1st tire blow out

Well the dreaded tire blowout finally happened this weekend on our trip home. Luck would have it though that it happened at the best possible place it could......a stop light on the off ramp within a short distance from home. We had just finished a 80 mile trip home in 80 degree weather with 65-70 mph average. I have always checked pressures on every trip, so I know that wasn't an issue. I did notice in the drivers mirror when we left the campground that the sidewall looked a little "funny", like maybe a belt had let loose in the sidewall, as it had a slight ripple. I assume this was probably this issue as the sidewall let loose right where it meets the tread. I only had to limp the trailer about 300 yards off the ramp to a side street to change it. The family was impressed with my pit crew abilities, as we were on the road again in 15 minutes. Seeings how the blowout happened at rest, there was no damage, but I am sure the lady sitting behind me had to clean out her shorts, because it sounded like a 12 ga. shot gun going off along the guard rail.

I think this happened for a reason, because upon closer inspection 2 other tires are wearing a pretty bad. One is cupping pretty good and another has a small ripple in the side wall. These are on their 4th summer towing and are the OEM 225/70/15 towmasters. We tow mostly short distances with the exception of one bigger trip a year. Tires have and estimated 8,000 miles on them. I figured I was going to replace them next spring anyways due to the age factor, so no better time than the present. I can't justify the expense of going to an E rated rim and tire with the amount of time we will probably own the trailer and the distance we tow, so will probably stay with the D rated tire. Looking at the goodyear marathons or maxxis's if I can find them locally. Anyone using either of these brands?

I just had the pleasure of my first blow out as well. Not quite as lucky, going about 65 down the highway in New Jersey. No place but the shoulder to pull over and change the flat. Got back on the road again within about 30 mins, which was good considering I didn't have the right tools with me.

I'm looking at the marathon's as replacements. Have already located a dealer that carried them in my area.

how about a quick lesson on changing the tire on a Wildcat. Do you carry a lot of cribbing to get to the bottom of the frame?
Thanks
Jim

No....I use alot of lynx levelers to create a ramp, but with cribbing you could do the same. I drive up the ramp and rest the good tire at the top. Remember to break all the lug nuts loose on the bad tire first or you won't be able to break them free with the tire spinning freely. Once I get the bad tire off, I have had to use a small bottle jack to gently raise the axle to make room for the good tire you are about to install. I say gently, because you don't want to be jacking on the axle directly or with alot of force or you could damage the axle itself or the area that connects to the u bolts. I use a small block of wood between the bottle jack and the u bolts to disperse the pressure. It doesn't take much to lift it the little bit you need to gain the additional clearance for the good tire. If you jacking too much on the bottle jack, you probably need a little higher ramp. I hope this makes sense or you don't have to follow this advice

We call Good Sam Emergency Road Service. They get someone out pretty promptly. When we had the really bad (messed up the fender, etc.) blowout, there was a road crew working right alongside where the tire blew - they thought they had been shot! Because of their work, we had to get out of there before Good Sam could get someone out - so they changed our tire. Nice guys.

Go with the Maxxis E rated.
The OEM 15" wheels that came on our 2005 29 RLBS the tire man said they were ok to run the E rated
The tire that were oems were the Goodyear Marathons.
I had one blowout and one tread seperation. The first one that I replace was with another Goodyear Marathon.
When that one came in it was made in China.
After that I went to the Maxxis. They are E rated. The max speed rating is 65 mph.
The Goodyear Marathons have the same max speed rating of 65mph

Thanks Carpe,
Has anyone with the Equa-Flex suspension tried Carpe's method? I wonder if the travel in the suspension would be to great to lift the wheel off the ground using a ramp.
Jim

2, 2x6 blocks were enough to lift my Jayco for changing a tire, but on the 'Cat with equa-flex, it will lift only partially. No way you could get the new, fully inflated tire back on without additional lifting with a jack. The blocks do take off a lot of weight, and make it easier to lift, as Carpe Diem indicated. I really didn't want to try any more blocking height, although you may be able to, as it didn't appear that the replacement tire would go in under the fender with more blocking.

This is what my tire looked like after the blowout we had going from Hilton Head Island to Myrtle Beach a couple weeks ago. I never heard anything only had a small piece of the plastic broken. I think I may have hit something and lost air pressure instead of having a blowout. I went back with a Maxxis replacement. Mine has the Duro tires on them. The same size Maxxis looks to be a little bigger than the Duro. It was 100 degrees the day I had to change so it wasn't very pleasant. I have the equa flex system and just keep a bottle jack in the truck. Set it on two 4x6 blocks and jack at the frame.






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I will second Franks comment. Go with the Maxxis E rated. I spent months doing research on trailer tires. Finally bought mine last year. My axles are out of alignment and I went thru the OEM tires fast. Plus one blew out, but at 15 mph, and no damage. Since last year, the Maxxis tires still have the correct tire pressure in them. I have never had that happen before. With 1800 miles on them now, they still look brand new. I hated to spend the extra money for the"E", but it was worth it on a 15" wheel. Which a 15" wheel on a fifth wheel should be against the law. LOL. At least now, I never worry about the tires. Good luck.

The 15" Hi Spec wheels as shown are only rated for 60 psi. The Maxxis E rated tires are rated to 80 psi. If you go with the Maxxis E rated tires shouldn't you be upgrading the wheels? Maybe some of the older trailers have the steel wheels that have a higher rating. If you need to upgrade the wheels then I would just upgrade to 16" right away.
KH

My rims have 80 stamp on them. Second year for the Maxxis E and cost $475. out the door. The tires still look like new.

Rhino,
I am guessing that your wheels are different than the HiSpec type 5 like shown on Hunters photo. I have a 2008 model Cat with the type 5 wheels and they are only rated for 60 psi. I had looked on the HiSpec website and all their 15" type 5 wheels show as only rated at 60 psi. Just my luck.
KH

I have to admit, I was one of those smug types that thought blowouts were operator error. After all, I had pulled TT's for years with Carlisle bias ply's on them and never had a blowout. Oh I had a flat from a nail but it was no big deal - got the hole fixed and put thousands of miles on it (the tire, not the hole).
Then I got a TT with radials and it was a whole different story. I religously check and maintain my tires and drive slow but I've had two blowouts and one tire with a slipped belt (tire was shaped like an egg!). If you run China-made 15" tires then it's just a matter of time. I'm going to try some Maxxis tires and see if that helps.

Well just got back from the tire shop and decided to go with the goodyear marathons. Thanks everyone for their comments. The primary reason is I have had good luck with them on our boat trailers and they are readily available in this part of the country. I really wanted to try the maxxis, but didn't want the added expense of upgrading to different rims. The fact that nobody stocked them and everyone had to order them told me that if I have another blow out on the road I may have issues replacing them in a pinch. Most areas always have a goodyear store nearby and replacing shouldn't be an issue. I can tell you my next trailer with come with 16" tires though, these 15" tires IMO are pushed to the max with some of these bigger trailers. I don't think I will wear this set out before our next camper upgrade, so we will see how they hold up.

It was interesting to see the towmaster OEM's they took off. I said this was a blessing in disguise, because the other three tires had all slipped belts and two of them looked like eggs they were so oblong once taken off the trailer. The shop said it was a short matter of time before the others let loose. The only good one in the whole set was the spare...... These were alittle over three years old and on their 4th summer season pulling. It was their opinion that they should have held up alot better than that, but what do you expect from china tires I guess. Interesting enough they tried to sell me a set of china tires with the name Sutong Hirun....sounds like a north korean dictator....lol. They said they had good luck with them, but I said I would have to pass. The were $40 per tire cheaper than the goodyears, but I didn't want another set of towmasters in the long run. I know goodyears had a couple of bad years themselves with separation issues, but it seems from my research, that things have been resolved....time will tell I guess.

I have to give a thumbs up to this tire shop. They have been a local hard working business for years. I showed up this morning and was out the door in one hour. I got to watch the work in progress....which tells me they have nothing to hide. I said no jacking on the axles and they said...."no problem" and had plenty of jacks to lift the camper off the ground by the frame. I expressed that I wanted the higher pressure metal valve stems re-installed and they honored that request without a bunch of questions as to why would you want to to that? Very professional and courteous. If ever in the Sioux Falls region....here is a link. Oh I forgot to mention the goodyears were $475 out the door with everything including disposal of old tires.

http://www.manleytire.com/