Single axle tire safety

[Bob Miller]

Can't say that is very good advice.... Good friends of our had a tire on an 18', single axle, Airstream blow out from old age (it was almost 11 y.o.) Started the trailer fishtailing, the driver lost control,. the trailer flipped on it's side and the tow vehicle left the road and was totaled..... Fortunately, other than two pairs of very wet pants, the couple suffered no real injuries and there was no collateral damage to others around them on the hiway.
That kind of accident is like landing a plane with the wheels up, it will ruin an otherwise perfectly good day.
Let's all be safe. If you don't know the birthdate of your tires, go out and check them today. It's not a plot by the manufacturers or the government, it's just plain safety. And, be forewarned, I am a real PITA on that topic

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

Can't say that is very good advice.... Good friends of our had a tire on an 18', single axle, Airstream blow out from old age (it was almost 11 y.o.) Started the trailer fishtailing, the driver lost control,. the trailer flipped on it's side and the tow vehicle left the road and was totaled..... Fortunately, other than two pairs of very wet pants, the couple suffered no real injuries and there was no collateral damage to others around them on the hiway.
That kind of accident is like landing a plane with the wheels up, it will ruin an otherwise perfectly good day.
Let's all be safe. If you don't know the birthdate of your tires, go out and check them today. It's not a plot by the manufacturers or the government, it's just plain safety. And, be forewarned, I am a real PITA on that topic

It's just plain safety to realize, as well, that a tire can fail anytime from the time of initial mounting, so however prudent it is to use the "Logan's Run" approach, it is certainly prudent to inspect them for defects and replace them when needed, even if they are practically new. Maintain your tire pressures and inspect your tires regularly. That is still at least as important as age disposal.
As the late Paul Harvey was prone to say...."Now you've heard the rest of the story"

[Bill MacDermod]

Originally Posted by john warren

god bless you for saying that.....from a fellow with a 23 y.o. brain that writes checks his 61 y.o. butt can't cash.

61 years huh???, like I said a young fella, when I turned 70 I still didn't mind a flat tire now and then, but at 75 I have to depend on reliability

[ruscal]

My newly aquired 16' 2003 Scamp's tires look new with no wear. I figured the previous owners didn't use the trailer much. The tires could be 10 years old though. The rubber is soft and semi-glossy, which means not much sun has shone on the tires. More than the age I am more concerned with the weight carried by the tires. My trailer weighs about 2750 loaded for camping. The tires if I remember right are rated for 1300-1400 lbs. This allows for no safety factor, or increased loading from cornering forces etc. I would feel better with a more robust tire for my rig. Rather than replacing the Marathons with like tires, I think I'll research some alternatives. Meanwhile I will be very careful checking the inflation, as soft tires build heat, and heat will fail a tire.
Russ

[honda03842]

Russ, here's our experience. I do realize tires are a touchy area on the site.

That's definitely a heavy Scamp. Ours weighs 2400 pounds loaded for 11 months of travel. We also have 13" Marathons. Though our Scamp is not as heavy as your Scamp my plan is to go to 14" tires when the tires are a little older to provide extra margin.

I keep the tire pressure around 46 psi. I also have tire pressure sensors and temperature sensors on my Scamp's tires. Tire temperature increase is a measure of how hard the tires are working.

I will say our trailer tire's temperature's do not go up as much as the tow vehicle's tires. Our tow vehicle's tires go up about 10 degrees higher than the trailer's tires.

Though our trailer weighs 2400 pounds, 200 of those pounds is not on the trailer's tires but rather the 200 pounds is on the ball.

We previously towed a Casita that weighed about what your Scamp weighs with 13" Marathons and had no problems.

[ruscal]

Norm & Ginny,
My trailer has most all factory options, plus a few added options by me. I am interested in 14" wheels and better tires if they will fit into the wheel wells. Your pressure sensors are a great way to keep tabs on tire conditions, as a low tire will fail at high speed. I inflate the trailer Marathons to the maximum cold pressure as I am interested in max load carrying and don't care about plush ride.
Russ

Originally Posted by honda03842

Russ, here's our experience. I do realize tires are a touchy area on the site.

That's definitely a heavy Scamp. Ours weighs 2400 pounds loaded for 11 months of travel. We also have 13" Marathons. Though our Scamp is not as heavy as your Scamp my plan is to go to 14" tires when the tires are a little older to provide extra margin.

I keep the tire pressure around 46 psi. I also have tire pressure sensors and temperature sensors on my Scamp's tires. Tire temperature increase is a measure of how hard the tires are working.

I will say our trailer tire's temperature's do not go up as much as the tow vehicle's tires. Our tow vehicle's tires go up about 10 degrees higher than the trailer's tires.

Though our trailer weighs 2400 pounds, 200 of those pounds is not on the trailer's tires but rather the 200 pounds is on the ball.

We previously towed a Casita that weighed about what your Scamp weighs with 13" Marathons and had no problems.

[Friz]

I've had 4 flats in 13 years of towing a Casita and every time I didn't know it was going flat until I saw bits of rubber flying off of it. Last one, I went 5 miles on the rim before I stopped and saw the tire was gone. With a full size p/u, aren't too scary unless it was in the middle of a sharp turn, etc.

Come to think about it, they were all on the passenger side. Too close to the curb? Running thru the debris on a right turn?

Went to 14" tires from 13", that helped a lot.