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

[3930dave]

Here we are limited to 55 when towing...

Doesn't stop those flying by at 75 or 80... where's a cop when you need one?

It would be interesting to know the history of the ST spec. I wouldn't be surprised if it was put in place when 55mph was your national limit - 10 mph over that legal limit was reasonable headroom for that time, but inadequate today.

Most peoples experience is the same..... even cheap P tires do not have the blowout rates that many ST brands do. IMO, legislators view ST tire failures as not a direct threat to life - as most jurisdictions do not allow people to be transported in trailers. That bureaucratic "logic" isn't much use though if you are driving down the road in a compact car, and somebody loses control of a large trailer in front of you due to a blowout.

I think the better brands (Greenball, Maxxis) are building their ST tires well above spec. I'd bet that if you took samples across the ST market, and tested them on a tire dyno at 69mph, you'd find (statistically) high failure rates. It would be easy for an RV magazine to do that testing, but most wouldn't due to revenue conflicts..... one of the reasons I keep hanging out on TBN !

Rgds, D.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Yep.. As I said, I went down to a local new/used tire guy and put on 4 13" Michelin Radial X's Load C tires (supposedly pulled from a Honda) that had ~60+% tread left for $15 after one of the ST tires blew. Have pulled S-10 pickups ~60mi at 55mph with no problems where as the ST blew pulling 2 lawn mowers @ 55mph.

 

[vsteel]

I have had good luck with the Taskmaster Provider series of tires. They are a trailer tire rated at 81 MPH.
Provider ST Radial - Taskmaster

I have run 1000 miles in a day with them on the interstate doing 75 MPH (speed limit 80 with traffic doing faster than that), though I was only loaded to 8K on a 12K equipment trailer.

 

[joefromga]

Where is the speed limit 80?

 

[bcp]

Where is the speed limit 80?

From:
Speed limits in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[joefromga]

Dang. I was hoping it was by my house.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Where is the speed limit 80?

The higher the speed rating the stronger the tire is in resisting centrifugal force and the better it is in rejecting heat, both of which is a good thing in preventing blowouts. Many auto tires are rated beyond 100mph (112mph for cheapies) just for safety reasons.. Trailer tires should be the same IMHO.

 

[joefromga]

They probably don't have to so everyone is racing to the bottom when it cones to trailers tires.

Why is that trailer more expensive? Better tires.

"naw, man, tires are tires, he's just cheatin' you outta your money... "

 

[vsteel]

Wow, I didn't know such a large part of the country had 70mph as the max. Almost all of my driving is in the 80mph states.

Trailer tires are rated poor because they are not for carrying people. Since lives are not at stake they are under a different set of rules. Yes I know collateral damage can kill someone, but, they only consider the trailer is not supposed to have people in it going down the road. Hence most trailer tires are rated at 65 mph and all ST tires are rated at 80% duty cycle.

 

[clemsonfor]

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

That's 65 cold. Was that when you checked them. they can climb as much as 5psi at that load rate I bet this time of year. so you may have been closer to 55psi cold. I would of liked to see a warm trailer tire closer to 67-69psi.

And I am with Chris on this one, 5 years is toward the end of its life. Sure you would hope to get 2-3 more years out of it but some just don't last