First Blow Out

[bgelyhome]

Invest in a Tire Pressure Monitoring System. It will be the best money you spent on your RV since purchase.

[TaftCoach]

Originally Posted by Tireman9

In my 40 years as a tire design engineer I ended up specializing in Forensic Tire Inspections. IMO to often people simply claim the country of origin is the reason for a tire to fail but I have yet to see anyone identify the exact reason or mistake or rubber compound that caused the tire to fail.
Simply buying another tire will get you back on the road but you may not be addressing the real Root Cause for the original failure.
An obvious example would be a damaged valve stem which resulted in air loss. Since there are no "Fail-Proof" tires in general use in the RV market any tire can and will fail if you don't keep sufficient air in it.
You have a failure because of the valve. You get a new tire but use the old valve. Have you "fixed" the original reason for the failure?
This is an obvious and extreme example but you get the point.


I am asking for better pictures (I do not expect anyone to ship me the carcass although that has happened) Many times good pictures can reveal evidence of the reason for the failure as different root causes leave different evidence. Think of the TV police dramas where there is a medical examiner that finds clues that help the detective "solve" the case.


That was basically the focus of the last 6 years of my carrier.

I apologize if you have already answered my questions in other threads.

I always believed that good tires can be manufactured anywhere as could poor tires. So country of origin seems like a poor way to choose. How can someone without your experience look at a tire and make a judgement?

For the belt and suspenders types, after a tire failure what would be the best process to follow?

What really are the differences between cheap and expensive tires?

Warning, I really enjoy learning stuff.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by TaftCoach

I apologize if you have already answered my questions in other threads.

I always believed that good tires can be manufactured anywhere as could poor tires. So country of origin seems like a poor way to choose. How can someone without your experience look at a tire and make a judgement?

For the belt and suspenders types, after a tire failure what would be the best process to follow?

What really are the differences between cheap and expensive tires?

Warning, I really enjoy learning stuff.

Easy one first Cheap vs expensive
Setting aside the difference between cost & price


Tires are basically a bunch of compromises. Better fuel economy generally also gives worse wear. Better dry handling and worse snow traction etc


Some trade offs can be compensated or minimized with more expensive compounds or added construction features such as Nylon cap plies.


RE inspection and analysis and forming an opinion is a combination of skill and your ability to observe and relate evidence in the subject tire with a few thousand previous examples. I cover some examples of "Autopsies" in my blog on RV Tire Safety. Some people for some reason have difficulty "connecting the dots" just as some can do better at solving puzzles than others.

[MrSaxy]

Is there such a thing as a good TPMS that does not cost almost $300 ? I have been looking at them and all the recommended ones seem to be in that $300+ range.

[Elefantdude]

We have a 2015 Jayco White Hawk 27 DSRL and put a lot of miles on it. It is a good rule of thumb to replace them after 5 years. Well, I broke that rule of thumb and went 6 years before finally replacing them with Carlisle Radial Trail HD Trailer Tires. I also went with a higher speed rated tire because I tend to drive faster than normal when pulling with my 2016 Dodge RAM Rebel 1500 with the 5.7 Hemi. LOL! I also installed a TPMS that I bought from Amazon and it works great!!! Safe travels!!!

[Jaycoskip]

Just saw my first thread separation on the rear right tire of our 5th wheel.
Do you guys recommend re-balancing the tires after installing the monitoring sensors?
And, are the cheaper monitoring systems any worse than the expensive ones?
I would prefer one which reports to my phone instead of an extra display .
Any recommendations?

[TaftCoach]

I spent a couple hours reading your blog. Thank you. Very interesting and well written for both the lay person and someone with deeper knowledge in the field.

[schmeed]

China Bomb or American made, doesn't matter. The clock starts the day the tire is mounted on the wheel and pressurized. Regular maintenance and covering them might gain you some life, but it's the law of averages.

The problem is people compare RV tires to their passenger car tires. For the average passenger car, the tire is replaced due to tread wear long before the age of the tire comes into play.

It's opposite for an RV. Much less mileage, and therefore very little tread wear, but the tire has still been mounted on the wheel the entire time.

I think 5 years on a "cheap" tire (i.e. China bomb) is lucky.

TPMS will definitely help possibly catch a failure about to happen and prevent trailer damage or a possible accident (worse), but won't extend the life of the tire.

[norty1]

Originally Posted by schmeed

The clock starts the day the tire is mounted on the wheel and pressurized.

Here is a question for Tireman9 related to the above quote? I always hear people wanting tires with a recent manufacture date as stamped on the tire. I hear people say, "I won't buy them if their birthdate is over 3 or over 6 months."


Do you have a rule of thumb as to the age of a new tire before it is mounted and put into service?

[Old and soft]

Mr saxy, here is my experience with the tst 507 I just installed. $330 delivered to my door. Tst website will give you a $30 discount, amazon prime price was $360. Xtra transmitters were $150 a pair, 4 were included. Install and set up were painless. A repeater is included. Along with a suction cup mount, and a non slip stand to rest on something. My suction cup mount fits in an out of the way space above the rearview mirror. The color moniter is easy to read at a glance. The moniter has a battery, so when it is charged there is one less cable on the dash. Included directions state the alarm will sound if you loose 10 psi in 2 seconds, or if any of the programed parameters are exceeded.
I don't think the op knows how long the tire was down. Had a popup that blew a tire, loud enough I heard it. By the time I pulled over, the plastic wheelwell, the cabinet just inside the door, and the floor just inside the door were trashed. Don't care to do that to my new rig. My tpms in my mind is priceless.

[Hazman65]

Will definitely invest in a tpms. I never thought I could blow a tire and not know it was gone.

[Phoenix PAL]

This was a scary thread to read. Since I'm about to take mine in for balance I'm thinking maybe I also need to get rid of these 3 summers old 5000mi "Chinese tires".

I just went out to look. My oem tires are Wrangler Trailrunners, made in USA.

Hopefully they still have some life in them. I will rotate them though.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by Jaycoskip

Just saw my first thread separation on the rear right tire of our 5th wheel.
Do you guys recommend re-balancing the tires after installing the monitoring sensors?
And, are the cheaper monitoring systems any worse than the expensive ones?
I would prefer one which reports to my phone instead of an extra display .
Any recommendations?

Given that external sensors weigh less than 1/2 Oz I doubt you will feel any difference.


I do suggest balancing tires when new as this is a quick check on the uniformity of the tire build. More uniform suggests better consistency of the build which could be an indication of better QC my the tire company.


The other reason to balance when new is to confirm the tire is properly seated and centered on the wheel. If you need 8 OZ or more I would suggest the tire be deflated and rotated on the wheel 180 degrees as you might have the heavy spot of the wheel lined up with the heavy spot of the tire. You might even want to get a read on the balance of the wheel only. You might discover a bent or out of balance wheel.

[Hollander Mutthaulers]

My 2017 came with Provider tires. They seemed pretty good for China-made but I started investigating better tires. When Endurance came out I researched them as best I could and replaced the good Providers with ~6,000 miles on them with Endurance. Will be getting a new set of Endurance soon, have ~36,000 in three years on current tires with no problems.