So Many Tire Problems

[bdaniel]

I have traveled over 100,000 miles in 4 RVs over the last 16 years. Until this summer I might have seen one or two RVs on the side of the road during a 5,000 mile trip with tire problems.

This summer on a 5400 mile trip from North Carolina to Nevada and back with my brother and his wife (2 RVs) we saw a large number of RVs on the side of the road with exploded/shredded tires. We both agreed that we had seen about 15 different instances.

I have no idea what has caused the increase. Are the China Bombs getting worse? Are the RV manufacturers getting closer to the tire weight limits? I think speed may be part of the issue. Even two lane roads have 75 MPH speed limits in large parts of the west.

Even my brother had an issue with a Trailer King. After stopping for lunch he did the walk around and kicked the tires. The left rear tire was low. With bottle jacks, blocks, air compressor, generator and electric impact wrench we had the spare on in about 15 minutes.

The China Bomb had a hole in the tread but no nail. It was as if he had run over a board with a nail. He stuck needle nose pliers in the hole while there was still air in the tire and the tread swelled away from the tire. Scary stuff.

He has purchased 16 inch rims (he has 15 inch) and will be putting Load Range E LT tires on before his next trip.

I previously did the same.

http://www.bobbystuff.com/rv/40/16-inch-tires
http://www.bobbystuff.com/rv/192/another-exploding-st-tire

Bobby

[xcntrk]

Aside from the China bombs and overloading issues; I would say a good majority is from lack of maintenance and no monitoring. Some RV's just don't seem to realize that if your tires are under-inflated their load carrying capability is diminished. The less air, the less load they can support. Here's where the monitoring comes in, if you're under-inflated and as a result overload, that tire will start to heat up as it tries to manage the load. Eventually that heat can cause a blow out. Additionally poor maintenance and lack of routine inspection (aka tire rot, bulges, etc.) can lead to many unexpected blow outs too.

[Tbos]

In my case I cut a corner too short because of a car was coming faster than expected. I hit the curb's storm drain with a steel reinforced front and it visibly damaged the front tire so I changed it. An hour later the rear blew. Fortunately no damage to the TT. But I know better know.

[bsmith0404]

I think all of the causes have been mentioned, over loaded, driving too fast, under inflated, age, more RVs on the road, and finally debris. I've never had a flat on an RV until this year, but I picked up a nail. Last night I saw a RV pulled to the shoulder with both tires on one side shredded and the side all tore up.

[oldfamer]

I think it is the cheep made China tires. I check my tires regularly and have tire pressure monitor on camper tires. On this past Sunday I was 90 miles from home when the thread came of the right rear tire. It tore a large hole in the floor and carpet and busted a cabnet door. I was driving at 65 mph and even after the tire threw the thread it still had 65 lbs of air. My tires were 4 years old in April. Sometimes things just happen no matter how much you check things.

[bridge4d]

Same thing happened to me this last weekend. Tread separated off the tire and the tire still retained pressure after the tread came off and tore thru the wheel well. I, like others here, believe it's a combination of factors with the biggest being cheap tires. I have a tire pressure monitor on each tire, check them regularly and wasn't driving over 60mph when it happened. The fact that the center tread CLEANLY separated from the rest of tire just seems quality related to me.

[Outback 325BH]

I have traveled over 100,000 miles in 4 RVs over the last 16 years. Until this summer I might have seen one or two RVs on the side of the road during a 5,000 mile trip with tire problems.



This summer on a 5400 mile trip from North Carolina to Nevada and back with my brother and his wife (2 RVs) we saw a large number of RVs on the side of the road with exploded/shredded tires. We both agreed that we had seen about 15 different instances.



I have no idea what has caused the increase. Are the China Bombs getting worse? Are the RV manufacturers getting closer to the tire weight limits? I think speed may be part of the issue. Even two lane roads have 75 MPH speed limits in large parts of the west.



Even my brother had an issue with a Trailer King. After stopping for lunch he did the walk around and kicked the tires. The left rear tire was low. With bottle jacks, blocks, air compressor, generator and electric impact wrench we had the spare on in about 15 minutes.



The China Bomb had a hole in the tread but no nail. It was as if he had run over a board with a nail. He stuck needle nose pliers in the hole while there was still air in the tire and the tread swelled away from the tire. Scary stuff.



He has purchased 16 inch rims (he has 15 inch) and will be putting Load Range E LT tires on before his next trip.



I previously did the same.



http://www.bobbystuff.com/rv/40/16-inch-tires

http://www.bobbystuff.com/rv/192/another-exploding-st-tire



Bobby



Yup, totally agree.

I did the 16" wheel/LT upgrade the day I brought my TT home.

People try to say it is because lack of maintenance, tire pressure, speed, blah, blah, blah. If this was the true cause, and not garbage tires, we would see blow-outs on passenger cars on an hourly basis... because tires are ignored and abused every day. But we don't see that.

The ST tires are simply junk.


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[Desert185]

Can you suggest an LT tire in 235/80R-16 with a load rating of 3520# (LRE) that would allow me to switch from ST tires?

[Outback 325BH]

Can you suggest an LT tire in 235/80R-16 with a load rating of 3520# (LRE) that would allow me to switch from ST tires?



Wow, that rating is up there for sure.

If you really want to move away from ST tires, you may have to look at options like moving up to a bigger wheel. You will have to measure your tire diameter and width. With those numbers, you will be able to investigate bigger tire and wheel combos that will fit. For example, I moved from 15" to 16" wheels but did not increase the tire dimensions by much.


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[Desert185]

Wow, that rating is up there for sure.

If you really want to move away from ST tires, you may have to look at options like moving up to a bigger wheel. You will have to measure your tire diameter and width. With those numbers, you will be able to investigate bigger tire and wheel combos that will fit. For example, I moved from 15" to 16" wheels but did not increase the tire dimensions by much.


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I misspoke. 3420# is the load rating, but still...I think an ST tire will remain in my future.

[Bowti]

Yup, totally agree.

I did the 16" wheel/LT upgrade the day I brought my TT home.

People try to say it is because lack of maintenance, tire pressure, speed, blah, blah, blah. If this was the true cause, and not garbage tires, we would see blow-outs on passenger cars on an hourly basis... because tires are ignored and abused every day. But we don't see that.

The ST tires are simply junk.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My feelings exactly, I can't understand why so many people can't see the problem with these tires and want to defend them. Makes no sense to me.:banghead:

[CWtheMan]

I think it is the cheep made China tires. I check my tires regularly and have tire pressure monitor on camper tires. On this past Sunday I was 90 miles from home when the thread came of the right rear tire. It tore a large hole in the floor and carpet and busted a cabnet door. I was driving at 65 mph and even after the tire threw the thread it still had 65 lbs of air. My tires were 4 years old in April. Sometimes things just happen no matter how much you check things.

I like to work on this type of information. I don’t have 100% of the correct specs for your trailer but I’ll bet I’m pretty close.

According to Carlisle Tire, (a well known ST tire manufacturer and prolific provider of OEM tires for all sorts of trailers) trailer tires will degrade by as much as 33% in the first three years of use. That’s not in our owner’s manuals. I guess they figure when the tires start going bang, bang, boom, boom and strewing tire treads all over the highway we’ll just replace them with some others that will do the same thing.

Let’s do some math for your tires. Your OE tires were ST225/75R15D and provided 2540# of load capacity fully inflated. If we just degrade them 5% per year they will be at 2413# after year one, 2292# after year two and 2177# after year three. Way under the load capacity needed for 4600# GAWR axles. Traveling at the tire’s speed limit when they are loaded close to their load capacity is going to increase the degrading process. Going faster than their speed restriction will greatly increase their degrading. Degrading seldom shows it’s ugly face before a tire failure.

For everyone, do not skimp on your tire inflation pressures. It provides the load capacity and you need every bit of whatever extra load capacity you may have in reserve. You can only do that by insuring your tires are at the trailer manufacturers recommendations before every move.

I did not solve my ST tire failure problems until I started using tires that would still support my GAWR after three years of degrading 5% per year. At the end of three years of constant usage I replaced them no matter how well they looked. And that folks is how I come to use so many tires in a 10 year period on the same trailer. Yes, I still have the original 6000# axles (75,000 miles) and they have never needed realignment.

These tires were over 3 years old when they came out of storage. They were replaced and sold to a local yard man who would never be able to overload them in his service business.

http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=19381

[sourdough]

I have traveled over 100,000 miles in 4 RVs over the last 16 years. Until this summer I might have seen one or two RVs on the side of the road during a 5,000 mile trip with tire problems.

This summer on a 5400 mile trip from North Carolina to Nevada and back with my brother and his wife (2 RVs) we saw a large number of RVs on the side of the road with exploded/shredded tires. We both agreed that we had seen about 15 different instances.

I have no idea what has caused the increase. Are the China Bombs getting worse? Are the RV manufacturers getting closer to the tire weight limits? I think speed may be part of the issue. Even two lane roads have 75 MPH speed limits in large parts of the west.

Even my brother had an issue with a Trailer King. After stopping for lunch he did the walk around and kicked the tires. The left rear tire was low. With bottle jacks, blocks, air compressor, generator and electric impact wrench we had the spare on in about 15 minutes.

The China Bomb had a hole in the tread but no nail. It was as if he had run over a board with a nail. He stuck needle nose pliers in the hole while there was still air in the tire and the tread swelled away from the tire. Scary stuff.

He has purchased 16 inch rims (he has 15 inch) and will be putting Load Range E LT tires on before his next trip.

I previously did the same.

http://www.bobbystuff.com/rv/40/16-inch-tires
http://www.bobbystuff.com/rv/192/another-exploding-st-tire

Bobby


Bobby,

Do you still have the old tire? If so, can you provide the manufacture code off the side? I'm wondering if they are related to the tires coming out of the Shandong province in China. My, and JRTJH's failures were from the same factory.