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Catastrophic Tire Failure.........

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Barry,



Not me, I got 6 months and 400 miles. No ID what the P/O put on em, but they had more than enough tread. But my rig at max wt. can get real close to tire combined load cap, but I'm not running that load.



I have done my share of forum research and the GYM is definetly not a sure thing in TT's.



It was also a bit on novice buyer syndrome on my part. I don't think I would buy another used trailer w/o a tire allowance for new tires of my choice. You just don't have the history to go with the cream puff sidewalls and tread.



Learn and Live.
 
Here's a few pictures of the tire failure I experienced on our last trip. This happened at about 70 mph. The tread wrapped around the axle between the backing plate and the leaf spring. That might be what prevented major amounts of damage to the camper.

I bought an extra rim from SWW to match the other four rims on the camper. The local Sams club has five new BFG Commercial TA's waiting for me to bring the rims in for mounting.

I never thought about damage to the other tire, I will now. I put the spare on and made it to Pigeon Forge, then bought a new tire to make it home on(300 more miles). The blow out happened in South Carolina.
 
I bought a gooseneck hydraulic dump trailer at the end of last year for hauling gravel to build/rebuild the driveways around my farmhouse and for an occasional load of fertilizer for my wife's garden, etc.

It came with four unheard of brand ChiComm Willpops in size LT235/85R16 LRE which look just like real tires. Apparently every village in Communist China now has a tire manufacturer providing cheap junk tires to the US trailer industry.

When I haul over five tons of gravel 60 miles from the pit I hold my breath all the way. I plan to use them one more year then transfer the Michelin XPS Ribs which will be three years old next June from my HitchHiker fiver to the dump trailer and put another new set of Michelins on the HH.

Cheap Willpop tires are simply more trouble than they are worth even if they were handed out free as a promo at a local Wal-Mart.
 
My new Goodyear Marathons are molded made in USA, date code 1710 late April 2010, we'll see if Goodyear has made any improvements, time and miles will tell.



Harvey,



Straight question. Your brand recommendation for ST225/75R15D?



Size for size, not changing to 16".



Gary
 
Gary,

I can't provide the suggestion you are looking for. My last trailer that used 15" wheels/tires was an Avion 32' TT I owned for two or three years back in the early '90s. I threw away the GY Marathons and installed set of P225 Michelin SUV tires on it. I pulled that trailer 60k miles with that set of Michelins including a trip to AK and back and they still had excellent tread and looked good when I sold it.

I had purchased a new set of six bolt 16" wheels from SouthWest Wheel and was getting ready to purchase a set of BFG LT225R75-16s LRD to put on it when I ran across a used Travel Supreme fifth wheel I wanted. I had measured and determined the 16" BFGs would fit.

If I owned a trailer with 15" tires I planned to keep and use I would replace the wheels and tires with 16" like above. The initial investment in wheels is very modest, the cheap ChiComm steel wheels from SouthWest Wheel are less than $40/wheel. After that it is smooth worry free towing with light truck 16"s.

I know that Goodyear makes quality car tires including race and police tires and, as far as I know, excellent quality big truck tires. I don't know why GY pretends to be in the RV and light truck market. Their tires for those applications are lousy. Look at any RVer website and you will read discussions of failed GY tires and claims, usually honored, against GY. GY is the only manufacturer of 16" LT tires in LRG that are the only choice for OEM tires on tandem axle large fifth wheel trailers. Everyone who owns them experiences blowouts and thrown treads.

I would not use any of the foreign made Willpops.

One of the factors I weighed when I studied HitchHiker fifth wheels before ordering one was GVWRs, GAWRs, and number of axles. I did not want a new tandem axle trailer that required LRG tires.
 
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Barry

A few years ago I had a flat on a race car trailer on 19 by the canal north of CR and while placing the bottle jack under the spring perch 1 of your Florida reptile snakes stuck his tongue out at me, that was when I realized that I could do the 100 yd dash in less that 3 sec. If I would have know about the okee jack I could have changed the tire (instead of my pants) and used the 2x4 on the slithery thing for part of a new boot.

Fred
 
I was at Big O yesterday getting a truck tire repaired (rock hit) and saw a Chicom trailer tire that was a 225/75-15. It was rated at 80psi. Even at that, you'd most likely have to get new rims since the regular rims that come with the trailers are good to 65psi. If you're getting new rims and spending around $120 on E rated Willpops, you're almost all the way to 16" with Duravis or Goodrich anyway. Might as well make the leap and drive with peace of mind. That's what I'll be doing.
 
Mr. PJ,



I know where you are talking about. They are in the process of tearing out the old canal bridge to finish the 4 lane thru there.



Ya'll do what you want, but this fat Cajun boy does not want to be crawling under a trailer on the side of the road!! I have no idea what is waiting in the ditch for me. If I saw a snake under there sticking his tongue out at me, I would do more damage to the trailer than the blown tire did... ... .....



Just the other day, just outside Bushnell, Fl. I was coming over the overpass of I75 when this little 3 foot gator was in the middle of the road... ... ...



Ya'll crawl under there if you want... ... ... ..... but not this fat boy.
 
Gary,

I've heard a lot of good things about Maxxis tires. I think they are one of the only manufactures that make a 10 ply 15" tire. A lot of friends that pull power boats have switched to them if they couldn't fit 16" tires and wheels under their fenders. Your choices are so much better if you can go to 16" but not everyone can.

Jay
 
Pullya,



I have seen favorable comments about the MAXXIS on the forum that I follow. When my tires failed the tire store had GYM's and Brand Z and Brand U but did not have MAXXIS. I'll be watching the MAXXIS comments. But a tire has a rough time compensating for underinflation and overloads if that is what the owner subjects it to.



I bought under duress on vacation, trailer in a State Park, holiday weekend, minimum options and a 4 tire trailer on one good tire, one MAXXIS and two jacks. FWIW, I'm moving the fresh MAXXIS to spare duty and scrapping the last GYM from the OE batch.



The tire threads on the other forum have been going on for years and thousands of views and endless discussion. 16's seem to be long term fix if possible to fit.
 
I think the trailer tire discussion will go on till the end of time. Some people have good luck with Brand X and some people have good luck with Brand Z. I've had the best luck with Maxxis. They are available at Discount Tire. I still think that the cloices are so much better if you can go to 16" but a lot of people can't fit them underneath their fenders. I had trouble getting the 15" to work but i'm much happier now than I was with the 14" OEM. The only rule I have is, as long as I tow a trailer i'm going to carry 2 spares and a good jack--the questions is not if you will have a blow out-the question is when will it happen, cause it will.

Jay
 
I have Maxxis (15") on my Jayco Eagle. They have been there since new in 2005 and have been without incident. I run them at max pressure and I drive at 65MPH when towing. I have an open car hauler (7000# capacity) with Carlisle bias ply tires (15") on her. These tires also have served me very well. And well past their retirement age (they are 13 years old). Summit still carries these tires for about $81 a piece. Does anyone know if rims (steel) are specific to bias ply or radial tires? I had read somewhere that there is a difference. Or am I just smoking something here... ... ... ...



Mr. Barlow will appreciate this one. My last TT, a Keystone Springdale (another high quality rig-NOT!), did blow a tire on the interstate just outside Washington DC. That was lot of fun to change. Between all the traffic to deal with and the heat that day and then seized lug nuts... ... I busted two wheel studs off. I use anti-sieze on my Jayco and I quit using a four-way tire wrench and opted for a specific socket and breaker bar. After that Washington ordeal I think I would rather deal with the Florida slithery thing with the tongue. Because in both cases you'd probably have to change your shorts anyhow. At least I'd have a fighting chance with the snake... . Just saying.
 
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The folks who claim good service from their Willpop tires usually don't tell us how far they pull their trailers or how often.

I put a set of bias ply 700 x 15 LRD tires purchased from a local regional farm store on my flatbed utility trailer in early 2000 right after I bought it. I came with tiny little willpop 185 15s and I threw them away. The old farm tires are big rugged heavy duty molded trailer tires and are still on the trailer now, ten years later. But I don't pull the trailer often or very far. The last time I pulled it was last year about 60 miles one way to a Kubota tractor dealer to have my tractor serviced. I don't trust them anymore and would not even consider pulling the trailer with a load and highway speed any longer.
 
HBarlow said:
The folks who claim good service from their Willpop tires usually don't tell us how far they pull their trailers or how often.



I put a set of bias ply 700 x 15 LRD tires purchased from a local regional farm store on my flatbed utility trailer in early 2000 right after I bought it. I came with tiny little willpop 185 15s and I threw them away. The old farm tires are big rugged heavy duty molded trailer tires and are still on the trailer now, ten years later. But I don't pull the trailer often or very far. The last time I pulled it was last year about 60 miles one way to a Kubota tractor dealer to have my tractor serviced. I don't trust them anymore and would not even consider pulling the trailer with a load and highway speed any longer.
Click to expand...



That's fair Mr. Barlow. The car hauler (13 year old Carlisles) runs about 360 miles a month from May to September. I keep them covered whenever the trailer is parked. I know the covering does not make a difference with the age of the tire. That being said this trailer sees about 5000 pounds and nothing over 65MPH. The Jayco on the other hand sees about 4 to 5 thousand miles a year between May and September (This is ND after all). The Maxxis, at least on my unit, are clearly marked Made in China. I don't know where the Carlisles are made.



So back to my original question, is there a difference between rims used with bias ply tires and rims used with radials for trailers?
 
DaveHess

You can throw things at MR slithery and he will probably go away but throw something at the beltway crowd and you will probably get sued or worse be called a politician.
 
FPettijohn said:
DaveHess

You can throw things at MR slithery and he will probably go away but throw something at the beltway crowd and you will probably get sued or worse be called a politician.
Click to expand...



Well now, correct me here but in the Washington DC area, isn't MR Slithery and Politician the same thing?????:-laf
 
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