Tire disaster averted

Phil2008 · 09-15-2018, 05:05 PM

After returning from our last camping trip I noticed the right rear tire was showing signs of wear on the outside edge. The inner edge wasn't as bad. Spoke with the dealer and they had no explanation for the abnormal wear. I said we were heading out again next week so they said call when we got back to set up an appointment. Not being comfortable with the tire I decided I'd switch it out with the spare. As it was different rims I had to take suspect tire off and remove tire from spare rim and have installed on rim. When I was putting the tires in the back of the truck I discovered crack in the tread. Had I not taken the tire off we could have a very unpleasant experience. I am now wondering about the other three tires and their condition.

oldmanAZ · 09-15-2018, 05:25 PM

Thanks goodness you spotted that!

What brand was the tire and what was the inflation pressure?

Phil2008 · 09-16-2018, 04:06 AM

They are Rainier and I had them at 48 psi.

oldmanAZ · 09-16-2018, 07:32 AM

Thanks.

We had Rainier tires, too. I didn't see any problems with the Rainier tires, but we changed to Goodyear Endurance Load Range E tires in Dec. 2017. Reading on this site, some have had good luck with Rainer, others not so much.

Girth · 09-16-2018, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil2008

After returning from our last camping trip I noticed the right rear tire was showing signs of wear on the outside edge. The inner edge wasn't as bad. Spoke with the dealer and they had no explanation for the abnormal wear. I said we were heading out again next week so they said call when we got back to set up an appointment. Not being comfortable with the tire I decided I'd switch it out with the spare. As it was different rims I had to take suspect tire off and remove tire from spare rim and have installed on rim. When I was putting the tires in the back of the truck I discovered crack in the tread. Had I not taken the tire off we could have a very unpleasant experience. I am now wondering about the other three tires and their condition.

Can you post a picture? Of one showing the tread profile, and one of the crack you mentioned? Maybe look between the tread blocks on the edges, for other cracks or bulging? I'm wondering if you had a belt edge separation happening, though it may be difficult to tell from pictures.

I see the TT is rather new, so I would assume the tires are of the same age. Easy enough to check the DOT number on the sidewall though. Last four digits are the week and year it was manufactured. Trailer tires are notoriously abused and ignored, but even for passenger tires the rule is 6yrs. After 6yrs, they are an unknown and carry no warranty, no matter if they've been driven on or not. If you can find a dealer for that brand, it's possible you could get some credit, if it does indeed have a defect. Either way, I'd be looking to switch them out. May never have an issue, but you'll always wonder about it.

Phil2008 · 09-19-2018, 08:35 AM

Here is a picture of the cracking in the tire. The other picture is of one of the other tires which are fine.

Girth · 09-19-2018, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil2008

Here is a picture of the cracking in the tire. The other picture is of one of the other tires which are fine.

If I'm seeing that picture correctly, hard to tell for certain with the shadow, but I wouldn't say your other tire is "fine". It looks like it has a lot more tread wear on the inside edge. You said the other is worn on the outside edge though?

The cracking doesn't look good, but not what I would call impending doom either. Personally, it'd be enough for me to want to replace them though. Did you check the DOT numbers to see how old they are? Only one side of the tire usually has the full DOT number on it. Hard to tell by just looking at a portion of the tread, but if the wear is uniform around the tire's circumference, I wouldn't assume a tire problem at first. Could be, but could be something else. Someone on the forum mentioned trailer alignments in another thread?

If your other tires are showing irregular wear too, it's certainly worth more investigation.

Phil2008 · 09-19-2018, 05:49 PM

The other tires are fine. The shadow is distorting the picture. The date code is 11 16. The dealer has contacted tire manufacturer and is just waiting to hear back from them. We're heading out again tomorrow so the dealer is going to lend me a spare tire for the trip. Hopefully will know by first of the week what is happening.

Wireman · 09-20-2018, 04:50 PM

I would be concerned why that tire was wearing so much on 1 edge and the others are not.

Axle bent, out of alignment.

GScott · 09-21-2018, 06:01 AM

I had this happen on my 2014 Whitehawk when it was less than 2 years old. After some investigation by a trucking mechanic we found that the spindle on the axel was bent and causing the abnormal wear. A new axel (and new Endurance tires) have solved the problem. Jayco paid for the axel under warranty. I suggest you look into your axels as the root cause.

Phil2008 · 05-19-2019, 10:29 AM

Sorry for late update post. I heard back from the dealer a short time later. Nothing Jayco would do as I was 3 months outside of warranty thru Jayco. I checked the other three tires last week and they too are cracking(weather checking). Emailed tire manufacturer twice and heard nothing back from them. I spoke to Jayco last week saying one tire I could see having problems with but not four and would they consider some type of compensation. There response was trailer warranty was expired and it was now the tire manufacturers problem. Have an appointment this week to get Goodyear Endurance tires installed. Opinion of Jayco has dropped considerably.

You may also like: