi while on a trip. If elevation on a trip and/or the outdoor temp. changes a lot, you may need to add or bleed off some air to keep the tires at 50 psi before heading off in the morning. Tire pressure can go up a lot on a trip, but that is okay and normal. With that wt. of TT, you should have always kept the tires at 50 psi (on LRC) and nothing less and for LRD, 65 psi (unless you look up load rating data for the particular tire).
I highly recommend going to a scale and getting the actual TT weight, the tongue weight and side to side weight. That Passport TT has a CCC that is on the low side. It could be that you are at or over the TT's GVWR, especially if you travel with one or more full holding tanks. The GVWR is 7500 lbs (shipping wt. + carrying capacity) which seems low for a 33'-5" long TT. Our TT is 29' and weighs 7K lbs - one full holding tank will put it over it's GVWR.
I would replace the 14" wheels & tires with 15" and go with 225 wide (not 205) LRD ST tires to get 2540 lbs capacity per tire. LRE would be even better. Some will say that ST tires should never be used and you should have LT (light truck) tires but you will be looking at 16" wheels/tires and they may not fit. One key with ST tires is having as much reserve load capacity as you can so the tires aren't over-stressed.
Besides speed, under-inflation and over-loading with ST tires, you should not run over curbs and also should avoid road shoulders as you can pick up something that can cause a puncture. A big problem in the industry is that nobody tells you how to properly treat ST tires when you buy a new TT and then owners end up with blowouts for no apparent reason.
Please come back later and post what you do to address the issue.
Their axles can also be loaded right up to their rating and be at risk of getting a bent axle. Look at the stickers on the axles and they will give you the rating info.
Internal heat will cause irreparable damage to an ST tire. It will happen over time and you won't necessarily be able to relate a failure/blowout to a particular trip. Besides towing above 65 mph, under-inflation and being overloaded will cause damage to an ST tire due to excessive internal heat buildup. A trailer can be quite a bit heavier on one side due to to a slide out and what's in it. That model of Passport has 2 slides on one side...
Tires should always be inflated to a "cold" psi. The morning is better and should be in the shade for at least 3 hours. NEVER let air out to reduce psi while on a trip. If elevation on a trip and/or the outdoor temp. changes a lot, you may need to add or bleed off some air to keep the tires at 50 psi before heading off in the morning. Tire pressure can go up a lot on a trip, but that is okay and normal. With that wt. of TT, you should have always kept the tires at 50 psi (on LRC) and nothing less and for LRD, 65 psi (unless you look up load rating data for the particular tire).
I highly recommend going to a scale and getting the actual TT weight, the tongue weight and side to side weight. That Passport TT has a CCC that is on the low side. It could be that you are at or over the TT's GVWR, especially if you travel with one or more full holding tanks. The GVWR is 7500 lbs (shipping wt. + carrying capacity) which seems low for a 33'-5" long TT. Our TT is 29' and weighs 7K lbs - one full holding tank will put it over it's GVWR.
I would replace the 14" wheels & tires with 15" and go with 225 wide (not 205) LRD ST tires to get 2540 lbs capacity per tire. LRE would be even better. Some will say that ST tires should never be used and you should have LT (light truck) tires but you will be looking at 16" wheels/tires and they may not fit. One key with ST tires is having as much reserve load capacity as you can so the tires aren't over-stressed.
Besides speed, under-inflation and over-loading with ST tires, you should not run over curbs and also should avoid road shoulders as you can pick up something that can cause a puncture. A big problem in the industry is that nobody tells you how to properly treat ST tires when you buy a new TT and then owners end up with blowouts for no apparent reason.
Please come back later and post what you do to address the issue.
