2 Separate Blowouts on RV Yesterday. Learned Important Lesson on Tires

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harrisonm

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We planned a little 5-day trip up to South Bend Indiana. My Grandson from Canada starts Notre Dame Next week. We were going to spend a day with him and my daughter and son-in-law. We left Topeks Sunday morning and got about 40 Miles when the right inner tire blew out on the Class C RV. We were really close to Lawrence (Go Jayhawks) so I limped into town and found a place to install a new tire. 2.5 hours later we are on the way again. Picked up my other daughter (and 6-year-old granddaughter) in Kansas City and headed East. We got about 70 miles, and the LEFT inner rear tire blew. Now let me say that the rear tires were not (in my opinion) that old and they had probably 70% of the tread left. The front tires are from 2020. The roadside assistance guy who came to install my spare after the 2nd blowout told me that I had blowouts because the tires were 8 years out. He said that RV tires need to be replaced at least every 4-5 years. Hes said they sit outside and the elements and sitting in one spot for long periods take a toll. I did not think that 8-year-old tires that looked REALLY good were a problem, but now I know. Just wanted to share.
 
Personally I think it's more like "modern tires are made of es ech eye tee"

Before I "knew better" in my Navy days I had a car trailer. I used USED CAR TIRES on the car trailer. The longest trip was when I got out of the Navy, I towed a 70 Cuda with a 440 on it, LOADED with spare parts and tools and most of the other crap I'd acquired, from San Diego to the N end of Idaho. Those same tires stayed on that trailer for quite awhile after, and hauled many junkers and jeeps and other "stuff."
 
Inner rears are always the first to go. They are right in line with the fronts so if the front tire kicks up a nail or piece of metal right under the inner rear it goes. The inner rears also carry a little bigger load and they often don't get regular air pressure checks or inspection because of where they are located. In 28 years on the tool truck I went through a lot of 8R-19.5's.
 
What kind of tires?
There's some Goodyear models that are known death traps.
 
It`s painful to toss tires that look new, but we know we`re taking a risk running them.
I have a spare on my rig truck that has never seen the pavement. It has to go, it`s only 23 years old:eek::lol:
 
Trailer tires ARE completely different than passenger car tires. I researched and found Carlisle brand tires are CHINESE so I bought Goodyears MADE IN USA. Price was right in-line with the Carlisle brand. So far so good.
 
Trailer tires ARE completely different than passenger car tires. I researched and found Carlisle brand tires are CHINESE so I bought Goodyears MADE IN USA. Price was right in-line with the Carlisle brand. So far so good.
Oh yes. The load rating and plies for truck tires are much different than passenger car tires and trailer tires are usually even more plies and tougher than truck tires. 8 and 12 ply are the norm with trailer tires. Many car tires are 4 ply tread with a 2 ply sidewall for those that may not know.
 
I see people hammer down with motor homes and trailers if all kinds later on the side of the road.Most of the tires are speed rated to 70mph besides the dates
 
tires are not what they use to be . they can't sit with a load on them . had to buy another set of new ones for this mh even after my pop put brand new one on it before he passed away . they are all cracked up .
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What kind of tires?
There's some Goodyear models that are known death traps.
They ARE goodyears. I will look in the morning.

Probably the best tires I ever ran were Cooper's.
Funny you should mention that. There is a tire place here called Performance Tire and Wheel. They have a large bay with a large door for RVs and large trucks/vans. They have people who KNOW what they are doing, and they are a Cooper dealer. That is exactly what we are buying.
 
Just a FYI. I used to remove the tires from my pickup, and install them on my open race car trailer, at about half tread life. I was having a problem with the tires failing on the trailer. After I started marking the rotation of the tires when removed from the truck, and installing them with the same rotation on the trailer, had no more problems.
PS: The tires had more load on the truck then on the trailer.
 
4 blowouts in two days on new looking 5 year old tires. Now its 4 years and gone.
 
They ARE goodyears. I will look in the morning.


Funny you should mention that. There is a tire place here called Performance Tire and Wheel. They have a large bay with a large door for RVs and large trucks/vans. They have people who KNOW what they are doing, and they are a Cooper dealer. That is exactly what we are buying.
Cooper C120's is what I ran. I don't know if they make them still but they were good ones. I got about 60,000 miles out of them (a couple years driving) And always overloaded. LOL
 
Asking a 20 year old person to run 10 miles will likely result in a better (faster and fewer rest breaks) outcome than asking a 55 year old person to do the same thing. Not always but the majority of the time.

Tires are no different. Yup the 10yr old tire looks good and only has 1,500 miles on it but, in general aging, with the exception of some alcohol, doesn’t help.
 
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They ARE goodyears. I will look in the morning.


Funny you should mention that. There is a tire place here called Performance Tire and Wheel. They have a large bay with a large door for RVs and large trucks/vans. They have people who KNOW what they are doing, and they are a Cooper dealer. That is exactly what we are buying.
The Tragedy of Goodyear’s Allegedly Defective G159 Tire Keeps Getting Worse

There's been a recall, but not to all years. These tires have killed plenty of folks, glad you're not among them!
 
Used to be. Out in farm/ranch country Missouri. they would run 8 ply on their pickup till almost bald, and then run them on the stock trailer till they blew or come apart.
The last 10 years I worked (till about 2017) in town, I drove30 miles one way always on plenty old and plenty used tires , usually on a Duster and some on an old little Ford Ranger. Never had a flat or one fail. Go figure.
 
Do not buy Chinese trailer tires. They're not called China bombs for nothing.

I’ve been fighting crappy trailer tires for the past several years. No matter the brand it seems the quality is not there. Switching to light truck tires. Everyone I’ve talked with made who’ve made that change said good things about running LT tires on a trailer.
 
"Tires need to run."

Supposedly tires literally need exercise, but sitting around, they deteriorate much quicker. As the story goes, the constant flexing of the material keeps the oils activated throughout the tire and it lasts longer.

I'm no tire expert, but that's the way I heard it, and I'm sticking to it.
 
I told a colleague that I was pulling my old boat halfway across the country. He asked “How old are the tires?” Jeez like 22 years I said, the new spare is 14. One of them sounded like it had rocks inside it when I took it off! I picked up 3 10 ply Triangles and off I went…
195BB1B2-55F1-4931-9A4A-10F01E24D4A4.jpeg
 
I’ve been fighting crappy trailer tires for the past several years. No matter the brand it seems the quality is not there. Switching to light truck tires. Everyone I’ve talked with made who’ve made that change said good things about running LT tires on a trailer.

Only catch to this is that the weight rating is reduced to 80% of listed. So if the tire says 2000# at 50psi, when on a trailer it would be 1600#

It might be 75%, I can't recall the hard number, 75-80 rings a bell.
 
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