Spare tire failed?

[diugo]

Have you ever experienced a failure of your SPARE tire? In many ways, the MOST important of all your tires?

Did you run over something, put the spare on, and then have the spare fail too?

Or just rotate in the spare, and have it fail after just a few hours of service?

It happened to me last month. My spare had sat unused for three years. Within three hours and 150 miles, it had almost completely disintegrated before I noticed. Fortunately, the damage was confined only to the tire. Still, the incident cost me hundreds of dollars.

If something like this has happened to you, please reply so that we can compare notes.

[hankpage]

Happened to me also ... but mine was a little older and the valve stem cracked. Luckily just the tread separated but the casing held up until I was stopped. That is when Emergency Road Service pays off. Two flats in one day makes for a long trip. No other damage also, just a few black marks down the side ... they cleaned off. Both tires were properly inflated at start of trip and 250 miles latter pow and then 20 mi. latter wump, wump, wump, pssssssss! Changed first one myself but I only carry one spare so called to have road service to bring 2 new tires and mount them. FUN, FUN, FUN, $$$$.

[diugo]

Thanks Hankpage.

I wondered if my prob was due to a valve stem too, but since my casing failed, there was no way to really check it. Nothing obvious visually.

I had fully inflated all the tires to 65 psi two days before. Two hours before, I was at the same wheel tightening the lugnuts and noticed nothing amiss. An hour before, I stopped at a border control checkpoint and no issues were found. About 30 minutes before, I went over a bad bridge abutment and the bump was very harsh. Probably should have pulled over then!

Was your spare tire clamped to a rack on the back of the trailer? Was any part of the rack in direct contact with the tire? On mine, the rack was obviously designed for a thinner tire. The tire was so tightly clamped that there was a deep but gentle u-shaped deformation in the inflated tire when I unmounted it. Thought nothing of that then, but it might have stretched something inside.

Fortunately the acting spare did its job and I was able to arrive at my destination 200 miles later. Although I only experienced one failure that day, the other tire on that side did double duty for dozens of miles, so I "retired" it and that's how I now have two Maxxis LRDs.

Were both of your failures also with Power King Towmax?

[hankpage]

diugo , I don't trust bumper mount tire carriers so I carry the spare completely covered in the truck bed and store it covered in a shed. Both tires were Goodyear Marathons US made but ten years old. (shame on me) Replaced all four with new Marathons Chinese made and had two blowouts in two years then sold the trailer and got my present Cougar. As luck would have it, the Cougar came with Chinese Marathons. After less than three years the walls were deformed so I upgraded to 16" XPS RIBS with metal valve stems and have been a happy camper since. Pun intended, Hank

[diugo]

Rats, so the only real commonality between our tire failures is that the tires were old.

I had GYMs on my previous trailer, first set were made in Canada and lasted five years before one road failure and I spotted sidewall deformation on others. Second set were Chinese made and one had deformed after less than two years, others lasted til I got my current Cougar three years later.

Funny you should mention not trusting bumper racks. Because my rack was designed for a 215 (or 205), the 225 spare was squeezed against the vertical support. Not only did this deform the tire, but it busted one of only two welds holding the wheel onto the rack! Had I not casually noticed, the wheel would have eventually fallen off and possibly killed someone. This was the subject of a recall for some 2011 Cougars; I never got a notice for my 2010, so I fixed it myself with long steel bolts and am keeping an eye on it.

[Jim W]

My spare tire failed in Aug of 2011 after I had rotated the tires before our trip to Yellowstone Park. The trailer was bought new in Feb of 10 with us taking delivery in April of 10. I do carry the spare tire on the bumper mounted post on the camper. The tire is cover and also protected with a sun block product, air pressure is checked at every trip to insure it is 80PSI, unless it is in the garage during the winter for storage this is where my spare tire is kept.

Now my tire failure to me cannot be explained that easily, since we had just left the camp ground at 8:00AM and I was just getting up to speed (60-to 65MPH). I was on interstate 80 when the tire failed, 5 miles from the entrance ramp we had used to get on. This was after I had checked the air pressure and wheel lug nut torque before leaving the camp ground, my daily ritual when pulling the 5er.

My tire failure was a catastrophic failure taking out the driver side of the trailer from the front tire back. I did hear an explosion and my wife asked what was that! I was all ready looking in the driver side mirror and said the trailer tire failed. I was able to pull over immediately and stop the truck and trailer on the shoulder of the road.

I have had other flat tires on my other 5er but they were easily caught when checking either in the morning before we left the camp ground or on the road at a rest stop from overheating. The spare tire on this 5er was also bumper mounted. The spare tire would then stay on the trailer and the failed tire that was replaced would now become the spare tire.

I have never had a tire failure like this one on the Cougar before. To me this failure was just a tire defect from not being caught during the inspection process when the tire was manufactured in China.

Jim W.

[Festus2]

diugo -

Did you happen to notice the date of manufacture of your spare tire? It is possible that, by the time you actually mounted and used it, it may have been 4 and perhaps 5 years old already. Even though your unit was 3 years old when this blowout happened, that doesn't mean that the spare tire was also 3 years old.

On a side note, I am pleased to hear that a Canadian-made set lasted for 5 years! LOL

If your spare was not covered and subjected to the sun's UV rays, that may have been a contributing factor. In addition, the fact that it had been forcibly squeezed against the rack for a long period may have eventually caused some internal structural damage to the sidewalls ?????

Or you may have fallen victim to a defective tire - like Jim.

[diugo]

I took delivery of my trailer in September of 2010. The trailer was built in March of that year and the tires were made two months before that. So the spare was 3.3 years old when it failed. It came with a skimpy cover and spent most of its life in the sunny southwest, so UV may well have been an issue.

I was also not dutiful in ensuring it was fully inflated, as that would have necessitated removing the cover, which was a PITA. It took a few years to realize I could have just mounted the spare on the rack with the stem facing the trailer. Now it's much easier to check

[Festus2]

diugo -

After sitting for over 3 years without having the inflation checked, when you replaced the blown out tire with this spare, it was probably under inflated which may have been a major cause of the failure. That, together with possible UV issues and the manner in which it was mounted to the carrier, all combined to contribute to a quick blowout.

[JRTJH]

Another potential cause is UV damage to the tire. Even though the front of the tire is protected by the tire cover, the back is open to sunlight and reflected UV rays that bounce off the trailer endcap. We often think our spare tire is "protected" by the cover, but in actuality, there's still a significant part of the tire that's not covered. Years of sitting in this environment on the back of a trailer in the SW desert sun, with little or no protection, is it really any wonder that the tire was weakened significantly before it ever touched the ground under the trailer?

[diugo]

Like I said, UV is a possibility. So is simple lack of use. I plan to address both issues every winter I roost in Yuma, by swapping the spare with one of the other tires (a different tire every winter). This will give the spare a little flexibility exercise during the monthly 9-mile round trip to the dump station---and a welcomed reprieve from constantly baking in the sun.

Which brings up yet another possibility. UV issues aside, the spare tire definitely experienced a much warmer average temperature than the four others---with the sun directly on its black Keystone cover several hours every day, for 3+ years. This could well be the true smoking gun.

[diugo]

Originally Posted by Festus2

diugo -

After sitting for over 3 years without having the inflation checked, when you replaced the blown out tire with this spare, it was probably under inflated which may have been a major cause of the failure. That, together with possible UV issues and the manner in which it was mounted to the carrier, all combined to contribute to a quick blowout.

Festus, you're confusing me with another poster. I did not replace a blown out tire with this spare. Instead, I had quietly rotated in this spare, fully inflated it to the 65 psi sidewall pressure, and then had it fail two days later.

My best forensic guess is that the tire had gotten brittle sitting (covered) in the warm sun for 3+ years. This, combined with the bad bridge abutment encountered on its first day in service, led to a blowout. I also strongly suspect overinflation as a contributing factor----since overinflation makes a tire more vulnerable to road hazards. (I believe 65 psi is simply too high for the actual 1800lb load on the tire.)

[Festus2]

Originally Posted by diugo

I took delivery of my trailer in September of 2010. The trailer was built in March of that year and the tires were made two months before that. So the spare was 3.3 years old when it failed. It came with a skimpy cover and spent most of its life in the sunny southwest, so UV may well have been an issue.

I was also not dutiful in ensuring it was fully inflated, as that would have necessitated removing the cover, which was a PITA. It took a few years to realize I could have just mounted the spare on the rack with the stem facing the trailer. Now it's much easier to check

diugo -

Since you stated in your post that you had not ensured that it was fully inflated, I made reference to this statement (see above) when I indicated that under inflation might have contributed to the tire failure. You made no mention of having inflated it to 65psi prior to using it. A misunderstanding - so let's leave it.

I don't believe I was confusing you with another poster but it doesn't take much to get me confused. Just ask hankpage.

[hankpage]

Originally Posted by Festus2

diugo -

it doesn't take much to get me confused. Just ask hankpage.

............

[diugo]

Originally Posted by Festus2

diugo -

Since you stated in your post that you had not ensured that it was fully inflated, I made reference to this statement (see above) when I indicated that under inflation might have contributed to the tire failure. You made no mention of having inflated it to 65psi prior to using it. A misunderstanding - so let's leave it.

I mentioned I had inflated it to 65 psi in post #3.

But I do see how my latest statement---taken by itself---was confusing. I should have said "Before I rotated the spare into actual service, I had not been dutiful in checking its pressure while it was on the rack." Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[Jim W]

Diugo,

I ditched the black Keystone cover for a white cover from Adco for $15.00. They have several sizes that will fit different wheel sizes. What is nice is the white cover will reflect the sunlight better than a black cover. I also apply a sun block like protection to both sides of the spare tire. I do not know if it helps but it does look nice.
Jim W.

[diugo]

Originally Posted by Jim W

I ditched the black Keystone cover for a white cover from Adco for $15.00. They have several sizes that will fit different wheel sizes. What is nice is the white cover will reflect the sunlight better than a black cover.

Jim,

Funny story---when my black Keystone cover began to disintegrate in the sun last year, I asked my dealer (RV World of Yuma) if they had another one I could buy. They did not. But they did have the exact Adco cover you described, and they gave me one for free, which I thought was pretty cool.