Dangerous Tire Information - No Joke, please read.

RichBone · Dec 12, 2009

Thank You

Rich

Rich Stidger · Dec 12, 2009

A real eye-opener. Thanks for posting.

Sumner · Dec 12, 2009

Thanks, I had trailer tires come apart with less than 10,000 miles on them. When that happened I started checking and most trailer tire sites will tell you to replace them at 5 years regardless of the mileage on them. I then thought the trailer tires were worst since they "were not" being used. This seems to suggest otherwise.

While in Calif. last year I just got up to speed on the interstate with my street-rod and the back right tire disintegrated and came all the way off at the sidewall leaving the side wall attached to the bead and the rest of the tire along side the road. It blew out and came right off and I was down on the rim. That tire was less than 2 years old (from the time I bought it) and had less than 10,000 miles on it. I sure wish I would of kept it and been able to see when it was actually made. I still have one I bought at the same time on the other side of the truck and will be checking it.

c ya,

Sum

Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID

Our Mac Pages

Mac Links

Ross · Dec 12, 2009

All of the contractors I know use truck tires on their low-boy equipment trailers. I wouldn't us anything less on a boat trailer.

r.oril · Dec 12, 2009

I am checking my tires first chance I get. Thanks!

jackhartjr · Dec 12, 2009

Some things to think about;
Put nitrogen in your tires. They run cooler...the nitrogen bubbles are bigger than the oxygen bubbles, therefore you lose less air. (In our travel trailer we have had nitrogen in the tires at 50 PSI for more than two years...I have lost exactly one PSI...probably due to checking them before each trip.)
ALWAYS cover your tires from the sun. UV rays do more damages to tires than any other reason other than under inflation.
Check the air pressure prior to a trip.
When replacing, use tires rated for trailers, not autos...the sidewall will be stronger.
Get the most plys you can buy. We went from a 6-ply to a 10-ply on the travel trailer because we wanted to not worry about blowouts!
Jack

JimGeddes · Dec 12, 2009

I'm not going to say an old tire isn't bad.... But the ones they showed falling apart looked like recaps. That makes me a little skeptical.

kendall · Dec 12, 2009

jackhartjr said:
Some things to think about;
Put nitrogen in your tires. They run cooler...the nitrogen bubbles are bigger than the oxygen bubbles, therefore you lose less air. (In our travel trailer we have had nitrogen in the tires at 50 PSI for more than two years...I have lost exactly one PSI...probably due to checking them before each trip.)
ALWAYS cover your tires from the sun. UV rays do more damages to tires than any other reason other than under inflation.
Check the air pressure prior to a trip.
When replacing, use tires rated for trailers, not autos...the sidewall will be stronger.
Get the most plys you can buy. We went from a 6-ply to a 10-ply on the travel trailer because we wanted to not worry about blowouts!
Jack

Checking tires is good, It's a long time habit, I always do a walk around whenever I jump in my truck, or hook up the trailer (also, at the end of my street is a store with a big window, when leaving in the morning I check the head lights and turn signals ', when I come home I check the tail /brake/turn lights in the 'mirror.)

Nitrogen though, is pure sales hype. Regular "AIR" is 78% nitrogen, so if nitrogen was all that the hype claims for it (doesn't leak, runs cooler etc) tires would only drop down to 78% of full inflation pressure, And with three or four 'top ups' you would be running nearly pure nitrogen anyway.

Ken.

kloudie1 · Dec 13, 2009

My opinion on this one is that as tires age, they become more sensitive to the stresses caused by under inflation. Look at the group of cars in the video.. Is it not coincidence that they are the same population set that had rollover incidents that were traced to poorly inflated tires? Running tires underinflated generates a LOT of heat which will affect the bond between rubber and cords; that damage is irreversible and cumulative. I am not saying that all of this is due to low tire pressure but I’ll bet that a lot of it is. Statistically speaking, if old tires are as common as the video would suggest then there should be a lot more accidents where age only is the cause. I need bond strength and hardness and a few other FACTS (like tire pressure history) before I can draw a conclusion that age is bad in a tire.. I don’t need a lawyer telling me that age is the only problem. Note that the picture of the tire parts on the roadside are from a recap on a large truck; spectacular, yes, germane, no. I do agree that paying attention to tires is a good thing!
Nitrogen in tires.. There is a good article on this in Road & Track magazine this month. It confirms that nitrogen does leak out more slowly than plain air but the difference tiny. Their test was to fill a few tires to 30 psi and leave them alone (unused) for a year. In that year, the nitrogen filled tires lost 2.2 psi while the air filled ones lost 3.5 psi; a difference of 1.3 psi in a YEAR. Their conclusion is that if you check pressure more than a couple of times a year, it makes no sense to pay extra for a nitrogen fill.

jackhartjr · Dec 13, 2009

Kendall, I ran ito a man more than 10 years ago that had well over a hundred trucks.
He started using nitrogen and his tire costs went wwaayy down. I have since talked to dozens of trucking firms that use it.
For one thing, when you take the moisture out of the tire, (Oxygen) you eliminate the main cause of excessive heat buildup.
Second, if you get a nail in the tire that you don't see and it is sticking up through the inside of the tire...by using nitrogen which has no moisture...you don't get the nail rusting and eventually destoying the steel belt causing the tire to come apart.
Jack

tommays · Dec 13, 2009

On trailer tires the big issue is most tire production was moved to CHINA

Ross · Dec 13, 2009

Just buy quality name brand tires of the proper size and load rating. In my lifetime I have driven for 55 years and have had two tires fail because of old age. One was on a rarely used Volvo wagon and the other was on my wheelbarrow. The Volvo tire was probably 10-12 years old and the wheelbarrow tire was probably closer to 30 years.

Steve Dion · Dec 13, 2009

There is also some issues with inferior/poor quality tires coming out of China. These are not the name brand tires but chineese tires that are branded.

I have to agree that if you choose name brand tires you are going to be much better off. This is not to say that the name brand tires cannot fail, just look at the Firestone fiasco from a few years ago.

tommays · Dec 13, 2009

Even a LOT of Goodyear marathon trailers tires are made in china now

sand sailor · Dec 13, 2009

i've been telling people that for years but they dont listen so what can you do??

zeehag · Dec 13, 2009

if you insist on placing the tires on the wrong side of the car or trailor they will de-tread--tires are directional---so they cannnot be rotated....keep them on the side of the vehicle/trailor they were initially installed so the tread doesnt come off in an entirre sheet--lol-----never, never , never rotate radial tires.
also--as for good year---bad tires--blow sidewalls in racing situations--those are the tires MADE for racing--i will NEVER buy anything goodyear. gooood luck!!!!
nitrogen is stupid--wasteful of money unless you have enough business to make it worthwhile..LOL....sales hype--YES it is....LOL...a sucker born every minuet..LOL.....

Ross · Dec 13, 2009

Car and Driver magazine publishes tire reports on the web as does Off the Road Mag. Much better than some of the opinions we can get from our limited experiences.

zeehag · Dec 14, 2009

Ross said:
Car and Driver magazine publishes tire reports on the web as does Off the Road Mag. Much better than some of the opinions we can get from our limited experiences.

hay ross!!! how ye doing the cold now?? is it ok?? --not being a smart6ybut.....is cold here too...
i did race car work for over a decade---yes, there is little about tires published by the companies--unless you are a race car team...lol--i did that , only in amateur and entry level pro......lol.....is why i know about tires lol...is a life saver-----yes, radial tires are directional and act like retreads when placed on wrong side of car.....go figger.....

Ross · Dec 14, 2009

zeehag said:
hay ross!!! how ye doing the cold now?? is it ok?? --not being a smart6ybut.....is cold here too...
It doan get cold in san diego! we have had snow mixed with rain, just plain snow and just plain rain. enough ice to bust yer butt on and just plain unpleasant to be out.