Akuret tire failure

[Sammy]

I have westlakes on my Columbus and just took a long trip on hywy and 2 lanes and seem fine. My dealer told me to get them balanced because the units are shipped with unbalaced tires. When I wet on a short trip with it I paid attention and could tell the wheels were back there. Had them balanced and trip south was much improved. I hard to believe that these wheels are not balanced before going on the unit. Wonder how many issues are because of this. High tire wear and heat as well as less stability come with unbalanced tires.

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by Sammy

I have westlakes on my Columbus and just took a long trip on hywy and 2 lanes and seem fine. My dealer told me to get them balanced because the units are shipped with unbalaced tires. When I wet on a short trip with it I paid attention and could tell the wheels were back there. Had them balanced and trip south was much improved. I hard to believe that these wheels are not balanced before going on the unit. Wonder how many issues are because of this. High tire wear and heat as well as less stability come with unbalanced tires.

Balancing didn't help the ones on my 08Flagstaff 831RLSS with less than 5,000 miles on them. Was only going 55 mph when on blew causing $1800 damage. Factory tires are JUNK unless they happen to be GY. Folks are just kidding themselves if they think differently.

[1jeb289]

I do not think these Akuret tires would have been any better balanced. I believe I would have had the blowout, balanced or not.


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[SYE]

Originally Posted by 1jeb289

I do not think these Akuret tires would have been any better balanced. I believe I would have had the blowout, balanced or not.


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The factory gets these tires on pallets 16 at a time delivered to them all ready mounted. Whomever supplies them does not balance any of them. At least this is the way it is at the Columbus Factory.

[lgray]

If keeping factory junk Akuret tires on my rig, I would invest in a tire pressure monitor system. In most cases, you will get a high temperature warning and/or pressure warning just prior to the explosion. This might give you enough time to get off the road before incurring body damage.
A more practical, sensible piece of advice - is that if you traveled any distance on the one wheel of the compromised side, replace that tire, ASAP. The added weight on a hot tire will cause it accelerated structural damage. I ignored this suggestion and can’t help but wonder if my second Akuret failure was helped along by stress damage from the first blowout.

[1jeb289]

I understand where you are coming from with a tire pressure monitoring system, but I would not keep any of the Akuret tires on my Columbus. I always check and keep the pressure at 80psi before going out and never go over 60 mph.


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[OldCoot]

I wouldn't keep Akuret tires on anything, even in storage. Not worth the damage they can/will cause.

[Pirates55]

My tires on my sabre 36QBOK-7 are made by west lake. Anyone had much trouble out of them. I just bought the camper and haven't put maybe 150 miles on them.


2015 Sabre 36QBOK-7
2007 F-350 Diesel FX-4
China Grove,NC

[beechjet16mf]

We just returned from the ALCAN Highway and put over 7000 miles on our West Lakes, and didn't even have to add air. It is a good test of tires, so I can't say anything bad about them. I am going to check the tread depth with the depth of the spare, which hasn't been on the ground to see how they are wearing. I don't notice any unusual wear patten , though. I am using TPMS on it, although I had two sensors fail on the trip.

[DaveSchwartz]

There are not too many experienced, full-line, global tire manufacturers with actual R&D departments. I'm sure you know who they are... the Michelins, Bridgestone-Firestones, Goodyears, Pirellis, Coopers, etc. They have earned their street cred over the years and you may pay a premium for that but there's a reason. Not to say its not possible for a new manufacturer cannot make their way into the top tier but it takes time in the trenches. There are certain skills in compounding, construction and QA that there is just no shortcut to acquire. A manufacturer should at least be proud enough of their R&D and plant to have that feature prominently in the 'About us' of their website.

I believe that a lot of these Chinese labels have been set up solely with the goal of creating product for the export market at the lowest possible price-point to capture big orders from the U.S. Its quite typical that if a brand gets a bad rep, it will just close down and reopen under a new one. Did you like the Melamine in your dog food? Maybe you'll like some in your tires!

You've got a heavy, expensive trailer there. If you're comfortable hauling it around on tires of questionable lineage, built for lowest cost and running well over 90% of their max ratings, then go for it.

And don't go by what you see on the outside. Unless caused by external factors, catastrophic tire failures happen from the inside out. Cracking and weather checking indicates bad rubber on the outside but that's not where the strength comes from - its the carcass is the critical part which you can't see.

As they say in motorcycle circles, if you've got a $5 brain, buy a $5 helmet.

[amxpress]

It is not uncommon for a tire factory to manufacture multiple named tires using the same tire mold. They are all identical, they just change the name on the sidewall by changing the name in the tire mold. I toured a Kelly Springfield plant and saw three different names on the same tire. Build 10,000 Akuret trailer tires, take 15 minutes and change the name in the mold, and now you have West Lake trailer tires. Same low quality tire, different name.

[jtstromsburg]

Originally Posted by Pirates55

My tires on my sabre 36QBOK-7 are made by west lake. Anyone had much trouble out of them. I just bought the camper and haven't put maybe 150 miles on them.


2015 Sabre 36QBOK-7
2007 F-350 Diesel FX-4
China Grove,NC

See my thread. My 34tbok is just over 16 months old, 3500 miles out on since I picked it up in Ohio last March. Had a belt break and if I had been out on a trip, I'm sure I would've had a blowout and damage to the 5er. Fortunately, the last couple trips have been 20 miles or less so I caught it in time. New gy marathons put on this morning.