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**DKB_SATX** · 08-17-2012, 11:12 AM

Ugh... this makes me crazy!

My Argosy came with a set of Carlisle Radial Trail 225-75-15s, C load range. They are about 6 years old, and I'm going to replace them before we go to Albuquerque in October. I'd been considering replacing with the same thing OR the LTX Michelins... I think I'm feeling a Michelin purchase coming on.

bwoodtx · 08-17-2012, 11:42 AM

Two years ago on my way to a rally in September I had a street side rear tire blow out. It did $7000.00 woth of damage to my trailer. It was a Carlisle tire. Never again!! After repairs were complete, I went down and bought 4 P23575R15 XL Michelinsand put them on. This is on a 97 Excella 1000. Have been happy ever since.

BTW, whatever tire you get, have them filled with Nitrogen-less temperature and pressure fluctuation in hot climates.

bwoodtx · 08-17-2012, 11:44 AM

PS-all my trailers now get the Michelin XL-especially DW's sisters on the fly trailer!!

Airslide · 08-17-2012, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwoodtx

Two years ago on my way to a rally in September I had a street side rear tire blow out. It did $7000.00 woth of damage to my trailer. It was a Carlisle tire. Never again!! After repairs were complete, I went down and bought 4 P23575R15 XL Michelinsand put them on. This is on a 97 Excella 1000. Have been happy ever since.

BTW, whatever tire you get, have them filled with Nitrogen-less temperature and pressure fluctuation in hot climates.

Thanks for the feedback Bruce.

The Michelins you purchased have a weight rating of 2183? according to the website? My airstream sits at exactly 4000 lbs per axle at the scales. What does the weight limit show on your tires?

Vinnie

perryg114 · 08-17-2012, 12:05 PM

Fortunately the safety margins on car tires are better than on trailer tires so if you are right at the max load you should be ok. I would keep track of tire temps and if they start running hot slow down. Mine are always cooler than the tow vehicle tires. You can use that as a guide. If they start getting hotter than the tow vehicle tires slow down or pull over till they cool off. If the tow vehicle tires get around 200 F I would let them cool as well.

Perry

HiHoAgRV · 08-17-2012, 01:42 PM

If you want to run a sanity check...

Take the weight of your trailer, then go find a vehicle that has the same GVWR...(hint, it will probably have dual rear tires).

See if you can talk the owner of the vehicle to install 4 15" trailer tires, load the vehicle to the max and drive through the desert at highway speeds.

A quick look will show, for most of us, it would be like outfitting a fully loaded 4X4 Excursion with Marathons...and we wonder why they fail!

Hummm...a Dually Airstream?

NJtoNC · 08-19-2012, 09:18 AM

i googled 'carlisle class action' and there appears to have been someone interested in a class-action suit back in 05' but i dont see what came of it.

i did get lots of results on RV blow outs very similar to ours. seems ridiculous that they cam keep making this unsafe tire after so many complaints.

purman · 08-19-2012, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJtoNC

i googled 'carlisle class action' and there appears to have been someone interested in a class-action suit back in 05' but i dont see what came of it.

i did get lots of results on RV blow outs very similar to ours. seems ridiculous that they cam keep making this unsafe tire after so many complaints.

It's because people keep buying trailer tires. If we all start buying LT tires they won't sell them any more. I will never buy another ST tire again even for my utility trailer.

CaddyGrn · 08-19-2012, 09:34 AM

We had a bias tread Carlisle tire with only a few thousand miles on it.... it was actually defective and just came apart while driving the Interstate... bent part of our Airstream in the wheel well and trim area...

We went to the tire dealer and they tried to get Carlisle to replace it for us at least.... no joy, they wouldn't accept any responsibility. We changed our tires as soon as we returned home.

bonginator · 08-19-2012, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by perryg114

Fortunately the safety margins on car tires are better than on trailer tires so if you are right at the max load you should be ok. I would keep track of tire temps and if they start running hot slow down. Mine are always cooler than the tow vehicle tires. You can use that as a guide. If they start getting hotter than the tow vehicle tires slow down or pull over till they cool off. If the tow vehicle tires get around 200 F I would let them cool as well.

Perry

Perry - what device do you use to monitor tire temps? Can you provide an Internet link?

Great thread - we are due to replace our tires so appreciate this one!

Ag&Au · 08-19-2012, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by perryg114

You can get the 235 in a XL rating that is higher than a standard car tire. It is also wider so it can carry more load at lower pressures. I think the Michelins in 235 XL would be a great tire for your trailer. Getting an IR thermometer can make measuring tire temps easy. When the tire starts getting near 200F you need to back off and slow down. You can also use it to adjust pressures. When the temp in the center and sides is the same you are good. When it is hotter in the center too much pressure and hotter on edges means too low pressure or overloaded tire.

Perry

Checking tire temps with a IR thermometer is a great idea. However, if you don't stop that often, it might not be checked in time to save a problem. Although the expense is greater, I believe that a TPMS that also measures temperature is by far a surer way to stay out of trouble. It certainly gives me piece of mind while driving.

Ken

NJtoNC · 08-19-2012, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaddyGrn

We had a bias tread Carlisle tire with only a few thousand miles on it.... it was actually defective and just came apart while driving the Interstate... bent part of our Airstream in the wheel well and trim area...

We went to the tire dealer and they tried to get Carlisle to replace it for us at least.... no joy, they wouldn't accept any responsibility. We changed our tires as soon as we returned home.

I absolutely believe carlisle ST (trailer) tires should be considered a defective product. We are just 2 months out of warranty. I hope anyone who googles carlisle tires find this thread and doesn't buy them.

The blowout caused the same damage on our trailer. I'm going to take a pic and post it. I'm thinking im going to have to file an insurance claim for this. thoughts?

**GCinSC2** · 08-19-2012, 10:33 AM

[QUOTE=bonginator;1190582]Perry - what device do you use to monitor tire temps? Can you provide an Internet link?

I'm a fan of carrying an IR thermometer and find many uses for one, but my Dill TPMS monitors PSI and internal tire temps reporting to a display on the dash or windshield pod mount. PSI is displayed on a continuous rotation to see temp you push and hold a button. Hi temp will sound alarm. I have had tire issues too and not looking forward to any more.

IR thermometer uses:
AC Check
Cooling system on truck check
Tires, brakes, hubs
Last trip I even used it to find a hot 120V 30A pedestal connection. Their plug was toasted. I even used it to check my 120V circuit breaker temps looking for trouble.
Check temp on a closed charcoal or gas grill
List goes on and on

NJtoNC · 08-19-2012, 10:34 AM

this was the damage the blowout caused.

yes, thats a chicken butt in the background. my apologies.

Ag&Au · 08-19-2012, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJtoNC

this was the damage the blowout caused.

yes, thats a chicken butt in the background. my apologies.

That's Nasty.

The damage, not the chicken butt. The chicken butt's kinda cute.

Ken

Ag&Au · 08-19-2012, 11:23 AM

There are about a gazillion tire threads on Airforums. I think I've read more than half of them. There are even threads extolling the virtues of Carlisle tires. After digesting as much of those threads as I could, I have come to one conclusion. Some brands are better than others,and some batches of the same brand are better than others, but, to put it in technical terms, ST tires suck.

Ken

purman · 08-19-2012, 11:30 AM

I use tire minder. And it worked great. All wireless, and you don't have to replace stems..TireMinder Tire Pressure Monitoring System - Product - Camping World

Friday · 08-19-2012, 11:34 AM

To the use of IR thermometers and such... the tire pressure and tire temperature are a linear relationship... so simply measuring your tire pressure will tell you if something is overheating. Any more than a 10% rise and you've got something going on... under inflation to begin with, tire defect...

As for blow outs... I've read and read and read... I'm not convinced it is always a 'bad tire'... there seems to be a lot of failures after curb-strikes (if people recognize this happened, or will admit it). This makes sense to me, because you have maybe 4 tires that are at 80 to 90% shared load on a larger trailer, then you whack one of them into a curb and suddenly deform the sidewall with 200 to 300% of it's rated load. This would make a lot more sense to me than a tire just delaminating or belts breaking for no reason.

Take one of your old ST tires and TRY to destroy it. Pretty tough...

I'm sure there are some manufacturer defects... but after looking at lots of pictures of deformed tires, and noting the obvious curb rubbing damage to the sidewalls... I'm wondering if there isn't more to it.

Frank's Trailer Works · 08-19-2012, 11:42 AM

I am going to catch it for this, but I FRICKIN LOVE CARLISLE TIRES! It is what I have run my own trailer with for over 45k miles with out ever adding a single pound of air and they still look brand new(I do respect the 5 year rule). I replaced them this season with the exact same tire and look forward to another long life with the new set. I put them on every single clients trailer who asks me to put new rubber on. Some people swear by Michelin, some by Goodyear, I swear by Carlisle. A blow out can happen for a hundred different reasons and often it is the brand that is blamed. Carlisle tires were American made and then went to China. They now are back to being American made.
I have repaired damage just like in those photos a dozen times now. It has been caused by every tire brand you can name.
Now bring it on. Tell me how wrong I am...
PS. I just placed an order for a client Friday. He needs all four and wants a spare too. Yep, Carlisle...

CaddyGrn · 08-19-2012, 11:54 AM

We went the insurance route... but the cost of the repair and our deductible... bottom line didn't get too far, still have a dent...

We still think Carlisle should have replaced our tire because it was defective... but the tire dealer had the tire on the shelf for quite a while so Carlisle passed the buck, we didn't get any cooperation from anyone. But, won't buy Carlisle tires again....