Blow out on the freeway

[MCDenny]

Thanks for the comments so far. I've got a month with not much travel planned so have time to figure out a better plan.

I'm more concerned about reducing the probability of a blowout than what to do about a spare tire.


Denny Wolfe
Wanderingourway.wordpress.com

[LeonardS]

Did Walmart mount the tire? Maybe you can get them to buy it back, seeing as they should've known better than to mix tire types.


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[ThomKat]

Have you checked the speed rating of those tires? Many trailer tires are rated for 60 mph-
sometimes I see campers and other trailers zipping past on the freeway, only to see that same vehicle pulled over later with a flat. They are not the same as car tires- they heat up at 65 mph...
That being said, you have already learned that patch kits and fix-a-flat don't work when your whole sidewall is gone...

[Glenn Baglo]

If you are going to carry a can of fix-a-flat make sure it is stored securely. I had one go off in a bag of tools. Don't know if it got too hot or what happened, but I pretty much threw out the bag and contents.

[Mike Magee]

Pretty much the same thing happened to me. A tire that had been in use for just over 3 years, less than 4 years old by date of manufacture, blew on the freeway at about 62 mph last summer. It hadn't been repaired at all. I doubt the repair had anything to do with yours; I've had many, many tire repairs on my former tandem cargo trailer's tires and never a blowout. I think that any tire, regardless of brand or type, can have a dud occasionally.

[Darrell in Al]

I wasted both tires on my Scamp last spring one on way down and then way back. Birmingham AL roads. Running a "spare galvanized rim and tire" from Bass Pro. I got a lot of crazy looks with it on back of Jeep. Quality plug kit and air compressor in Jeep.
A tip for all double check jack and lug wrench for fitting under, on lug nuts and that it's accessible. Had to do fire drill..... drop trailer get out lug wrench, re-connect, pull up on blocks to get jack under axle, jack up, destroy tire cover, change tire.

I have and do use cruise control at times.... manual transmission 6 speed on flat terrain.

[Borrego Dave]

Good tips Darrell for having to use a jack and lug wrench. I've got one more to add. A long time ago after having new tires installed on a car I had a flat. I couldn't break the lug nuts because they had used an impact driver to tighten them. Yup, long before they started using torque wrenches. Luckily someone stopped and had a 5' piece of pipe in the back of the truck we used as a cheater bar. After that I always check the the lugs at home after getting new tires.
To add in with some others, I also tow with the cruise control and in overdrive with no problems. Just keep an eye on the tach and any hills coming up more than a small grade. Just don't see any reason for not using it when you got a 100 miles to go and it's pretty much flat. I don't think I've seen the rpms drop anymore than 100 up small grades. Just a little common sence to when it's time to turn it off and maybe drop a gear.

[scotty61]

Hi Denny... I know from experience that putting passenger vehicle tires on a trailer is a bad idea. Trailer tires are designed to have much stiffer side walls. We were towing our trailer with car tires on it, and we ended up with the trailer bouncing from side to side and with it getting progressively worse and worse. Replaced the tires with trailer tires and never had the problem again... even going up the same stretch of road in the same conditions.


Years ago, when I was young and foolish, I had put bias ply tires and radials on my car... it was almost uncontrollable at highway speeds. If you have a choice, NEVER mix bias ply and radials!

[Bobby Kirk]

Jim,
What is the problem towing using cruse control?
Bobby

[cpaharley2008]

I believe most transmission manufacturers do not recommend towing with cruise is that the extra load will cause frequent shifting, even up a slight incline and is frowned upon particularly downhill, it becomes dangerous. Another safety factor, you are towing the weight of another vehicle and you feet are nowhere bear the brakes nor gas pedal while cruise engaged. When towing in the tow mode you will have engine braking available as well as cooler transmission temperatures. That said, if you engage cruise control while in tow mode, you eliminate the engine braking capability. Your owners manual states to use D3 when towing and engaging cruise control prevents engine braking which you do want while towing a trailer. In summary, it is more of a safety factor. In addition the Toyota manual states not to tow over 45 mph, at any time. So there are several reasons.....

[papa-t]

I would never travel without a spare. Would carry two if traveling on a long long trip. Better to be safe than sorry.

[cpaharley2008]

"an ounce of prevention is worth,,,,,"
"Penny wise and pound........"

[floyd]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I believe most transmission manufacturers do not recommend towing with cruise is that the extra load will cause frequent shifting, even up a slight incline and is frowned upon particularly downhill, it becomes dangerous. Another safety factor, you are towing the weight of another vehicle and you feet are nowhere bear the brakes nor gas pedal while cruise engaged. When towing in the tow mode you will have engine braking available as well as cooler transmission temperatures. That said, if you engage cruise control while in tow mode, you eliminate the engine braking capability. Your owners manual states to use D3 when towing and engaging cruise control prevents engine braking which you do want while towing a trailer. In summary, it is more of a safety factor. In addition the Toyota manual states not to tow over 45 mph, at any time. So there are several reasons.....

Some good points there, but....
Just where do you put your feet while using cruise control??

Engine braking works anytime you lift, the cruise control lifts any time the speed exceeds the setting, ergo... engine braking works when the cruise control is on. A simple touch of the brake or clutch will disengage the cruise control instantly and there is an off button on the wheel (if your foot or hand is close enough to reach it)
On every car/truck I have owned, you can run cruise control in any gear as long as the speed is at or above 27mph.
In summary, cruise control mitigates fatigue and allows for better awareness of traffic, more of a safety factor.

Of course cruise control should only be used when it helps the driver to feel more in control, relaxed, and aware of his surroundings!

[MCDenny]

I checked the existing original tire - it was 3 yrs 7 months old. I'm assuming the blown one was the same vintage. Noticed too the tread was substantially worn off both edges. I've never run the tires under inflated and do the back-of-the-hand temperature check every time I stop. Never felt anything but warm.

Existing old tire.


New tire


Both were made in hard to pronounce Chinese factories.

I'm going to get another matching tire from Walmart tomorrow. Probably at this point I'll go through the winter on the two new bias ply tires then see if I can figure out something better next summer at home.

My tentative final solution will be to find 5 lug 5" bolt circle hubs that fit my existing axle so I can use the car spare on the trailer, then get 15 or 16" wheels and mount Light truck tires with the same approximate OD (30.6") as the car tires. I believe I can raise the weight carrying capacity of the tires by around 50% and remove the 65mph speed limit too.

Don't know if this will turn out to be doable at a reasonable cost but I really want to make the tires a lot safer and still don't want to carry a trailer spare.

Going to 30" ID tires will raise the trailer 2" - a good thing as I have already scraped a hole in the grey water tank backing over a low curb. New fenders will surely be needed but that doesn't sound too difficult


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[charlsara]

Denny,

The only thing I can add is on steel belted tires you should not use a inside patch unless it has a nipple coming through the hole to the outside. Water can migrate through the outside hole into the belts and rust them causing failure. That should not matter on fabric belted tires. I do carry a spare but that is a personal decision.

[charlsara]

My LIL Snoozy probably has Chinese tires. I planned on changing them at 6 years but now maybe 3. I wonder if you can even buy small trailer tires that are US made.

[mary and bob]

Originally Posted by charlsara

Denny,

The only thing I can add is on steel belted tires you should not use a inside patch unless it has a nipple coming through the hole to the outside. Water can migrate through the outside hole into the belts and rust them causing failure. That should not matter on fabric belted tires. I do carry a spare but that is a personal decision.

Exactly the reason we were not allowed to use those "rope type" plugs in truck tires, water infiltration. Of course truck tires generally get recapped a few times so companies want to extend the life as long as possible. We would drill out the puncture with a special tool, glue in a rubber plug, rough up the inside of the tire and apply a patch and then a sealer on that.

[Raz]

My previous trailer came with Trail America bias ply tires. After about 3 years they (both) started to delaminate. One section of tread was at least 1/2" higher than another. This happened within a few hundred miles. As far as I'm concerned we dodged a bullet. An internet search revealed little other than they were from China. I replaced them with a name brand radial ST tire (Carlisle). Buy good tires. It's money well spent. Raz

[Bob Miller]

If you look waaaay back in post #4, I posted a link to lots of posts about Trail America tires coming apart.


And, there was an article a few years back about Chinese tires being made with excessive amounts of recycled rubber, resulting in tread delaminatin.


If I was to buy Chinese tires I would first be sure that the brand name on it had some representation in the USofA and it wasn't some sort of house brand tire.

[jennykatz]

Denny I have the Trail America radial tires on my Snoozy I looked at the fenders and they can be raised about 2 in and no problems That might be enough for your Jeep spare?
My spare on my Toyota Sequoia is a 6 lug big enough for a 30 ft 5th wheel that had a flat and we used the Sequoia spare that helped my friend to a tire repair station that was closed on a 4th of July weekend. he bought a spare that fits his 5th wheel and boat trailer monday Am. Hopefully see you this week Jim