TrailManor Owner's Forum - View Single Post

06-11-2002, 12:45 PM

Oilspot asked:
>Being a non-TM owner (at least for now), I'm perplexed by the >seeming propensity for blowouts on these trailers. Are other >trailers having this trouble too?

I think that tire blowouts may occur just as frequently on other trailers and RVs. For example, my neighbor sustained a blowout this past year in his Class B motorhome. The reason why TM owners discuss blowouts so much may be that the "Road alligator" that can come off a blowout has a propensity to tear out one of the square corners of the sheet metal wheel well/fender. This usually results in damage to a cabinet above it and introduces all kinds of dirt and debris into the trailer. The solution to this is modifying the wheel wells to a rounded shape, and, many TM owners have been doing this since someone thought up a way to do it (Irwin or Fox?). 2002 TMs (?) have the rounded wheel wells but all older models have the square-cornered ones. I just completed a more extensive than usual modification of my TM's wheel wells and may have some photos to show - if they turn out!

We had a blowout of our curbside tire last year. Fortunately, it occurred while traveling at low speed and the wheel well sustained no damage. The tire that blew out was a Carlisle Range C (4-ply) tire that was the TM factory's standard tire at that time - until 1999 when the factory switched to Goodyear Marathons, a Range D (6-ply) tire. After our blowout I had 2 Marathons put on our TM. In a conversation a year ago with Jimmy Davis, he told me that they had not had word of any blowouts since the Marathons became standard equipment. This may have been due to equipping the TMs with the heavier ply tires. Regardless of the manufacture of a trailer, however, tire failures seem to be a fact of life if you tow one.

06-11-2002, 12:45 PM	#4
Larry_Loo Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Wheel Wells and Tire Failure Oilspot asked: >Being a non-TM owner (at least for now), I'm perplexed by the >seeming propensity for blowouts on these trailers. Are other >trailers having this trouble too? I think that tire blowouts may occur just as frequently on other trailers and RVs. For example, my neighbor sustained a blowout this past year in his Class B motorhome. The reason why TM owners discuss blowouts so much may be that the "Road alligator" that can come off a blowout has a propensity to tear out one of the square corners of the sheet metal wheel well/fender. This usually results in damage to a cabinet above it and introduces all kinds of dirt and debris into the trailer. The solution to this is modifying the wheel wells to a rounded shape, and, many TM owners have been doing this since someone thought up a way to do it (Irwin or Fox?). 2002 TMs (?) have the rounded wheel wells but all older models have the square-cornered ones. I just completed a more extensive than usual modification of my TM's wheel wells and may have some photos to show - if they turn out! We had a blowout of our curbside tire last year. Fortunately, it occurred while traveling at low speed and the wheel well sustained no damage. The tire that blew out was a Carlisle Range C (4-ply) tire that was the TM factory's standard tire at that time - until 1999 when the factory switched to Goodyear Marathons, a Range D (6-ply) tire. After our blowout I had 2 Marathons put on our TM. In a conversation a year ago with Jimmy Davis, he told me that they had not had word of any blowouts since the Marathons became standard equipment. This may have been due to equipping the TMs with the heavier ply tires. Regardless of the manufacture of a trailer, however, tire failures seem to be a fact of life if you tow one.