Blow out on the freeway

[Terry G]

Perhaps unlike many of us, Jared is still employed. Even after my own five years of retirement, I can still remember how it was to only have two weeks to get somewhere, see it, and then rush back in time to be back at work on Monday morning. People who drive faster often have a reason and I think we have to respect that.

[Jim Bennett]

Moderator note:
People ARE allowed to post their thoughts, so please respect this, even if yours differ. Speak your piece, and move on, as we know that debate only leads to aggravation, and aggravation leads to us having to do more clean up.

Originally Posted by Terry G

Perhaps unlike many of us, Jared is still employed. Even after my own five years of retirement, I can still remember how it was to only have two weeks to get somewhere, see it, and then rush back in time to be back at work on Monday morning. People who drive faster often have a reason and I think we have to respect that.

Terry, this fits me to a tee too. When I can even get two weeks, I have learned that I much prefer to spend an extended time exploring one or two areas, and not just see the surface of lots of places along the way. If driving faster saves me even one night, it is great. When headed for a distant destination, I prefer to drive long days too, and getting there in good time feels like such a relaxing reward.

In saying that, I rarely exceed the speed limit by more than 10 mph, and only when traffic is generally doing the same, and seldom do I get up to 75 mph, but will if conditions are favourable for it.

[MCDenny]

Well I bought another identical wheel/tire from Walmart and put it on yesterday. Now I have two new matching bias ply ST tires.

I was shocked to see what my old "good" tire looked like after I took it off and could easily see everything:


Cheeses, I might not have made it another mile without a blowout!

Lesson learned, trailer tires need a lot more inspection than car tires. Checking pressure and a glance at the tread isn't enough.

As I read about many trailer tire failures I wonder if more careful inspection would have caught problems before they blew up on the highway. I'm certain, had I carefully inspected my tires before leaving Alabama last Saturday I would not have left with out new tires


Denny Wolfe
Wanderingourway.wordpress.com

[padlin00]

Denny, are these both the same tire? If so, how many miles between the 2 shots?

[MCDenny]

Originally Posted by padlin00

Denny, are these both the same tire? If so, how many miles between the 2

This is what was scary, it's the same tire with zero miles between pictures. First pic was before I removed the wheel, the second after I took it off and had a chance to look at it all over.


Denny Wolfe
Wanderingourway.wordpress.com

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by MCDenny

Well I bought another identical wheel/tire from Walmart and put it on yesterday. Now I have two new matching bias ply ST tires.

I was shocked to see what my old "good" tire looked like after I took it off and could easily see everything:
Attachment 79632

Cheeses, I might not have made it another mile without a blowout!

Lesson learned, trailer tires need a lot more inspection than car tires. Checking pressure and a glance at the tread isn't enough.

As I read about many trailer tire failures I wonder if more careful inspection would have caught problems before they blew up on the highway. I'm certain, had I carefully inspected my tires before leaving Alabama last Saturday I would not have left with out new tires


Denny Wolfe
Wanderingourway.wordpress.com

Gezzz is right! Although I probable would have been concerned with carrying on due to the condition of the tire in the first photo the state of it in the second photo is down right scary! How many miles between photo's?

Have you had a chance to weigh your trailer loaded up for camping - knowing trailers weight and in particular each sides weights might help shed some light as to whether or not your running with the right load rated tires to start with or if its an issue with the PSI the tires are being inflated to. If the tires and PSI your running match the weights of the trailer then I would start to wonder if perhaps it an axle issue and have it checked. I know someone who had a brand new popular fiberglass trailer that experienced unusual tire wear in the first year the trailer was on the road - tires replaced and it happened again - turn out the axle had been incorrectly manufactured - something was out by a millimetre or so that caused the problem. Axle replaced and all has been well since.

Checking your hubs and tires every time you stop for gas can help a lot with avoiding a failure while moving down the road. Its has saved me twice now. Once a wheel bearing failure - even though it was a brand new bearing and another was a tire that although it had lots of tread and even wear - I could see it was starting to fail between the treads after a particularly long day of towing on a less than smooth freeway.

[MCDenny]

Carol, see above, zero miles between pictures.

I give the tires and hubs a back of the knuckles heat check every time we stop. Never had a hot tire or hub.

I weighed the trailer ready for camping. 2850# total, 390# on the tongue. Inflation always at 50 psi so actual tire load less than 80% capacity.

Tires were 3.5 years old and had between 15,000 and 20,000 miles.

All I can figure out, besides I should have inspected them more carefully, is that they really did not have the ability to carry 1760# at 65 mph as it says on the sidewall.


Sent from my iPhone using Fiberglass RV

[honda03842]

There are a number of opportunities to check one's tires. Every year we rotate tires from side to side to balance the side to side differences. This provides an opportunity to compare wear.

We also regularly torque our tires, another opportunity. For example before we leave for Newfoundland we torque the tires. Before we leave Newfoundland to head home we torque the tires. Though this is probably excessive, it takes minutes and forces us to look at the tires. At the same time we reset tire pressure all around.

Like Denny, whenever we stop I do a walk around and touch every tire and wheel hub even though we have temperature and pressure sensors on the trailer's tires. To me the tires and ball connection are primary concerns.

[Timber Wolf]

Wow, that tire wear is scary. It does give one pause to think about one more thing on a possbily seldom used rig. You are hurrying around to get going on a trip and need to crawl under and inspect the tires. Humm, maybe one should wander out in the backyard BETWEEN trips and have a look see when one is not so rushed. Nahh, I won't remember either.

[stevebaz]

Did those tires have balancing weights on them? Were they 2 ply side wall 4 ply rated stamped on the side wall?

[Carol H]

Its the wear pattern that would have me worried. Under inflated for the trailer weight/tire spec? or perhaps the tires need balancing? I know the guys at the shop that look after my trailers tires do balance them although some here have suggested its not really necessary - can't see how it would hurt though.

A link to how to read Tire Wear may be of some help to you.

[Bob Miller]

A number of posts back I put up a link to "Problems with Trail America Tires" and there are huge number of reports about recalls and tire failures for this brand. It sound to me like a mfg./quality problem. If I had any Trail America tires on my rig they would be gone before my next trip.
A basic rule I follow is to: a) Avoid off-brand tires, Chinese or otherwise and b) Always Google an off-brand product before buying or if you are stuck with it, such as "It came that way", before using.

[MCDenny]

The tire that blew was balanced when it was repaired two yrs ago. This tire was not balanced.

It is two ply sidewall five ply tread.

Another defect I found on the inside sidewall

The obvious split extends about ten inches


Sent from my iPhone using Fiberglass RV

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

A number of posts back I put up a link to "Problems with Trail America Tires" and there are huge number of reports about recalls and tire failures for this brand. It sound to me like a mfg./quality problem. If I had any Trail America tires on my rig they would be gone before my next trip.
A basic rule I follow is to: a) Avoid off-brand tires, Chinese or otherwise and b) Always Google an off-brand product before buying or if you are stuck with it, such as "It came that way", before using.

Go to safercar.gov where you can search for actual recalls on tires.

Cant seem to find a recalls on Trailer America Tires although I see a lot of other brands of tires people use here have had recalls &/or lots of complaints filed over the years Perhaps one needs to know who (actual company name) that actually makes the Trail America brand to get a search return.

[steve dunham]

I have to agree with Floyd that the "Logan's Run " theory on tire replacement is questionable . If you read and believe the internet threads on trailer tires ,half of the trailer tires fail before they leave the tire dealers parking lot. Even the cheapest car tire appears to last longer than the best trailer tire . Quite a conundrum !!

[Bob Miller]

Here's the search I posted earlier.
https://www.google.com/#q=trail+america+tires+recall
I didn't dive into the specific links, but they seemed so numerous so as to grant some degree of creditability.

[OneOleMan]

Originally Posted by Terry G

Perhaps unlike many of us, Jared is still employed. Even after my own five years of retirement, I can still remember how it was to only have two weeks to get somewhere, see it, and then rush back in time to be back at work on Monday morning. People who drive faster often have a reason and I think we have to respect that.

Even when working a “Vacation” was just that, a time to relax and re-charge. My trips were planned; start at point “A” with the destination being point “B”. Seldom did I make it to point “B”, I was too busy having fun sightseeing and always seemed to run out of time before getting to point “B” but when I got home I felt like a new person. Heck, one trip it took me 8 hours to travel 150 miles.

[steve dunham]

It seems that many people are trying to use situational ethics to justify their driving at speeds above the posted limit . That logic does not compute in my world

[floyd]

Originally Posted by MCDenny

Well I bought another identical wheel/tire from Walmart and put it on yesterday. Now I have two new matching bias ply ST tires.

I was shocked to see what my old "good" tire looked like after I took it off and could easily see everything:
Attachment 79632

Cheeses, I might not have made it another mile without a blowout!

Lesson learned, trailer tires need a lot more inspection than car tires. Checking pressure and a glance at the tread isn't enough.

As I read about many trailer tire failures I wonder if more careful inspection would have caught problems before they blew up on the highway. I'm certain, had I carefully inspected my tires before leaving Alabama last Saturday I would not have left with out new tires


Denny Wolfe
Wanderingourway.wordpress.com

There is not much wear thickness or road distance between bald and belt on most tires.
The tire pictured appears to have been subjected to excessive negative camber.
Check the tread where there is some. If you find more than 5/32nds anywhere or if it is
progressively deeper as you move away from the exposed belt, then your axle may have been habitually overloaded or it is worn to the point of needing replaced.
If the good part of the tread is worn to less than say...4/32nds then it may be that your axle has some wear but is OK. A little negative camber wear can be tolerated since any trailer tire should be replaced when the tread wears to 3/32nds anyway.
Most will warrant replacement even sooner. With a little axle wear you can still get reasonable tire life and replace them when the inside tread reaches 3/32nds.
When this starts to happen too often, then it is time to consider a new axle.
If you use the "Logan's Run" method for tire replacement, then you could base your axle replacement decision on whether the inside tire wear commonly reached 3/32nds before your arbitrary time limit.


BTW I've seen plenty of tires on cars which were at least that bad, and the TPMS is no substitute for tire maintenance.

[padlin00]

Looks like those tires were a disaster about to happen, your blowout could have had far worse results. Did you get the new tires balanced? I found I had to ask them to do such, it was not standard.