Frequency of nails in camper tires

Golf_5 · 10-29-2020, 02:21 PM

Nails in Camper Tires: I had my qbw212 SLX inspected in September 2020. Had three new tires put on the camper. Camper is stored at my house in Pennsylvania. I checked the tire pressure before going to High Point State Park, NJ. Back left driver's side tire was not replaced at inspection and had a drywall nail in it. I had it removed and went to NJ. Next trip was to Raystown Lake, PA. Pulled into campsite and my friend said look at this: Back right tire had a drywall nail in it. It held air until we returned home. Had the shop pull it out, second drywall nail this month. What is the frequency for picking up nails only in camping tires, not truck?

DocBrown · 10-29-2020, 02:41 PM

I've never had one in a trailer tire. Has anyone done any remodel work in your neighborhood? It's possible that a contractor lost some nails in your street, or they came out of a construction dumpster.

We had quite a few homes get new roofs during a period of several years. We got 3 roofing nails in car tires during that time. Very aggravating, one was on a tire that was only on the car a few days. A lot of contractors are not conscious of what mess they leave.

**JFlightRisk** · 10-29-2020, 03:02 PM

Haven't had any nails in ours, but a friend did the last trip of the season. He woke up to a leaning TT, and a flat. It looked like he picked it up backing into the site, since the nail head wasn't worn or shiny.

We did pick up a short sheet metal screw in the left rear on our truck, Thank goodness it was a short one.

**norty1** · 10-29-2020, 03:23 PM

I have had a few over the years. Mostly roofing nails that likely fell out of a roofers trailer. I have had a few that were not identifiable. The worst was one that went right up near the edge of the sidewall on a newer tire and was not repairable.

muckinfuss · 10-29-2020, 04:14 PM

I haven't seen a drywall nail, that wasn't in a wall, in probably 30 years.

Jagiven · 10-29-2020, 04:45 PM

I had a screw in a TT trailer last year. None in the truck!

I would say bad luck!

Golf_5 · 10-29-2020, 05:01 PM

Thank you all. I asked several campers and they have not had this problem. The circumstantial part is one nail in the back left rear tire at my house after inspection and one nail in the new back right tire noticed upon arrival a different campground.

Thank you again for your responses!

us71na · 10-29-2020, 05:03 PM

We used to get nails in our tires fairly often when a home builder lived next door. Apparently he wasn't too careful about how nails were stored in the bed of his truck. Since they moved 20+ years ago, we have not had a single tire develop a nail.

**JFlightRisk** · 10-29-2020, 05:25 PM

Your trailer tires work in unison with each other. The front ones run over a nail flat to the road and kicks it up, so it sticks into the rear ones. It's a plot against tire manufacturers! Lol!

Finally Able · 11-01-2020, 02:45 PM

We bought our 287BHS new in August -- I picked up a construction screw in one of the tires somewhere between the dealer and where I parked it, about 12 miles away. I used to have a landscape business and pulled equipment trailers far and wide -- can't tell you the last time I had a flat, but it had to have been a long time ago.

Tunce the traveler · 11-01-2020, 05:51 PM

Welcome to the nail club and thankfully mine was uneventful.

Old and soft · 11-01-2020, 06:47 PM

Just like above. Picked up new on friday, tire flat at home on sunday.

LuckyDuck · 11-01-2020, 07:04 PM

A couple of years ago, we had just arrived home from our very first trip — about 300 miles to the coast and back. The DW looked at the trailer tire and asked, “Is that a nail?” Yep. I swapped it with the identical spare in the comfort and safety of our RV storage yard and had it repaired at the tire shop. I was just thankful that it held up over the narrow, winding mountain roads to the coast. SLX 212’s must have built-in magnets to attract nails, eh?

1SGPETE · 11-08-2020, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Golf_5

Nails in Camper Tires: I had my qbw212 SLX inspected in September 2020. Had three new tires put on the camper. Camper is stored at my house in Pennsylvania. I checked the tire pressure before going to High Point State Park, NJ. Back left driver's side tire was not replaced at inspection and had a drywall nail in it. I had it removed and went to NJ. Next trip was to Raystown Lake, PA. Pulled into campsite and my friend said look at this: Back right tire had a drywall nail in it. It held air until we returned home. Had the shop pull it out, second drywall nail this month. What is the frequency for picking up nails only in camping tires, not truck?

My experience in the Army in Viet Nam was that we seemed to pick up rifle cartridges on just about every trip out of base camp. And they were generally in the rear tires. I was told that the front tires will flip a nail or a cartridge up and it will be picked up by the rear tires.
This may not help with why you are getting lots of nails but it does explain why they seem to occur more often in the rear tires. You can imagine the hole an empty rifle shell will make in a tire.

1SG Pete

Joan617 · 11-10-2020, 10:34 AM

Our TST TPMS alarmed for the first time the other day. Low pressure in left rear tire. After watching it for few minutes it was clearly a slow leak and we could slow down and get to to our destination park. When I pulled the tire I found a bolt head nestled between the treads. Local tire shop plugged it successfully. Looking at the head, it appeared to be about a 3/8" bolt and I couldn't imagine how something so blunt could pierce it. Following this thread, I'm thinking that the front tire tossed it and set like a bowling pin for the rear tire.
-Angus

JDug66 · 11-10-2020, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JFlightRisk

Haven't had any nails in ours, but a friend did the last trip of the season. He woke up to a leaning TT, and a flat. It looked like he picked it up backing into the site, since the nail head wasn't worn or shiny.

We did pick up a short sheet metal screw in the left rear on our truck, Thank goodness it was a short one.

Yikes! Even more reasons to not use slide supports. Silently prying your slide out of the main trailer overnight.

Marcm157 · 11-10-2020, 01:03 PM

Any issues with your neighbors? Sounds suspicious to me...

Camper_bob · 11-10-2020, 01:53 PM

I used to drive an Altima. I picked up more nails and screws with that car than ANY car I've ever owned. I assumed it was because there was a lot of construction in our area at that time. I even have a picture running around somewhere where I have 3 objects in one tire at the same time; 2 nails and a bolt. With that vehicle, I began purchasing the "certificates" from Discount Tire every time I put new tires on a vehicle; they lost money on me with that vehicle. But since I buy them on every set of tires, I figure they've made their money back with me...

I think it was last year, maybe year before last, we went to Dinosaur Valley SP in TX and the Grand Cherokee (toad) picked something up, at the park I think. We were driving the camper and the dinghy to a place where I could hook up and DW saw the TPMS was throwing a low-pressure alert; sure enough there was a bolt in the driver side rear. I should've just put the spare on and taken care of it later, but instead I topped off the pressure with my pump and took it to the local Wal Mart for repair and waited like 3-4 hours. Never again.

Knocking on wood here, but I've yet to pick up anything since then in my toad or my camper. And I was lucky enough not to have ever picked up anything in the trailer tires. I did slip a belt on the trailer tires (OEM Towmax ST tires) and had them all replaced with Maxxis M8008s. Those were really good tires for us.

I find it to primarily be the "luck of the draw". I try to avoid areas where I know there are likely to be things picked up in my tires, like the shoulder or construction areas. But the truth is, it can and does happen no matter how careful you are. So it pays to be prepared. As we get more and more off the beaten path, I intend to equip each of our vehicles with a plug kit and an air compressor. It'll be a little expensive up front, but I'll be thanking myself for that preparedness if I ever need to use one. And that's only for when there isn't a Discount Tire around. Remember that Wal Mart flat repair? I ended up having to have Discount Tire redo it later when I ended up with another flat. And I used the spare that time so I could have the repair done on my own terms.

One of the first things I added to the motorhome was a good Viair pump. It paid for itself one of our first trips out. I had installed extenders on my rear duals just before the trip, and one of them was leaking. We got to camp and leveled the motorhome. Three days later we let it down off the levelers and the driver's side rear outer tire was flat; the extender had leaked. Thankfully I carry some basic tools, and had my Viair, so I made short work of fixing it.

I am also a bit more careful about my spares now too. DW had a cut in one of her tires. Thankfully we discovered it at home, so I had my air compressor and tools handy. The spare was too low to safely drive on. So the lesson learned is to periodically check the pressure in your spares too...

**JFlightRisk** · 11-10-2020, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDug66

Yikes! Even more reasons to not use slide supports. Silently prying your slide out of the main trailer overnight.

That would've been an absolute disaster. Yes, it was on the large slide side (his couch and dinette). I had him run it in so I could work on the tire.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcm157

Any issues with your neighbors? Sounds suspicious to me...

I'm not thinking anything malicious happened. I found it on the inside edge, on the bottom. It never was even visible until the wheel came off. The sites are crushed stone, and the head was buried out of sight. It was a blessing, since he really needed new tires, and this flat was the reason to get them.

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