Help - new owner, tires popping

1979Sunline · 02-18-2012, 11:24 PM

got my 1979 sunline home today, after an adventurous day!!! i have some questions....

first of all, i blew a tire and damaged the fender skirt pretty bad, it seems impossible to locate a used one or something like this, any help? also what about a 13 inch stock rim??? id really appreciate it if someone could help me before i spend 350 bucks sending out my fender to icon direct and having them custom make me two of them.....

my other concern, 2 owners ago, the right rear tire blew out, the last owner who i purchased the camper from, had the same right rear tire blow out, he thought it was because of some mild dry rotting, so he put on all 4 new radial trailer tires, and well with about 380 miles on the new rubber, the right rear tire blew out AGAIN on me today.....what gives? this cant be a fluke.....

mainah · 02-19-2012, 06:12 AM

Are there any signs of ware on the tire? Bent axle maybe. How are the bearings too much free play? I would remove both tires and place a straight edge on the brake drums and see if they match if it's towed in or out it's going to try to steer causing it to get pretty hot. Seems like there is some thing a miss if it's going through tires in less then 400 miles.

1979Sunline · 02-19-2012, 09:26 AM

i thought the same thing, i will check with a straight edge, previous owner was very meticulous he measured every possible measurement, camber caster, front to back, side to side, when his tire blew out and everything was A ok. ill check it again when i replace the tire.....only think i can think of is excessive brake heat, we came down from mass over rt 2 through the berkshires in some REALLY steep terrain and mountain roads, once we crossed into NEW YORK we then descended down another decent sized hill and the tire went at the base of that hill? the blow out is on the axle that has the brakes, and on the right side, the roads i was on were very bumpy and the crown was steep in spots putting a lot of stress on this particular tire.

1979Sunline · 02-19-2012, 09:26 AM

tire looked new when i left p/o house, as it was new...

264SRinPA · 02-19-2012, 12:14 PM

I know rt2 very well, those are some very long and steep hills. Could the brakes be out of adjustment and the right side is doing most of the braking? How are the tire pressures? What are the date codes on the tires?

1979Sunline · 02-19-2012, 01:24 PM

dont know the date codes, just know they were new last year, as for the brakes i have no idea, they are electric brakes, about all i can tell you, i am going to tow this up to the seasonal site sometime in the next month, and i am going to leave the brakes disconnected to rule out that, its all flat until i get up into the adirondack park so it will be a good test. i ordered a new tire and four new white wheels. i will take the three good tires and put them on the rims, and the one new one, will go on a new rim in the same spot of the blow outs.......i think they give the trailer an updated look judging by the spare, i like it better, and i can probably get good coin for the original hubcaps in good shape

1979Sunline · 02-19-2012, 01:24 PM

pressures were 50 psi on all 4 i believe

mainah · 02-19-2012, 02:23 PM

You could apply the brake control manually and see if it's locking up before the others. I gather you have duel axles don't they both have brakes?

1979Sunline · 02-19-2012, 05:08 PM

i only saw wires going to one axle could be wrong tho

**JohnB** · 02-19-2012, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1979Sunline

my other concern, 2 owners ago, the right rear tire blew out, the last owner who i purchased the camper from, had the same right rear tire blow out, he thought it was because of some mild dry rotting, so he put on all 4 new radial trailer tires, and well with about 380 miles on the new rubber, the right rear tire blew out AGAIN on me today.....what gives? this cant be a fluke.....

Hi 79,

Trying to help dig in to see if something turns up.

Tell us the entire size number of the tire. Need all the number of the size and the load range.

Tell us the max side wall cold pressure and the weight the tire can hold a cold side wall pressure.

Date codes. See here how to read. What month/year are they?
Tire Tech Information - Determining the Age of a Tire

Something is not adding up to have a blow out like this. Trying to rule in or out that the correct type and load range tire is being used.

Hope this helps

John

1979Sunline · 02-19-2012, 08:58 PM

st 175 80 13. load range c. 1360 lbs at 50 psi. made the 37th week of year 2010.
the only problem i see with this tire is the made in china part

mainah · 02-20-2012, 06:45 AM

I'm not too fond of any thing made of Chinesiam but I'm sure they have to pass some kind of DOT spec. and the same one each time?

awellis3 · 02-20-2012, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1979Sunline

.... with about 380 miles on the new rubber, the right rear tire blew out AGAIN on me today.....what gives? this cant be a fluke.....

Agreed, and when you discover the reason,please share it with us.

Teach

1979Sunline · 02-20-2012, 07:05 AM

only thing i can think of right now is a hot bead from the brakes going down all the mountains........other than that??????

Gene · 02-20-2012, 03:29 PM

Could it be a burr on the inside of the rim where the bead would rub on it?

mainah · 02-20-2012, 05:21 PM

I have seen brakes on cars red hot I mean sparks flying red hot coming down Mt Washington and they have not blown tires I'm still convinced there is some thing out of alignment sliding that tire. I would slide under that thing and see if you can see a bend in the axle beam if there is it's either toed out or toed in depending on the bend and if it's towards the ends it will effect one wheel more then the other one.

1979Sunline · 02-20-2012, 05:50 PM

yeah that was my other thought, although there is no problem with the tire on the other side of the axle, ever...

1979Sunline · 02-20-2012, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gene

Could it be a burr on the inside of the rim where the bead would rub on it?

maybe! i got all new wheels coming to rule out the rim

mainah · 02-20-2012, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1979Sunline

yeah that was my other thought, although there is no problem with the tire on the other side of the axle, ever...

Well I guess you see what I'm saying if the bend is close to the wheel it will only adversely effect that wheel in the middle both. The axles are pretty low if it gets hung up backing up say it could be enough to bend some thing if it's bent in the back the wheel will toe out.

**JohnB** · 02-21-2012, 05:52 AM

Hi 79,

Trying to do some digging for you and I cannot find from your posts what model TT you have. All I have been able to piece together is it is a 1979 TT, dual axle and about 22 feet long.

If I am looking in the right catalog, they made a 21 RB, which had a GVWR of 4,200# and a 22 1/2 DB, which had a GVWR of 5,320#. In addition, a tire size shift shifted between those two models.

You state the tire size as

"st 175 80 13. load range c. 1360 lbs at 50 psi. made the 37th week of year 2010."

If that is a stock size 13" wheel they came on the 21RB with the lower GVWR. Or someone changed them and you have the 22 1/2 DB which should have 15” wheels as it is a heavier camper.

Question: Do you know when they added the new rubber roof; did they put plywood on the roof first? Have you been up on a ladder and pressed on the new rubber? Does it flex down between the rafters or is it hard as a rock all over and not just at the rafters?

I am trying to rule out you are not accidentally overloaded on the one side of the camper.

Was there any gear or other added weight in the camper on your way home when the blowout occurred?

The blow out, do you still have it? Was the tread scuffed really hard across the tread? Trying to rule in or out a grossly out of align wheel. I have had one way grossly out of align and while it wore out tires really fast it never created so much heat to blow a tire. If the brakes locked on for that many miles the drum inside would be blue and the bearings sizzling.

Something still does not fit to how even a China tire aired to max cold side wall pressure let go in such a short distance. We need to rule out overload in that location. Let’s walk down that path for a moment.

The 22 1/2 DB had a catalog dry axle weight of 2,820# empty camper and a dry hitch weight of 350#. This is the heaver of the 2 TT’s. Your tires that you know you have should of held 1,360# each or 2,720# on the one side or 5,440# total. The camper may not be made balanced exactly even but still you should have had enough capacity on the one side on an empty TT unless some how have a large amount of weight was added. And was assuming you did not have the orignal catalog wheels on the right camper.

Question: When towing it was the camper level or was the front of the TT high or real low? And if high or low how high was it? 2”, 3”, 6”? Try to be as acrute as you can on this.

I am trying to figure out how you maybe by accident overloaded that tire location.

A valve stem leak could be a problem. The rim may be pitted around the stem hole. I lost track where all 4 tires were at when you left the prior owners house. You stated “pressures were 50 psi on all 4 i believe” Which means I need to ask for sure once again, was that one that blew out at 50psi or the other tire on that same side? Or your are not 100% positive? Did you add any air to any of them? If you added air well then maybe a stem leak existed or it was low to start with and leaked out.

Well all for now. I’m still thinking on this, be back later tonight.

Here is the 79 catalog. Tell us which camper you have

http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/downloads.php?do=file&id=5467

Hope this helps

John