Suffered a Blowout

Suffered a near catastrophic blowout towing our camper today. Somewhere on the route the driver side front tire completely shredded. Did not hear or feel it (still don’t understand how).

Mostly straight drive and mirrors didn’t pick it up (tow mirrors now on order).

Went about 20 miles on one axle until finally noticing and swapping out the spare.
Thank God nothing worse happened. Just some repairs and new tires in the near future.

 

Yowza! Glad it turns out ok. Interesting that you didn't feel it blow up and ended up driving 20 miles on it! Out of curiosity, what tires were they? And how old?

 

Radial Castle Rock ST and about 4 years old, they only have a few thousand miles on them.

 

Glad that’s all that happened. Certainly coulda been a whole lot worse than that!!!

In my experience, the OEM tires on a travel trailer should be thrown away and replaced with the best quality heavier duty trailer tire you can fit. Looks like you’re already a 225/75-15 LRE, so you may be stuck with that size unless you buy new 16” wheels…

The other item I like is a TPMS system for the trailer. Not always, but typically you’ll see a problem on the screen with an alert before a full failure like you’ve experienced. For about the price of one tire, you’re set with a Tire Minder i10.

Still, glad you got off as easy as you did!

 

Had the exact same scenario, although I think I got away with a little less a damage. Near as we can tell, I must of lost it on a state road (40 MPH). Got onto interstate, notice I couldn't get over 70 MPH, but other than that, no indications. People on the highway waved me over, thank God.

I run these mirrors and made me question why I never heard, felt, or saw anything.

$58 Fit System 81300 Snap-on Black Towing Mirror for Toyota Tundra/Sequoia - Pair

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AFV7DHW?ie=UTF8

I am trying to find mirror that extend further and give me a better view. And now, I tried to make a habit to always look in the inside set during ever turn...

 

No doubt, it could have been so much worse. I now have a TPMS system and tow mirrors on the way, and will be replacing the tires one by one while the camper sits. Also have covers coming for the tires (even though the camper is covered). Thanks!

 

What mirrors did you go with. I'm on the search for wider ones.

 

This is why these Chinese tires are often called China Bombs. The Goodyear Endurance tires aren't immune if the valve stem fails. That's what I had last year. The rubber and brass separated causing a rapid unscheduled disassembly of one of my tires. My TPMS didn't catch it. Probably because I needed a range repeater and didn't have one. My Chinese spare held up until I got to a tire shop that had 4 new Goodyears.

Take the time to get them balanced and get new valve stems. I was hoping there was a more durable valve stem available but was told there was not. I now have the TPMS repeater and aim my clip on mirrors, like the OP has, to see my trailer tires.

 

I am going to give these a try..

$233 Switchback Signal Tow Mirrors Compatible with 2007-2021 Toyota Tundra(w/o BSM), Heated Extended Trailer Towing Side Mirror w/Backup Light and SEQ Turn Signal, Smoked Lens Black Housing

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D33LFYBF?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

Thanks!

 

It is the age of your tires. They say that 4 years is the max on most trailer tires sold today. This is very true on a travel trailer where the tires tend to be loaded to their max.
Tires start to degrade the day they come out of the plant. The rubber starts to break down. Cheap trailer tires use cheap materials, cheap labor and cheap process control. The cheaper rubber etc. only hurts this life.

 

What pressure were you running in these? Do you check at the start of each trip?

 

Even assuming the tires are in good shape and properly maintained, it is 100% plausible that a nail could have been picked up and led to this failure.

You won’t feel a low tire on a trailer like you will on the tow rig. With a tire going flat, heat will build and the tire will fail.

Maintenance is important, but that topic has been discussed almost as many times as oil viscosity preference. Adding a TPMS is probably the best way to prevent a new leak from becoming a full failure. This can happen to any tire brand or size on a trailer; not just China Bombs.

 

I can't agree more. Trailering is an expensive hobby. Tires do not last!

Replace all of them every three years. Mileage and visual condition do not tell you what is lurking below the surface.

I try to put automotive tires on my trailers when I can. However, you will almost always need a significantly bigger tire than the equivalent size trailer tire. Automotive tires are not rated for as much weight..... But they last a whole lot longer.... Parallels here?

 

My friend does hot shot transporting for a living. He tows brand new travel trailer very frequently. One of the times i tag teamed with him to help drive and deliver a brand new trailer (brand new as in off the lot with no water or other shtuff inside of it). The tire blew out on me and neither of us noticed it. He finally saw it when we pulled over at a rest area (it was around 1am, so it was too dark to see a flat when we were driving). My buddy said that it’s not uncommon for brand new trailer tires to blow out on him. But then again, he has logged in more than a million miles of towing trailers, so he sees a lot more things than the average weekend warrior.

 

every three years is probably being a bit aggressive. Automotive tires do not tow as well as trailer specific tires. Buy quality. That’s what matters most. Maintain the tire to get the life out of them. Proper inflation is paramount. Under inflation creates additional friction and heat, heat kills tires. Bad bearings also create heat. Don’t forget to maintain those as well.

 

Every three years does feel aggressive until you tear up your trailer or get stuck on the side of the road. If your trailer is making you money they pay for themselves quickly.
Now, Goodyear does warranty their Endurance tires for 5 years AND they are made in the USA now. That is different.
I have found that if you stay at the same load percentage with an automotive tire they tow very much the same. Say running 60% of the weight rating on an automotive tire vs. 60% on a trailer tire. The reason everyone says that they tow better is because trailer tires are rated much higher at the same size. The sidewalls are much stiffer with a higher ply rating. The actual tire construction is actually the same. However, I believe that automotive tires use higher grade materials.
The stiffer sidewalls generate more heat when they flex. This is why you can't run a higher ply rated tire at lower pressures. This is true for automotive and trailer tires.
I do agree the maintenance is critical. Keep your entire trailer in good shape.
1. Always check your tires before towing and at every stop.
2. Keep your bearings well lubricated and tight enough.
3. Keep your brakes in good shape and adjusted.
4. Keep your wiring in good shape. Test the light frequently.
5. Adjust and test your ball clasp. They do wear and failure sucks.
6. Run good appropriately rated safety chains. Keep them adjusted properly and twist them if they feel too long.
7. Never tie you emergency brake cable to the hitch. Always attach it to something else under your truck. If the hitch fails, you will want the brakes

 

Conventional wisdom (that I can remember) on a trailer forum I used to frequent is:

First know how to find and decode the date of manufacture printed on the tire. It's not unheard of to buy tires that are already 2-5 years old. Don't do it.
Make absolutely sure the tire shop puts in new valve stems with the new tires. It's not guaranteed.
Proper inflation.
Replace...I don't remember. Might have been every 5 years regardless of mileage.

I had a band new tire blow on me a couple years ago. Tire shop assumed it got really low on pressure, but I'm not so sure...I think it was just defective. Either way, they replaced it under warranty. My trailer is single axle, so you can believe I knew immediately when my tire blew! Luckily zero trailer damage and only a little superficial scuffing on the tire rim.

 

Ya, I'll be worrying about camper tire failure on our next trip which is about a 600 mile round trip to Escalante State Park Utah. Normally our go to campground is only 100 mile round trip. What worries me is single axle Winnebago Hike 171DB that's on Westlake offroad ST235/75R15 CR857+ date stamped 0921 with probably less then 3k miles. It's considered an off road type camper that has a higher ground clearance than my truck which is a big fall if a tire let's loose.

Anybody ever have a single axle camper tire failure?

I think I have all bases covered TPMS with temp sensor, heat gun to check at fuel/ rest stops, spare, bottle jack, impact gun.

Heard nightmare stories on Westlake but these seem to rate pretty high for OEM.

 

I specifically bought a tandem axle trailer because of the fear of a single axle blow out scenario. Mine came with non-trailer “off-road” style tires as well. Goodyear Trailrunner ATs

 

Thanks for that, looking for replacement options and seen Goodyear is stellar. Ya, not a fan of single axle but that's what we ended up with for various reasons but really like the camper even if we don't offroad it. However the road down to Willow Beach AZ is like offroad.

 

My camper is single axle, and I had a tire go flat on the interstate. Not sure if by blowout you really mean blowout? Or just a flat? Because it was a tire on the trailer, it wasn't obvious until it was completely flat. Not sure how fast it happened, I just know at some point it was clear something was going on, so I looked close in my sideview mirror and saw a flat tire. Pulled over, and it was just starting to shred. A little rash on the edge of the rim, but nothing that needed fixing.

Not so different from running a tire completely flat on a vehicle, since the front and rear axles are so far apart on a vehicle. On my trailer at least, the camper sits high enough that it's not dragging on pavement even if I'm rolling on the rim with the tire completely gone. Personally, I've never considered trying to go with a tandem axle out of fear of a blowout. Doesn't mean I know something you guys don't, just saying it's not something that ever occurred to me to consider.

 

The boom failures is what concerns me. Seen one trailer tire (not camper) fail in front of me slinging rubber but no loss of control before he realizes and pulls over. I think a 10 psi or maybe a 20 degree split between the 2 tires may be an indication of something may not be right. I normally see a 5 degree temp split between tires on the sunshine side but that's only after 50 miles. Pressure is always equal within a psi or two.

 

I've had great luck with Kenda trailer tires over the years. I've got them on several trailers and they've been great. No failures.

 

Drive slower. Make sure they have air in them and only drive 60 and i'd bet you never have a blowout.

 

I put some Falken AT3’s on the single axle trailer. I found a 10ply version and run them at 60psi cold. They get up to 70psi when rolling along. I find the sidewall stiffness is noticeable to limit the trailer roll side to side.