Tire failure at 13 months

[Airborne6]

For the manual pump I use a good quality bicycle pump with pressure indicator. It's great for just topping off and less hassle than using a 12 volt. FYI I still drag along the 12 volt for the bigger jobs.

[Echelon73]

Originally Posted by KYAirstream

Thanks for the 12v recommendation. Agreed on the LT tire and was planning to do so, but was hoping to wait until next year.

It's a Mastertrack load range D with max load of 2540lbs, so 10,160 lbs for all four and my trailer weighs a MAX of 7500lbs fully loaded with everything imaginable. This trip we were probably at about 7,000lbs. So I thought weight wise I'd be fine with these tires to hold me over until I got new rims and tires next year. For my next set I was planning on going with load range D as well, since there seems to be an adequate margin per the numbers?

Date stamp says 1314, so I assume that's the 13th week of 2014, so around March. I purchased them in July or August 2014.

I think a "1314" date code would mean it was manufactured in 2013 on the 14th week of the year (year first and then week).

[KYAirstream]

Thanks for the numerous replies to my post. While I'm not in a position right now to type a reply that the responses deserve, I will definitely do so Monday or Tuesday.

I did learn something else today, however, and that is that finding a replacement in a 225 75 R15 isn't easy. After about 5 calls to various tire stores this morning, I finally found a replacement at National Tire and Battery. This itself taught me that I may want to upgrade these rims (which I suspect are original) to a 16" for ease of replacement on the road in the future.

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted by KYAirstream

Had my first tire failure at about 55mph after being on the road for about 3 hours. My tires were installed just over a year ago and run at 60 psi (sidewall says max of 65psi). Fortunately a passing auto let me know otherwise I wouldn't have realized it until I slowed down, and no apparent damage to the trailer was done. Pics attached. Any tire experts able to tell what the cause might have been?

Also, when installing my spare I came to the conclusion that my manual pump is about worthless. I need to get one that runs on 12v, but I also like having manual pump [if it works and doesn't fall apart]. Any suggestions on a 12v and solid manual pump?

Attachment 247307Attachment 247308

I agree 100% with Tireman9. That looks EXACTLY like a tire would if all the air was let out of it. The tire should be examined very carefully for a cut. My experience says that there is a 90% probability that one will be found.

Why not 100%? Because 10% of the time, the cut will be in the damaged area.

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted by Echelon73

I think a "1314" date code would mean it was manufactured in 2013 on the 14th week of the year (year first and then week).

Nope, backwards! It's a 2014 tire produced the 13th week.

[Tuco]

Where is the valve stem?

[tjdonahoe]

Most tire failures is lack of air pressure, a low tire will heat up from over flexing and come apart, it doesn't matter if it is a michelin or a marathon, also running over curbs, large objects will break the cords.my marathons have 17000 miles on them and are going on a 4000 mile trip starting this week, if they stay full of air they will make it back...

[Jack46]

I should add that my ViAir 90's power cable/clips do not have enough length to reach for tires from the front battery storage box. So, I carry a small, portable 12 battery that I have anyway to charge my r/c batteries.

[paiceman]

We have a 110v outlet in our truck, therefore, I carry a real compressor in the bed of the truck and use it on both the truck and trailer when necessary. Won't comment on the tire, but to say we changed four years ago to 16" Michelins and now have them factory installed on our new 2015 30' FC. Just concluded a 10,000 mile trip, with some temps at 108 degrees in the shade, no guess as to asphalt temp, but so far so good.

[KYAirstream]

Thanks again for all the replies to my post and sorry it's taken me so long to get back. I'll try to address all the questions raised...

On this trip speeds had been up to around 60mph. Tires are a Mastertrack ST225 75 15 radial. I picked these up at a local shop last year and only intended to use them for 2 years. On other trips speed has been up 70mph. The tire that failed was on the drivers side, rear axle of the trailer. Tread wear was minimal to barely noticeable. Tire pressure was checked prior to leaving about 3 hours earlier and verified at 60 psi.

I dropped the tire off before seeing the post about a rim split, but hopefully that's not the case. The tire "expert" commented on how there was one weight balancer on one side of the wheel, and two on the other. He suggested that might cause the tire to vibrate. He also said trailer tires often aren't balanced at all, and that running the tires so close to the max psi may have been the problem because I would have exceed the max once the pressure built up, so I'll take everything he said with a grain of salt.

Along the edge of the break the tire wall felt thin from where it had started melting. Some cords were present, and some were missing from where it appeared they had melted. Valve stem appears to have come off when the tire wall separated.

These were new valve stems--at least that's what I was told. It's been a year ago, but I recall the shop saying they were stems designed for use with trailer tires. However, the stems on these tires are rubber. With bolt in metal valve stems, should they be replaced each time due to the rubber seal? Also, do tire shops generally carry these, or is it best to purchase before hand at a place like Advance Auto?

For my next set of tires I was leaning toward the 15" diameter Yokohama ribs (RY215) and using my existing rims. The difficulty finding a replacement in a 15", and finding a replacement on the road for the RY215, is nearly impossible. That said, is damage such as this likely with a strong tire like the RY215?

I read on the net that wheel covers may increase heat build up. I've got these on mine (attached).

Recommendations for a particular TPMS?

IF the was damaged by a nail and IF I had caught it right away, is having a tire plugged OK on a trailer tire?

With Michelins, run at MAX PSI or reference the air pressure chart? I see there may be a couple different schools of thought on this matter.

Would Load Range E tires be better in the future in the case of a tire failure? Mentioned was that the other tire on the same side as the damaged tire may now be more likely to fail due to being overloaded when the tire failed. Would LRE tires be better so they could handle such a failure better, or would the ride be too harsh for this trailer since I gather they would need to be run at their max (80 psi?)?

Thanks for all the recommendations on 12v pumps, and I really like the advice about carrying a small tank to top the tires off when needed. Also appreciate the recommendation on a quality bike pump for manual use. I imagine one of those won't fall apart like my wally world pump did.

Mentioned was the scenario where a tire is run at max PSI in freezing temps to later encounter temps in the 90s. This certainly was not the situation that occurred in my case, but I'd be curious to hear the answer regarding recommended PSI in that scenario as well.

This brings me to my next issue, which is things I need to do: new axles, likely 16" rims, new tires, centramatics, and TPMS. Recommended rank order of most important, or just bite the bullet and take care of it all at once. Again, thanks everyone for taking the time to help me with this.

[xrvr]

Exceeding the speed limit for the tires can lead to a problem later.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by Tuco

Where is the valve stem?

I would bet it is on the side of the highway about 2 to 5 miles before the location the failure was noted.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by avionstream

Exceeding the speed limit for the tires can lead to a problem later.

This is correct but lacking any other pictures or evidence, in this case I firmly believe the failure was from running with less than 10 psi and probably zero psi due to the loss of the valve stem.

[KYAirstream]

What do you believe may have caused the valve stem to detach?

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by KYAirstream

Thanks again for all the replies to my post and sorry it's taken me so long to get back. I'll try to address all the questions raised...

On this trip speeds had been up to around 60mph. Tires are a Mastertrack ST225 75 15 radial. I picked these up at a local shop last year and only intended to use them for 2 years. On other trips speed has been up 70mph. The tire that failed was on the drivers side, rear axle of the trailer. Tread wear was minimal to barely noticeable. Tire pressure was checked prior to leaving about 3 hours earlier and verified at 60 psi.

There is of course the possibility that the valve core did not close and seal completely after the pressure check (I have pictures on my blog on valve core leak) so if this were the case then checking pressure lead to the failure. This is why a TPMS is much better than just checking your air pressure every AM.

I dropped the tire off before seeing the post about a rim split, but hopefully that's not the case. The tire "expert" commented on how there was one weight balancer on one side of the wheel, and two on the other. He suggested that might cause the tire to vibrate. I don't understand how balance weights would cause vibration unless improperly installed. He also said trailer tires often aren't balanced at all, and that running the tires so close to the max psi may have been the problem because I would have exceed the max once the pressure built up, ABSOLUTELY WRONG. The inflation pressure we are talking about is the "cold pressure". Tires do not fail due to pressure buildup. so I'll take everything he said with a grain of salt.

Along the edge of the break the tire wall felt thin from where it had started melting. Some cords were present, and some were missing from where it appeared they had melted. Valve stem appears to have come off when the tire wall separated. That is the smoking gun. Now I am 100% certain the failure was a Run Low Flex Failure. Now we still can't be certain of why the air leaked but we now know the failure was not due to age, speed or country of manufactur

These were new valve stems--at least that's what I was told. It's been a year ago, but I recall the shop saying they were stems designed for use with trailer tires. However, the stems on these tires are rubber. With bolt in metal valve stems, should they be replaced each time due to the rubber seal? Also, do tire shops generally carry these, or is it best to purchase before hand at a place like Advance Auto? The bolt in stems are better than snap in rubber. I would replace the rubber parts of a valve stem (the entire valve stem or the "o" rings) at 5 to 7 years so that might mean at each tire change if snap in type or every other one if bolt in unless you can get replacement seals from a tire dealer supply company but since they sell in volume it is probably much easier to just get new bolt in valves.

For my next set of tires I was leaning toward the 15" diameter Yokohama ribs (RY215) and using my existing rims. The difficulty finding a replacement in a 15", and finding a replacement on the road for the RY215, is nearly impossible. That said, is damage such as this likely with a strong tire like the RY215?

I read on the net that wheel covers may increase heat build up. I've got these on mine (attached). Attachment 247369
I would not worry about wheel covers and heat build up. Metal is a much better conductor of heat so unlikely to result in meaningful increase.

Recommendations for a particular TPMS? I have a post on "Best TPMS" on my blog.

IF the was damaged by a nail and IF I had caught it right away, is having a tire plugged OK on a trailer tire? According to DOT and the major tire companies a plug only is never an acceptable repair except maybe for wheelbarrow tire. Internal patch and a plug to protect the steel belts is the way to go. Again I have covered thin in my blog

With Michelins, run at MAX PSI or reference the air pressure chart? I see there may be a couple different schools of thought on this matter.
Google "Interply Shear RV Tire" to learn why running tire sidewall pressuer is better fo multi axle tires. Why worry about tread wear on a tire you will replace before it wears out?

Would Load Range E tires be better in the future in the case of a tire failure? Mentioned was that the other tire on the same side as the damaged tire may now be more likely to fail due to being overloaded when the tire failed. Would LRE tires be better so they could handle such a failure better, or would the ride be too harsh for this trailer since I gather they would need to be run at their max (80 psi?)? Save the money and get a TPM system and avoid the failure in the first place.

Thanks for all the recommendations on 12v pumps, and I really like the advice about carrying a small tank to top the tires off when needed. Also appreciate the recommendation on a quality bike pump for manual use. I imagine one of those won't fall apart like my wally world pump did.

Mentioned was the scenario where a tire is run at max PSI in freezing temps to later encounter temps in the 90s. This certainly was not the situation that occurred in my case, but I'd be curious to hear the answer regarding recommended PSI in that scenario as well. Set the tire pressure when the tires are at ambient temperature, have not been driven on for 2 hours or in direct sun for previous 2 hours. Tires can tolerate the pressure increase when not overloaded or run over speed.

This brings me to my next issue, which is things I need to do: new axles, likely 16" rims, new tires, centramatics, and TPMS. Recommended rank order of most important, or just bite the bullet and take care of it all at once. Again, thanks everyone for taking the time to help me with this.

See comments in RED
1. TPMS
2 Switch to 16" if you have clearance. This will give you much greater choice of LT type tires. BUT be sure to measure actual individual tire load before doing the change so you get enough capacity.
3. Regular balance weights are what i use and all vehicle manufacturers use.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by KYAirstream

What do you believe may have caused the valve stem to detach?

Pressure and or cracks due to age most likely I would really need to see the other stems to form a better opinion.

[KYAirstream]

Thanks, Tireman, for your answers. So it sounds like 16" tires are the way to go even compared to a RIB tire like the Yokohama RY215.

As far as getting individual tire weights, what's the best source for finding a place with scales like that?

BTW, what's your blog address?

Thanks again!

[overlander63]

There was also a problem a few years ago regarding valve stems failing. Even brand new ones. One teailer on our lot developed 4 flat tires while sitting. It turned out the rubber valve stems had all failed, and the air had leaked out. Without ever turning a wheel.

[m.hony]

After 2 ST trailer tire failures, I switched to 16" wheels, load range E LT truck tires, Centramatic balancers, and Dill TPMS.
This upgrade brought me peace of mind.

[KYAirstream]

I've really enjoyed Tireman's blog at http://www.rvtiresafety.com/?m=0, and wanted to link it here since others may find it helpful too. Lots of good stuff on there.