Can you only replace one tire on a two yr old camper?

thinkinghat · 03-16-2013, 12:03 PM

One of our four tires on our travel trailer has broken bands. My husband wants to only replace that tire but our camper is two years old. The bands and tread look good on all the others. Is this a wise decision? My brother-in-law had a tire blow out on a fith wheel and caused all manner of damage. Thanks to anyone who takes the time to share their experience.

TURBS · 03-16-2013, 12:17 PM

IMO I would replace them all ........

The others are surely not far behind .

Turbs

youroo · 03-16-2013, 12:19 PM

HAVE YOUR HUSBAND check the sidewall date code of your tires,he may find they are older than (2) years!

Youroo!!

TURBS · 03-16-2013, 12:23 PM

BOBFIDY · 03-16-2013, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinkinghat

One of our four tires on our travel trailer has broken bands. My husband wants to only replace that tire but our camper is two years old. The bands and tread look good on all the others. Is this a wise decision? My brother-in-law had a tire blow out on a fith wheel and caused all manner of damage. Thanks to anyone who takes the time to share their experience.

Just my experiance.....but if it helps its all good.

Last year on the way to the FROG Rally in Goshen we had a tire come apart. It lost 20% of the tread, and we replaced it.

3 weeks later on our way back home from the same trip I checked the tires at our lunch stop and could see the start of another tire coming apart, so we replaced it on the spot.

I could not get it out of my head "When will the next 1 go", so I bought 2 more before we got home, and feel very sure that I will not have any more issues.

By the way.....When we bought our trailer and we went to RV Bootcamp with Escapees we went through the Smart Weigh program. In filling out the paperwork they wanted DOT numbers on each tire. We found 2 tires on 1 side were less than 12 months old and the 2 on the other side were over 24 months old. Our dealer changed out the 2 older ones and we thought all was well.

Dodge Guy · 03-16-2013, 10:57 PM

Replace them all! the others will fail soon. and buy good quality replacements.

wyo700 · 03-16-2013, 11:52 PM

I just pulled my camper out of storage and its only one year old. I already have new tires paid for and sitting at a local tire shop waiting for me. But I was looking very closely at my current tires and I couldn't believe how much of crap they are. One of them the belts have separated and the inner tread is cracked and separating. So the next place my camper is going is straight to the tire shop to get my new maxxis put on.

But to the op. I would highly suggest replacing all 4.

Nigels · 03-17-2013, 03:33 AM

I had 2 blowouts with my C rated trail Express tires after only 500 miles, replaced all 4. The dealer only had E rated so I went with those and have since done over 20000 miles and they look as though they can do another 20000 at least.

jwwilson · 03-17-2013, 07:01 AM

Returning home from Stone Mountain we had a blow out on the left front tire on our 2011 Cameo 5er. We had stopped for fuel about 20 miles back and I always walk around the rig to check tires, doors and such and the tires were all round and hard. I was preparing to remove the bad tire when I noticed a huge bulge forming on the rear tire. I would hazard a guess that the stress from carrying the weight of the left side caused the belts in the rear tire to fail. Good Sam's came to the rescue and a few hours later we were back on the road with some Chinese tires.

After getting home I started researching tires and found that the wheels and tires mounted by the manufacturer were rated less than the GVW of the trailer. I purchased all new 17.5" rims and Goodyear tires before the next trip.

OldCoot · 03-17-2013, 07:44 AM

The answer to your question is yes, you can replace them one at a time, 4 times, after they each blow out and damage the trailer.

Not a wise decision except in an extreme emergency. Get 4 new ones of a higher load rating and have them balanced. Make sure the tire dealer does NOT jack on the axles regardless of what type suspension you have.

Old car · 03-17-2013, 08:23 AM

We had a tire going low last year on our South Dakota trip. Saw it while filling gas in the tow vehicle so we went to a local shop and had it replaced. Sidewall was coming out on the tire. 4 days later, same trip, blowout on the highway. Waited on the highway 4 hours for roadside assistance and also disconnected the TV from the TT and sent wife to find a tire. Roadside showed up with a tire and replaced the blowout and noticed the other tire on same side of TT was about to go. Put the tire on that wife found. Decided to put the spare on the only remaining original tire. TT came with C tires--I now run D and my spare is an E.

BarryD0706 · 03-17-2013, 08:49 AM

Good example of why I think TPMS is so important.

In a car, you can tell if one tire is going down before any other tire is going to be damaged. I

n a multi-axle RV, losing just a few pounds of air in one tire can easily cause the other tire on that side to exceed its weight rating. It's much better to prevent that from happening.

Dodge Guy · 03-20-2013, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BarryD0706

Good example of why I think TPMS is so important.

In a car, you can tell if one tire is going down before any other tire is going to be damaged. I

n a multi-axle RV, losing just a few pounds of air in one tire can easily cause the other tire on that side to exceed its weight rating. It's much better to prevent that from happening.

TPMS will not help you when a cord seperates. by then the tire is already gone. and if the tire has a blow out then TPMS will still not help you. TPMS is OK for slow leaks or people that don`t maintain there vehicle (not flaming you) and that is it.

OldCoot · 03-20-2013, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dodge Guy

TPMS will not help you when a cord seperates. by then the tire is already gone. and if the tire has a blow out then TPMS will still not help you. TPMS is OK for slow leaks or people that don`t maintain there vehicle (not flaming you) and that is it.

I agree with part of what you say about the cord separation and a blow out, but not about the not maintaining their vehicle. The TPMS is great for letting you know if you happen to pick up a nail, etc. and thus avoiding a possible blowout, etc. I have a TPMS system and also maintain the proper air pressure as I did for 37 yrs prior to buying the system.

BarryD0706 · 03-20-2013, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dodge Guy

TPMS will not help you when a cord seperates. by then the tire is already gone. and if the tire has a blow out then TPMS will still not help you.

Not sure I agree. I think there could be cases where you wouldn't know you had that blowout for a while, thereby destroying the other tire as well. (Not speaking from experience thankfully.)

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