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Steve & Mary · 11-13-2011, 06:40 AM

We departed yesterday morning for a week long camping trip in Arkansas. We had only been on the road for less than 50 miles when I felt a vibration and as soon as I lifted on the gas I heard the tire blow. The left rear tire blew out, taking out the grey/black water drain, hot water heater and causing lots of damage to the side of the trailer. I'll post pics later today. Tire pressures were checked and normal when we left. We had made the same trip back in July with much higher day time temps. I had the cruise set on 60, level road and everything seemed to be normal. These are the same tires which came with the trailer. We purchased it new in 2008. Trailer is stored under an awning. Tires are not exposed to sun and tire wear is normal. Still lots of thread. The failure looks like a recap tire when it loses its thread. About an inch of thread on each sidewall remains. All of the center is gone. I plan to take the tire to a Goodyear dealer for failure analysis. I'll also be looking for someplace to have the trailer fixed. Their are deep cuts on the side panel caused from the steel belts. Maybe I should consider taking it back to the factory. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

knunut · 11-13-2011, 06:56 AM

Sorry to hear about your problem. On our 07 we have replaced once with GY and next with " Mich". LOt's of posts re this issue !

Bandits · 11-13-2011, 07:02 AM

We had an identical problem with the Goodyear Marathons, fortunately with no damage. After quite a bit of research I changed to 16" wheels and Michelin XPS rib tires. Personally I will never again have any brand of ST tires on any trailer I own. Good luck with the repairs. Jerry

handn · 11-13-2011, 07:05 AM

Many many threads on this topic with occurrences similar to yours.
The bottom line is failures of GYM's are common throughout the sunbelt. Perhaps yours started to go (thread separation) in the hot weather and your latest trip finished the job.
I had 3 (gym's) and lots of no name ST tires blow all over the South and SW during various hot weather trips.
I switched to Maxxis E's and got 3 years before one tire developed tread separation and I switched all four to Michelin LTX P 235 R 75 XLs. The XL stands for extra load and each tire carries over 2000 pounds, plenty of capacity for my 6300 lb gvw 25 Safari. I had plenty of clearance in the wheel wells for the slightly bigger tires.
My advice is to upgrade to P or LT tires if they will fit in your triple axle trailer. My cost was 140 a tire more or less. ST tires are over a hundred.
If you don't have enough clearance for 235 tires, E rated Maxxis are the next best choice. The E rated tires will make the ride on your trailer noticeably rougher.
I was lucky in that my serial tire failures caused only slight damage to my trailer. Perhaps insurance will cover your extensive damage. The odds are better of the Tooth Fairy covering it than Good Year.

Steve & Mary · 11-13-2011, 08:00 AM

handn... you may be correct with the tire starting to fail during an earlier trip. My pre-trip checks include a good visual and tire pressure check of all of the tires. I was really surprised when this thing went. We weren't even doing the speed limit. Had plently of time and was taking it easy. My dad had a GYM tire fail on his AS some years ago which also did a lot of damage. It was on the door side and didn't have as much to damage as ours. He took the tire to a Goodyear dealer and they ended up replacing all of his tires at no cost. His insurance repaired the trailer. I have insurance through State Farm. There are some fairly deep scratches on the side of the trailer and I'm concerned of how well they can be fixed unless the whole side panel is replaced. I guess I'll fight that battle with the insurance. Thanks for the tire info....steve

**blmitch5** · 11-13-2011, 08:25 AM

There is an excellent certified Airstream repair shop in Oklahoma City that has an excellent reputation that is closer to you. It's http://www.griffithrvservice.com/
I'm Taking mine there next week for hail damage. I've heard very good things about him. I switched my Goodyears with maxxis.

Steve & Mary · 11-13-2011, 09:07 AM

Thanks BLMITCH. I'll give Griffith a call next week and send them some photos of the damage.

**blmitch5** · 11-13-2011, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve & Mary

Thanks BLMITCH. I'll give Griffith a call next week and send them some photos of the damage.

Your welcome!

He and his wife do all the work so they will be slow but well worth the wait. His dad used to own an Airstream dealership so he grew up with them, kinda cool. I'm taking mine down next weekend and I imagine he will have it for most of the winter but I'm good with that. Let me know how it goes.

drew05 · 11-13-2011, 01:16 PM

Brad, are you getting any other repairs done. We saw an Ikea in San Diego, and thought of you...

TBRich · 11-13-2011, 01:30 PM

We had a similar GY Marathon blowout on our 06 19' Bambi during a trip at the end of September... We heard a "BAM," the trailer dropped on one side, and that's all she said! We were running on the rim. We watch our tires like hawks, so like you, I was surprised. We even have PressurePros, but since this was a catastrophic sudden blowout, we got no warning.

We replaced both tires with TowMax Range Load D...the best alternative we could find in the town where we were. When we looked over the tire that didn't blow, we discovered evidence of advanced tread separation happening there, too ... my guess is that it would not have lasted another 50 miles. So in one sense we were lucky...

Those tires were only 2.5 years old and only had 14k miles on them. Once we got home, I realized that the spare (original) was older than the tire that blew, so we replaced that as well with a matching tire. The old spare which was virtually brand new wear-wise had a few suspicious looking places on it.

We had damage to the wheel well, curved wrap pieces, and the underside, and some to the plumbing which sits directly behind the tire...fortunately no damage to the exterior skin. Even with what we considered minimal damage, the insurance bill was $3270.

Blowout virgins we are no more.

**blmitch5** · 11-13-2011, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drew05

Brad, are you getting any other repairs done. We saw an Ikea in San Diego, and thought of you...

I was in Ikea in LA! I'm getting the dent in the corner fixed and if I'm feeling rich, a side awning.

adonh · 11-13-2011, 04:24 PM

Just curious what tire pressure were you running in the tires before the blowout.

Phoenix · 11-13-2011, 04:52 PM

Link to recent tire failure poll:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...oll-76867.html

Other interesting reading on switching to 16-in wheels & LT tires:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f465...res-69297.html

Steve & Mary · 11-13-2011, 05:35 PM

These are a couple of pics of the tire blowout.

Steve & Mary · 11-13-2011, 05:36 PM

Second picture.

Steve & Mary · 11-13-2011, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adonh

Just curious what tire pressure were you running in the tires before the blowout.

I had checked all five tires about an hour before we left and had them at 65 psi. Did just a quick glance at the outside of each tire.

**blmitch5** · 11-13-2011, 05:59 PM

Ouch! I hate those Goodyear tires. Sorry for your damage.

TBRich · 11-13-2011, 07:13 PM

Oh, Man...that hurts just looking at it...

We are so sorry, but take a deep breath and forge on...it can all be fixed...

Beginner · 11-13-2011, 07:19 PM

Sorry to hear about your damage.
There are many posts about ST tire failure on this site.
If you want to research the subject I recommend the post Tires, Tires Tires started by Bob Thompson.
Next go the NHTSA web site and file a complaint. Its not easy but the more failure complaints the better.
Beginner

dznf0g · 11-13-2011, 07:36 PM

That just SUCKS! It makes me feel much better about spending the money on new 16" wheels and LT tires. It was expensive, but I would be sick to see that kind of damage.