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HiJoeSilver · 10-20-2015, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peegreen

Just wondering, my 2003 Excursion, never had the spare ever removed from stowed location, should I replace that too?

OMG yes on all of them. Generally 6 years is a base point for replacement, if they still look really good, stretch to 8 years. Tires oxidize and wear with age as well as use. 12 years is seriously asking for trouble, if a mechanic told me that I would sternly correct him.
The spare needs replacement as well, that can easily be stretched to 8 years if it still looks good. Since it's the spare just get a inexpensive one sized the same for limping to get a new one on your regular wheel.
Blowouts at highway speed can be disastrous!

xrvr · 10-20-2015, 05:58 AM

ST tire lifetime is no more than four years, five max, according to my tire guy.

markdoane · 10-20-2015, 06:52 AM

It's a sebaceous cyst. See your dermatologist.

CapriRacer · 10-20-2015, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveSueMac

A member of the New England Unit shared this picture on our Facebook and gave me permission to share it here in hopes maybe our tire engineer folks could chime in on this. What happened here?

Attachment 250694

Does he still have the tire? If so, then we can test out what I am about to say.

I think that is the result of the tire hitting an object and breaking the ply cords. No, that is NOT from a defect, because this type of defect would have been there from the git-go and would have been visible in the form of a bulge.

How to test to see if I am right? Dismount the tire, and cut circumferentially along the sidewall in a long continuous cut through where the bulge is, including a large amount on each side of the bulge. Then look at the cords in the cut section. Where the bulge was, the cords should be imbedded a bit shallower, meaning the rubber matrix wasn't holding the cords in tension, and the cords that look like that are broken.

m.hony · 10-20-2015, 10:20 AM

My "theory":
Tread separation first, and then air between the belts and the rubber-
Just Puff-up-athons/Swollen-up-athons doing what they do-
Marathon is right- 26 miles and it is toast.
This last 1,000 mile trip on new 16" LT tires at 65 mph sure had a lot of peace of mind-
Glad the Goodyears are off my trailer before they exploded and did damage to my trailer-

Larry C · 10-20-2015, 10:29 AM

Ply

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveSueMac

A member of the New England Unit shared this picture on our Facebook and gave me permission to share it here in hopes maybe our tire engineer folks could chime in on this. What happened here?

Attachment 250694

Ply separation, not uncommon with Goodyear Marathons.

J. Morgan · 10-20-2015, 10:44 AM

In my opinion ST tires are a scam to milk "disposable money" from the RV crowd.

Go with LT tires that wear longer and last better.

Just a side point, I would have snuck up on that tire and removed the valve core before I removed it from the trailer.

Brevi tempore!

twolanehwy · 10-20-2015, 10:51 AM

my knee looked like that once.

tjdonahoe · 10-20-2015, 11:19 AM

I wonder how many cubs this tire has hit ?

paiceman · 10-20-2015, 01:26 PM

Side wall tire damage. Tire at end of it's useful life for an ST tire. Not in the sun? Not being sarcastic but not sure how one tows a trailer and not have the tire in the sun. Is it covered at all campgrounds? If a tire is outside and not covered it's subjected to UV rays.

Chuck · 10-20-2015, 01:30 PM

Running gear not properly balanced.

Lumatic · 10-20-2015, 01:56 PM

My personal opinion based on my experience in sunny New Mexico is tires age out before they suffer serious UV damage. If I'm wrong post some facts (not more opinions)

cwf · 10-20-2015, 02:11 PM

What does a professional tire engineer have to say about this topic (and others)?
RV Tire Safety: UV

bullet · 10-20-2015, 02:19 PM

Back in 1971 I bought my first new vehicle, a Ford Econoline van. The van had multiple issues with "blisters" forming on the passenger side front tire. Within a short time another blister would form on yet another tire (8ply side walls). A short distance from the Ford dealership was a shop that specialized in bending axels. The axel would be chained down and a hydraulic jack would push up. A line of Fords would form before PeeWee's shop would open. One trip to PeeWee's shop solved my problem with tires blistering. The memories that photo brought back.

Lumatic · 10-20-2015, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cwf

What does a professional tire engineer have to say about this topic (and others)?
RV Tire Safety: UV

Good article. thanks for the facts.

Nomad518 · 10-20-2015, 05:40 PM

I had a similar budge develop on the front tire on my motorcycle once. A high quality Metzeler tire. Happened on a ride when the bike was carrying two plus our luggage and we had just ridden over Tioga Pass in Yosemite at nearly 10,000 feet elevation. I always suspected a combination of excess weight and extreme elevation as a possible cause. Fortunately, no blowout and we made it safely home where I replaced the tire immediately. The bulge on my tire was not as bad as on this one.

Xicaque · 10-20-2015, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmkrum

Seriously it looks like air leaked between layers of the tire, as a guess a manufacturing defect or weird damage. Another reminder to use better tires😞😞

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Better yet, Airstream should just change to better tires

65CV · 10-20-2015, 05:56 PM

IMHO - that part of the tire is severely under-cured. Tires should not allow expansion of rubber to that degree.

For those who want a little more detail:

I like the following analogy: molecules of rubber are like spaghetti. If there is no cross-linking in the rubber, they behave just like well cooked, oiled spaghetti. They move like thick cream and there is no strength or rebound.

An elastic band is dried rubber with a little bit of cross linking. It's like spaghetti that wasn't well rinsed. It can be stretched and will recover its shape.

A tire should have a lot of cross-linking for much better strength. It is like spaghetti that wasn't rinsed and is strong and rigid.

Rubber chemists measure elongation and tensile strength. The more cross linking present, the lower the elongation and higher the tensile strength. The last thing you want in a tire is a stretchy (high elongation), weak (low tensile strength) cure in your rubber.

This points to very poor or missing quality control. This is rubber science, not rocket science.

AWCHIEF · 10-20-2015, 06:20 PM

Ya' got to love the Airforums threads that are literally 100% speculation from people that do not have a clue as to what actually happened. 😜

rmkrum · 10-20-2015, 08:19 PM

Sometimes a SWAG* is all we have available in analyzing stuff that's unusual...

C'mon Chief, we were in the same Navy, so smart guessing is sometimes all you have....especially for the weird stuff....

*Scientific Wild Ass Guess

Rich, former First Class Petty officer of the line in the worlds second largest nuclear Navy...circa 967-1976😄😄😄

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