I recently took a long trip of about 3800 miles with my Sundance 5th wheel camper which is less than a year old. During that trip I blew out 3 of my original tires and also had to change the fourth tire because of a cut in the tire. After the first blow out a man approached me right after entering the campground we were staying at and asked if we had a blow out on the way up. I told him yes, and he explained that the reason for the blow out was that the tires that are put on the campers are not heavy enough to carry the weight of the camper with the slides and all of the equipment you have in the camper. He told me that he had gone through 2 complete sets of tires since he bought his camper. He finally did a little research and went to a G load tire which can carry a lot more weight than the E load tires on the camper. I need some advice on this problem. I inflated the tires with 75 lbs and they are rated for a maximum of 80 lbs. I have read that under inflation can cause a tire to fail. What is considered under inflation and how much weight can the tires that are put on the campers handle.
Tires blow out on trip
- Thread starter mikebonin
- Start date
JanAndBill
Well-known member
Last but not least is road hazard. You mentioned you replaced one because of a cut. Obviously this tire impacted something. Our roads are in terrible shape in many places. Potholes, curbs, trash,etc, will cause damage that might not show immediately, and unfortunately this type of damage is cumulative. I put over 9k on the original towmax tires before my nerves got the best of me. The price of the Goodyear G614's is cheap compared to the potential damage and aggravation of a blow out.
Gaffer
Well-known member
Switch to Maxxis tires and check the pressure every morning before towing. Get a infrared thermometer and check the tire temps each time you stop for a rest break. The trailer and truck tires should show similar temps. The sunny side will be a little warmer. Or at least use the back of your hand. Keep it under 65mph.
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Miltp920
Well-known member
You learned the hard way my friend. You, like I, started reading this heartland forum after we bought our campers or after we made an unwise choice. IF you do a search for towmax, you are going to get educated (like I did) on tires and towing. Some have already chimed in. I used to tow at 70mph, after all that is the speed limit. I now have a temp-pressure monitoring system on my new tires ( replaced with 12 ply in prevention based on my reading on this site). I tow at 60 mph max now with my ST tires (margin) another concept I learned here. IF you google towmax tire problems, you might find other manufacture forums that have too many horror stories like yours. I cant say that the tire was at fault in your or any other case, but I know I paid $800 for 12 ply tires ( I am too cheap to spring for GY614s) to hopefully prevent what happened to your 10 ply tires on my rig. I have 5 E 10 plys on craigslist..cheap!
Grey Ghost
Well-known member
I also had a rather difficult time with Tow Max tires. Blew two and tore up my 5ver pretty bad. Did a lot of research on tires and ended up going with Michelin LT tires on my rig and no more worries. I also installed the TST monitoring system on the 5ver tires and that gives me some peace of mind also. Good luck in the future and just do some research and change out those Tow Max tires ASAP.
We replaced our original Towmax tires with Maxxis with less than 5,000 me on the Towmax. We inflate to 80psi and tow at no more than 65. Our Tomax tires has bubbles the size of your hand when we replaced them. We were lucky I am very grateful to the many folks here who educated us on the issues with the Tomax titires
Miltp920
Well-known member
Your observation with temperature and pressure look exactly as I have observed on my cyclone. Looks normal to me.
Jim.Allison
Well-known member
There is ample information on ST tires on this site, I have read all of it. I too blew out a china bomb within 1800 miles, Im in a RV park right now in New Mexico, there have been at least 3 rigs that have pulled in that have had at least one blowout one guy had two. The damage is incredible. The arguments on this website will range from a guy that has run chinese ST tires and got a million miles out of his last set, and is now on his second set he loves them so much, to guys that refuse to accept that you can run LT tires on trailers. Fact is that you have 2 choices at this point if you want to haul at least 65 MPH and haul a decent size 5th wheel on a 16 inch rim (check rim for 110 PSI and 3750 rating). http://www.goodyearrvtires.com/tire-selector.aspx The Goodyear G614, it the optional tire for many heartlands. IF you did not ask for them then you did not get them.
The other option is the Goodyear G114 17.5 in rim. This will eliminate all load induced failures, and will allow you to exceed the 65 mph limitation to 75, not that you would really want to. ST tires come apart and are good for little more than landscaping company trailers.
I took my remaining tires and rims off and sold them to a landscaping company, I bought 17.5 in HiSpec mod 03 rims with G114s. My trailer handles better and I did not have a worry in the world while on this trip. You might have to dig deep to buy them but the question is "did you buy your rig to sit around a fret because some chinese tire tore the side of your rig out" or "Did you buy your rig to get to the beach, or mountains, to enjoy that oh so rare 3 to 10 days" IF you bought it to fret, then make sure you buy ST tires, If you bought it to enjoy then put some real tires on it. good luck.
BTW, we cause them too, its not just the ST tire that is the problem, its us. We forget what we did to them the last time we ran them, we forget that 180 degree tight turn that was rolling the tires off the rim, we forget what we do to them. I asked one blowout victim what pressure he was running, he told me 70 LBS, I told him he should run the max on the side of the tire which was 80, he said it seemed like it was too much pressure so he ran 70 psi. It is not entirely the tire, it is us too. But between failures and abuse there are a lot of ST tire treads laying alongside the road this 4th of July weekend. I saw a large boat yesterday with a blown ST tire.
Learn everything you can about tires, then get what you need, then make sure that you follow all pressure recommendations at all times.
The max load rating of a LT v ST is vastly different. The reason why is that LT load rating are calculated using a different set of criteria involving passenger vehicles. This demands a "service factor" where a ST tire does not come close to meeting construction and real load rating of a lt. But the sidewall will say that the ST will carry more. I call bull hockey. ST? don't buy em.
The other option is the Goodyear G114 17.5 in rim. This will eliminate all load induced failures, and will allow you to exceed the 65 mph limitation to 75, not that you would really want to. ST tires come apart and are good for little more than landscaping company trailers.
I took my remaining tires and rims off and sold them to a landscaping company, I bought 17.5 in HiSpec mod 03 rims with G114s. My trailer handles better and I did not have a worry in the world while on this trip. You might have to dig deep to buy them but the question is "did you buy your rig to sit around a fret because some chinese tire tore the side of your rig out" or "Did you buy your rig to get to the beach, or mountains, to enjoy that oh so rare 3 to 10 days" IF you bought it to fret, then make sure you buy ST tires, If you bought it to enjoy then put some real tires on it. good luck.
BTW, we cause them too, its not just the ST tire that is the problem, its us. We forget what we did to them the last time we ran them, we forget that 180 degree tight turn that was rolling the tires off the rim, we forget what we do to them. I asked one blowout victim what pressure he was running, he told me 70 LBS, I told him he should run the max on the side of the tire which was 80, he said it seemed like it was too much pressure so he ran 70 psi. It is not entirely the tire, it is us too. But between failures and abuse there are a lot of ST tire treads laying alongside the road this 4th of July weekend. I saw a large boat yesterday with a blown ST tire.
Learn everything you can about tires, then get what you need, then make sure that you follow all pressure recommendations at all times.
The max load rating of a LT v ST is vastly different. The reason why is that LT load rating are calculated using a different set of criteria involving passenger vehicles. This demands a "service factor" where a ST tire does not come close to meeting construction and real load rating of a lt. But the sidewall will say that the ST will carry more. I call bull hockey. ST? don't buy em.
jedelaney
Member
Newbie question - does this discussion include "Trailer King" tires? I just went outside and looked and see mine are also made in China. They are rated at 65 PSI which is exactly where I keep them. They also say Load Range D, ST225/75R15. I have had the trailer since April 2014 and have ~1200 miles on them. I have learned from this site that I have been driving too fast, using between 60 and 70 max and will slow down to 65. Otherwise they handle pretty well so far. I am going to buy an air compressor to keep with me as well. Thanks and apologize if this is too different than the intent for this thread. Joe
Miltp920
Well-known member
I am sure more will chime in, but my research would say your situation may be fine. Sounds like your camper is "lighter" if they put load range D tires on it. The campers that seem to be experiencing failure tend to be heavy fifth wheels, 15,000 lb or more. It is good that you (and I too) learned our tires have a speed rating. I also learned that ST tires may have a service life of 5 years. So, if you are safe in your driving, and properly inflate to max pressure on sidewall, you will most likely not have an issue in first 5 years. Someone with same model north trail will chime in to give you better advice.
JWalker
Northeast Region Director-Retired
Most of the issues seem to be on the heavier trailers with the 16" tires. We just traded out 2011 North Trail with 10+ thousand miles on the Tow Max 15" D rated tires. No issues what so ever. Looked like new. That being said, our new trailer left the lot with Goodyear G614s on it.
jedelaney
Member
Thanks for the feedback. Your new trailer looks great.
Jim.Allison
Well-known member
I'm up in New Mexico this fourth of July. I stayed put in one RV park. I met everyone that came into the park, and I drove all over the area on the various scenic roads.
Here are my observations
1) RV'r don't know squat about their tires
2) We are equally guilty as the manufacturer for tire blowouts, they know the applications and they should not be putting ST tires on our rigs. But we forget the abuse that we put them through before they blew (tight turning, over speed and under inflation.
3) When you select a ST tire for your equipment you are selecting an inferior tire and the load rating are pumped up because it's a trailer tire and not a passenger tire. The service factors are different.
4) There are blown ST tires all over the roads up here. Some new and some old. But by the same token there are some old tires still on vehicles and you wonder how can they be holding on?
5) 3 5'rs came into this park having had blowouts on their way in, one guy had 2, and yes he had about 2 grand in damages and had to have emergency repairs because of damage beyond cosmetic.
6) the guy next to me is running ST's on his motorhome on both his steering axle and his drive axle.
7) one guy with a rig my size 3650, told me that he knew that the tire said 80 PSI but he felt like that was too much pressure for the tires. He is the one that popped 2
8) I looked at a triple axle today, the 6 tires were mathematically capable of carrying the load with a slight service factor. There should be less problem there, although a triple should give consideration to the G614.
9) A solution for all trailers including boats, is to evaluate rim size and tires. Ex. A smaller trailer with a 6 lug axle could step up to a different load range with a simple inexpensive rim change or perhaps not even have to change rims. This would provide a service factor
10) tandem axle rigs in the 15k arena need to really consider moving away from ST in favor of the g614 or even overkill with the g114s with 17.5 HiSpec wheels.
IMHO
Here are my observations
1) RV'r don't know squat about their tires
2) We are equally guilty as the manufacturer for tire blowouts, they know the applications and they should not be putting ST tires on our rigs. But we forget the abuse that we put them through before they blew (tight turning, over speed and under inflation.
3) When you select a ST tire for your equipment you are selecting an inferior tire and the load rating are pumped up because it's a trailer tire and not a passenger tire. The service factors are different.
4) There are blown ST tires all over the roads up here. Some new and some old. But by the same token there are some old tires still on vehicles and you wonder how can they be holding on?
5) 3 5'rs came into this park having had blowouts on their way in, one guy had 2, and yes he had about 2 grand in damages and had to have emergency repairs because of damage beyond cosmetic.
6) the guy next to me is running ST's on his motorhome on both his steering axle and his drive axle.
7) one guy with a rig my size 3650, told me that he knew that the tire said 80 PSI but he felt like that was too much pressure for the tires. He is the one that popped 2
8) I looked at a triple axle today, the 6 tires were mathematically capable of carrying the load with a slight service factor. There should be less problem there, although a triple should give consideration to the G614.
9) A solution for all trailers including boats, is to evaluate rim size and tires. Ex. A smaller trailer with a 6 lug axle could step up to a different load range with a simple inexpensive rim change or perhaps not even have to change rims. This would provide a service factor
10) tandem axle rigs in the 15k arena need to really consider moving away from ST in favor of the g614 or even overkill with the g114s with 17.5 HiSpec wheels.
IMHO
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