General tire questions and why they blow out so violently

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Tejas Dave

Tejas Dave

Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Posts
8
Location
Marshall, TX
So I've lost two tires in the last month (2 separate outings), each time time a massive, tread-throwing, damage inflicting blow out.  These tires are about 4 years old and besides a little wear didn't appear to be in bad shape.  Both times the temperature was about 92'F and I was traveling about 70mph on the interstate.  E rated tires were inflated to about 75PSI cold (I think 80 psi is max rated on sidewall).

My question: Are these things suddenly blowing out or are they going flat first and then after several miles of spinning begin their violent disintegration process?  Perhaps some kind of tire pressure monitoring system is available that I could read current PSI on all four tires at any given moment from within the cab is available.

Is this a common characteristic of trailer tires?  I've never had a truck or passenger tire do this (throw a tread).  Would I be better off with LT tires rated for vehicle use, like the ones I put on my tow rig?  Maybe they'd hold up better.

Lastly, does parking a trailer in the dirt or grass decrease the life span of a tire?

Thanks!
Dave
'06 bumper pull Sunset Creek 29' with 12' slide and bunkhouse
'09 Hemi Ram with 3.92 L.S. gears, rear air bags in the coils.


 
What wize and type of tires arw they?  If they are ST tires, then the blow outs are self inflicted.  ST tires are only speed rated to 65 MPH.  And in ST tire life 4 years is the end of their life
 
yes as above said.70MPH for travel trailer tires in hot weather and  4 years old is pushing your luck.I personally would go to a lite truck tire
that are designed for highway speeds and heat.I ran into the same thing on my race car trailer.once I went to LT tires no more problems
 
Agree with the others - this can be considered an "expected failure" under those conditions.  ST tires have a max speed rating of 65 and don't necessarily have a long life at that speed either. Plus trailer tires typically sit around for long periods without moving, then get run at highway speeds in hot weather. All very stressful for a tire. You should replace the others too - they are ready to blow as well.

Further,  you didn't mention the weight the tires are carrying vs the max rated load capacity of the tire. In most trailers the tires need to be inflated to their sidewall max to carry the actual load, so odds are you were running them slightly soft. That's a death sentence in itself. Get the trailer weighed (axles weights) and look into getting tires with in a higher load range or slightly larger size, so you will have some extra weight carrying capacity. They will last longer. Also consider switching to LT (light truck) tires rather than ST if you insist on speeds of 65 mph or more.
 
Great info. I didn't know about the 65 max speed. I believe they are LT rated. I can check later and report back. Thanks!
 
Tejas Dave said:
Great info. I didn't know about the 65 max speed. I believe they are LT rated. I can check later and report back. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Ok you said  "would I be better off with LT rated tires"? so one assumes your not using lite truck tires  ?Now your saying they are?/ If you are that's a sign of overload,over inflation or just crappy tires
 
I'm sorry, I meant to say ST is what I am currently running. But they do have a PSI rating of 80 psi. Fully loaded my trailer I s not more than 8000 pounds.
 
Tejas Dave said:
I'm sorry, I meant to say ST is what I am currently running. But they do have a PSI rating of 80 psi. Fully loaded my trailer I s not more than 8000 pounds.
Click to expand...
Ok sounds reasonable. Like I said earlier I ran into this problem on my race car trailer and switched to lite truck tires and nary a problem after that
BUT that being said there hundreds of thousands of trailers on trailer tires also with no big ill effects
Maybe a little old,a little over inflated,hot conditions  and a little high on speed leads to the failure?
 
Consider also that besides sitting around for extended periods and then being run at high speeds, RV tires are the only ones that routinely carry their full rated weight, even when sitting still.  Cars and light trucks don't constantly carry a full load, or run almost exclusively at high speeds.  Over the road trucks that do run at speed aren't always loaded to their full weight nor do they sit for extended periods with the full weight sitting on their tires.

Only RVs fill the above three conditions, creating a trifecta that's just asking for tire failures to occur. 
 
Tejas Dave said:
I'm sorry, I meant to say ST is what I am currently running. But they do have a PSI rating of 80 psi. Fully loaded my trailer I s not more than 8000 pounds.
Click to expand...

OK you killed your tires by your own actions.  Over speed and under inflation.  ST tires should always be inflated to max pressure listed on the side wall.
If your going to stick with ST tires consider Maxxis as they have a hood reputation.
 
I don't disagree at all with what has been written here.....
but to add to it
I recently watched a video online or read something someplace... a marketing ploy by one of the TPMS makers.
One of the claims, as I remember it, was that violent blow outs are almost always a result of a slow leak.

Seems plausible to me that if a tire, being overloaded, over speeded (is that a word?), over aged, over heated, or whatever... starts to fail, that it will very likely crack or tear a little bit at first in the initial failure point.  This would casuse a stress riser of sorts that quickly deteriorates and takes it to point of release (ie explosion)....  the TPMS has a chance to warn you of impending failure before the explosion.......Again, just a thought that seems plausible to me.

I don't have a TPMS yet, but very likely will get one in the future.....
 
donn said:
OK you killed your tires by your own actions.  Over speed and under inflation.  ST tires should always be inflated to max pressure listed on the side wall.
If your going to stick with ST tires consider Maxxis as they have a hood reputation.
Click to expand...

Assuming four tires, I'd say he over-inflated them. No matter, Tire Rack says something like 6,000 miles for trailer tires, then replace.
 
Never run a ST at the rated speed your playing with a failure for sure. I've got two trailers  I drag around with cheap China tires on both trailers and never tow any faster than 60 MPH period (regardless of the speed limit). Just like taking a gasoline engine and towing at redline or just a bit over. Now do you expect the engine not to throw parts every where? Well the tires are being operated at (or beyond) maximum speed rating and violently coming apart.

Regardless of the name brand find a ST tire with a speed rating of Q (99 MPH) and you'll be fine for higher speeds. My current set are rated for 65 MPH tops. So I keep a 5 MPH buffer going... I've never had a violent tire failure on any vehicle or trailer yet in my life!
 
What Michael said.

I've been doing this for close to 25 years now, and have never had a blowout.  I tow at 55 mph consistently, and 60 max if I'm passing something.  Perhaps I've just been extremely lucky too....but like Richard Petty said, "you make your own luck".

 
Returning north from Florida last March I experienced blow-outs on the rear axle, both right and left side.  One happened late evening and the next happened the next morning after we were on the road about an hour.  I had scaled the axles and the tires had less than 3,000 lbs. load each and they are rated at 3600 lbs. at 80psi.  The tires were 3 1/2 years old.  I tried to do everything right, keeping the speed around 60 mph, proper tire inflation.  The rating of the tires as 10 ply is a joke in my opinion.  But I'm not laughing.  I have lost all confidence in China made tires.  I will avoid China made tires in the future and will probably go with LT tires as I have used them on a tri-axle gooseneck for years without a single blowout.
 
Frizlefrak said:
What Michael said.

I've been doing this for close to 25 years now, and have never had a blowout.  I tow at 55 mph consistently, and 60 max if I'm passing something.  Perhaps I've just been extremely lucky too....but like Richard Petty said, "you make your own luck".
Click to expand...

Maintaining high speeds will cause you more delay from equipment failure than you will ever gain from going faster. I've seen evidence of this while traveling and in stories of others' experience. Heat build up from putting higher levels of power through the chassis will kill everything from transmission fluid, the trans itself, tires, rear ends, engines, etc.

Consider: an older, mechanically marginal car is used sporadically around town for 3000 miles low speed miles without failure. OTOH, the same car embarks on a cross-country trip in hot weather on a tight schedule requiring high speed travel. What would you expect in this situation? 3000 trouble-free miles? I wouldn't.
 
Over-inflation won't cause blowouts unless it is really extreme, e.g. inflated beyond the max sidewall psi rating. Even a little under-inflation, however, is usually fatal in a fairly short while. In this case, though, it appears that Tejas Dave has Load Range E tires (the 80 psi sidewall rating is the clue) and thus would typically handle 2400-2900 lbs/tire. If the max trailer weight is indeed 8000 lbs (has it ever been weighed?), the 75 psi would be sufficient for the load.  That's a lot of deduction on my part (call it guesswork if you prefer), but if the numbers given are accurate he was probably ok on psi.
 
Getting some Firestone Transforce HT 10 ply LT's put on tomorrow.  They were only $117 each at the local Firestone store.  Hope these offer extra reliability over the ST rated trailer tires. 
 
about 30% of the fifth wheel trailers that come into my park show damage from tire blowout.

I believe the biggest reason for this is "Speed", and  I actually believe the bumper pull people drive slower.

Most people driving 5er's out here in CA don't even know there is a 55 mph for any towed vehicle. and I believe 55 mph should be the common sense trailer towing speed limit nation wide,
but the problem is out on the open highways going across the deserts, after a while 55 mph feels like you can get out and walk up ahead of the rig...... and then there is the shame of being passed by a 1965 VW van full of hippies and several Saint Bernards .

Arizona has a legal trailer towing speed of 70 mph and that combined with the road temps it is known as the land of blowouts.

I taught my kids while driving down the freeways... always stay away from tailers.

and does anyone ever align the axles ? that could be a big factor in tire failure.
 
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