Dodged a tire bullet, so far.

[Darrell]

I've been traveling for the last 11 weeks (3,000 miles towing) and plan to continue for the foreseeable future. I have had full confidence in my Truck and RV, which is a comforting feeling when your on the road, solo. However, I noticed a slow leak in one of my RV tires about 4 days ago. I looked for a nail or some other puncture but couldn't find anything. By the way, I found a good way to check the tire. I used the video function on my cell phone. I could move it around and then was able to play it back to see a close up view of the tire, both tread and backside. Anyway, while checking again today. I saw a seam on the outside sidewall of the tire that didn't look just right. I tried water but the opening was too wide so I used some hand cream and sure enough, that was the leak. I was thankful that it didn't blow out on the highway because a sidewall seam blowout would have been bad. If that seam split had been on the inside, I may not have seen it until it blew. I'm glad I have the tire pressure/monitor sensors installed on the tires.

I called the Coach-net number and they have someone on their way out to mount my spare tire. Although I could do that myself, I figured I would take advantage of the service.

The reason for the "so far" in the post title is that I leave this campground tomorrow and travel about 200 miles to the next one. That 200 miles will be without a spare tire and I'll be constantly watching the tire monitor. There is a Camping World about 25 miles away from the next campground near Harrisburg, PA. So if I can make it there without a blowout, I plan to buy 4 new tires there and get rid of the tires that came with the RV. I haven't read anything good about them. They are Power Touring, Trail Express ST225/75R15. They only have about 3,000 miles on them, but I have lost confidence in them.

[Herk7769]

I would think it was unusual for a crack at the tire bead.
Did you hit something? Curb?

[Ford Idaho]

Did you scuff the tire sidewall for a reason or was it like that?

Looks like you may have brushed a curb or something.

[Darrell]

I don't remember rubbing any curb, but these New York roads that you have to pay to ride on (tolls) are very rough. Some of the bridge joints in New York and Connecticut were very bad. I would like to believe it is just this one tire, but my confidence level is pretty low.

[Ford Idaho]

Originally Posted by Darrell

I don't remember rubbing any curb, but these New York roads that you have to pay to ride on (tolls) are very rough. Some of the bridge joints in New York and Connecticut were very bad. I would like to believe it is just this one tire, but my confidence level is pretty low.

All you would have had to do is just brush a chunk of broken concrete.

[Darrell]

There are no marks on the rim and no marks on the tire in front of this one. I agree it could have been a curb that wouldn't have reached the rim, but I don't think I could have brushed a curb with only the back tire and not the front. I wish I could mark it up as a bump or curb causing the problem, but I don't think so.

[Ford Idaho]

I guess that would throw out the "Road Hazard" warranty.

[Darrell]

As long as I can get some peace of mind as I'm tooling down the road listening to the 60's channel, I'm OK. I had that until this tire. I asked the two guys that changed it how many they had seen with a split on the seam like that and they said this was the first. They were relatively young, but probably seen enough to count on their judgment. I have 200 miles of thinking tomorrow to decide to get 1 or 4 new tires. Thanks for ya'll's comments, they helped.

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by Darrell

There are no marks on the rim and no marks on the tire in front of this one. I agree it could have been a curb that wouldn't have reached the rim, but I don't think I could have brushed a curb with only the back tire and not the front. I wish I could mark it up as a bump or curb causing the problem, but I don't think so.

Have to agree that it is doubtful that it is a curb brush or similar due to the lack of scuffing on the tire or wheel. Looks more like it sat flat on the rim and the rim cut it, but it would of had to been sitting on a rather small block like a 2 x 2 to have only cut it about 2".

[ronb707]

I have the exact same tires in the same size as you. Put 5000 miles on last vacation. No problem with the tires--but, my confidence level is also low. Ordered in the Maxxis 8008 in "D" range from Discount tire last week. Should be in this week and installed and I will be ready for my next trip.

What is the age of the RV/tires? My RV is a year old.

[Darrell]

Ron,
The tire that had the split was made during the 36th week of 2012. The one next to it was made in the 20th week of 2013. I can't get to the other two right now since my slide is out and old fat men have a hard time crawling under. I'll get those two dates when I break camp today. The RV was built in the fall of 2013. I ordered it and took possession in late November of 2013.
After sleeping on it, I am now leaning to only getting one tire. It will make it easier too in that that one tire is in the bed of my truck. I can take it to get a new tire and put it on myself. That way I don't have to take the RV in to the shop.
I should be back in Louisiana before Thanksgiving so that will put another 3,000 to 3,500 miles on the tires. I'll get them replaced then.
Thanks.

[Timex]

Happened to me on the last trip. Tire sensor showed a leak, pulled off at the next exit 2 miles ahead, found a closed business to park, changed the tire and held my breath the next 250 miles on the way home. Went the next week and replaced all the Trail Express tires. The tire guys said it looked like a curb check but it could have been a driveway gutter(where the drive meets the main road) coming out of a campground. Could have been turning at just the right angle for it to happen. Kinda strange it happened to the in-side of the tire and not the out-side. If I traveled a lot, I might think about having 2 spares for this very reason. But you have to weight the (cost) of having to never possibly using the 2nd spare.

[CT Camper]

I had a large 5th wheel and I had to be real cautious when backing at an extreme cut degree because one time I split the sidewall on the inner tire. They were Power Kings made in china. I lost all faith in that tire and it was always on the back of my mind until I changed them. Who knows, they may have had thousands of miles left but I'll never know.

[Darrell]

I bought a tire today from Walmart. It is a Goodyear Marathon ST 225/75R15 Load Range D. It is an upgrade from the "C"s that came with the RV. The cost was $125.00 and it is sitting in the bed of my truck now. According to the service guy, Walmart quit mounting/changing tires on RV's about a year ago or I would have pulled the RV in and got 4 new ones. I looked for one of those tire changing ramp wedges at the store but they didn't have one. I could call Coach-net again to put it on, but I'm in a State Park away from the city. I pull out of here tomorrow and will look for a better place to switch the new tire and spare. I'll also order one of those ramps and have it delivered to some Walmart down the road. I just need to predict where I'll be in a couple of weeks. At least I have a spare now and that is comforting.
Just thought ya'll would want to know how it turned out so far.

[ronb707]

Good luck to you Darrell going down the road! Glad to see you got the "D" load tire.

[Roving Ron]

I have a Keystone Sprinter that came with "Duro?" tires. I replaced all 4 after the first year as 3 of the 4 had sidewall delamination. I have Power King tires mounted for 4 years now without any problems. I suspect the originals were the cheapest available.

We just ordered a 2703WS and will be picking it up in October. Until then, the Sprinter 250RBS will have to suffice. I hope FR comes with decent tires.

Roving Ron


Grey Nomads, Ron and Sue

[The_Rhino]

If I traveled a lot, I might think about having 2 spares...

Although I am new to camping, during my college years I worked for landscaping, utility, & trucking companies that regularly towed tandem axle commercial trailers. About 1/2 of the time we hit an unavoidable larger sharp object, it damaged both tires vs. just one... And, if you don't recognize the first flat ASAP, that extra weight on the good tire can make it go bad really fast. Sometimes that is the reason people will say they had 2 back-to-back flats in the same month, etc...

When I order my (4) Maxxis replacements, I plan on keeping a tire as a 2nd spare for longer trips...

[Weezer]

Originally Posted by Ford Idaho

Did you scuff the tire sidewall for a reason or was it like that?

Looks like you may have brushed a curb or something.

To me that scuff looks like where he wiped off the hand lotion. (shrug)

[Darrell]

As a follow up to the tire saga. I searched for a place where I could buy 3 new tires and have them mounted on the RV. Walmart, Sears, Goodyear dealer (too small) all said they don't do that type of work anymore due to liability reasons. I finally found a place in Canton, Ohio. It is a Goodyear Commercial Tire and Service Center. It is the place where 18 wheelers get their tires for their trucks and trailers. They had the Goodyear Marathon ST 225/75 R 15 Load Range "D" in stock and had them put on the RV within one hour after I showed up. As the tire tech was working, my confidence level in my tires was going up. I was considering myself lucky to have made it to a place where I could get rid of the foreign made tires and replace them with good ole, Goodyear. Much to my surprise, as I was checking the manufacture date on the new tires I notice, "Made in China". When I asked about that, the manager said Goodyear started getting their Marathon tires made in China about 2 to 3 years ago. Oh well, my hope now is that Goodyear is providing a higher level of quality control on the Marathon manufacturing in China than the Trail Express tires made by whomever. As far as I know, they both may be made at the same factory in China and one tire gets Goodyear molded on it and the next one get Trail Express.
Bottom line: I bought a set of tires made in China (hopefully with higher quality standards and control) to replace a set of tires made in China (with standards and quality control unknown).

[DaveSchwartz]

Mine were made at a different factory than the Trail Distress... the factory code in the first part of the DOT code came back different.