Tire blowouts

[tcs7775]

I have a 91 fourwinds class C. Recently I have had three blowouts of the rear tires. Some on the inside tire and some on the outside. Each time there is substantial damage to the holding tanks or the wheel wells of the camper. From previous posts I have learned that the tires have probably served their life since they are 6 years old. The main question i have is  Are the dual wheel tires supposed to touch each other(especially on the bottom). Even when properly inflated the tires still touch each other. It seems there is a spacer missing or something. The studs are plenty long enough to add a washer to each one of them and get a little clearance. Is this a good idea? Or is there a special tire made for campers that is taller or squarer looking that will not allow them to touch. Thanks for any help> Tired of blowouts!!!!    Todd in North Carolina

 

[John From Detroit]

Well.  I can not tell you what is supposed to be but in all my life, driving everything from riding lawn mowers to full size semi trucks, and now driving a class A motor home (Which is both larger and smaller than the Semi depending on your POV)  I've never seen dual tires touch, NEVER, there has always been a gap between them.

Fact: If you go to the tire manufacturer's website  you will see a bunch of ratings for the tires, including, if I'm not mistaken, spacing on duals.

 

[Woody]

It sounds like your tires are wider than the wheelrims are designed for. It seems to me that tires rubbing each other would cause wear to the inner sidewalls, ending with a blowout. I would have a tire dealer check the rims to see what width tire they are designed for.

Woody

 

[Bob Buchanan]

Are the dual wheel tires supposed to touch each other(especially on the bottom). Even when properly inflated the tires still touch each other.

In addition to needing more room, I too got tired of blowouts in my '98 29' Tioga Class C MH. However, I never had the problem of tires touching each other. Can imagine the heat that must be generated by such a condition. I worked with many tire dealers, RV dealerships, and still found myself on long lonely highways with a blown up rear tire that also ripped out electric and propane lines.

Your post did not mention the weight you have on the rear axle. With my Tioga, it was virtually impossible to keep the rear axle properly loaded w/o just not using the rear compartments. Was also careful to keep all my tanks virtually empty when traveling. The bottom line in my case was that my rig was just not designed very well in terms of rear axle load.

 

[rtaylor]

Never drive your coach with the insides of your tires rubbing. You are inviting disaster.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

As the others have said, the dual tires must not touch. Ever.

The question is why are they touching?  It seems likely the tires are the wrong size or you are underinflated/overweight or perhaps both of those things.  Get the coach weighed axle-by-axle and see how much weight that rear axle is carrying. Then check the tire manufacturer's inflation  table for the correct pressure for that tire model and weight.  Make sure you use the pressure numbers for dual tire installations - they may be different than for a single tire. 

Do you know for sure the tires are the same size and load rating as the originals?  If you bought the rig from another owner, the tires may have been changed once already and a different size used.

 

[Lowell]

I got a twofer yesterday.? Two blowouts at the same time.? Not exactly blowouts, but two cuts through the tread on both left truck tires.? They both deflated? within a couple of minutes.? We were way off the main highway on a National Forest backroad.? I was perplexed for a bit.? One flat tire I could deal with, two was another matter.? My wife, son and I were out scouting for elk in a new area for us. We had no cell phone coverage in this remote area.? Usually when I go off road, I take an air tank or battery powered air compressor along.? This time I didn't.? Lesson learned!!? We were very lucky! A forest worker came along about 5 minutes latter and he was able to radio the Ranger station in Alpine. AZ.? They were able to contact a local garage with a tow truck.? We only had to wait about 1 1/2 hours for the tow truck to show up.? And the garage was able to put boots in the two tires so that we could drive home.? ?The forest service even called back to the garage to follow-up that we had been picked up.? I have two new tires coming at $220/each and $135 tow bill but I am feeling pretty lucky, all things considered. When my son and I go elk hunting in two weeks, I will be better prepared.? And I will drop off a little gift at the Ranger station.

 

[2006F350]

There must be a gap between the the tires in a dual setup for cooling, or as you have found apparently that hard way, they will heat up to the point of coming apart. I have about 2" between them.

If they are touching on the sidewalls, the three things I've seen that can cause it is (in ascending order of likeliness)

1) Overloaded
2) Underinflated
3) Tires wider that the stock tires.

You can get away with wider tires on singles, but to do it with duals, you need to add spacers between the rims to get the 'gap' back.

Larry

 

[John From Detroit]

I got a twofer yesterday.  Two blowouts at the same time. 

That is why both towed and towing have Ham Radio gear in them.  Now if only I could get the wife to study for a license (Trust me, no chance in heaven, less said location's boss steps in and gives her instruction) (She won't drive the rig either)

But between all the comm gear I have in the MH the odds of ever being 100% out of range are right close to zero

The towed can, at the least, reach the MH most of the time

And I should be improving my ability in about 8 days (Upping license, not hardware)

 

[tcs7775]

thanks to all for the info on the tires. After reading the plate next to the drivers I determined that the tires on the rig are oversized. I bought new ones after purchasing the vehicle. However I bought the same size that were on it when I bought i without checking the door plate. I will be purchasing new ones the right size and hopefully will be done with blowouts. Thanks again!!

 

[Ned]

The duals touching is certainly the most likely cause of your blowouts, but you may still want to consider a higher load range tire than the original tires.  The manufacturers tend to put the smallest tire they can that will support the GVW even if the other components can handle a greater load.  With the tendency to overload our RVs, a slightly larger, higher load range tire, is not a bad choice.  But you do have to keep the dual spacing in mind.

 

[KodiakRV]

thanks to all for the info on the tires. After reading the plate next to the drivers I determined that the tires on the rig are oversized. I bought new ones after purchasing the vehicle. However I bought the same size that were on it when I bought i without checking the door plate. I will be purchasing new ones the right size and hopefully will be done with blowouts. Thanks again!!

So the tires that were blowing out lasted six years even running in the "touching condition"? 

Have you had the MH for six years or does the date code on the tires say they are six years old?

 

[tcs7775]

The tires did last about four years without a blowout even though they were touching.The date on the tires indicates they are about six years old.