Tires

[DCKiefer]

Just a note about trailer tires. Apparently the brand that comes on our Olivers does not like travelling 1600 miles in three days in 100 degree temps. On our way back from Colorado I had one blow out in east Texas. The next day I caught the second tire failing in the Florida pan handle. The first did scrape up the side of the camper some, but no major damage.

 

I'll answer the standard questions. Yes, the tires were inflated to manufacture max and no the trailer was not over loaded, weight was 4100lbs. The tires were load range E, should have been more than enought tire.

 

I am switching to Maxxis since I can find nothing but good reviews on these tires.

[SeaDawg]

Sorry to hear about your tire failures. Changing tires in the Texas sun is no fun.

Our tires are Duro load range D tires on our trailer, and have had great service so far. Though we've put a lot of miles on them, not many miles in the kind of heat you've experienced.

What brand of tires did you have that failed in Texas?

[technomadia]

Eeeps... that's scary!

 

Oliver has two different tires for the trailer. Did you have the default ones, or the upgraded ones?

 

We have the upgraded ones and have done lots of miles in some pretty extreme temps.. so far (*crossing fingers*) without problem.

 

- Cherie

[allenpamela]

Sorry to hear about your tire problems. We have Goodyear's on ours....don't know if they were the default ones or upgraded. We have recently noticed that they have indentions in them that we are concerned about and need to get them checked. On a lighter note we also recently noticed on spare tire cover that the Oliver webside is spelled incorrectly and I'm wondering if we are the only ones. It's spelled "olivertravelrrailers". We got a kick out of it because we had Jim Oliver sign his name just below that and none of us noticed the two rr's. If I knew how to add a picture I would have included a picture of it.

 

Pam

[herm]

Thanks for sharing your experience, DCK. I too would love to know what brand/model tire is was that blew out. I haven't had any problems with my BCT load range D tires, but I don't think they've ever seen 100 degree temps yet. Since I've never experienced a blow out before, I'd be curious to know how difficult it was to bring the trailer to a stop (and from what speed).

 

Herm

[DCKiefer]

They were the upgraded tires, load range E. Unfortunately I don't recall the brand, but I can tell you they were not a name brand like Goodyear. I have the Maxxis now, so hope to have better luck.

 

Just for those that haven't had a blow out, this was the first time in my life I ever lost a tire on anything. Never really knew what to expect. I can tell you the sound scared me more than the what resulted a second later, which was pretty much nothing. The tire blew at about 65mph, I realized what happened and safely pulled over. No unusual handling of any kind.

 

The tread did seperate and hit the trailer several times but no damage to the fiberglass, just scratch and scuffed gelcoat.

 

The electric jacks on the trailer made the tire change even easier.

 

The one thing that I did learn and should have been a warning sign was the fact that the tire began to rapidly wear in an unusaul pattern. This is what saved me the next day on the second tire. I check the tire carefully at the start of the day and by our second gas stop saw extreme wear on the inside edge and what appearred to be a spot that looked like the tire was scrapped on the road without rotating. That isn't really possible, but I think that is were the bubble was.

 

Moral of the story is check your tire at each gas stop and don't disregard any clues that you can't easily explain.

[bugeyedriver]

If your tires locked up during braking, that could cause a flat spot. Just today, I saw one of those car carriers that looks like an erector set lock up all 6 of its tires at a stoplight. It had no cars on it, so it was very light. He had just come out of a dealership and I wondered if he had the brake controller set as though it had a full load.

 

I know you had another full sized tire based on your tire cover modification (which I have done also and call the "Kiefer Cut") Some time ago, Mountainborn posted about his purchase of a 12V impact wrench for tire changes. I bought one last week and it works great.

 

So, with the full sized spare, an electric stabilizer that lifts the tire off the ground and a 12V impact wrench and my external 12V connection by the door, I'm hoping to minimize the hassle should I experience a tire failure. I'm thinking of adding an infrared temperature sensor to check the hub and tire temps while on the road.

[JuniorBirdMan]

I've also got the BCT load range "D" tires on my Ollie. I was a bit leery of them since they're made in China, but I've now got over 8000 miles on them including two day-long trips through west Texas at temperatures up to 109 degrees (both times) and regularly cruising at 75 mph with no problems at all.

 

As an aside, some of the rest areas out there have signs posted that warn to "WATCH FOR RATTLESNAKES". Sure enough, within 5 feet of the sidewalk I yanked poor Woodstock's leash when he was less than 1 foot from having a nasty encounter with one.

 

While traveling through Wyoming, I managed to cut the sidewall on one of my Ford Exploder tires. What should have been a relatively minor inconvenience turned out to be quite an odyssey. It seems Ford just started using 18-inch tires this year and they apparently haven't made it very far into the supply chain yet. I had to travel 80 miles to Cheyenne where visits to 6 different tire stores were of no help. I finally had to get the local Ford dealer to have one specially shipped in. After 2 unplanned days in Cheyenne and $375 (OUCH) I was finally on my way again.

 

After seeing the nasty burn on Tumbleweed's hand some months ago I stopped at Home Depot and picked up an infrared thermometer (about $30) and now I check my hub temps at every fuel stop without having to touch them. I have found that with minimal braking the hub temps stay pretty close to the ambient temperature. With moderate braking, the highest hub temps I've seen were about 20 degrees above ambient temperature, so I've adopted the +20 degrees as a limit of sorts. A side benefit is that after noticing that one hub was always warmer than the other after moderate braking, I was able to readjust the brakes to make sure they were doing their job equally.

[herm]

Well, I'm happy to hear that the handling of the trailer with a blown tire is not as horrible as I would have imagined. It seems that the only explaination for the nearly 2 blowouts is defective tires, so naturally it would have been nice to establish exactly what they were. I too was a bit leary of the chinese made BCT's, which were the standard tires at the time, but they've served me well so far. Thanks to JuniorBirdMan, I now know they will survive the Texas heat too.

 

When getting hub temps, are you just measuring crome cap that covers the actual hub? I've always wanted to get one of those infrared thermometers, but never had a legitimate need for one. Now I do!

 

Herm

[JuniorBirdMan]

Yeah, I've just been measuring the temp of the hub cap. That's probably not optimum, but after 4000 miles of checking them that way I now at least have a good feel for what "normal" might be.

 

An added benefit of the infrared thermometer is that kids can entertain themselves for hours checking the temperature of everything in the car while motoring down the road. My grandson and my nephew can even tell you important things like what the temperature is inside my right ear as well as the difference in temp between a puppy's feet and his tongue.

[tumbleweed]

Hi Aubrey!!

Glad my hand wound got folks attention on hub temps! Those infared guns are cool (or hot) and great toys for grandkids. Real easy way to check tires and wheel temps.

Chuck Geri and 3 doggies

[ob1]

See DC Keifer post at the beginning of this thread:

 

I was one of those with BCT 10 Ply tires that had no problems...up until a couple of weeks ago. I left our home in Boulder CO around 5:15 PM (five hours late), 70lbs psi in each tire, temp 93 degrees, heading to MN to catch-up with my wife at a family gathering. Due to the late start, I was still driving on I80 at 1:15AM, trying to get to a camping spot I had reserved near Lincoln NE, about 50 miles away at the time. I had been driving about 8 hours between 65-72mph with a couple of gas stops, air temp at the time 85-86 degrees.

 

I heard a tremendous loud noise (I had the AC on along with the radio) and the car veered into the left lane. I have never experienced such an event. My first thought was the trailer hitch broke and Ollie was dragging on the highway, or maybe the axle or transmission completely disintegrated?. I pulled over to the shoulder and got out of the car, nothing on the driving side, but I heard a jack motor running. On the curb side, I was shocked to see the tire, what was left of it, was barely on the wheel, there were rubber marks on the side of Ollie, the water heater cover was gone and the jack was descending on it's own.

 

I gave a little thought to trying to change the tire, but I would have had to remove two bikes behind the tailgate, unload the back of the vehicle and hope I had the proper tool or jack to make it happen, with trucks whizzing by 3-5 feet from the trailer's highway side. At that point, approximately 2AM I dialed 911 and ultimately got the highway patrol to locate me and call a tow truck to change the tire. An hour later, I was on my way to a rest stop only 8 miles ahead. I got a few hours of sleep and was looking for a tire store at 7:30AM and fortunately, found one in York, NE, only 5 miles further ahead.

 

The daylight didn't make Ollie look any better. I was astounded by the condition of the tire which had the tread completely separated and gone. I've only seen that on truck tires. The tire store was very helpful, but they didn't have any "E" load rated tires and commented they have rarely sold them for any purpose. I ended up getting two new "D" tires and two used rims as the injured chrome one was bent, etc. and we could not locate another as far away as Lincoln NE and it was Friday. I was on my way in 1 1/2 hours.

 

When I got back home, I made an insurance claim and when everything is all said and done, the total claim is going to be $3,500+ (minus my $500 deductible). There were three fractures (down to the actual fiber) in the fiberglass, all below the water heater enclosure area, the water heater is being replaced, jack fixed, along with paint, a new rim, tire, plus covering the two tires and used rims I purchased in route.

 

My observations: 1) I read the Tire Thread comments previously and thought I was one of the lucky ones with no problems with the BCT's. At max, we may have had 20,000 miles on the tires. The insurance adjuster measured 8/32's on the good tire and thought it looked to be in good condition. 2) The explosion scared me alert like nothing I've experienced on the highway before. 3) If I had been in traffic or had a truck next to me, I would have sideswiped whatever was next to me in the left lane before I brought the vehicle back into the right lane and to the shoulder and possibly suffered substantial damage to Ollie or or 4Runner or worse, personal injury. 4) I'm not normally skittish about such items, and would normally continue to drive my "no problem" tires if I still had them. However, in this case, I would strongly recommend anyone who still has the BCT 10 Ply tires to get rid of them. A few hundred dollars for different tires is not worth the risk of damage or injury.

 

If someone could assist me in posting a couple of images, I will post them. After seeing Ollie and the blow-out tire, you will be convinced.

 

Call me if you have any additional questions. 303-530-3199 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              303-530-3199      end_of_the_skype_highlighting Terry O'Brien

[jam49]

Hello to all,

I am so sorry to read about all the tire troubles others have had. I don't recall reading that anybody has gotten hurt as a result of a blownout tire. I sure hope not. Even though I am not getting to travel much right now, I have learned so much about things to watch out for.

I don't know the person who posted the following on the Casita forum but I thought it was worth reading and that the person wouldn't mind me sharing it. I give "Larry" full credit.

 

After reading complaints about Goodyear Marathons, I confidently said to myself: don't overload, don't under inflate; don't over speed; and you can't get into trouble. Wrong! On a recent trip from PA to CO and back (around 5000 mi), I faithfully checked pressure regularly; felt tow vehicle and trailer tires for temperature at every gas fill-up (usually 200 miles, but never more than 300), kept the water tank low and the gray and black water tanks empty.

 

When we got home, my mechanic called me and asked if I knew that I had huge bubbles in the tread. Nope. They are only visible when the tire is rotating; about 1/8" high, but nearly the full tread width and several inches long. The right one was much worse than the left one. That would be expected, since the SD is so much heavier on the right side.

 

Today, I was reading online, and I found this on the discount tire web site:

Speed

 

* All "ST" tires have a maximum speed rating of 65 mph.

* As heat builds up, the tire's structure starts to disintegrate and weaken.

* The load carrying capacity gradually decreases as the heat and stresses generated by higher speed increases.

 

Time

 

* Time and the elements weaken a trailer tire.

* In approximately three years, roughly one-third of the tire's strength is gone.

* Three to five years is the projected life of a normal trailer tire.

* It is suggested that trailer tires be replaced after three to four years of service regardless of tread depth or tire appearance.

 

Mileage

 

* Trailer tires are not designed to wear out.

* The life of a trailer tire is limited by time and duty cycles.

* The mileage expectation of a trailer tire is 5,000 to 12,000 miles.

 

So...What I learned from this is that 65 mph is all there is on ST tires. I don't exceed 65 anyway when towing, but I'll be extra careful. A 3 year old tire probably has less load rating than we need, since the Marathons are marginal when new. Tread depth is no indication of the remaining life of an ST tire. The life expectancy of an ST tire is 5000 to 12000 miles, and I'm right in that range.

 

--------------------

 

Jacquee, Larry, and Muffin the Belgian WonderDog

Vermont

2007 17' SD (un-named)

2006 GMC 1500

[tumbleweed]

Hi, We had the BCT tires and were leery but could not find anything derogatory. We put well over 12000 miles and the wear was very good at some high temps(100+) and at the place that replaced our bearings......after touching the hub, OUCH they also carried BCTs and said they had no complaints. They were the D rated. DO NOT touch the caps to check for bearing heat.... the heat gun is a GOOD idea!!!!!

Chuck

[bugeyedriver]

I've done a lot of reading lately on tire/rim specifications and learned my rims were not proper for my tires. The rims measured 7.5 inches wide, and exceeded the acceptable width range for my tires. Having rims that are either too wide or too narrow for the tire's design moves what's called the flex-point away from where the tire is intended to rapidly flex during rotation and could result in premature failure. And the rims were not rated for the load they may be asked to carry if I put on a full load of water. Sooooooo, I now have three shiny new rims which actually match their application.

 

JuniorBirdman told me he has a tire pressure/temperature monitoring system that allows continuous monitoring of your trailer tires from the TV. I thought that was a good idea. Now I have another gizmo for my "safety bag" from Truck System Technologies, Inc. http://www.tsttruck.com/Product_List.html I just went to Austin on a brief trip and it works like a charm.

[technomadia]

Woah - what a scary mess. What was involved in getting your fiberglass repaired?

 

I wonder - who makes the ideal Oliver tire? If we were to start from scratch with new tires today, what would you all recommend getting?

 

That tire pressure monitoring setup seems like a nice upgrade too.... Hmmm....

 

Thanks for sharing all this great info,

 

- Chris

[JuniorBirdMan]

I just finished an 840-mile trip with my new TST tire monitoring system and am loving it. The system is very accurate and there's no more constant checking/worrying about the tire condition while travelling. Climb in the TV in the morning and the pressures are already displayed. For about $150 it provides great peace of mind.

 

I had the BCT D-range tires for 18,000 abusive miles (75 mph at temps up to 109 degrees) before experiencing a tire failure. I was following a noisy truck at the time and thought the noises I heard were coming from it. By the time I realized what was happening, the tire was totally destroyed and the wheel cosmetically damaged. Because of the disintegration, there was no way to determine the cause. The TST system might have prevented it or at least given me a clue as to the cause. I had absolutely no control issues which leads me to think the failure might have been gradual.

 

Now I have Maxxis E-range tires and have slowed to 65 mph.

[tumbleweed]

Iffen ya'll speed demons out there do NOT want to slow down to the 65mph (Highly recommended and mandatory for ST trailer tires) Continental Tire makes a great & $$$$ 8 and 10 ply truck tire called the Conti! Also, iffen ya'll kin find them, Kumho makes some great, long wearing truck tires in 8 plys( not quite so $$$).

Jist fer yr info, I'm not saying ya'll outta' do 75+ mph.....this is NOT NASCAR, ya'll!!!

In Cody, WY, where are the Olivers this summer????

Happy Trails to all !!!!

Chuck n Geri n 2 Furkids in the Mothership

[JuniorBirdMan]

One interesting note about using the TST tire monitoring system : I noticed that the curbside tire consistently runs several (6-8) degrees warmer than the streetside tire. It makes sense, since the right side of the trailer is heavier. It might also explain why my old tire failed on that side.

 

Pete, did you notice the same thing?

[bugeyedriver]

Aubrey,

 

I'm guessing that'll be the case. My trip was on a very hot & sunny day and I noted the side bathed in sunlight was the warmest. The best test of this will be on an overcast day . . .

 

As I read the monitor, I take the pressure to be actual because the Indicator is directly measuring the actual air pressure from the valve stem, but the temp is more or less an of general temperature, as it's not "actually" the temp of the tire rubber, rather, it reads the temp on the end of the valve stem as it goes round and round. I'm thinking the temp reading going down a long, steep and winding mountain grade should reflect a spike due to the brakes heating up as they work hard. It is still a good indicator of what's going on back there and I'm happy to have it.

 

The best thing I like about the monitor is the alarm it will sound when a parameter I set is exceeded, either high or low pressure, or high temp.

 

The only thing I find frustrating is Oscar keeps telling me every time the psi or temp changes on either trailer tire which gets a bit wearisome. Hopefully he'll get tired of it and go back to sleep and dream of chasing chipmunks and meeting new furpals.

[bugeyedriver]

Tom,

 

You're welcome, happy to make you cringe, anytime!

 

My tire/rim mismatch occurred after I upgraded to 225/75/15 Marathons, load range D. We discovered I was still operatiing with a 3500lb axle, so the company was sent me a 5200 lbs axle and paid for the installation. They also sent me new rims since I went from 5 lugs to 6 lugs. I had not told them which tires I had been using. The rims were too wide for my Goodyears and although they would carry the load if I had no water on board, a full load would have been slightly over their max load rating. Also, they were stamped for 6olbs maximum. Without a full 65lbs on the Marathons, my tires' weight bearing capabilities would have decreased slightly.

 

The factory bent over backwards already, so I did some homework and purchased a set of MB 72 15"x6", 6 lug rims from Discount Tire to fit the bill.

 

Pete

 

ps Your case could have been worse . . . that "pop" could have been your ball joint!

[technomadia]

Our Oliver came with Goodyear Marathon Radial ST225/75R15 tires. When a shard of barbed-wire punctured one of them, we had to replace the damaged one with a DynaTrail Radial ST ST225/75R15. Both are Class D load rated.

 

Now the Goodyear is starting to look oddly shaped, and we are looking to replace it ASAP (this week!). The DynaTrail still looks fine, but I want to replace them both with something rock-solid that we can rely on.

 

Unfortunately, it is hard to track down much good info on trailer tires.

 

Any recommendations on tires, and where to buy them? Most tire shops seem to be clueless when it comes to trailers.

 

Continental Tire makes a great & $$$$ 8 and 10 ply truck tire called the Conti! Also, iffen ya'll kin find them, Kumho makes some great, long wearing truck tires in 8 plys (not quite so $$$).

 

These sound interesting - but I've been having trouble tracking them down. The only properly sized Continental Conti tires I have found seem rated for a load capacity significantly lower than our current Class D tires.

 

Tips appreciated. We are about to jet from San Francisco to Florida, and we need to get new shoes for both our truck and trailer before we go.

 

Cheers!

 

- Chris

[tumbleweed]

The Contis and Kumhos are both truck tires and you wont find them under trailer tires. Have Duros (made in China) trailer tires on the Evergreen and they look new after 6k + miles and are readily avail cross country.

Chuck in Torrey, Utah

[technomadia]

The Contis and Kumhos are both truck tires and you wont find them under trailer tires.

 

The Conti and Kumho truck tires I have tracked down in the 225/75R15 size are not rated to carry the Oliver's weight, as best I can tell. To get enough carrying capacity from those truck tires, you would need to get new wheels and go up to 16 inch rims.

 

I wonder - will a 16" wheel even work on the Oliver? I think there is enough clearance...

 

Anyway -- I ordered a pair of Maxxis M8008 ST225/75R15 trailer tires, load range E. They were $148/each at Discount Tire.

 

Cheers!

 

- Chris

[ScubaRx]

Yes, 16 inch wheels will fit onto our Olivers.

 

After our sojourn to California last fall, I was really disappointed with the performance of the tires that Oliver had supplied at the 5200 pound axle upgrade. In only 6000 miles, the curb side tire had worn considerably on the outside. I called the factory with these concerns stating that I felt as if the tires were not heavy duty enough to handle our (very) heavy Oliver. I wanted to get away from the ST tires and get a heavier duty light truck tire but was unable to find one in a 15 inch size. They agreed with the use of the LT's and suggested I go to a 16 inch wheel which would open up a whole new field of possibilities. Since I had hated the wheels that they used with the upgrade from the first day, this gave me an opportunity to also get back the wheels that I wanted. We have a local tire store here in Tupelo that has been in business since 1956. These guys know more about tires than any of us ever will. One of the employees is an old friend and has worked there about 30 years so I asked his advice. He took me back into the warehouse and showed me several different tires explaining the load characteristics of each. I chose the Savero HT Plus, LT 225/75 R16 in blackwall. Each tire is rated for 2680 pounds at 80 psi. It is a 10 ply load range E with a tread-wear rating of 460. We've only put abut 2000 miles on them so far so the jury is still out on their wear profile. I know that at 2000 miles on the previous tires I was concerned that I was seeing the beginnings of problems.

 

They added about an inch to the overall height of the trailer bringing our needed clearance to over nine and a half feet.