While cleaning my Foretravel the other day, my wife noticed a piece of tread missing from the outside dual on the passenger side. These tires all have a DOT date code of 1142. The missing part is about 3/16" wide at its widest point, 1 1/4" long at its longest point, and less deep than the depth of the grooves in the tire.
I do not know how this happened, but suspect one of the "crushed" rocks in my RV pad may be the culprit. The load was a mixture of large and small rocks and I had hoped the bigger ones would migrate down, but only the smaller ones did. These rocks would have been good for the lower half, with smaller ones on top. Unfortunately, he had them delivered in one of those long beds that tilt up. Next Spring, I intend to lay on additional crushed rocks, 3/4" plus fines; that should make my "pad" much easier to walk on and sit on. (You can see some of the larger rocks in the second picture.)
I do not have any experiences with these large tires, and what is acceptable, and what is not. I would appreciate any and all advice, comments, observations, and suggestions that this august body is willing to provide.
Thank you,
Trent
Kind of hard to tell from the photo, but date code appears to be 4211 (42nd week of 2011). That puts the tire at 5 years old.
While you could have a tire professional inspect it, you might also choose to fit two new tires on the front and move the front to that side in back. May even keep the good old rear for a spare.
I can't believe that parking on gravel of an odd size would cause that kind of damage.
Looks like a cut from something embedded in the gravel. When dealing with gravel the use of 3/4"minus would be what I would use, after it is down and rolled be sure to "walk" it and pick up anything large that shouldn't be there, that is what will bruise the cord.
I replace my tires at the 5 year mark. There are lots of threads/opinions about that here. For us it's just added piece of mind.
If it was on the steer axle I would be concerned, but the drive axle should be no problem... unless the chunk had a deep cut into the rubber under tread belting (outside or before reaching the cord layers)
I agree with Saddlesore. On a drive tire that is cosmetic.
I have chunks of rubber missing from my tires too. It's just a fact of life. There's debris on the road and I sometimes hit it, especially when driving at night or in traffic. Heavy truck tires are very tough. Unless the cut is deep and goes into the cord it won't matter. Pay special attention to it when you visually check your tires each morning before you start driving. Check your air pressure with a good air gauge each morning too of course.
I agree, replace, "Better Safe than Sorry!"
I blew a spare years ago on the front, it scared the pucky out of us! The spare looked perfect, but it had sat, wrapped in canvas, on the roof. I got about 50 miles when it blew. .........note to self......."only use a spare to get to the nearest tire store". ^.^d
Knowing the issue is the main thing..
Keep on eye on the cut and act accordingly (check it every time you stop, along with the others.)
That cut is not out of the ordinary.
FWIW; I've run a great many miles with cuts much worse than this example. pc
It's good for the trucking industry if you replace your brand new tires every time you drive a hundred miles or they sit for three years, whichever comes first. Somewhere there's a poor indie trucker who will love you forever as he hauls way heavier loads on the brand new tires you were afraid to use. :)
I think that he means that some run tires for ten years but if you do you may need a shoulder harnesses, helmet and a Hans device.
I was gonna write something clever but the Wanderlodge that's been following me around the whole country for several years just showed up here in Teksis so I'm gonna go talk to someone who actually travels in their coach... I'm sure you guys will still be here sitting in front of the computer later when I get a chance. :)
Many posters here travel a great deal. And no need to worry about posting something clever.
With dry air or nitrogen and correct storage and pressures and maybe an inspection I fully intend to run ours ten years at least.
Not for everyone and maybe not all brands or use or storage. Just me. My neck. Too many years in the biz to prematurely change good tires.
Dry air is the key in my experience. Never introduce water into the tires. Some tire mounting materials degrade into and/or release water vapor into the tire. Every failed tire I looked at as a foretravel manager had rusty cord belts inside. Everyone.
My comment was rude and I apologize. I just don't like being told I'm gonna die if I don't buy new tires every few years. I've driven all over this beautiful country on 10+ year old tires that are now half worn. I'm still alive... Buy new tires any time you want and I'll drive on mine as long as I want.
Scott
Old tires are kind of like your fan blade. It works fine until it doesn't, then at best its inconvenient. At worst it is torn up fiberglass or flesh or both.
I respect however your right to choose. I was going for 7 years on my tires, left front let go at 6 years. I was lucky, just 6 k in damage.
I just replaced 5 tires- three eight years old and two nine at Herman Power Tire in Nacogdoches. They wouldn't give me anything for the older take-offs due to micro-cracking, but gave $50 each for the younger tires. They only saw dry air. Pressure checked daily while traveling, correct pressures by wheel load.
Newer does not insure safety. So if you have experienced a catastrophic failure (blowout) please try to provide all of the known facts for everybody benefit. Tire pressures may well be unknown due to leaks and/or pressure increases due to road conditions. Newer tires experience more tread distortion due the distance to the supporting structure which generates more heat, sometimes good thing sometimes bad.
OK for us to learn we need the following.
Age of tire
Millage or remaining tread depth (less depth less distortion and heat generated)
We're you travelling on asphalt or concrete (significant surface temperature difference)
You're vehicle speed
% of corner load vs tire load rating
Ambient temperature
Manf. Information of the lifespam of the tire is conservative for legal reasons.
Just my 2 cents worth.
I just lost ANOTHER brand new trailer tire with less than 10,000 miles on it, 45 psi in it, carrying less than half its rated load, at 60 miles per hour or less, in cool November temperatures, on smooth pavement, and the tire is not marked as being made in China. The new tires develop a bubble in them after a few thousand miles as the tread separates from the cord. This time it was on the edge of the tread. Last time it was directly in the center of the tread. Neither tire blew out because I visually check my tires every time I stop. This time I stopped to top off my diesel tank before entering beautiful Zion national park on the east end and driving through the tunnels. I spotted the bubble, which a TPMS cannot possibly see, and immediately changed the tire before driving any further. I certainly didn't want to blow a tire inside the mile long tunnel with a long line of cars behind me. So there you have it. Brand new tires guarantee nothing, but checking your tires and not depending on TPMS catches most tire failures before they happen.
I turned down Everglades national park and accepted a mechanic position at Zion national park for this Winter. Today my boss pointed out that the national park service needs a mechanic for a temporary duty at a park in Hawaii for 120 days and he said I can go if I want to ...all expenses paid and I can leave my coach here at Zion while I'm gone ...hmmm, decisions decisions :)
What brand, size and load range are your trailer tires?
I don't think it would take me very long to make that decision!
When was the tire made?
I had bought a tire from a tire store for my boat trailer since it had a problem. Two years later the tire comes apart and I take it back to the tire place since I had the warranty on it. They tell me it was over 10 years old and they were not going to warranty it. I then remembered that they had trouble finding a tire back when I got it so I bet someone had sitting on shelf forever and were glad to sell it. Now every time I buy trailer tires I tell them I want the date tire was made on the invoice, I then go and double check to make sure I am getting new tires.
Why can't people on this forum accept that new doesn't equal better? My experience throughout my lifetime consistently demonstrates the exact opposite is true. New usually means noticeably lower quality and lower manufacturing cost. Both of the tires that nearly failed were brand new. Buying new tires guarantees nothing. I've had as many new tires fail within the first few months as I've had worn out tires fail over the years. If there's a manufacturing defect, often due to cost cutting, it'll show up very soon. If the tire is of top quality it'll probably never give any trouble so you should stick with it until it's worn out. This is what my considerable experience with tire failures has taught me over the years. What I didn't tell you is the tire on the other side of the trailer is apparently the same manufacturer, is a year older, and has several thousand more miles on it, but it doesn't seem to have a manufacturing defect in it so it's still doing just fine. The original Chinese cheapo tire's mate is still doing fine and acted as the spare tire to get me through the Zion tunnels. Old equals proven reliability when it comes to tires, within reason of course. If the tire is rotten and / or weather cracked you should definitely get rid of it. I'm far safer on my proven tires that are supposedly "timed out" than I would be on unproven new tires that may have manufacturing defects that I won't know about for a few thousand miles. Definitely get out and check your tires no matter how new / old they are and don't rely on TPMS. This is the only way to catch tire problems before they happen.
What size tire did you have that failed, and what brand was it? If a similar passenger or light truck size is available, I never buy "trailer" tires. I always get the car tire. Of course this doesnt work for tiny 8-10" wheels, but all of my trailers are car sizes or larger.
Sad but true, manufacturer's are in such a rush to bring a new product to the marketplace. due diligence is out the window, let alone $$$$$$$ real world testing. We are (consumers) the beta testers (mini rant). As an experienced prototype engineer I am too old school I guess.
They're 12" trailer tires, and I tried to get 12" car tires to fit after I lost the first trailer tire. I'll try again. I probably have to modify the fenders a little. I'll still have issues with the bearings and seals even after I get the tire issues fixed. I neglected to mention that I had to replace the axle already because of the bearing and seal issue which won't go away no matter how many times I replace them. Such terrible quality today... (sigh)
Are you sure you're under the trailer's GVW?
Scott, if you are using the 480/12 and have the fender room switch to 530/12 it will slow down the rpm's. I have a boat trailer that I have had to change the axle on also because of the fast spinning wheels burning the bearings up. The new axle is drilled with the zirk fitting hole in the end and greases from the inside out. Still at 60 mph 12 in. wheels are spinning too fast for longevity if loaded to max trailer weight.
I hated the bias ply tires on my tow dollies - ran too hot and wore oddly. Always moved to Goodyear radial trailer tires and never had an issue.
The 90s geo metros used 12" tires. Give them a shot and see how they fit.
"trailer tires" in my experience have been junk. Regardless of where they are made. Chinapops are the worst. I have a long goosneck (25.5k rating) with 8 tires and on the first trip hauling a load (not even full load) I had 1 tire blow out, and 3 more were ready to go, and a few others were radials turned into bias blow and looked like a baloon (not flat tread like a radial).
I put car tires on small trailers and LT's on bigger trailers. I don't care what anybody says about "not stiff enough sidewall"...blah blah blah. Trailer tires are junk...run car/truck tires.
I didn't mean to hijack this thread into a trailer tire discussion. My only point was that tire age doesn't really determine safety. I could have used brand new car tires as my example but brand new trailer tire failures have been on my mind a lot lately unfortunately. I've never lost a tire on my coach even though they're over ten years old so I have no examples to use... I do need to rotate the front tires to the back. With over 50,000 miles they're starting to cup on the outside edges from fighting crosswinds and road crown. The rears are worn evenly across the tread. I probably won't have to rotate the tires again before they're worn out. I put a lot of miles on for an RVer.