Has this ever happened to you?

Tyler Jackson · Jul 3, 2011

Goin up North of Indy to my brothers for a few days to hang out and catch up. We take our camper up with us and back it in his driveway to say that we camped this weekend ha. But on our way there we had a flat on the camper... said ok, changed it and got back on the road. Then not even 2 miles down the road the spare blew out in the same fasion as the other. Mind you this is on a 3 year old camper. Crappy tires I guess. Had to go spend 286 bucks for two new tires and an hour sittin on the side of the interstate with cars wissin by. Glad no one hit us! ha

rustyj14 · Jul 3, 2011

Tell me Sir: Did you inflate those tires on your camper to the pressure as stated on the side-wall, and/or in the booklet that came with the trailer? HMMM?
Or, did you exclaim:"Why that high of an air pressure-in those small tires, will surely cause them to blow out at speed"! And then, you lowered the pressure to a sensible 30 lbs, or less, and went merrily on your trip! BT/ST!
I towed our tent trailer over half the country, with the tires inflated to the recommended pressure, and never had a blow-out! Even towed it to Texas at the height of summer, and they held up great! Better check the book again! by: Rusty Jones

Anonymous-0 · Jul 3, 2011

Tires that sit a lot go bad in a hurry. Frequent use keeps them flexed so the wax and oils in the rubber come to the surface. This protects the rubber against UV and Ozone.

Wilson · Jul 3, 2011

Is firestone you middle name???????????

jason, NW Ontario · Jul 3, 2011

I knew a guy that got sort of stranded near the end of a long bush road because the boat trailer tire blew, and so did both spares in the following hour of driving. No loose axle either. It happens.

John Harmon. · Jul 3, 2011

Davis has the correct theory of tire longivity. A tire is made to go round and round and.Well you get the idea. If they sit for long ,even 5-6 months in some locals such as where I live in the medium hi desert of Arizona,expect failure soon if not when you leave the drive.My RV has the tires cleaned and coated with a UV inhibotor and 2 PVC coated cotton covers installed which come from Camping World,after every trip and they never touch the ground after I jack the axles high enough that there is at least 2" between the tire and the ground.The axles are supported at each wheel with a jack stand.Each wheel has two custom fit covers on them so no part of the tire is exposed to the sun light.I have learned ,usually the hard way to remove 4 year old tires from service and sell them as they can still have 2 years of service life in them and install new tire in their place. The RV came with ST service tires on them but I have since the OE tires and their replacements have all blown out to install LT 10 ply tire in their place.Even then after 4 years of service they are replaced with new.I have did this twice now and I currently use Big O/Cooper LT 7;00X 15-10 ply series tires and have no more tire problems.

redtom · Jul 3, 2011

Jump over to the RVnet forums and you will find pages and pages of stories of trailer blowouts. Many theories are thrown around. It happens to new, old, properly inflated, or soft, and underrated tires. Any number of reasons but age does seem to be the biggest cause of properly maintained tire blow outs. I lost one one my 5th wheel. Did $1,400 damage to the side. These were properly inflated always covered in the summer, stored inside in the winter, only going 55mph. One thing most don't realize is ST tires are only rated for 65mph.

Tyler Jackson · Jul 3, 2011

I have theory about it but am not sure about it. It sits in the barn out of the weather and all that good stuff and the tires were properly inflated but I think there may hae been some junk in the road because on the first change there was a guy across the interstate changing his tire to. As for the spare... I'm not sure ha

Gary r. voigt · Jul 3, 2011

Hello, i can only say i have done a fair amount of hauling tractors and other items with my tandem trailer...you will never see a trailer tires that have gotten the max miles out of a tire and thats because they do more sitting than driving...uv rays kill a tire and it's life...
i just laugh when i see people for the first time in the spring getting ready to tow the first time...they did not check tire pressure, bearings, springs, lights, etc...

Gary

cjackman · Jul 3, 2011

I and some friends went to south carolina to get a few demo derby cars one summer. We pulled a tandem axle 3 car wedge and were hauling 2 1976 chevy wagons and a Gremlin. In 10 miles we blew three tires. Went through both our spares. Last stop i just looked up and saw a sign that read SOUTHERN X-POSURE. Luckily the tire blew next to a strip club that had buy-one-get-one free beers. Needless to say we forgot about the tires for the night. Was a long trip back to Ohio LOL.

tg in VA · Jul 3, 2011

I bought a Keifer 4 horse trailer new in 2005. It came with (Chinese) Road Boss load range G tires. I thought with load range G that I would be good to go until the tires wore out. By was I mistaken, I had three blowouts while loaded with horses and then the other two tires just gave up the ghost in the driveway...they separated on the tire shoulder.

I was careful about the proper inflation and used the trailer at least once a month. By the time I'd had the trailer 18 months I had to replace all 5 tires.

My new trailer has 17.5" Hercules (also made in China)...no problems in the two years I've owned it but I'm still leary of Chinese tires.

John in Nebraska · Jul 3, 2011

I've seen trailer tires of any age go boom, but have run into something else lately. Radial car tires, more than 7 years old, been going boom a lot. Lost two on my jeep, in one day, 8 years old, 60% tread. Lost another on my second car, right at 7 years old. Talked to a tire guy, said the same thing has been happening. Anymore I don't trust them past 6 years.

rustyj14 · Jul 3, 2011

No, it is not! I have no stake in Firestone rubber Company, nor any others!
I posted my answer from what i have read from other mis-informed people who told me to just "run those tires at 25 lbs or so because the high air pressure will tend to make them blow out at highway speeds!" Obviously they didn't know what they were talking about!
There are two or three things that can make the little tires blow out. That being low air pressure, bleeding the air out of those small tires after they are towed for a while, like on a trip, and old, dry rotted tires. That plus being on heavily over-loaded trailers!
I am not promoting any brand of tractors, just saying what i have learned from life! Sorry if i offended you. Rusty Jones

Anonymous-0 · Jul 3, 2011

Now we know where all our good used cars are going to, LOL.

Traditional Farmer · Jul 3, 2011

I pull several different trailers and rarely have a problem with the tires.I buy nothing but 1st quality radials and like to get a tire that has
2X the max hauling weight rating of anything I'll be putting on it.And frequently check the pressure.

Ludwig · Jul 3, 2011

Yup. I had terrible troubles on my snowmobile trailer keeping the tires at a "sensible" 30psi. About 4 years ago I started taking 'em to 50psi which is as high as my gauge goes (sidewall max is 65psi) and I've never had another blowout.
Before the pressure increase I was getting ~1000 miles out of the tires now I've gotten 5,000+ with no sign of degradation.

Trailer tires don't follow the same rules as car tires...

Ray · Jul 3, 2011

Don't know what kind of tires you bought,but that sounds very high.Radial car tires don't cost that much.

504 · Jul 3, 2011

We used to see a lot of motor homes with tire trouble, the tires were 8 or 9 years old on 4 year old homes. The manufacturing date is on the tire(4 digit #.) Buy new date tires and air them the the MAXIMUM PSI on the side wall. I took my daughter s camper to RPRU and asked if the tires were ready to go, they had used the camper 5 times this summer and the PSI were between 20 and 35 PSI, I aired them to the recommended 50PSI, 900 miles and no problems.

rustyj14 · Jul 3, 2011

Some months ago, i was getting gasoline at a local station, and a fellow pulled in towing a luggage trailer. I noticed his tires on it were squashing out-a sure sign of under inflation.
I asked him if he thought he ought to add some air to those tires, and he said they were fine, even though they had the classic under inflation bulges. He got his gas paid, and left. About five miles down the road, i saw him looking at one of the flats he had gotten. He had a heavy load on that trailer. I didn't stop.
Another time, i was entering the PA. Turnpike, when a guy honked his horn and blew past us and into the on-ramp! He was towing a luggage trailer, loaded with much stuff. His tires had the fatal bulge.
Five miles or so on the Pike, i saw a really hot small trailer tire lying against the center divider. HMMM! Then i saw the wheel on the center line-hot as hades! And, further on was the whole rig sitting on the berm. The owner was just getting out to see what was wrong.
I talked on the CB to a trucker. He said he blew his horn at the driver, as he passed the truck, on the spindle, but got the finger from him!
Did we stop to help? Not on your life!
Another time, in a camp-ground down near Somerset, a man towed in a luggage trailer, with it riding on the inside rim of the wheel! No tire left except some threads. He said it pulled strangely the last ten miles or so--figured he'd might as well get to the camping place before he stopped! He ended up buying a new axle to fix it.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 3, 2011

stepson bought a new camper bout 3 years ago, on his 1st trip he blew 2 china tires both on the same side boom,boom. tore up the wheel wells. company wouldn't stand behind it

Spook · Jul 3, 2011

I just spent $615 to put 4 new tires on my little chevy HHR. They have gone up a lot in price.

WGM · Jul 4, 2011

Seems you never bought trailer tires.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 4, 2011

Been pulling a boats for 20 years and have had one flat. Trailer tires are an issue, they set a lot and then I dunk them in water. Check air pressure every trip, carry a small portable floor jack and a hydraulic jack (trailers get real low with a flat). By the best tires you can find do not skimp, don't put 4 ply tires on a trailer for highway use (makes them sway). Check tire and bearing temps everytime you stop (gas, food, restroom, takes 30 seconds)

Anonymous-0 · Jul 4, 2011

Yep...under inflation causes more road friction. Friction creates heat. Heat weakens rubber. It's just that simple.

IH10020 · Jul 4, 2011

we park our trailers on oak planks when not in use. i think there is something about sitting on the ground & drawing moisture at night & disapating it during the day. it works for us along with good tires & proper inflation.

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