Blow out / Where it's made??

[DDC]

I read an amazing amount of posts here complaining about 'china bombs' and it got me thinking about the number of blow outs I have had over the years. I can remember four in total and I also remember that they were all made in the US, funny thing is I never gave a thought of blaming the country that the company was in for the blown tires. There are not a whole lot of tire manufacturers in the world, like our RVs there are hundreds of different makes made by the same company so the next time you read a post about china bombs give some thought to which multinational company is responsible. This is my morning rant thanks for listening.

[Herk7769]

While all tires sold in this country must meet DoT certifications, the individual companies are responsible for quality control (QC) during manufacture.

Bad tires are made all the time (by everyone) and most are caught at the plant. The brand name manufacturers have their own QC inspectors AT the plant regardless of what country the tire is made.

Having your brand name on the line for a bad run of tires means more to a brand name (like Michelin, Firestone, or Goodyear) than a small company.

A small company can "re-brand" and be back in business with the same quality (except for "First Article" testing), bad tires under a new name.

Remember that Firestone/Ford Explorer fiasco?
Took years for Firestone to recover.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by herk7769

Remember that Firestone/Ford Explorer fiasco?
Took years for Firestone to recover.

Yep, and that was also a game changer. The TREAD act/law was able to be passed because of that...............which also mandated all the Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems you see in vehicles now.

The average public probably never followed the entire thing about the Firestone/Ford Explorer situation.

Firestone did make some bad tires, trying to cut costs for Ford. Ford also ran the tires too low trying to smooth a ride on their ill-engineered vehicles.

Both manufacturers learned a lesson here.........at the death expense of several people.

Michelin and Goodyear were also included in many rollover lawsuits, that the average public doesn't know about.
----------------------------------------------------

For our history buffs here, you would have thought Firestone would have learned their lesson earlier. Do some internet searches on the Firestone 500 tire (which was Firestones big push into the radial tire age). They recalled so many of these tires that it about did the company in. It's part of the reason that Bridgestone owns them today.

EDIT: I included the link below that explains the Firestone 500 radial tire. I thought some of our older members may get a kick out of seeing some of these obsolete tire brands that Firestone produced. Bet you probably even had some.

http://www.autosafety.org/firestone-...belted-radials

[Oakman]

Sometimes I wonder if backing into a site at a severe angle has more to do with blowouts than where the tire is made. Have you ever noticed how skewed out of shape a trailer tire becomes when backing at a very severe angle? I’ve seen some RVers back into sites and one tire on the front axle actually quits turning and is literally shoved sideways during the backing maneuver. This has to be tough on the sidewall and tread. You can see this at campgrounds with narrow roads and sites that are at a 90 degree angle to the road.

[Brother Les]

Originally Posted by Oakman

Sometimes I wonder if backing into a site at a severe angle has more to do with blowouts than where the tire is made. Have you ever noticed how skewed out of shape a trailer tire becomes when backing at a very severe angle? I’ve seen some RVers back into sites and one tire on the front axle actually quits turning and is literally shoved sideways during the backing maneuver. This has to be tough on the sidewall and tread. You can see this at campgrounds with narrow roads and sites that are at a 90 degree angle to the road.

Should never matter in going forward or 'backward'. the manufacturer puts on the sidewall, 'trailer tires' and the manufacturer should know very well what is done with a 'trailer' and build their product accordingly.

I have had 6/7 catastrophic blowouts. Sidewall blows out or the tread comes off. The damage amounts paid out by insurance for truck and trailers over the years would have bought me a new truck and trailer over that time.

[acadianbob]

I've towed over 25,000 miles in the last ten years and never have had any kind of tire problem. Carlisle, Goodyear, Kumho brands of trailer tires. Go figure.

[J_KHawthorne]

Originally Posted by acadianbob

I've towed over 25,000 miles in the last ten years and never have had any kind of tire problem. Carlisle, Goodyear, Kumho brands of trailer tires. Go figure.

Agree. We have logged 13,500 miles on the original "RoadRider" tires that came with the trailer. I check tire pressure every morning when towing. Only problems to date have been 2 very slow rim-leaks.

I am also very happy with the STS tpms system and strongly recommend it for peace of mind!

[Timtation]

As I recall many of the Explorer failed tires were near 6 or 7 years old. Given this took place longer ago than that and I am older than that there may be faulty recollections. ;-)

[w4drr]

Originally Posted by Oakman

Sometimes I wonder if backing into a site at a severe angle has more to do with blowouts than where the tire is made. Have you ever noticed how skewed out of shape a trailer tire becomes when backing at a very severe angle? I’ve seen some RVers back into sites and one tire on the front axle actually quits turning and is literally shoved sideways during the backing maneuver. This has to be tough on the sidewall and tread. You can see this at campgrounds with narrow roads and sites that are at a 90 degree angle to the road.

You bring up something I have always wondered about. With a multi-axle trailer, in a tight turn, and particularly in a tight backing situation as you described, there is a lot of sidewall stress on the tires. And if the tire is allowed to remain long-term in that stressed condition, I wonder what that does to the strength of the tire. Whenever I back into a spot, or when I am parking the trailer at home, I always pull forward and back in again as necessary to relieve the stress on the tires.

Bob

[jlgail4309]

When I bought my 857 my thought for my tires deformed. Was max speed 65, max tire pressure 50 pounds, max weight for the tire. So the 857 did away with 3 factors. I not sure if the 3 could have anything to do with the blow outs. that's my two cents anyway.

[jeeplj8]

One of the reason ST tries are preferred is that the sidewall is designed for just that type of pressure in turns.

I worry more about my boat trailer tires. During summer months I will pull often several hundred miles in 100 degree heat to drop it directly in water. That sudden cool off has to be hard on the rubber compound.

Herk has posted some material that backs up my personal experience that many blowouts are caused by an impact to the tire breaking a cord. I specifically recall an impact about 200 mph before a blowout on a car hauler years ago.

With that said, I firmly believe the tires put on most travel trailers are the absolute cheapest available, and the lowest quality. We suffered a blowout in Eastern Colorado on a 9 month old trailer (tires were over a year by date code). I am pretty certain this was not impact damage. Compare that to my boat trailer - first set of tires replaced at 5 years, had around 11,000 miles on them, never a problem. Second set are 4 years now, only 6,000 miles (the cost of fuel really shut down a lot of travel) and still no problems.

[Windywest]

This past weekend we went to our favourite campsite about 80 kms (50 miles) south of here. About half way there we heard a loud pop sound, and since the highway was quite busy, I had to travel about a half mile before I found a spot to pull over. My worst fears were realized, a blowout on the rear passenger side tire, a complete hole about the size of a grapefruit on the inside tire sidewall . I check the pressure before every trip, 50 lbs, all seemed OK but the day was hot. The tire probably didn't have 2000 miles on them, load range C 6ply, but made in China and are the Forest River brand put on from the factory, Trail Express Power Touring. Luckily I had my ramps, so had it changed in about 20 minutes, my spare is much better than the running tires. This morning, I bought 4 new 10 ply load range E before we headed home from a local tire company in the town we were camping at. I was in and out in about 25 minutes, great service at a good price. The manager says he sells lots and hasn't had any complaints. My trailer is about 7200 lbs dry, the tires are rated to carry about 12,000 lbs, so I'll be really choked if one of these blows up.

[5verdriver]

Originally Posted by jeeplj8

One of the reason ST tries are preferred is that the sidewall is designed for just that type of pressure in turns.

I worry more about my boat trailer tires. During summer months I will pull often several hundred miles in 100 degree heat to drop it directly in water. That sudden cool off has to be hard on the rubber compound.

Herk has posted some material that backs up my personal experience that many blowouts are caused by an impact to the tire breaking a cord. I specifically recall an impact about 200 mph before a blowout on a car hauler years ago.

With that said, I firmly believe the tires put on most travel trailers are the absolute cheapest available, and the lowest quality. We suffered a blowout in Eastern Colorado on a 9 month old trailer (tires were over a year by date code). I am pretty certain this was not impact damage. Compare that to my boat trailer - first set of tires replaced at 5 years, had around 11,000 miles on them, never a problem. Second set are 4 years now, only 6,000 miles (the cost of fuel really shut down a lot of travel) and still no problems.

Not to get off topic, but with the boat trailer example- always wait 15-20 minutes before you launch a boat after towing in warm temperatures. It's more to let the bearing cool than the tires. warm/hot bearings into cool/cold water is a recipe for changing bearings on the side of the highway. Just my .02

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by Windywest

This past weekend we went to our favourite campsite about 80 kms (50 miles) south of here. About half way there we heard a loud pop sound, and since the highway was quite busy, I had to travel about a half mile before I found a spot to pull over. My worst fears were realized, a blowout on the rear passenger side tire, a complete hole about the size of a grapefruit on the inside tire sidewall . I check the pressure before every trip, 50 lbs, all seemed OK but the day was hot. The tire probably didn't have 2000 miles on them, load range C 6ply, but made in China and are the Forest River brand put on from the factory, Trail Express Power Touring. Luckily I had my ramps, so had it changed in about 20 minutes, my spare is much better than the running tires. This morning, I bought 4 new 10 ply load range E before we headed home from a local tire company in the town we were camping at. I was in and out in about 25 minutes, great service at a good price. The manager says he sells lots and hasn't had any complaints. My trailer is about 7200 lbs dry, the tires are rated to carry about 12,000 lbs, so I'll be really choked if one of these blows up.

You do realize your "10 ply" LR-E tires do not have 10 plies in the sidewall. There is a good possibility they have the same number of ply as a LR-D.

You might want to read your tire info. This post shows how.

Remember it is the air that carries the load not the tire.

[Windywest]

Hi Roger, over the past 2 weeks I've learned more about trailer tires than the average bear. I realize that I don't have 10 ply sidewalls, but I now have better tires than the ones that were originally on my trailer, to me that's what counts. Since I bought the trailer used, I have no idea what the previous owner ran over, ran into, or backed up to, but now I'm starting fresh from mile 1 with 4 new tires. I purchased a TPMS system, and have put this on my trailer so travelling should be relatively worry free. I have the tires pressured at 65 PSI, and I expect 65 to be adequate since my trailer is fairly light (7200 dry) and we don't carry a lot of water or extra stuff when we are on the road. 65 PSI is not the maximum of the tires, (80 is max) but as you say, it's the air that carries the load not the tire, and since my previous load range C tires were supposed to carry the load at 50 psi, I feel 65 will be great. One of my friends has a heavy trailer that came with LR E tires that he ran at 80psi. He had a flat, so went to LR G 14 ply on all 4 tires, but left the pressure at 80. He has put on probably 6000 miles over the past 2 years, and his tires are performing perfectly. To me, I just want a set of tires that I can "sort of" trust. None are perfect, all have their horror stories, but hopefully I have mitigated or minimized my issues, my fingers are crossed.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by Oakman

Sometimes I wonder if backing into a site at a severe angle has more to do with blowouts than where the tire is made. Have you ever noticed how skewed out of shape a trailer tire becomes when backing at a very severe angle? I’ve seen some RVers back into sites and one tire on the front axle actually quits turning and is literally shoved sideways during the backing maneuver. This has to be tough on the sidewall and tread. You can see this at campgrounds with narrow roads and sites that are at a 90 degree angle to the road.

This extreme side loading is a function of the RV design and having tandem or triple axles. When turning a corner the tires try and center their rotation to point at the center of the radius they are rotating about. The problem is that the tires are all fighting each other and are generating significant inter-ply shear forces that is trying to tear the tire apart from the inside out. The "fix' for this is not inexpensive so don't hold your breath for the RV companies or axle mfg to make any effort along these lines.
The force is not really a problem in the sidewall but between the steel belts under the tread. The best thing you can do is to run the inflation molded on the sidewall of the tire that is associated with the tire maximum load. In the case of Goodyear Marathon tires you can run +10 psi above that inflation when setting the cold inflation.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by Brother Les

Should never matter in going forward or 'backward'. the manufacturer puts on the sidewall, 'trailer tires' and the manufacturer should know very well what is done with a 'trailer' and build their product accordingly.

I have had 6/7 catastrophic blowouts. Sidewall blows out or the tread comes off. The damage amounts paid out by insurance for truck and trailers over the years would have bought me a new truck and trailer over that time.

Sidewall "blowouts" are usually run low flex failures.

Tread separation with the carcass retaining the air is a different failure mode with a different cause.