tire blowouts

[Borrego Dave]

Not sure if this is the right place for this but has anyone ever noticed that when a tire comes apart it's always on the plumbing side ? Besides a tire it takes out all the black/gray water plumbing with it ? From the ones I've seen happen it's about 90% on the plumbing side, from bad to worse. Just tossing this out there.

[Bob Miller]

Can't say that I have noticed that, but I have noticed that tires that just "Come Apart" are usually well over 5 years old.... Just a hint?

[Borrego Dave]

That's probably correct Bob, I didn't ask anyone of them I saw. I have had two of my camping buddies have 1 and 2 year old tires come apart, both took the plumbing out, one had the steel belts do a job on the wheel well also.

[honda03842]

We've towed our Scamp 16 or equivalent for 7 years, averaging almost 8 months a year on the road.

We average lots of miles and drive some unusually rough roads. This week we drove a 130 mile road to Harbour Breton, NL loaded with pot holes. As well we've driven a 1,000 mile dirt road across Labrador.

We keep our tire pressures at max, 50 lbs and check the pressures regularly. We also change them after 3 years. We have always used Goodyear Marathons, though some knock them, we've never had an issue.

To help us monitor tire action we do have pressure and temperature sensors on both trailer tires and paranoidly touch tire and hub at every stop.

We are not the fastest rabbit on the track with 62 mph a top speed for us.
As well we tend to drive early in the day and rarely exceed 150 miles in a day.

On this trip we have picked up a nail in a CRV's tire. Our sensor instantly reported loss of pressure. We have carried a tire repair kit for our 13 years on the road and have used it 5-6 times to repair tires, important on some of the far out travels. (On the Harbour Breton road there was no cell service so no way to call for help though we have used our Tow vehicle/trailer AAA coverage in Canada with success.)

In our opinion trailer tires should last. Equally important is checking them often and buying the best ones you can. Can a blow out happen? Of course, all we can do is to try to minimize the chance of a blowout.

WIsh you safe travels without blowouts,

[Stretcher]

Originally Posted by honda03842

To help us monitor tire action we do have pressure and temperature sensors on both trailer tires and paranoidly touch tire and hub at every stop.

Norm,

Would you please describe the pressure and temperature sensors that you use?

Thanks,

David

[tractors1]

I use these guys:

Trucking System Technology |TST Trucking Systems

Charlie Y

[captsteve2002]

I don't have tire sensors, but check my tire pressure daily before getting on the road. I also sometimes check pressure during the day. I do check the hub bearing temps everytime I stop for either me or the dog. I did find a problem with one of the bearings before it got too bad. I also check the wheel lug nuts before each trip. Prevention is a lot cheaper than fixing things that have gone to far.

[honda03842]

We also check the lug nuts, particularly after we lost one on crossing Labrador. Our Honda CRV is 10 years old and does not have pressure sensors so we bought a Tyre Dog set of four sensors, 2 sensors on the trailer tires and 2 on the Honda's rear tires. It was not too expensive, in the $100 range. They measure pressure and temperature. Since technology moves quickly there may be better devices today.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Fiberglass RV mobile app

[Fran L]

Originally Posted by honda03842

...Tyre Dog set of four sensors, 2 sensors on the trailer tires and 2 on the Honda's rear tires. ...

Someone on the Amazon site reviewed these and said, in a similar setup with a Casita, that they had a problem in that the sensor alarms are set for all 4 tires and since the trailer tires were at different pressure than the tow vehicle tires it was less than ideal. How do you deal with that?

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by Fran L

Someone on the Amazon site reviewed these and said, in a similar setup with a Casita, that they had a problem in that the sensor alarms are set for all 4 tires and since the trailer tires were at different pressure than the tow vehicle tires it was less than ideal. How do you deal with that?

It's my understanding that the typical 4-5 post TPMS can't be "split" between tug and tow, especially if there are different pressures involved. Each vehicle should have its own, or a combined system such as the one mentioned by Tractors1 above. Here's another choice in that department: Tug plus tow TPMS

[Carol H]

Dave I have had two tire failures. Cant really call one side the plumbing side vs the other but I do know that one side (with fridge and stove and bathroom) is slightly heavier than the other. In one case (on the lighter side of the trailer) the tire treads started to crack and came apart (4 years old at the time). The one that went on the slightly heavier side I suspect but can't say for sure that the tire may have picked something up (had been running it on gravel road on Vancouver Island for about a month at the time). I didn't have the tire guys check it, as I just replaced both tires as they were 4 years old at the time & decided it wasn't worth fixing either way.

[Flharleycop]

How about the hot water heater isn’t it on that side too? Could the temperature of the heater being near the tire all the time cause a premature issue? I and just throwing it out there..

[honda03842]

Originally Posted by Fran L

Someone on the Amazon site reviewed these and said, in a similar setup with a Casita, that they had a problem in that the sensor alarms are set for all 4 tires and since the trailer tires were at different pressure than the tow vehicle tires it was less than ideal. How do you deal with that?

I choose Tyre Dog at the time, I'm guessing 4 years ago, because they were inexpensive and enough people said they worked on their cars.

I believe there's a high and low alarm. Our rear Honda CRV tires cold pressure is set at 39 PSI; the trailer tires are set at 50 PSI. We set the low pressure alarm at 35 PSI.

My tire dog monitor sets next to my ultraguage, both placed in the speedometer area of the Honda, neither is too large. I regularly glance at them. As we drive I can see the pressure and temperature increasing as the miles go by and the day's temperature increases.

We had a 'nail' flat this week and one of the Honda's tires beeped and flashed Lo P. I watched the pressure drop thru 32 PSI and knew we had a flat.

On really cold mornings the pressure sensor will go off because on cold days the inflated 39 PSI can become 35 PSI. However in a few minutes of driving the pressure gets above 35 PSI and the beeping stops.

It is also possible to defeat the fault beep which I sometimes do on cold mornings.

To read the temperature you need to push a button. I do it every now and then to see the trend, particularly if they're different from side to side. We did have a partial lock up of a brake once and the tire heated up and was visible on the Tyre Dog.

The fact that there's a 11 PSI difference between Honda tires and Trailer tires has not been a problem. (Admittedly we keep our rear and front CRV tires higher than most people who do not tow. I believe Honda suggests 26 PSI for non-towing driving. Our goal is to stiffen the tires hence higher pressure.)

All that said we have not looked at what's available in tire pressure sensors since we bought these. They have worked.

When we get a new tow vehicle this year we'll not need them on the tow vehicle because all new vehicles have tire pressure sensors.

[Borrego Dave]

Hi Carol, I only put this out there because the majority of the rigs Ive seen with a blowout took the plumbing with it. Almost like the tire was angry with ABS

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Borrego Dave

Hi Carol, I only put this out there because the majority of the rigs Ive seen with a blowout took the plumbing with it. Almost like the tire was angry with ABS

LOL Well in my trailers case it does have the sink and hot & fresh water tank on one side and the fridge/stove and bathroom on the other but I don't normally travel with water in the tanks and when I have had the axle weighed it does come out slightly heavier on the bathroom side. In the case of both tire losses neither was a blow out as I noticed the problem before they blow apart. I could see though if a really good blow out happened and if it went through the wheel well it would indeed blow out the hot water tank, city water connections etc.

[floyd]

Addressing the "Logan's Run" method of tire maintenance....
Assuming for the moment that most tire failures are the result of age, say five years then KABOOM!.
Why then is the solution to simply dispose of all these tires into landfills with 70% tread?
Why then has there been no demand or outcry for a better product?

The industry standard is a somewhat more reasonable ten years for carcass life before they refuse to remount.

I maintain that proper tire maintenance (pressures,and inspections) is far more valuable than holding a purchase receipt in one hand and a calendar in the other, then comparing one against the other.

The chance of longevity alone causing a catastrophic tire failure in the first ten years is no more likely than buying a defective carcass and experiencing a similar failure right away.

One more question...
What percentage of tire failures which are now blamed on age are really the result of low pressure or road hazard?
No one can say for sure... so better check the condition and pressure, as well as the age of the tires, of every bandwagon on which you choose to jump. (also the "gravitas" of the other passengers!)

[MC1]

Originally Posted by Borrego Dave

Not sure if this is the right place for this but has anyone ever noticed that when a tire comes apart it's always on the plumbing side ? Besides a tire it takes out all the black/gray water plumbing with it ? From the ones I've seen happen it's about 90% on the plumbing side, from bad to worse. Just tossing this out there.

It boils down to the use of ST trailer tires. There is a good chance that if you use them it's only a mater of time til you see the s*** fly.

Sorry. couldn't resist.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by floyd

One more question...
What percentage of tire failures which are now blamed on age are really the result of low pressure or road hazard?
No one can say for sure... so better check the condition and pressure, as well as the age of the tires, of every bandwagon on which you choose to jump. (also the "gravitas" of the other passengers!)

Floyd you raise valid points. I also think one of the questions should be how long has the trailer sat unused either in the hot sun or in a damp climate. I know that I do check the pressure on the trailer tires before every trip as well as while on the trip. I have them balanced and they seem to wear evenly... yet I had one of less than 4 years start to fail apart.... you could see it between the treads... no road hazards involved.

[Bob Miller]

No, no, no, the answer is for tire manufacturers to put less tread on ST tires so they do wear out in 5 years and you aren't throwing out good tread. LOL

Seriously, the average vehicle in CA is driven about 15,000 miles a year, meaning that a casing life of 5 years should be adequate. RV trailer tires are just an anomaly in the tire world.

[honda03842]

Our secret to getting miles out of our tires is to travel about 8 months a year, a solution we very happily live with.