What is wrong with tire?

[Maggie S.]

When we got back Saturday from camping for a week at San Simion State Beach (CA) we noticed that one of the radial tires had metal -- like strings -- sticking out of it in one place. What is wrong with the tire? I bought all new tires just over 2 years ago. Should I replace just this one tire or both? What is this called?

[Mark Shaffer]

Sounds to me like you barely made it home with that tire! That is what you call a broken belt in the tire. If that tire went bad in 2 years, chances are the other tire is probably bad also. I would replace them both just to be safe.

[KevinWA]

Steel belted radial ....change ASAP. For the tire to wear in one spot it must be way out of balance(bent?) Or you have an alignment issue? My guess would be a bent/out of balance wheel?

Good luck.

Kevin

[Maggie S.]

Originally Posted by KevinWA

Steel belted radial ....change ASAP. For the tire to wear in one spot it must be way out of balance(bent?) Or you have an alignment issue? My guess would be a bent/out of balance wheel?

Good luck.

Kevin

I also had new rims put on 2 years ago with the new tires. The idea of a bent/out of balance wheel is something I want to look into. Other than the metal sticking out -- the tires look okay . . .

Thanks,

Maggie

[Maggie S.]

Originally Posted by Mark Shaffer

Sounds to me like you barely made it home with that tire! That is what you call a broken belt in the tire. If that tire went bad in 2 years, chances are the other tire is probably bad also. I would replace them both just to be safe.

I'm glad we made it back okay . . . thanks for right words . . . it will help when I call the tire shop.

Maggie

[Paul Braun]

Confirm that you installed trailer tires two years ago. There is a dramatic difference between auto/truck tires and trailer tires.

[Radar1]

If you see metal threads coming out it usually means that the tread is separating from the tire, and allowing the steel belt inside to wiggle out as the steel wires break down. Were the tires balanced when installed? Out of curiosity, what Camper do you have and what size tires were they? I have a Scamp 16 side dinette and lost my tread on the heavier curb side a couple of months ago, and upgraded to "D" range trailer tires to give more tire capacity.

[Maggie S.]

John:
The tires were balanced when installed and I had metal stems put in. I had Denman tires from a local independant tire store ($76 each-out the door then) put on, as I had not seen many negative reports on them. I think they are trailer tires. I also had new wheels put on then. We have a 1990 16' Scamp Deluxe and a family member thought it was riding a little low on the curb side recently. I'm wondering if that could have been a clue I missed. (Ours is not a side dinette, we've got a bunk up front and back dinette, bathroom on not-curb side.)

Denman ST175/70R13 6 ply
PCER Wheel 55W 13 X 4.5

Maggie

[Paul Braun]

Those are definately trailer tires.

[Radar1]

Originally Posted by Maggie Shinoki

John:

Denman ST175/70R13 6 ply
PCER Wheel 55W 13 X 4.5

Maggie

The "ST" shows that they are trailer tires. My 2005 Scamp label calls for a slightly taller tire (ST175/80/13) but your model may have used the smaller profile, which probably has a lower rating when compared to a taller tire, but your 6 ply rating probably made up for any difference.
I'm still surprised that my Scamp label says I should use 175/80/13 inflated to 45 lbs, which only provides 1270 lbs capacity per tire according to the Goodyear site, but then claims the GVWR for the trailer is 3500 lbs.

I wish someone made smooth riding indestructible tires for trailers.

John

[Otto]

Always remember to check the tires date of manufacture. There is a small box on the side wall with the date stamp. The first two are the week and the last two are the year. Do not run with tires over 7 years old no matter how good they look.

[Maggie S.]

Here is some additional info on the tires I have on my Scamp trailer. I've also attached a photo of the wires poking out!

DENMAN EXPRESS S/T

STEEL RADIAL

ST175/80R13 (had typo on the size earlier thread)

SIDEWALL 2 PLIES POLYESTER

TREAD 2 PLIES POLYESTER + 2 PLIES STEEL

MAX LOAD 615 kg (1360 LBS) AT 345 kPa (50 PSI) MAX PRESS

MADE IN MEXICO

RADIAL PLY

(By the date code, even though I put the tires on 2 years ago, they are about 4 years old.)

[Maggie S.]

[QUOTE=John Haggerty;219507 upgraded to "D" range trailer tires to give more tire capacity.[/QUOTE]

John, now I'm thinking to also go to the "D" range trailer tires. I'm wondering what brand you used as the usual "big name" makers don't seem to make a "D" range in the size of ST 175/80R13. (If you feel more comfortable, private message me the brand.) Last time I was tire shoping, I was trying to stay away from made in China, bought ones made in Mexico - would like made in USA or Canada but . . .not sure anyone does.

I really don't know what the Scamp's weight is. We got it 2nd hand about 3 years ago but I'm thinking it's on the heavier side as it's Deluxe, with all the extra wood cabinits & a porcelain toliet & large fridge (I took the micro out). We try not to haul water and get it at the park, to keep things lighter.

(If I were to buy new, I think I'd like the side-dinette one you have.)

Thanks for your advice,
Maggie

[Radar1]

Originally Posted by Maggie Shinoki

John, now I'm thinking to also go to the "D" range trailer tires. I'm wondering what brand you used as the usual "big name" makers don't seem to make a "D" range in the size of ST 175/80R13. (If you feel more comfortable, private message me the brand.) Last time I was tire shoping, I was trying to stay away from made in China, bought ones made in Mexico - would like made in USA or Canada but . . .not sure anyone does.

I really don't know what the Scamp's weight is. We got it 2nd hand about 3 years ago but I'm thinking it's on the heavier side as it's Deluxe, with all the extra wood cabinits & a porcelain toliet & large fridge (I took the micro out). We try not to haul water and get it at the park, to keep things lighter.

(If I were to buy new, I think I'd like the side-dinette one you have.)

Thanks for your advice,
Maggie

I ordered Karrier St175/80r13 Radial Tire - Load range D from Etrailer.com. These are made by LoadStar and made in China. They are rated at 1610 lbs each, which gives me extra capacity compared to the standard tires.
I had the same brand on my old pop-up and have had no problems with those, so I took a chance and purchased these even though they were made in China. The tire that failed on the Scamp was a Goodyear made in New Zealand.
Many people have upgraded to 14" tires, but even those have some problems, and the Kumho tires I was thinking of upgrading to seem to be getting more failure reports lately. My thought process was that since all tire sizes seem to have problems, I would take a chance on the LoadStar Karriers since they provide the extra capacity I believe is needed on these Scamps, especially the 16 with side dinette that seems to have more weight on the curb side (where most of the failures seem to occur).
I have about 4,000 miles on these now, most on days with high 90 or low 100 temperatures with everything looking good so far.
I purchased just the tires, as the wheels were already rated for the higher capacity, and had them mounted and balanced locally with new steel stems.

John

[Dick Johnson]

Originally Posted by John Haggerty

If you see metal threads coming out it usually means that the tread is separating from the tire, and allowing the steel belt inside to wiggle out as the steel wires break down. Were the tires balanced when installed? Out of curiosity, what Camper do you have and what size tires were they? I have a Scamp 16 side dinette and lost my tread on the heavier curb side a couple of months ago, and upgraded to "D" range trailer tires to give more tire capacity.

We are getting a 16 Scamp side dinette and am wondering what brand has D rated for the 13".

[Deb & Chuck]

Originally Posted by Maggie Shinoki

John, now I'm thinking to also go to the "D" range trailer tires. I'm wondering what brand you used as the usual "big name" makers don't seem to make a "D" range in the size of ST 175/80R13. (If you feel more comfortable, private message me the brand.) Last time I was tire shoping, I was trying to stay away from made in China, bought ones made in Mexico - would like made in USA or Canada but . . .not sure anyone does.

I really don't know what the Scamp's weight is. We got it 2nd hand about 3 years ago but I'm thinking it's on the heavier side as it's Deluxe, with all the extra wood cabinits & a porcelain toliet & large fridge (I took the micro out). We try not to haul water and get it at the park, to keep things lighter.

(If I were to buy new, I think I'd like the side-dinette one you have.)

Thanks for your advice,
Maggie

Maggie,
FYI: This summer our 1995 Scamp Deluxe side bath 16 ft. fully loaded for our trip and with about 3 gallons of water weighed in at 2,200 pounds.
Deb

[Roger C H]

Our 1977 Jeep Cherokee, I was told, was not able to be adjusted for camber. As a result, the tires wore badly on the outside shoulder. While on a long trip I stopped at a wayside and observed the same thing, only all around the tire and the shoulder was worn badly. I replaced it with the spare.
My fibers were shiny from hitting the road.

Yours looks like a manufacturing fault unless you overused the tires. See below. It may be that overheating would allow the I would take them back to the place you bought them and ask for credit on new ones. Of course then you will have to buy the same brand.

I found a good place to buy tires is Les Schwab. They have shops all over the west and they stand behind their tires. (No, not because they are afraid to stand in front!)

Were you running them at the 50psi? At that pressure you have 1360 x 2 = 2720 lbs total capacity. Lower pressures require lower weights.

How fast do you drive? What comes after the "ST175/80R13" s/b "91L" 91 means the load rating you quoted and the L indicates the tire can run at 75 mph. If the letter is earlier in the alphabet, you may have a problem; K=68; J=62; G=56; F=50. Since you live in CA, you may have G rated because trailers are not supposed to be towed faster than 55mph. Ahem.

Here is an unbiased discussion:

http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/Tire.../brochure.html

[Radar1]

Originally Posted by Dick Johnson

We are getting a 16 Scamp side dinette and am wondering what brand has D rated for the 13".

I got mine through etrailer.com. They're Karrier St175/80r13 Radial Tire - Lr D Loadstar radials, same size as we had originally, but "D" rated and can use up to 65 lbs of air pressure.
My wheels were already rated to 1610 lbs each (same as the new tire) so I didn't need to buy the new wheels. We've already had them to FL a couple of times, and from GA to TX during the hot summer and they're holding up fine so far.

John