We joined the Carlisle Blowout club today

Hokiehall · 09-08-2007, 08:06 PM

I have been reading many articles on various forums concerning failures of Carlisle tires. Due to that I have been very careful about watching the tire pressures, tread wear and general visual checks before each trip. They have about 4500 miles on them.

This morning before we left Myrtle Beach I did my usual check of all the tires, including the spare and the tow vehicle. All the pressures were correct and everything looked normal. We pulled out and headed home. About 50 miles up the road Nancy wanted to make a pit stop so we did. I did my usual visual check at this stop and again everything looked normal.

We left this stop and continued on. As I was coming to a stoplight in Bennettsville, SC, I heard a flapping noise. I was making a left turn and looked back and saw the front trailer tire completely blown. Luckily there was a parking lot right where I saw it and was able to pull in. The tire had failed completely. Thankfully there was no damage to the trailer or the other tire. We had been traveling around 60 mph, which was the speed limit on this stretch of highway so speed should not have been a factor in the failure.

I changed the thing after battling with one of the 5 lug nuts that did not want to come off. A big young fellow from the store whose lot I was in came out with a long pipe that we were able to use on the jack wrench to give enough leverage to break the last one loose. Even this big guy had trouble with it.

Anyway after about an hour of fussing with it, we were back on the road. Now the thought of another one blowing had us worried for the rest of the trip but we made it home fine.

My next trip will be to a tire dealer to get all new tires of some type other than Carlisle.

BTW, my wife had insisted when we started camping to get the Good Sam Emergency Roadside Service. While I was working on the tire, she called them. They called back shortly and said they did not have any garages in that area. So that is totally worthless in my book. Besides, I had the tire changed by the time they called back. The guy in the store was worth much more than Good Sam ERS and he wouldn't take any money for helping us. I might still be sitting in Bennettsville SC if I had waited for them to find somebody.

Krudedawg · 09-08-2007, 08:24 PM

Good to hear you made it home safe and the blowout didnt cause any damage or even worse... cause you to lose control of the rig. I will hafta take a close look at the tires on my rig now just to make sure.

NDJollyMon · 09-08-2007, 08:39 PM

Blowouts are scary. I've never had trailer tire problems...and I've owned Carlisle tires before. There are many trailer tire brands with problems right now. Many are coming from....eh hem....China.

No garage? GOOD SAM RV tows my vehicles wherever I choose. Never a problem on my end with GS RV. (knocking on wood)

Paul B · 09-08-2007, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hokiehall

I have been reading many articles on various forums concerning failures of Carlisle tires. Due to that I have been very careful about watching the tire pressures, tread wear and general visual checks before each trip. They have about 4500 miles on them.

This morning before we left Myrtle Beach I did my usual check of all the tires, including the spare and the tow vehicle. All the pressures were correct and everything looked normal. We pulled out and headed home. About 50 miles up the road Nancy wanted to make a pit stop so we did. I did my usual visual check at this stop and again everything looked normal.

We left this stop and continued on. As I was coming to a stoplight in Bennettsville, SC, I heard a flapping noise. I was making a left turn and looked back and saw the front trailer tire completely blown. Luckily there was a parking lot right where I saw it and was able to pull in. The tire had failed completely. Thankfully there was no damage to the trailer or the other tire. We had been traveling around 60 mph, which was the speed limit on this stretch of highway so speed should not have been a factor in the failure.

I changed the thing after battling with one of the 5 lug nuts that did not want to come off. A big young fellow from the store whose lot I was in came out with a long pipe that we were able to use on the jack wrench to give enough leverage to break the last one loose. Even this big guy had trouble with it.

Anyway after about an hour of fussing with it, we were back on the road. Now the thought of another one blowing had us worried for the rest of the trip but we made it home fine.

My next trip will be to a tire dealer to get all new tires of some type other than Carlisle.

BTW, my wife had insisted when we started camping to get the Good Sam Emergency Roadside Service. While I was working on the tire, she called them. They called back shortly and said they did not have any garages in that area. So that is totally worthless in my book. Besides, I had the tire changed by the time they called back. The guy in the store was worth much more than Good Sam ERS and he wouldn't take any money for helping us. I might still be sitting in Bennettsville SC if I had waited for them to find somebody.

Good luck in finding something you can use. I'm doing a search too. Wish I could find out if 16" wheels and tires will fit my rig. All ST tires are made overseas with the exception of Cooper, only thing they are hard to find.

Paul B

Hokiehall · 09-08-2007, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NDJollyMon

Blowouts are scary. I've never had trailer tire problems...and I've owned Carlisle tires before. There are many trailer tire brands with problems right now. Many are coming from....eh hem....China.

No garage? GOOD SAM RV tows my vehicles wherever I choose. Never a problem on my end with GS RV. (knocking on wood)

I never knew the thing had failed until I saw it in the turn. I never felt anything as far as a jolt or bump or even a pop. Thankfully it was the left side I could see and not the right side. Who knows how long it would have been before I discovered it.

I know there are issues with all brands of trailer tires right now. What do we expect when companies send all of the manufacturing to China or other low wage countries to save them a lot of labor money and pass a few cents in savings on to us, who end up paying more because of the lousy quality.

dimurrrw · 09-08-2007, 10:22 PM

Kim,

I'm really glad you and Nancy are in one piece and that the trailer didn't suffer damage. I can't help but think that Donna and I would have been right there with you if we had managed to hook up as planned. When we do manage to get together, I'll tell you all about my Carlisle adventure - in the middle of tunnel 2 of the Bay Bridge, headed North. I've been running Marathons ever since, with nary a problem.

It may be of interest to the group to know that I never heard the tire blow, but there was what appeared to be an immediate and pronounced loss of engine power. My guess is that as the axle dropped, the tire started flopping around and acted as a brake/anchor. The remains of the tire were still on the rim when I managed to get the rig stopped, but totally shredded. This might be good information for folks to file away in the "what the hell's going on" file, just in case.

Again, glad you guys got home safely.

Richard

Hokiehall · 09-09-2007, 09:24 PM

Thanks Richard. We are fine but worried the rest of the way about having another blowout. We made it in without incident. I'll post a couple of pictures of the tire carcass to let you see what it looks like. Maybe you can get an idea of what happened to it from those.

Phil · 09-21-2007, 04:31 PM

I waws wandering if everyone was keeping their tires at 65 PSI?????

Hokiehall · 09-21-2007, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil

I waws wandering if everyone was keeping their tires at 65 PSI?????

The maximum pressure for mine, both on the tire and on the trailer sticker is 50 psi. I have 14" tires though.

dimurrrw · 09-22-2007, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hokiehall

The maximum pressure for mine, both on the tire and on the trailer sticker is 50 psi. I have 14" tires though.

Just a stray thought, not specific to Carlisle. Small tires = more revolution per mile. More revolutions per mile = more flexing of the tire as it turns. More flexing = more heat. More heat = increased degradation of materials. Also, there is less surface area on a small tire to disperse the heat. Questions: Do larger tires run cooler at a given speed? Are larger tires inherently safer for that reason?

dichayer · 09-23-2007, 06:21 AM

Part of my routine when I stop for any reason is to feel of the tires on the trailer and the tow vehical. I have not found any buildup of heat on my 14" tires. When I had a popup those tires were smaller. No heat problems either. I do keep the air at the max recommended pressures. I believe this is very important.
Dick

Young Travelers · 09-23-2007, 10:22 PM

I had problems on our 92 Aljo 5er at the time. it had goodyear martathons on it both rear tires blew, and it was a crazy ride for a short while.
before going on a trip also look very closely at the tires for wear and side bulges, if your in doubt on the side bulges, push on them with a finger ot thumb. if its soft or moves in easily, chances are it will blow sooner than later....
Im also reading on other forums like the trailerlife forum, that ANY tires on Rv's older than about 5 years old, (in good shape or not) should be replaced...

I have the same question as dimurrrw..... do larger tires run cooler? and if so, larger meaning a larger 15" tire with heavier load rating, E vs. D , or going to a 16" rim and tire?

any ideas??

Hokiehall · 09-25-2007, 07:39 PM

Here is a picture of the blown tire.

Dave_Monica · 09-25-2007, 09:42 PM

We saw a optional item listed on The RV Wholesalers website called a tire pressure monitoring system at $150. Has anyone heard of this? Thoughts?

Hokiehall · 09-25-2007, 09:54 PM

I know someone here in my town that swears by them. He put an aftermarket one on his Cardinal. With my blow out, I had no idea it had happened until I was coming to a stop and heard the tire flapping. I might consider one since I will be replacing all of the tires and the system could be installed while the tires are being changed.

rockwood06 · 09-26-2007, 05:43 AM

I can not find an answer about larger tires running cooler but, if you put nitrogen in your tires, they will run 20% cooler.

Paul B · 09-26-2007, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockwood06

I can not find an answer about larger tires running cooler but, if you put nitrogen in your tires, they will run 20% cooler.

Show us some facts on this one. Regular air is what...about 78% nitrogen already. Yes, maybe high speed race car drivers will benefit from the maybe couple of degrees cooler temps., but not 20%!!

Paul B

aintgotnun · 09-26-2007, 06:32 AM

I haven't heard of running cooler but I have read that pure nitrogen doesn't bleed out as quickly as plain air. The O2 in plain air permeats (sp) the rubber of the tire quicker than the nitrogen. As air pressure in your tire decreases then the temp would increase. So maybe that's the selling point?

I just keep my tire pressure checked and use regular air. It's cheaper.

RAC · 09-26-2007, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul B

Show us some facts on this one. Regular air is what...about 78% nitrogen already. Yes, maybe high speed race car drivers will benefit from the maybe couple of degrees cooler temps., but not 20%!!

Paul B

Actually Paul, the additional 22% makes a big difference. Nitrogen is used on all aircraft in the US specifically to reduce heat (Subsequently a blowout) during take off and landing. I will look for the article, but I remember it being a reduction of 20-35% of heat.

RAC · 10-04-2007, 12:34 PM

When N2 is used as the inflation media, the change in rubber properties is significantly slowed down or even halted, because there is no Oxygen to oxidize belts or the rubber, which causes wear. As far as heat goes, what happens is that there is no related humidity in N2 as there is in normal air. The moisture assists heat build-up in ties, which add to inflation pressures. Most trailer tires that rupture are heat build-up related and overpressurization occuring. Dragging Brakes, and underinflation are big ciontributors to heat. You can reduce the amount of heat build significantly by using N2. Anyways, That's about it on that. Until we have N2 machines, I will just do the daily air pressure check and pre/post trip brake check.

You may also like: