Part 2: With the Tire Blow Out

[emam]

I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who sent me emails telling me to watch the tire that didnt blow after we had our blowout last week.

I've been keeping an eye on it and give them all a good look everytime I stop at the fuel station and before we leave each morning.

Well this morning we were fueling up before we got on the road for the day, and even though I had checked the tires while Cindy was finishing up with the inside stuff, I thought I'd look them over again.

Good thing I did. The tire that had been driven on for only a few hundred yards when the other one blew had a strange bubble on it. Now I know why when I had checked while still parked in the campground, I hadnt noticed it.


If you look at this image, the tire looks normal.


Now look at it from the other side and you can see that there is about 12"s of tread that is missing. I have no idea why only a small section of tread would be missing from the inside edge?


If you look close, you can see that the tire is acutally split and some wires are starting to hang out.

This taught me that from now on, I need to get on the ground and crawl around the tires to make sure they are in good shape. This worn section was on the inside of the tire tucked down against the wheel well.


Here is another image that shows how just the top section of the tire shows the wear. The only thing I can guess is when the other tire was flapping around so violently during the blowout, maybe a section of this tire was damaged, and it needed a week of driving to show?

I'm just thankful that I noticed it while filling up and not while cruising down some back road!

Just a reminder, that anytime you have a blowout, it's probably a good idea to change both tires even if one looks like it survived.

Thanks to all who sent me the emails to warn me.

Pat

[Sunline Fan]

Wow, I've had the inside wear before, but it was all the way around. The only reason I can come up with is the fact they're Chinese tires.

Jon

[JohnB]

Pat

Thanks for posting back. This helps show folks what a tire overload can do. On dual axles when one tire goes the other one is now in an overload situation instantly. From that point in time, it is how many miles you had to drive and how much overloaded it was. Sooner or later the weak spot will rear it ugly head.

It is a good assumption you have now replaced both tires on that one side. And soon you will be faced with the next issue. You have 2 new tires on one side. The 2 on the other side have how many miles on them? You get around a good bit. How do you ever get out of this situation of being able to replace all 4 at once as a set?

The unfortunate part the only way I have found is to take the hit soon to match up all 4 back to a new even wear status. If you have a new spare, the options are buy another new one and get the other side fixed up new, then rotate one of those OK ones to the spare. The other one, it well have a shorter then normal life. Or just buy 2 more tires and leave the spare unused.

They say 20K miles is a good long time on trailer tires. How many do you have on the camper now?

Good luck

John

[emam]

Yeah John, Cindy and I were just discussing that ourselves. Now all 4 tires are different in the amount of miles. That's because the spare that I put on the first time wasnt brand new, but one that I had plugged and figured I'd just keep for a spare.

I'm thinking maybe get two new ones, and keep the other two as backups.

As of today, we just went over the 25,000 mile mark for this year, so we're due for new tires anyway. And I'm thinking we're probably right near our max capacity. I'd like to find a way that I can weigh each tire like the scales the weigh masters use.

I dont care what the entire camper weighs, well I do, but I would like to know what each tires weight is holding to know if I have one side loaded heavier than the other.

Right now we're trying to find a place that even carries trailer tires. We're right on the border, like I can see it from our camper in Douglas Arizona, and no place we have stopped has trailer tires to fix our spare, or get two new ones.

I'll be sure to keep everyone updated on what happens.

Pat

[Galaxiedriver]

If you have a garage or other facility in the area that has a stock car, they may have a set of scales for weighing each tire. Those racers go to great lengths to get the weight on each tire precisely set. A stock car race track might also have a set.

[nickster60]

Galaxiedriver
I agree with your Chinesse tire assesment. I havent had much luck with them. My F150 came with Hankook tires the truck has 21000 miles and the tires need to be replaced. I have seen how those tires come from China. They are stacked up and then banded until they are nearly flat. It takes about a week in the sun for them to regain there shape. I dont think that can be very good for the structure of the tire.