Tire Blowout while sleeping

Originally Posted by rvcycleguy

Found a Discount Tire Center in Kerrville, Texas. Not open today, but their online inventory shows only the Goodyear ST 225, 75 R15 (trailer tire) in stock.

Originally Posted by scrubjaysnest

Make sure it is at proper pressure, for us with the 2720 that is 65 psi.

I am going to add just a little clarification to Scrubjaysnest excellent advice. The maximum air pressure for your tires are dependent on what ply rating they are, not just tire size or trailer model.....which you haven't indicated (or I may have missed it). Does it say on their online inventory what Load Range/Ply rating these Goodyears are?

Here are your standard maximum pressures per Load Range

Load Range C (6 ply rating) is 50 psi
Load Range D (8 ply rating) is 65 psi
Load Range E (10 Ply rating) is 80 psi

Obviously, if you end up with 6 ply rated tires, you don't want to place 65 psi in them. However, if I was purchasing new 15 inch rim diameter tires, I would go with at least a minimum of an 8 ply rated tire like Scrubjaysnest. It's usually better to have a tire than can carry more load, than less.....as at least my camper seems to get more stuff (aka weight) added to it each trip.

Being the day after Turkey Day, I figure everyone is sluggish after stuffing themselves, so here is some sluggish reading that I posted in another forum that Mtnguy and I frequent about what a ply rating is:

We have to understand the tire terminology of LT(Light Truck) and ST(Special Trailer) tires, along with the manufacturing history of them to know what we are reading in what is a "Load Range" aka "Ply Rating."

These tires have what is called a Load range or Ply rating. It is just that, a rating, and is not indicative of the true actual numbers of plies in the tire. Modern tires have less true plies than the ply rating suggests. You can always read near the bead of a given tire and see how many true plies are in the tire (sidewall and tread).

OK, you're probably asking yourself, why a tire has less true plies than the ply "rating" indicates? Why not just put the true number of plies on the label? It has to do with how tires used to be made, or more precise, what they used to be made of. Tires all used to have their internal carcass plies made up of cotton cords. When tires were all made up of cotton cords, then the true number of cotton cords inside the tire, was the true number of plies listed on the tire. A 6 ply cotton corded tire had 6 actual plies of cotton cord...and so on, so on.

As technology has progressed, so has the stuff you can now make a tires internal cords from. You now have nylon, rayon, kevlar, and other polymers that are stronger than cotton. Different tire manufacturers will use different polymers to make their tires internal cords from, all of which are stronger than the previous cotton cords.

To keep things uniform, and where you and I can understand it, you have the ply rating come into existence. Take for example Brand X tires. Their tire is made from nylon plies, which 2 plies of nylon might equal 6 plies of cotton. Their tire is thus equivalent to a 6 ply "cotton corded" tire, but only has 2 plies of true nylon cord.

Now Brand Y tires have kevlar in theirs which 1 ply of it, might be equal in strength to 6 plies of cotton. They also have a tire equivalent in strength to a 6 ply cotton corded tire, but it has only 1 true ply of kevlar.

The ply rating, is a rating based off of the old cotton plies strengths. A 6, 8, 10, or higher rated tire has the same equivalent strength of a tire that had that many actual cotton plies..........even though it doesn't have that many actual plies now.

Since there are so many different things that each tire can now be made of in it's ply construction (besides cotton), by using the Ply Rating system, it keeps it uniform across all the brand lines. As a consumer, you aren't really interested in WHAT a tire has inside, as much as you are needing to know HOW much weight you can carry on it.

Each tire manufacturer uses the old cotton corded strengths as a measuring standard to determine their tires strengths with whatever material they use internally for their plies.

Here are the most common Ply Ratings or Load Ranges

C = 6 ply rated...equal to 6 plies of cotton cord
D = 8 ply rated...equal to 8 plies of cotton cord
E = 10 ply rated...equal to 10 plies of cotton cord
F = 12 ply rated...equal to 12 plies of cotton cord

[rvcycleguy]

the TM model is 3124KB. The tires on it are ST 225 75 R15 Goodyear. I have not checked the ply just yet. Will be removing them this morning.

[rvcycleguy]

Got the new tires on. 225 75 R15, Carlisle, 10 ply (E) rated. I appreciate the TM assistance from the forum. We will be headed back home on Sunday with new tires and a decent spare. date code on today's tires are 4/11. with replacement warranty.

rv

wmtire:
Thanks for that info. I printed it off as I will be getting new tires this coming camping season more for the age rather than the wear.

Originally Posted by rvcycleguy

but if one tire blew last night, its assumed the other one is just as bad for my trip home. your saying, use the spare to prop up the trailer while both tires are off?

rv

Sorry I wasn't very clear. Take the blown and the spare to the tire store to get 2 new tires. This way you only need one bottle jack and leaving TM jacked is safer. When you return with 2 new tires, Put one on the missing ( blown tire) wheel and switch the other one with the spare which now has a new tire. When you get home get a new tire on the spare.

[T and C]

Originally Posted by rvcycleguy

Pulled the TM to the Texas Hill Country from Houston yesterday for the holiday weekend. First time out since we purchased the unit. PO indicated the tires we about 4 years old with very little use. After set up was completed, we visited with family and then went to bed. Just about to doze off completely, we heard and felt a loud bang. Startled us out of bed thinking the possibilities of hot water tank, furnace, even the water hose from the well source we were using was suspect... I noticed the fender skirt was damaged. Was not that way when we left our home. Tire was still holding pressure but the side wall was partially blown out. We felt lucky that it did not happen on the highway. Before returning home on Sunday, we will replace both tires. Recommendations are being taken if you please.

rvcycleguy,

Remember, a major factor in trailer tire failure is sun damage...which is not evident when you just look at the tire. Search around for wmtire's posts. He has educated most of us about this over the past couple of years.

IMHO, 3 years is the max for age on trailer tires.

Tom

[Barb&Tim]

Couple of questions for wmtire.

Bobby,

if i go from my load range D tires(That TM recommends keeping at the max 65psi cold pressure) to a load range E tire, should I again go with the max pressure(80psi old pressure)?

I seem to remember seeing somewhere that all of the rubber pop-in valve stems sold in the USA have a max pressure rating of 65psi. Is this true?

Thanks, Tim

Originally Posted by Barb&Tim

Couple of questions for wmtire.

Bobby,

if i go from my load range D tires(That TM recommends keeping at the max 65psi cold pressure) to a load range E tire, should I again go with the max pressure(80psi old pressure)?

I seem to remember seeing somewhere that all of the rubber pop-in valve stems sold in the USA have a max pressure rating of 65psi. Is this true?

Thanks, Tim

On the air pressure question, it depends. You should go with the max pressure for the specific load range of each tire, if you want to carry the tires maximum load. If you run less than maximum psi, then the tire cannot carry the maximum weight it is designed for. There are charts that will show how much weight you can carry at what air pressures.

Several of our members who are running 10 ply rated tires (myself included), run less than maximum pressure for that load range (80 psi) to help soften the ride somewhat.........but always remember that you cannot carry the maximum load for what the tire is rated for, by running less than maximum psi. You have to account for this .

Another thing, is some tire manufacturers recommend that you ALWAYS run the maximum pressure for whatever the trailer tire is rated for. Carlisle 'emphatically' states they won't warranty any trailer tire that has been run on less than max air pressure..............even though they have tire load/inflation tables that show the carrying capabilities when running less than max. I bet there is lawsuit or two somewhere behind that. You can read this on page 7 of the following pdf link from Carlisle.

http://www.carlisletire.com/product_...are_safety.pdf


On the valve stems, yes, the standard TR413 snap in rubber valve stem is rated for 60-65 psi maximum. You can get a TR600 High Pressure snap in stem that is rated for 100 psi.

Many members who are running the high ply tires (especially those rated above 65 psi) are opting for the metal clamp-in stem........for the fact it lasts longer, takes higher pressures, and will accept the screw-on-type tire pressure monitoring transmitters without bending over during driving (due to centrifugal forces).

We touched a little on all of this in the thread link below.

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ad.php?t=11366

Hope this helps.

[Bill]

It's Sunday morning, and it sounds like you already have the problem resolved. Good for you! Let me toss in a couple thoughts.

If you have a good spare (and of course you do!), why not simply replace the bad tire with the spare and drive to the tire shop? No, I wouldn't drive for a long distance (like all the way home) without a working spare, but for a short distance - well, I've done this two or three times. That is what a spare is for. Once you get to the tire shop, they will jack up your TM using a couple of the big floor jacks they have all over the place. As has been mentioned, you must watch them do it, and insist that they put the jacks under the frame, rather than the axle - but they do all the work. Then they will pull the wheels, de-mount the old tires, replace the valves, mount and balance the new tires, and re-mount the wheels on the TM - all while you relax with a cup of coffee. They can even remove the fender skirt if you forgot to bring a square-drive screwdriver (tsk tsk!)

By the way, I am a big fan of the clamp-in valve stems that Bobby mentioned. And DO NOT skip the step of having the wheels balanced once the new tires are mounted.

As for the strength of the "stabilizer" jacks. Each one of these screw-down jacks is rated for 5000 pounds, which is more than the entire weight of the TM, so the set of four (or two, for that matter) can easily support the TM. The idea that they can't do so is a myth that goes back to the days when the TM had drop-down stabilizers, like the ones on lightweight popups today.

Glad you got the problem resolved.

Bill