Sorry. Have to vent about tires!

[Mingoglia]

O. K. I consider myself to have a pretty good sense of humor, but this is getting ridiculous. My story:



I have a 2002 trailer with 15" load range D Carlisle tires... my trailer currently has about 2000-2500 miles on it. I'm among the most anal people about tire pressure. Not only do I check the tire pressure before *every* trip, but I do so before the hot Arizona sun gets the opportunity to beat down on the tires and heat them up (I check the tires early in the morning). When I check my tires, I have one of those high quality chucks for my air hose that has the built in tire pressure gauge that has the button on the side that allows you to bleed off air and get an accurate reading. After I get the tire to the correct pressure with this gauge, I follow up and check the pressure with my digital gauge. I run these tires at exactly 65psi (which is stamped on the sidewall).



My heaviest tire is approximately 650lbs from the maximum rating of the tire... after I got a bubble on my first tire, I called Carlisle just to verify the pressure I should be running and they agreed that I wasn't at fault and sent me a new tire (took awhile to get, but I finally got the replacement). Oh, one more thing... I also insure my trailer is *perfectly* level to insure the load is distributed evenly on all 4 tires.



Well, I got my first bubble replaced... The next trip I lost the second tire to a blowout (I sure do like the stability of a dually in these situations). Well, Friday night I went up to canyon lake and lost another tire while on the I60 in Phoenix a few miles past the Superstition Springs mall. I finally arrived at the RV site and we were all sitting around talking about how lucky I am that with all my tire problems I haven't ripped anything up on my trailer. The next evening we left to go home. Again on I60 1 3/4 miles West of the Superstition Springs exit (I could read the sign in my rearview mirror), I lost the last of my original tires on my trailer to a blowout (remember, my trailer is a '02 model). This time, it left rubber skid marks down about 10 feet of my rig, took a few chunks out of the fender well, ripped the door clear off to my pump station (I have a gas pump on the side of my rig to fill up the ATVS), and ripped out my external speaker wire. The rig looks like crap, and you wouldn't believe what I had to go through (in the middle of the night) to get a tire so I could atleast get home...



Anyone have a scoop on solid rubber tires? I think it's interesting that I haven't lost any of the replacement tires... I'm wondering if my original set were made on a Friday or something?



Mike

 

[Pit Bull]

I'd contact the manufacture and the NTSB. I would also put on a set of Michelins. When you life is on the line I would only go with the best. JMHO

 

[Mingoglia]

Just got back from Discount Tire. Do you believe that I had to argue with the guy to allow me to pro-rate the tires? He said that he couldn't prorate the tires because there was no tread to measure (the tread completely separated when it blew). I told him he could come by the house where I have my trailer (I live literally across the street from Discount) and check out my trailer on jack stands and look at my other tires... my trailer is a '02 model for hecks sake. He gave in... I now have 3 out of 4 tires with the road hazard plan. The 4th tire wasn't replaced by Discount because I had Carlisle replace it directly. When I lost the rest of the tires I decided I didn't want to wait 8 weeks again to have Carlisle send a replacement and I just bit the bullet and bought the replacement tires (prorated of course) myself.

 

[RThompson]

Tread seperation and blowouts are so prevelant on fifth wheel trailers that going with OEM tires is to much of a worry. Recently ordered a Kustom Koach LW270 and I spec'd XPS michelin rib tires, load range E, along with 6000 lb axles. Called Michelin rep on a toll free line and he confirmed my selection. Expensive initially but hopefully will last a long time.

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by RThompson



I spec'd XPS michelin rib tires, load range E, along with 6000 lb axles. Called Michelin rep on a toll free line and he confirmed my selection. Expensive initially but hopefully will last a long time.

They will last a very very long time and then you can have them retread. I think that was a real smart move on your part. A blowout on a trailer can get you killed.

 

[H_D98]

It's not uncommon for trailer manufacturers to buy seconds (not top quality tires) to save money... some dealers have even told me straight up that you're better off getting a good set of used tires if they can't spec dif tires on for you.



I must agree with the rest of the group... michelin is by far one of the best tires out there.



Not to stir the pot... but what is carlisle going to do about your damaged trailer? Or did you get the dealership to take care of it? Just curious.

 

[Deezul1]

Check date code on tires. Radials have a shelf life of about 4 years and then you can expect trouble. This means 4 years from date of manufacture. I have been through this several times and learned the hard way.

 

[Turbo Trucker]

My trailer came with some no name tires and after a year they were pretty rotted from the sun. After losing my 4th tire I decided to replace all of them (has 6). I went with Big O tires, they have road hazard coverage and they seem to be made of very good rubber. They have been good tires so far. On the truck I run Michellin XPS ribbed.

 

[Mingoglia]

I'm going to sway a little off subject for just a few sentences. A while back there was a thread on removing black streaks. Everyone mentioned their personal favorite and a few people mentioned Start Brite's Black Streak Remover from Wally world (which is what I use). I initially scrubbed with every product we had under our sink without luck. I sprayed this stuff on and the black streaks came off like a marker on a dry erase board.



What does this have to do with tires? Well, I had mentioned that the blowout left skid marks all up and down my trailer when the tire blew... well... in my frustration last night when I was scrubbing like made to see if I could get the skid marks off I remembered about the Start Brite. I sprayed it on the marks, let it stand for 20 seconds and it wiped right off!!!! It even wiped right off on my porous plast fender. I couldn't believe it!! Luckily, my aluminum didn't seem to dent at all so when I got all the marks off you can't even tell what happened. There's a could very small chips on the fender (it looked a lot worse than it was) that you can hardly notice. All I have to do now is replace the small door for my pump station (the door is about 18" long and about 6" tall so it shouldn't cost too much). I'm planning on contacting the manufacturer and telling them that popping a new door and hinge in the mail is the least they could do (for free) with all the hassle I've gone through with my 2002 trailer. Hopefully they concur. Oh yeah, the flying tire also ripped out a 1" section of wire that powered the Carter fuel pump that fed the fuel station... no biggie.



Oh, one more thing... The Star-Brite cleaner seemed quite generic when I purchased it initially. Because of this, I fear that the next time I go to buy it it will be discontinued. I encourage everyone to go out to their local Walmart and purchase this fine product!!!

 

[DBoyd]

Re: Carlisle tires

I have a new 14K pound gvw dual axle utility trailer with Carlisle load range E tires on it. Just got back from the Panhandle after hauling a half ton Chevy pickup to leave at the farm when I discovered splits in two of the tires between the tread ribs. They were at the correct pressure and I run between 60 and 65 mph on the trip. I called Carlisle and they said they were sending out 2 replacements. I am considering replaceing the Carlisles with some used 245 65 R 16 General radial E range. They have about 17k miles on them. Are these better tires than the carlisles??? I am not to impressed with the Carlisles.

 

[bombero]

Well I guess that Michelins are the best. If any of you ever been to the Vietnam wall in DC there is lots of guys that died in that F---k companies plantation. Hell with those French!!

 

[Casey Balvert]

black streaks

Forget caustic chemicals to remove the black streaks. Use car or fibreglass wax to remove it and they will wash off easier the next time they appear. And it adds a coat of wax where it is most needed. Just my 2 cents.



Casey

 

[Bumble]

Mike you always have the exciting things happen when you go on trips! Glad to hear the blowouts didn't force you off the road uncontrollably. Mayhap you've got too much power under the hood now?



Jeff B

 

[Mingoglia]

Bumble: Haven't seen you post in a few months. My wife and I were talking about that last night... now that I'm not going up hills at 30 MPH and can hold whatever speed I wish maybe this could be part of my problem. I think I had a bad set of tires. I've now replaced all of the original tires on my (2002 model) trailer and haven't had to replace any of the replacement tires. I'm going to take it easy on the next couple of trips and if I have a single problem I'm heading down to the tire shop and replacing my 15" rims with 16" so I can go up to a load range E tire.



It figures that I would have a problem... there's many people out there that are lucky to check their tires before every season. In fact, a couple of weekends ago (when I lost the last two tires) I was talking to a guy that was camped next to me at Canyon lake and he said he only visually checks his tires before each trip and has never lost a tire since his trailer was new (it was a '95). I on the other hand, check my tires before every trip, make sure the trailer is perfectly level (so each tire is carrying the correct weight), and have never hit a curb... Somebody upstairs really has a problem with me recreating!

 

[Bumble]

A fool and his luck...

Mike, you know how some people seem to have more luck than they should given their actions? That's what happens to those guys that just visually inspect their tires and don't have any problems.



Keep doing what your doing. "Visual inspections only" won't work forever.



JB

 

[Kent Kuykendall]

Do your self a favor and upgrade to 16 inch tires and rims. This put an end to my tire problems. The camper handles better too. the tires were the same width and only 1 inch taller. Same size except for 16 inch.



Kent

 

[Mingoglia]

Good to hear about your tire size only be slightly larger. Although I haven't actually started looking for 16" replacements, I did inventory the space I had and although I could go with a slightly taller tire having it any wider would be a problem. . .

 

[Fireman Dave]

Add me to the Carlisle list

I just has 2 Carlisles go bad on my TT in NY state last week. I was fortunate that a guy warned me on the thruway that a tread was separating before it blew. The roads were so bad that I didn't feel it. I was able to exit off soon after and change it. It was then that I saw that a second one had a bulge. I drove it that way for about 200 miles before I could get to a place that handled Carlisles. But they didn't have any radials, so I ran with one bias, and the better of the 2 bad ones as a spare to get home. The Carlisle guy has been great on the phone, but I'm not impressed with the tires. They'll send me 2 new ones and reimburse me for the bias tire. No pro-rating - which is nice. My trailer is less than 18 months old, but I have put about 8k on it. The tire tread looks great, but not so good with the belts separating. I do check them at every stop, but when you have 2 go bad with only one spare - it's not a good situation. I also found out that when you call the Carlisle 800 number, they direct you to a distributor - not a repair place. It leads to a nice runaround to find help.

 

[Mingoglia]

It also took me about 6 weeks to get a replacement after I talked to them on the phone so don't wait around. They told me they would have UPS pick up the damaged tire and then when they determined I wasn't at fault and send me a new one. All in all about 6 weeks...

 

[Fireman Dave]

Thanks, about what I figured. The tire guy who helped me in NY told me they are notorious for not having enough tires to supply their distributors. They didn't have any at the distributor in his city or anywhere nearby. Both the tire guy and the Carlisle rep called around looking for an ST20575R15 - not an uncommon size - but none in that area. That's why the rep agreed to the bias tire (same size Carlisle - just not a radial).