Chinese Tires not only problem - Goodyear Motor Home Tire Failures

[B and B]

Originally Posted by Summit1

Which (model) Goodyear tires were they?

Hello,

Marathon ST rated 3 seasons olds. left uncovered for 1 winter other 2 where covered . When I traded the Rockwood a year ago the sidewalls where checked and cracked.

[Slow Moon]

Originally Posted by CaptnJohn

Just replaced the Michelin tires on the truck with 53,500 miles. If not pulling the 5er would have kept them longer. Sailun on the 5er like you. Both seem the best for the application.

Sailun S637T on my 5er -- they are certainly the best I have ever seen on a trailer.

Michelins on my truck typically start to delaminate after 5 years, so they have to be replaced with low mileage. They are great while they are young. In my 50+ years driving, Michelins are great for high-mileage and good handling, but they come apart from age sooner than most. Fortunately, you can usually feel the bumps before they come apart (if not on your trailer). But when you feel the bumps, you better act fast, as they go quickly from there and they can cause quite a lot of damage, expense and inconvenience if you let them go a mile too far.

[CaptnJohn]

Originally Posted by Slow Moon

Sailun S637T on my 5er -- they are certainly the best I have ever seen on a trailer.

Michelins on my truck typically start to delaminate after 5 years, so they have to be replaced with low mileage. They are great while they are young. In my 50+ years driving, Michelins are great for high-mileage and good handling, but they come apart from age sooner than most. Fortunately, you can usually feel the bumps before they come apart (if not on your trailer). But when you feel the bumps, you better act fast, as they go quickly from there and they can cause quite a lot of damage, expense and inconvenience if you let them go a mile too far.

I had not heard that before on the Michelins. I generally run them 35,000 - 45,000 annually so never noticed the problem either.

[Slow Moon]

Surprised me when a Michelin LT with lots of tread blew on my Ford Explorer daily driver. Tires were old because they wear so well and that truck had set a while after my late wife died but came back into service. TWO sets of Michelin LT delaminated on my F250. All looked nearly new at 5 years old. Two failed within a couple weeks of each other. All failed when lightly loaded. Oddly, one blew after I took it off and put it in the carrier. The bang startled and puzzled me until I got to the tire shop the next day and saw it blown. I never believed that could happen! I won't go past 5 years on a TV tire any more. If anyone wonders, all of these tires were regularly rotated and kept always at recommended pressures.

[mdstudey]

Some year back there was a rash of deaths caused by faulty tires on auto's. I cannot remember which one they were, Goodyear, Firestone, Bridgestone (?) that were made in Brazil that they had to call back. Goodyear is the one sticking in my head as the culprit. I have pretty much had them suck in my head as do not buy. Does anyone else remember that.

[mecd]

I have to agree that the location of manufacture does not always mean good or bad tires. I have run all Chinese tires on both my fifth wheels, E's on the previous one and now G's which are still the original set with low mileage. When I ran on the E's I noted that certain manufacturers had maximum running speed rating. Michelin's were 70 MPH, GY Marathon's were 65, and another brand (forget name as I did not buy them) were under 60. Most manu's do not state a seed rating.

My research has identified many reasons why trailer tires do not last.
- Too high or low pressure
- Sitting on asphalt and in water for extended periods
- Sitting on some types of aggregate that can weaken the rubber
- Rough roads causing broken plies (not an occasional problem)
- Driving too fast for the stated or unstated speed rating
- Sitting too long in one spot
- UV deterioration - cover untreated tires when in one location for extended period
- Road debris
- Undetected nail, screw, etc. in tire that affects tire pressure
- and there are others.

I also read that when a tire sits in one position for too long the tire compounds begin to separate in a gravitational way, the rate of which can be impacted by temperature. Tires are meant to role and that motion helps keep the compounds properly distributed evenly, and thus maintain structural integrity.

When I had Chinese Marathons I stayed within the 65 MPH max and only had problems associated with rough roads. My RAM 3500 could go faster, but safety was always on my mind. On the other hand, I was passed very frequently by other trailers when going that speed. One actually blew a tire shortly after passing me on !-75.

A cousin who worked in a Michelin truck tire plant stated that the warranty offered on truck tires reflects the higher quality and the fact they use more rubber compound in the tire construction than others. Suspect their trailer tires are similarly built.

I have no tire company affiliation other than my now retired cousin, and while I think some manufacturers could probably improve their specs, I think we RV'ers need to pay attention to how we use and or abuse trailer tires. Not pointing any fingers, just based on my face to face discussion with other RV'ers who seemed unaware of tire limitations. I inspect mine at every stop and when changing temperature conditions, either seasonal or north-south-north migration, tire pressure is checked very frequent. Vehicle tires can go longer periods of time without ongoing inspection, whereas, trailer tires receive a lot of punishment that the others do not.

Safe travels!

[Slow Moon]

Originally Posted by mdstudey

Some year back there was a rash of deaths caused by faulty tires on auto's. I cannot remember which one they were, Goodyear, Firestone, Bridgestone (?) that were made in Brazil that they had to call back. Goodyear is the one sticking in my head as the culprit. I have pretty much had them suck in my head as do not buy. Does anyone else remember that.

Not relevant to today's RVs, so let's not go very far on this, but in the early 1970s Firestone fouled up its first radial tire, the Firestone 500. Around 2000 Bridgestone/Firestone had a disaster with ATX and related SUV tires and a Venezuela plant was implicated. These were big and ugly, lots of blame thrown around. Easy to google for more info, but not for this thread, I suggest.

[rhamilton]

We have Michelin tires on our MH which came with it on a new purchase. 18,000 miles with no problems and still no signs of wear. We have Bridgstone tires on our 2009 Chevy Tahoe, and just replaced them this week, and they still did not show any ware. Were replaced for age and safety even though they looked almost new. Very happy with tires on both Tahoe and Forester.

[rsdata]

Some year back there was a rash of deaths caused by faulty tires on auto's. I cannot remember which one they were, Goodyear, Firestone, Bridgestone (?) that were made in Brazil that they had to call back. Goodyear is the one sticking in my head as the culprit. I have pretty much had them suck in my head as do not buy. Does anyone else remember that.

Firestone...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firest...re_controversy

[TitanMike]

So who'd to blame?
The company that built tires for a specific purpose?
The chassis builder that put them on chassis that could be either local delivery trucks or turn into MH's?
The MH manufacturer that didn't insist on a better high speed tire (which of course would cost more)?
How about the lawyers that advised against releasing test data that might reveal liability to the company?
How about the lawyers that wrote the confidentiality clause in the settlements and had courts seal records?

So it goes in the world of business. More than enough blame to go around.

When you think about it, even the consumer playa a role with their demand for lower cost items. First casualty when cost cutting begins is almost always quality.

[gregkono]

Those stated "problem tires" are 10-20 years old as well. Check your mfg. dates and upgrade if needed for piece of mind!