Blow Out tire on Rockwood ultra lite 8289WS

[accumack]

How much weight are you carrying? Without knowing that you can't know if you are over or under rated load.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by Vern

After about 8200 miles, we had our first blowout on our Windjammer's OEM Trail Express Load range C tires this summer and promptly replaced them with Load Range D Goodyear Marathons. Agree with Old Car's statement...brace yourself for lots of opinions on this one. Happy camping!

Any chance you have some pictures of the failed tires?
"Blowout" is a catch all term that doesn't help tire engineers learn about what might have caused the failure.
I have seen tires that were run with 4 psi called defective because they "blewout". See tires with bent rim called defective because the tire had broken body cords. Seen tires still fully inflated called Blowout failure.


Also did you file a complaint with NHTSA on the suspect defective tire? No complaint => No investigation => No recall => No incentive to tire companies to make better quality tires.

[Vern]

Originally Posted by Tireman9

Any chance you have some pictures of the failed tires?
"Blowout" is a catch all term that doesn't help tire engineers learn about what might have caused the failure.
I have seen tires that were run with 4 psi called defective because they "blewout". See tires with bent rim called defective because the tire had broken body cords. Seen tires still fully inflated called Blowout failure.


Also did you file a complaint with NHTSA on the suspect defective tire? No complaint => No investigation => No recall => No incentive to tire companies to make better quality tires.

You are right, Tireman9. I should not have called it a "blowout", as I have no technical background or understanding to say that was what occurred. I should point out that I did not use the term to critique the tire or to glamorize what occurred, though. As I've posted on here about this event before, it was my "first flat tire on the TT". I do have this photo, which I took alongside the road:


I did not know it was flat. My TPMS did not alert. Instead, I was waived over by a fellow traveler, and I stopped to find the tire in the condition pictured above. I checked my TPMS to see if the pressure loss registered and saw this:

I don't know if the sensor was working prior to the flat, or if the incident somehow destroyed the sensor.

In answer to your question, no complaint was filed, since I don't (as you suggest) really have a basis for blaming the manufacturer. Tires were all inflated when we left home, then one wasn't. I treated it like a flat, just like an flat on a car. I suspect the damage illustrated in the photo is from driving on it unaware of the air loss.

[dcheatwood]

Ouch. You may want to check your TPMS's paperwork to see if there may be some warranty claim or at least report the failure of its performance.

[Vern]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

Ouch. You may want to check your TPMS's paperwork to see if there may be some warranty claim or at least report the failure of its performance.

I did call TireTraker and described this to them. They said while this was not common, it was also not unheard of...apparently sometimes when a tire blows (not trying to use a technical term there...just denoting a little pop and violence), debris or other impacts can damage a sensor. This explanation made sense to me, since it had appeared to me that the sensor was working properly (i.e., modest/normal changes in both temp and pressure were being registered) within the previous hour. Something obviously appeared to have happened to the sensor.

I had only purchased my TPMS this spring, so TireTraker immediately sent me a replacement sensor and the system has continued to work well since then. Just experienced this one glitch. I did have a flat on my new Marathons on the very first trip (picked up a nail driving through a construction zone) and the system alerted perfectly, allowing me to quickly pull over and change the tire, which was reparable.

[B and B]

Lee, that just is not right. Looks like the trailer did not have massive amounts of damage thankfully. dcheatwood is correct I would look to the TPMS for a answer, trust of this device is compromised now.
I have never bought TPMS but rely on temp gun and visual checks, in fact I have never checked the pressure on my tires since March of this year. Nitrogen is a constant and never changes in my experience.

[youroo]

A proper working TPMS is FAR better than a Heat Gun! You would have a hard time running down the road at 55 MPH to check PSI or Heat buildup in any Tire! Youroo!!

[Vern]

Originally Posted by B and B

Lee, that just is not right. Looks like the trailer did not have massive amounts of damage thankfully. dcheatwood is correct I would look to the TPMS for a answer, trust of this device is compromised now.
I have never bought TPMS but rely on temp gun and visual checks, in fact I have never checked the pressure on my tires since March of this year. Nitrogen is a constant and never changes in my experience.

You can only do what you can. For me, I check the pressure regularly, adjust when indicated, and visually inspect at all stops. Added the TPMS this year, knowing I was in the final year for my OEM tires.

In this case, there was absolutely no damage to the TT, thanks to none of the above, but rather because a Good Samaritan approaching behind me observed the tire issue and pulled alongside to waive me over. That day, I guess TPMS stood for Tire Pressure Monitoring Samaritan. If he had not warned me, the tire would have come apart and the photo become very ugly, like we've seen on here many times before.

[Tireman9]

Vern
If I had the tire in front of me I would first look at and feel the edges of the failure at the locations indicated



If I found hard cord ends that would be sufficient proof of Run Low Flex. Can't really tell without either feeling or a lot closer & sharper pictures.

I have done and posted a number of tire autopsies on my blog that show what melted body cord can look like if you want to learn more.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by youroo

A proper working TPMS is FAR better than a Heat Gun! You would have a hard time running down the road at 55 MPH to check PSI or Heat buildup in any Tire! Youroo!!

You have a hard time walking around it Youroo. But to the OP I had Trail express went across the USA and back and took many trips to Florida and back. Had a blow out at about 6000 miles on mine and changed them to GY "D" rated now have had them for 2 years atleast that many miles on them and no Problems, still look like new. Just about any tire that is an ST is made overseas now. They are not all bad because they are made over seas. Get a brand that is carried by local dealers all over.

[OldCoot]

A heat gun is no substitute for a TPMS. Wise up folks, you can't use the gun unless you are stopped and that is a long time after the tires have heated up due to low inflation which could only be a nail, etc. B&B, just keep on believing that N filled tires don't loose air and a heat gun is the best preventive measure.

[snyder85086]

We purchased our Rockwood ultra lite 8289WS in October or 2014. Currently we are only weekend campers with a few longer trips here and there. One tire blew out in August of 2015! (the tire wall blew). They were Trail Express only 6ply (the lowest ply you can put on a trailer). We contacted Forest River and were told since we purchased "better" tires (10ply) instead of the cheap ones they couldn't reimburse us on the warranty. We have been fighting with them. As of today they said they would reimburse us $75 for the tire (we did replace all 4 for fear the others were as crappy).

[Fivealive]

Originally Posted by Vern

You are right, Tireman9. I should not have called it a "blowout", as I have no technical background or understanding to say that was what occurred. I should point out that I did not use the term to critique the tire or to glamorize what occurred, though. As I've posted on here about this event before, it was my "first flat tire on the TT". I do have this photo, which I took alongside the road:
Attachment 88988

I did not know it was flat. My TPMS did not alert. Instead, I was waived over by a fellow traveler, and I stopped to find the tire in the condition pictured above. I checked my TPMS to see if the pressure loss registered and saw this:
Attachment 88989
I don't know if the sensor was working prior to the flat, or if the incident somehow destroyed the sensor.

In answer to your question, no complaint was filed, since I don't (as you suggest) really have a basis for blaming the manufacturer. Tires were all inflated when we left home, then one wasn't. I treated it like a flat, just like an flat on a car. I suspect the damage illustrated in the photo is from driving on it unaware of the air loss.

I lost a tread belt using the same TPMS monitor and the tire held pressure for a minute or so after I stopped on the roadside. My replacements for the OEM tires had a nylon cap which is supposed to prevent total separation like the one I experienced. I had considerable damage from a short duration flogging.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

A heat gun is no substitute for a TPMS. Wise up folks, you can't use the gun unless you are stopped and that is a long time after the tires have heated up due to low inflation which could only be a nail, etc. B&B, just keep on believing that N filled tires don't loose air and a heat gun is the best preventive measure.

After I had my blow out, I took OC'S advice to me to spend the money on a TST system. I have a heat gun and use to do the same thing as B&B. Now that I have the system I measured my tire heat with the gun. The temp was like 15 degrees different then what the TST system showed. The heat gun is good for measuring the temp of the hub, to see if they are not getting hot from a dragging brake only. If you see on your monitor that a tire is getting hotter then the rest, there is a reason for it. But it is really useless to get an internal temp of the tire. That is why it's best to invest in a TST system. Do I check my air pressure with a gage everyday no, I turn on the system and wait til I get a reading on each tire. If I'm between 65 and 63 PSI all around I'm good to go. That is the way I do it but others might do it differently.....

[bob caldwell]

What brand do you use?

[youroo]

Originally Posted by bob caldwell

What brand do you use?

Tires,Heat gun,or TPMS? Youroo!!

[bob caldwell]

TPMS.......(nitrogen)

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by bob caldwell

TPMS.......(nitrogen)

Bob I used the #507 flow through and plain old air....

[gashog]

I used the TireMinder system for 3 years. What I experienced with mine was, I would check and adjust tire pressure before every trip. And with Monitor in hand I would install the sensors. All would appear good. Then while on the road after an hour or so I would scroll through and check psi and temp of each tire. I would have random tires that the pressure and temp never changed from when I left my house so I knew they weren't working. I would stop walk back to the tire with monitor remove and reinstall the sensor and it would start working again. I totally lost all trust in the TireMinder I never knew if they were working or not. TireTracker TireMinder and a few others are all from the same manufacturer just different names on them and are worthless IMO. After talking with TireMinder support they suggested I send my Monitor back to them and pay for a upgrade at a price that was just about equal to buying a new complete TST - 507RV 4 Wheel Towed Vehicle System w/ Cap Sens & Repeter from Vulcantire.com I went with the TST-507RV and they are flawless...
Back on topic, IMO most tire failure or what people are calling a blowout is caused from losing air and driving on an under inflated or flat tire and not knowing it.

[Witch Doctor]

I'm a believer in the 507 system. I had one sensor that would not read correctly, I called and said to loosen my schrader valve on that tire. It wasn't making good contact. Did that and never had a problem since, so once again OC thanks for breaking the difference down for me on the best to by. If I had a MH with a toad attached, I wouldn't buy the repeater til you try it out I know I can be 15 to 20' from my trailer and it will still pick them up. So I would wait you can always get it later.