First Tire Blowout

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Jul 19, 2015
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Well we just experienced our first tire blowout while on the road! And in a construction zone no less.  Our 5er is 2015 but the tires are 2014 date code. We did check when we bought the RV and they are not ?china bombs? but had fairly good reviews. We heard the pop and then the TMPS went off immediately. Fortunately we didn?t have a lot of other damage.

We have coach-net roadside so called but it was going to be an hour to hour and 1/2. We had also bought a ?trailer aid? to use for changing tires yourself so DH thought he would give it a go. Well that ended up being a waste of money for our RV! It doesn?t raise it high enough to get the other tire on. So fair warning if you are thinking of getting one or have one and have not used it yet. We ended up using the leveling jacks to raise the rear just enough to get the tire on.

Now we have to decide if we want to replace just the one tire or all 4. We know we want the Goodyear Endurance tires if doing all of them but not sure how to go if just doing one. I?ve also heard it?s cheaper to order them online then pay to have them installed. Thoughts on this?

Thanks,
Vicki
 
It's speed that eats trailer tires....most are rated at 65 mph max.
 
Have you ever had the trailer weighed?  How else would you know for sure that you were not over loaded?

Tony is right about speed.  Many people think that because the speed limit is 70 or 75mph and they have a truck that
can pull at that speed there will be no problems so they drive the speed limit when towing - which is faster that what a
trailer should be towed at. Drive at 60mph and I'll bet you don't have any more blow-outs unless you hit something.

IF your TT was or has been over loaded and you have been driving it at the speed limit then IMO I would go for all new tires now.

On the other hand if you know it was NEVER overloaded and you drive slower most all the time - then I MIGHT replace the one
blown tire with the same that are on it now.  JMO.
 
Even if that trailer is not overloaded I'll bet it's within 90% of the maximum GVW, 

So you are still pulling your trailer down the road at, or near the max weight for your tires...at, or above the max speed they were designed for.

  After you hit a curb or a big bump sometimes it can break a couple cords inside the tire, that tire is going to get hot and start coming apart from the inside out on that 100+ degree road going 70 mph.

IMO.....That's why blowouts are so common on RV trailers. 

I hope it didn't do much damage to the trailer,  I've heard of RV's being totaled by the damage of a blown tire.

the best prevention .......Slow Down.
 
  If it was my trailer with a set of china made ST tires and one suddenly blew out I would take heed and buy a set of quality LT tires or a brand of ST that has a flawless rep. I don't mean just being popular with rv trailer owners but have a good reliability record with all types of trailers.

I sure wouldn't replace the bad tire with another same brand.

It odd why a truck tire runs over the same curb...or hits the same pot hole in the road.....or just a rough road/etc  but the tires on the truck don't have those types of issue. This was one point my truck tire dealer threw at me many years ago when he was wanting to rotate my very problematic self destructing ST tires  on my service trailers to LT and P tires.  With 28 tires on the ground in a trailer position he sure saved me a bundle the first year after that move.
 
When a tire goes like that at highway speed it severely overloads the other tire on that side on a tandem axle trailer. So it's highly recommended to replace both tires on that side of the trailer.

 
Going through a construction zone, it could have been a road hazard type thing.
Glad that y'all only had to deal with replacing a tire.

A good visual inspection of all your tires should help you decide if you should replace more than the one.



 
To answer a couple questions:
They aren?t china bombs but a USA tire with pretty good reviews. We usually drive between 60-65 so sometimes at the 65 max. And we have had the the truck and trailer weighed with the Escapees Smart Weigh to get each tire and axle weight. We were not overloaded but it was one of the tires on the heavier side. I think it may have been that we picked up something in the construction areas. We had gone through a lot of them.

Since they are 3 years old, DH wants to go ahead and replace all of them. I think we have decided on the Goodyear Endurance ST tires. Thanks everyone.

Vicki
 
It's a tough call, but nobody likes questionable tires. Trailer ST tires work hard every moment of highway travel, basically carrying their max rated load at max rated speeds. That's not a recipe for a long and healthy life!

If you can, find an LT tire big enough to carry the load so you gain some speed-related safety margin. And try to get a tire that substantially exceeds the actual axle loads, so you have some leeway there as well. Often there is room for a physically larger tire than can carry more load.
 
I had the same issue with the "Trailer Aid" not raising the trailer high enough to replace the tire. I found this out before needing it and found out that if I place the "Trailer Aid" on a 2" x 8" board that it raises it enough to replace the tire. It worked well the one time I needed it.
 
I also found that the Trailer Aide Plus does not work on my trailer.  I tested it in the driveway right after I got it.  It won't lift the 2nd tire off the ground.  I just use a 6 ton bottle jack and some lumber to jack up the trailer. 

The Trailer Aide Plus is now used semi annually to help me reach the oil drain plug on the wife's Camry.  At least it's not totally useless.
 
Same here with the trailer aid. I have a wide stance axel setup and went to adjust brakes with the help of the Trailer Aid and it wouldn't lift the TT second wheel high enough. Seems that Trailer Aid needs to come up with a higher concept option. The idea sounded good but like so many others stating it won't raise the vehicle high enough they need to redesign it or offer a higher solution.
 
Not sure what you have, but....I have had two blowouts on my 2014 5er.  Had Goodyear Marathons.  Mine is pretty heavy (16,000 dry weight) but the factory tires were not up to the task.  I replaced them with Goodyear G614 RST  (110# pressure) and no more worries.  LT, not ST, so the speed rating is higher, but....they take wheels with a 110# rating so not for everyone.  Factory tires were ST rated and 80# max pressure.  Interesting that they have 110# wheels but only 80# tires.  Anything to save a buck, I guess.
 
OOPS...ran out of time for edit, but I ordered my tires online for WAY cheaper than the local tire stores (free shipping).  Montana 3402 RL.  Even with installation at the local tire store, they were cheaper.  I used the leveling jacks to do mine, but I had to put blocks under the jacks before it would let me raise it enough to get the wheels off.  Worth it to carry a bunch of 2X6 blocks just in case.  I also replaced the spare tire (80# max) with a 110# wheel and tire.  Actually, the blowout ruined one factory wheel and bought 4 new ones.  I used the remaining three as spares. Now, even if I blow a tire, I have one spare and two extra wheels that can carry up to 110#.  I keep the wheels in the bed of the truck.
 
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