Tire Covers

[m.hony]

I have the Goodyear Marathons. Threads on Airforums has caused me not to trust these tires. I will only cover them when the trailer is sitting still from December to April.
I might try just setting them over the tire without hooking the bungee.
I could set a brick or block on the bungee for peace of mind that the covers won't blow away.
Installing/removing on cold wet ground or in fire ants is for the birds.
It is miserable for me due to gout/bursitis/arthritis.
I still maintain that dogs hiking a leg is a bigger consideration for me than heat/sunlight.
The covers were much easier to install on our previous sob trailer because it ha much more ground clearance.
I wouldn't even have the covers except that the dealer gave them to me (along with many other things) because I was about to walk away from the deal.

[switz]

Since our trailer is under a huge roof, dwarfed by huge motorhomes on both sides and the wheels are nearly in the center of the building roof area, the tires see receive only indirect light. Their biggest natural enemy is the warmth generated by 119 degree days. I do have four white covers for extended stops on the road. I hope these existing covers will also work on the new 16" tires when the new trailer gets here.

[dkottum]

We are in our Airstream six months a year, so use longer covers that go over two wheels at the same time, tandem covers. They have a grommet at the bottom of each end so I run a bungee across the bottom back side of the tires and it pulls the whole thing taunt. The tandem covers probably ventilate better than the single covers. I don't like the look of white covers, so I use black to coordinate with the black banana wrap of the trailer.

doug

[wolf146]

I had white covers but they are harder to keep clean so now I am back to black ones. We have limited exposure to direct sun on the tires so heat is not a big concern of mine. I am not so sure that black would get that much hotter than the white ones. ( White does reflect more heat and black does absorb more heat.) Wolf146

[Gene]

Originally Posted by wolf146

I had white covers but they are harder to keep clean so now I am back to black ones. We have limited exposure to direct sun on the tires so heat is not a big concern of mine. I am not so sure that black would get that much hotter than the white ones. ( White does reflect more heat and black does absorb more heat.) Wolf146

Read post 14.

Sun exposure may be less in NJ than the southwest, but it still makes a difference. A lot of radiant energy goes through clouds—that's been proven by comparing the output of solar panels in cloudy vs. sunny places, so it does matter.

Gene

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by wolf146

I had white covers but they are harder to keep clean so now I am back to black ones. We have limited exposure to direct sun on the tires so heat is not a big concern of mine. I am not so sure that black would get that much hotter than the white ones. ( White does reflect more heat and black does absorb more heat.) Wolf146

I suggest you review the measured temperatures in my blog post.

[wolf146]

I did read that and I wondered what tests you did to get those temperature differences ie. time of day, did you measure both tire temps at the same time while one tire was under a white cover and one under a black cover length of time measured etc Just wondering. The numbers seemed extreme. wolf146

[RLS]

Had white ones that really got grungy. Decided to go the cheap route, 1/2" Styrofoam 3 yrs. using and still looks new. I cut it so it fits under the wheel well, glued some ends on and put a small angle on the inside end pieces so they go on easy.

[dkottum]

White covers look better on white S.O.B.s than Airstreams (when the covers are new and clean).

doug

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by wolf146

I did read that and I wondered what tests you did to get those temperature differences ie. time of day, did you measure both tire temps at the same time while one tire was under a white cover and one under a black cover length of time measured etc Just wondering. The numbers seemed extreme. wolf146

Was in early afternoon. Full sun in my backyard near Akron, OH. All temps except the one of the tire with the cover off were recorded in less than 5 min time frame. As I said in post after taking temp of the tire just after removing the cover I waited about 30 min and then got the high temp.

Numbers are real. I do not sell covers, do not work for and never worked for a cover manufacturer or company that sells covers.

The later post where I used a black plastic bag over a tire to simulate a black cover I waited about 1/2 hour with the bag over the cover. Got temp of the bag then removed the bag and got temp of the tire.

Since you and others seem to have some concern about the test, I plan on doing a time temp test in a week or so (I misplaced my IR temp gauge so have to find that first)

I have no budget to go out and buy a set of black covers as I would have no use for them and wouldn't even give them to someone else to use, so I will be using a sheet of black plastic to simulate a black cover.

I have noted on a trip on US 30 which is East/West road I could see a temp difference of over 10F using my internal air chamber mounted TPMS of sun side vs no sun side on the RV even when driving.

Driving temps are more complex due to air movement and heat transfer rates due to higher temperature differentials.

Hope this helps clear things up.

[wolf146]

Tireman9, Thanks for the info. Good to know that you actually performed some measurements. Often posts are made with comments like " I think" or "I believe", so I wanted to make sure that this is real data. These are higher temperature ranges than I would have expected - you taught me something! Thanks, wolf146

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by RLS

Had white ones that really got grungy. Decided to go the cheap route, 1/2" Styrofoam 3 yrs. using and still looks new. I cut it so it fits under the wheel well, glued some ends on and put a small angle on the inside end pieces so they go on easy.

I like RLS's solution and was wondering if gluing some of that reflective bubble wrap insulation to the boards would help.

I just had Michelins installed with internal tpms and stopped at the trailer today. The tires on the side in the sun were 20 degrees warmer (98-100) than the tires in the shade (79-80).

That and the idea they'll be soaking in all those "rays" makes me want covers quick. Has anyone used that reflective insulation for tire covers?


Thanks!

[switz]

Insulation used as a cover might hold the heat in longer at the end of the day. The white covers I found at Camping World have some this coating on the inside but they are basically functioning as an umbrella.

[Tireman9]

For keeping the heat down, just about anything is better than black covers which would not only heat the tires but actually keep the heat in the tire longer after the sun went down.

I wouldn't be too concerned about insulating the tire. The basic covers I use and seen in my test have some white "cotton fluf" on the tire side that is a bit like very thin (1/4") fiberglass insulation but this stuff has worn off in a number of places.
As you can see in the test the white cover is about as cool as the side of the RV and only a few degrees hotter than ambient air in the shade. Remember the back side of the tire is in full shade so the heat is leaving the tire on that side.

I would think it more important to have a cover that is easy to use so you actually use it every day, rather than some fancy set-up that becomes a burden to put up so some days you don't bother.

I am also not impressed by the "kool" looking black mesh flat covers. These will let some UV through and the black mesh will heat up and radiate heat to the tire. While they might look good they are like much of the "bling" I see on many RVs. Extra cost and extra weight but no added functionality.