Trailer Tire Failure - Not a good way tho start the weekend

[Beltzington]

Yesterday on the interstate, driving to the lake to enjoy the day on the water, I had a catastrophic failure of the drivers side tire on my double PWC single axle trailer. Not any fun at 65MPH but fortunately I was pulling it with my truck and not the SUV, I was miles from an exit and could not get completely off the shoulder as there was a 20' sound barrier. The real experience was changing the tire while cars were passing within a few feet at 70+mph, unbelievable todays drivers would risk killing someone because they are to stupid or distracted to change lanes. Fortunately a state trooper was kind enough to pull behind and put his vehicle between me and traffic, even with his lights on several cars refused to change lanes and came within a couple feet of hitting him. IDIOTS - Now on to my questions:

I bought these tires brand new 5-years ago, my loaded trailer weighs 3000lbs and I had checked the tire pressure maybe an hour before the blow-out occurred. Max pressure is 65psi cold and both tires where at 61psi and I didn't add any air. Tires maybe had 2000 miles on them and trailer is always store under cover and I park on 2x6 to keep the tires off the dirt.

- Worst case I was 200lb below max load, I really believe I was closer to 500lbs below but I will need to weigh the trailer to be sure. Would being 4psi below max pressure cause a blow-out?

- After putting on the spare I drove another 30 miles to the lake and felt the tires, the newer radial was uncomfortably hot to the touch while the OLD bias spare was notable cooler, is this normal?

- What is my solution? Do I need to consider larger wheels with heavier ratings or are there better brands I should buy?

Kenda Karrier ST175/80R13 Radial Trailer Tire w/ 13" White Mini Mod Wheel - 5 on 4-1/2
Tire capacity:◦Load range: D
◦Ply rating: 8
◦Maximum load: 1,610 lbs at 65 psi

 

[bdog]

I have never had good luck with little tires. Also the closer a tire is to its rated capacity the more likely a blowout is, all else assumed equal. The smaller diameter the tire is the faster it rotates at a given speed which creates heat. Heat is a tires enemy. If your fenders will allow it you get get a larger tire with a much higher rated load capacity.

 

[bcp]

I've been doing some light research on tires since wanting to upgrade.

Lots of people are reporting better results with LT tires than with ST.

Bruce

 

[Fallon]

Huge debates rage on the RV forums, but lots are moving to LT (Light Truck) tires. Consensus is they are better quality. Might be issues with sidewall strength on double axles due to scuffing on tight turns though.

Personally my next travel trailer tires are going to be LT rather than trailer tires.

 

[Stimw]

I know what you mean about traffic and break downs!
I worked on semi trailers for over 30 years with many road service calls. I always positioned my service truck before the vehicle I was working on.
Flashing lights, flares mean nothing!
At least Florida passed a "Move over, slow down law" .
Now if they would only enforce it along with every other traffic law that is being ignored!!!

 

[bdog]

Huge debates rage on the RV forums, but lots are moving to LT (Light Truck) tires. Consensus is they are better quality. Might be issues with sidewall strength on double axles due to scuffing on tight turns though.

Personally my next travel trailer tires are going to be LT rather than trailer tires.

I tend to agree with this. Many trucks have the same load on the truck tires as they do on the trailers and you see far more trailer blowouts even though many more miles are driven on trucks. Maybe they are built to higher standards due to liability reasons or something. My favorite trailer tires for things with 7k axles are 17.5's. I have never had one go bad. They are rated for close to 5k each which gives you a huge margin of safety.

 

[s219]

Are the bearings OK? A bad bearing could have cooked the rim and tire, causing failure. It usually takes a longish trip at highway speeds to bring this kind of thing to light.

 

[zzvyb6]

Get a new tire pressure gauge. Most likely cause is low air or fatigue from sitting for long periods of time. Get a load range 'E' set of tires. They would not normally be running hot unless overloaded at rated air pressure or low air pressure causing major tire deflections.

 

[ultrarunner]

Had the best service from the old 8 to 10-ply bias tube type trailer tires... some are quite old and in 40+ years of towing never a problem.

Can't make the same claim for imported trailer type tubless tires

 

[Diamondpilot]

I know the tires were only 5 years old but that's the service life of a tire. Around here they won't touch a tire over 6 years old but only to throw it out.

Also, being 13" tires on a trailer is odd size. What's the build date on the tires? It's in a oval that's a out 1/2" tall by 1.5" long and will be a code like 1311. This would mean the tire was built in the 13th month of 2011. Being 13" tires my experience is the don't rotate stock much. They could have been a few years old before you bought them?

I never accept a tire when buying new that's over 6 months old!

Chris