Tire blowout!!

[92landyacht]

Yep, happened to me last week. Driving down the interstate at 65 mph and a huge BOOM!! Curb side front tire just exploded. Now I'm in the market for 8 replacement tires. MH is parked until I can get them. Probably going to replace two every month to spread the cost around. Found a great deal on new tires. They're not Goodyears but right now I can't justify spending $2000 on a new set of tires. I figure even the least expensive new Samson tires are better then the old Michelin that are on there right now.

I was lucky enough to be able to get her over onto the shoulder but there is some damage to the rim. I just hope it's still usable because they're the 19.5" Alcoa 5 lug wheels.

On a plus note, I found that changing a tire on the front is a piece of cake when using the leveling jacks to lift up the front. Took all of 15 minutes to replace the front tire with the spare.

I'll post pics of the damaged tire and rim as soon as I take them.

Anyone one out there have a spare front Alcoa rim they want to sell?

[73shark]

There are places that can repair damaged aluminum wheels. I've seen pictures of some of the damaged wheels before and after and they can do some pretty remarkable things to some pretty beat up wheels.

[Punch]

When there's usually so much tread left on your tires it's hard to make yourself go and get new ones.

Visiting a friend last year he told me about his brother-in-law, an ex salesman for Guaranty RV in Junction City, Oregon who was advised by a tire place (Les Schwab) that his tires were getting old enough to worry about. But he decided against replacing the tires on his 6 year old Prevost because most of the tread was still there, and these are BIG tires, 22" or something, same as on a big rig, and it was going to cost him close to 3 grand. A week later driving at 70 mph or so, his driver side rear drive wheel tire exploded and he ended up spending 10 grand on bodywork, brake, sewer system and plumbing repair, as that big tire just thrashed around and made a huge mess. I went the next day and replaced my fronts, which looked new except for all the little crazing marks in the side walls.

[carl2591]

were the tires 6 yrs as well. That is kinda old for tires no matter how much tread is left. the tend to dry rot and then BOOM and man that can cause your hair to stand on end a bit.

hind sight is 20/20 and 7K cheaper..

Originally Posted by Punch

When there's usually so much tread left on your tires it's hard to make yourself go and get new ones.

Visiting a friend last year he told me about his brother-in-law, an ex salesman for Guaranty RV in Junction City, Oregon who was advised by a tire place (Les Schwab) that his tires were getting old enough to worry about. But he decided against replacing the tires on his 6 year old Prevost because most of the tread was still there, and these are BIG tires, 22" or something, same as on a big rig, and it was going to cost him close to 3 grand. A week later driving at 70 mph or so, his driver side rear drive wheel tire exploded and he ended up spending 10 grand on bodywork, brake, sewer system and plumbing repair, as that big tire just thrashed around and made a huge mess. I went the next day and replaced my fronts, which looked new except for all the little crazing marks in the side walls.

[Punch]

Originally Posted by carl2591

were the tires 6 yrs as well.......
hind sight is 20/20 and 7K cheaper..

Yes they were, and had spent their life in western Oregon, with a mild climate, so think what Midwest cold or Texas heat will do to tires.

[masseyfarm]

Thats not good, but you say you have no body damage so something went well. How old was the tire?

I have, this year since purchasing a 'pointandshoot' thermometer, got into the habit of checking all my rubber immediatley after freeway driving stops. My theory is that heat will build up in any tire that is going bad and I should get some warning of a problem.

On our recent cross Canada trip, eastbound in the heat, my 265/70 x22.5 rubber ran no hotter than 130* on the sun side. And the difference from side to side in the sun always was the same.

Dave

Originally Posted by 92landyacht

Yep, happened to me last week. Driving down the interstate at 65 mph and a huge BOOM!! Curb side front tire just exploded. Now I'm in the market for 8 replacement tires.
I was lucky enough to be able to get her over onto the shoulder but there is some damage to the rim. I just hope it's still usable because they're the 19.5" Alcoa 5 lug wheels.

[92landyacht]

Tire was 6 years old. It may have been related to something else other then age. Not sure at this stage since there isn't much of the tire left.

Anybody out there have an Alcoa 19.5 front wheel for sale?

[graysailor]

Six years is too old for a tire. The sidewalls are gone. I plan on replacement at around 3 years.

[wayneskid]

Originally Posted by graysailor

Six years is too old for a tire. The sidewalls are gone. I plan on replacement at around 3 years.

It's hard to say when a tire should be replaced due to age; there are just too many variables. Unless the tire has been abused, 3 years seems pretty early to me. FWIW, this is from the TireRack.com website: "Our experience has been that when properly stored and cared for, most street tires have a useful life in service of between six to ten years. And while part of that time is spent as the tire travels from the manufacturing plant to the manufacturer's distribution center, to the retailer and to you, the remainder is the time it spends on your vehicle."

[Punch]

Originally Posted by wayneskid

It's hard to say when a tire should be replaced due to age; there are just too many variables. Unless the tire has been abused, 3 years seems pretty early to me. FWIW, this is from the TireRack.com website: "Our experience has been that when properly stored and cared for, most street tires have a useful life in service of between six to ten years. And while part of that time is spent as the tire travels from the manufacturing plant to the manufacturer's distribution center, to the retailer and to you, the remainder is the time it spends on your vehicle."

One big factor must be the weight of our vehicles, and another how much time this weight sits on one point on the sidewall of a tire. Both of my AS's weigh about 12k and with our winters sit for 6 or 7 months, plus of course 95% of the rest of the hours in the year at intervals of one or two months they sit on random points on the sidewalls (because we don't use them enough at the present time). The first year I bought the LY I jacked it up and put it on blocks to take weight off the tires for the winter, but that was so much effort I've never done it since. Other big factors are temperature and UV. We get very cold obviously, just as you do, and never very hot, but at 2500 feet altitude our UV radiation is very strong. I guess I should be covering the tires, and taking the wheels off and storing them in the house over winter..... ain't gonna happen. So I think that certainly every 5 or 6 years they need replacing, with only 8 to 10k miles on them. That is why I now buy inexpensive tires without a long treadwear rating, becasue I don't need long treadwear. If we start doing 20,000 a year, I'll buy more expensive tires.

[DaveFL]

Michelin site recommends 8 yrs for replacement.
I can attest to needing at 12 yrs, especially if you see a bubble in the sidewall, it can blow after doing 75 miles at 50 mph, while stopped for a traffic light noise but no damage, in front of a tire dealer.

[92landyacht]

I know I'm going to hear a lot of negative feedback on this but I'm NOT spending $2000+ for a new set of 9 tires (8 wheels and a spare) on a MH that's worth $10k. I have heard enough good feedback on the tires I'm picking up to warrent going to the "dark side". I'm buying them 2 at a time in order to spread the cost over several months and see how the quality is. The tires I'm getting are the Samson GL283A 8/R19.5's. They're 12 ply load range F radials with specs pretty much the same as the Michelins. Here's a link to the PDF file on Samson tires.

http://www.radialtirewholesale.com/S...R_brochure.pdf

I purchased them through Simpletire.com. Two tires shipped to my door are going to cost me $307.32. At that price I can justify buying them every 5 years or so. I see how the first two go and then report back.

[masseyfarm]

The brand 'Samson' is not one I am familiar with here on the west coast.

When I Google the brand I find --

CANTON, Ohio—China’s Guizhou Tyre Corp. has received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agen-cy’s SmartWay verification of low-rolling resistance for its Samson GL283A L.E.T. truck tire.

The tires are manufactured by Guizhou Tyre in Guiyang, Guiz-hou, China and are distributed through its North American division, GTC North America Inc. dba Great Lakes Tire Co., in Canton.
.

Only time will tell the quality but, with everything being made now out of country, what real choices do we have????

All the major tire companies have had periods of quality control problems at one time or another.

One problem we have as an RV user is we don't put enough miles on to claim problems on warranty.

Dave

[graysailor]

This and other threads has made me over concerned about trailer tires. I mentioned to my Airstream dealer about going to Michelins and he said in his experience most tire failures are do to tire neglect and he has seen no real problems with the GYM's. He recommended tire vigilance and replacement every 5 years. Just a thought...perhaps for many of us our Airstreams sit too long in between use.

[92landyacht]

Here's a view of the carnage:


Here's the only visible sign of damage on the rim. I just hope it's repairable:


There was some minor damage to the fender well but I still think I got off lucky:

[carl2591]

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Originally Posted by 92landyacht

Here's a view of the carnage:


Here's the only visible sign of damage on the rim. I just hope it's repairable:


There was some minor damage to the fender well but I still think I got off lucky:

[92landyacht]

??????

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, in your original post you asked for a 5 lug wheel; They are actually 10 lug wheels, but they only use 5 lugs on the front wheels.

[92landyacht]

Ya, sorry for the confusion. The beauty ring does conceal the other 5 unused lug holes.

Any suggestions on where I can get the wheel fixed?

[wayneskid]

Originally Posted by 92landyacht

Any suggestions on where I can get the wheel fixed?

Google "aluminum wheel repair" and you will get 1,780,000 hits including this one Alloy Wheel Repair Specialists | The World's Largest Mobile Wheel Repair Company If that one doesn't work for you, there are a few others to choose from.