Tire blow out question

[PJ47]

Had a tire blow out in Wyoming (it was 100 degrees that day). We are getting broken in now with our 2014 Parkliner. USAA Roadside assist sent us a 15 yo (father was fishing
in SD) to take the tire off (rubber was everywhere and it was so low my husband could not get under it to properly place the jack).

We had the trailer and tires inspected prior to leaving home and thought all was OK. Tires were 2.5 years old and not a lot of milage on them.

Anyway my question is we got a spare in Bozeman at Tire Rama and I told the fellow we needed 205/75/R14 prior to going there. I asked him to put the new tire on the rim if it was ok and it was and I asked him to put it in place of the spare which never had been used and looked brand new. He said since the tires were the same tread we should keep that one on and he put the new one on the back of the trailer as the spare.
Just looked closely at the tire and it is a 205/75/R15! Is this a problem if we need to use the spare? It is an R15 instead of an R14. Don't know why he sold us the wrong size.

Also, is it normal for a tire to blow when it is not very old? Our trailer was not loaded down at all.
PJ

[floyd]

This will likely start a storm of noise about tire pressure, but the most common cause of catastrophic tire failure, (perhaps after road hazard) is under inflation, especially on extremely hot pavement.
Still, a tire can fail from inherent defect when brand new, which could show up only under extreme conditions.
While there is some merit to the idea of aging out a tire, setting that age too early can actually increase risk of tire failure due to the increase in the possibility of encountering manufacturing defects.

[mary and bob]

Did he put a 15" tire on a 14" rim ?? That is not acceptable at all.

[PJ47]

Just took off the cover and looked again and it is a 14 not a 15 which is what the invoice says.
As far as the tire pressure our tires were inflated to 48 PSI and the recommendation was for 50 PSI but we thought that may be a bit too high for the hot dry weather we were going into?? No idea if that was rational?
PJ

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by PJ47

As far as the tire pressure our tires were inflated to 48 PSI and the recommendation was for 50 PSI but we thought that may be a bit too high for the hot dry weather we were going into?? No idea if that was rational?
PJ

I'd be more concerned about an underinflated tire in this case. A properly inflated tire runs cooler. An underinflated tire means more friction, and more heat buildup. But, 48 psi is fine if the spec is 50.

[Glenn Baglo]

You might want to ask the dealer how much a 15 costs versus 14. Maybe you paid more than you should have.

[PJ47]

Will have to call and ask. We were charged $89.
PJ

[Raspy]

Patti,

I don't think it was caused by the pressure or the age. You probably have one of the controversial brands of trailer tires. This has been discussed a lot here and there are different opinions. But it seems clear that some tires fail much more often than they should.

Do some searching on various sites about your experience and your tire brand. You'll see what I mean.

Putting the spare on, even though it has good tread, could be asking for more trouble. It might be much older than the other two. Look for the 4 digit code imprinted in the sidewall, which is the week and year of manufacture.

My opinion, for what it's worth, is don't run cheap ST tires on your trailer.

You might consider getting a cheap, small, aluminum hydraulic floor jack to carry with you. It sucks to be stuck in the middle of nowhere and not be able to change a tire. These floor jacks will go down to about 3" and will get under the axle.

[Glenn Baglo]

Patti,

It you do a Google search, you can find people complaining about any brand of tire. Mostly, it has nothing to do with tire brand, and everything to do with owner error, improper tire pressure, etc.
Some think there is a conspiracy by the tire manufacturers ( all of them ) to make inferior tires and label them ST. I tend to think that those thousands of R&D engineers employed by those companies know what they are doing. Or, at least know more about tires than people who post on the internet.
Ask yourself if it makes sense that these manufacturers would design a cheap tire that sells for less money and less profit, or a tire designed for the application?

[Carlcivi]

I had a tire go on a 2014 scamp in 2015, tire pressure was checked before we left and brought up to 50 psi. DiD not go over 60 mph at anytime and was an hr. and half out on road. Tires had less than 3000 mi. On them . Go figure. Carl

[Borrego Dave]

Bummer with the blowout Patti and you don't mention any TT damage so that's a plus. Most of the times I've seen or heard of blowouts on an RV it always takes out the plumbing too. Any posts of tires always seem to go sideways, pressure, ST/LT, load ratings ect so no comment from me on those. I will say that after towing for most of my life, up to 50K # and living in the desert with months of 100+* days, I've never had a flat that wasn't caused by anything other than a road hazard. Did you get a chance to look the tire over for a cause? Interesting side note, with tandem axles the first tire kicks something up and the rear one gets punctured.

[padlin00]

I had similar this past winter. Aired up the tires the day before heading south in December, also had the tire guy I use take a look at them in the fall, they had about 25k on them and were deemed fine. 5 am we left and made it 45 minutes before a tire blew. RSA changed it to the never used 2.5 year old spare. I drove to the next exit that had a tire dealer and got the flat replaced with some off brand. Had them put the new tire on the rim from the flat and ran it for the 9k mile trip, the almost new spare went back on the bumper. I did 2nd guess myself as to which tire I should be running on, but the thoughts went away after a couple days.

I went with the new no name brand for the trip more cause the rim matched then because it was new. The spare was the same tire brand and make as all the other tires (2 axle) so it may have been the better choice. But in the end it really made no difference. Not like the spare was 7 years old, just unused. In fact the original tires and the spare looked a lot better then the new tire, it had a pretty thin tread width and just looked cheap, $117 mounted and balanced.

So it may not be normal for a relatively new tire to blow, it obviously happens, even with the right tire pressure. Your spare is a 2014 so it's not old. I'd have no issues running on it but do what makes you sleep better.

I did replace all the tires when I got home. As I had 2 pretty much brand new tires in the bunch I put the one I bought when we got the flat on as the spare and the old spare went to the shed as an extra.

I was thankful I had RSA with Goodsam, would have sucked having to do it myself on a rainy dark highway at 6 am. 1st time I've used them in 11 years of payments. No damage to the trailer at 65 mph, seems like these fiberglass trailers hold up better then the tin ones do.

[Carlcivi]

Hi had good Sam to,they were there in hour. The flat was on S 81 , left side and not much room on the side with traffic. Wife would not let me change flat she said to call. She said,you wobble to much. Hmmm. Carl

[thrifty bill]

Tires all have date codes, tire may well be significantly OLDER than trailer.

https://www.tirebuyer.com/education/...-of-your-tires

[RogerDat]

Can also have a road hazard create a leak that drops tire pressure. You experience as a blow out once the tire pressure drops enough to lead to heat failure or loss of tire to rim seal which is held by the tire pressure.


Small trailer in relation to tow vehicle I think can make dropping tire pressure harder to feel while driving. They won't handle all that differently at 35 psi than at 50 psi but they will get a lot hotter and flex a lot more. 100* day + even moderate hwy speeds and a drop of 10 or 15 psi from a nail or other road hazard leak will cause tire to fail catastrophically and without much warning.


Bottle jack and jack stand. If I have to I can jack under frame, set jack stand then re-position bottle jack to jack higher. Besides having a proper stand is safer (and I don't have leveling jacks so... 2fer)

[larryf]

I question the 50 psi for ST tires on mine (Marathons)if you read the spec on the side of the tire it says 65 psi?

[Darral T.]

That's weird.... all the tire trouble mentioned here and not ONE brand listed. So if there's a "pattern" suddenly shows up (as with the case with Marathons years ago), it will be missed and this could happen to MANY other RV'ers. Not good in my opinion.

[Jon in AZ]

A TPMS would catch a slow leak before it causes a catastrophic failure. Even if you faithfully check pressure before you start driving, you can pick up a nail and start losing air while driving.

[stevebaz]

flat tire and cant get the jack under is common. Next time set up a stack of leveling blocks and use the car to drag the dead tire on top of them. Then you can get the jack under the axle. Remember to bring a drop cloth with you. it seems where ever you get a flat tire the ground isnt the most hospitable to be crawling under a trailer to set up the jack.

[Radar1]

Originally Posted by larryf

I question the 50 psi for ST tires on mine (Marathons)if you read the spec on the side of the tire it says 65 psi?

You probably have load range D tires which can be inflated to 65 lbs. The Parkliner may only have load range C which max out at 50 PSI normally.

We have 14" load range D on our Scamp that came with 13" load range C just to get the extra load capacity.