User Cooper's Blowout - 2006-October

Cooper,
So sorry to hear about you blow out! Not a good thing to be on the side of the road changing a tire. I am one of the few who has said that 110lb.'s was too much. I am sure that a lot of others will jump on this real quick but I don't believe that I have read about one blow out at lower pressure.

Ken

Sorry to hear about your blowout. When I stopped by to visit I didn't notice what tires you had, but I assume that they were Trail America. Have you weighed your coach to see what it actually weighs? If you're traveling light, or somewhat under gvwr, you may be OK with 90 psi. At 90 psi with that tire you should be good for 3300 lbs of load per tire, assuming that your load is balanced on all four wheels. Not likely that it is balanced, street side is probably heavier. Most scales can only weigh your axles as a group, rather than each wheel, so you would need some allowance for the imbalance. I don't recall posts concerning inflation pressure with blowouts on the forum, maybe I just missed them. What was actually damaged on the coach? Sounds like a catastrophic failure of the tire, guess there is not much to look at there.

Guy's look at my post on safety items under aluminum rims and tires. these kind of events are unexceptible. Heartland thinks they are because of the statistics that they are aware of. Please report your event to the NTSB web site. Before somebody really gets hurt or worst. Blown tires or rims are a problem with these trailors no matter what Scott 0r his heartland statistics suggest. Just look in this formam under Bighorn or Landmark. Am I disgruntiled you bet I am . My trailor is one year old and it has been in the shop more then in my yard or what it was intended for an that is camping. I have never been more discussed with a product then I have with this trailor. It has caused problems with my wife and myself and has made camping a thing that used to be fun into a problem of what problems are we going to have this time.. The fun is gone until I get rid of this albatross. This is my third trailor and what a mistake I made by not buying the MONTANA.

bighorn3600,

It is most unfortunate that you have not had the use of your Bighorn that you should have. And I hope that soon, it will be in shape enough for you to gain some enjoyment from it before you move on from it – if that is your plan.

The tire and rim problems we've seen people have here on this forum and others on other forums is scary - without a doubt. I myself have had 3 flats (no blowouts) this year - two from road hazards and one that I can't determine the cause.

Whether you, I or all of us need to contact the NTSB to log or open a case on tire and wheel issues we've had is something I am unsure of. For my 2 flats caused by road hazards, I don't see how the tire or wheel manufacturer can be blamed and I am certain these two incidents do not require being flagged to the Feds.

Real defects with tires and wheels that caused them to fail are certainly serious matters. Here again, "to NTSB or not" is not my call. I for one would certainly work vigorously with the tire and/or wheel manufacturer/supplier to ascertain the root cause of the failure and to seek compensation for replacements and damage.

I am sorry that you are disgruntled with your trailer based on the issues you have had and collateral issues they have caused your family. And I can understand why, based on your explanations in this thread and in others. At this time however, I respectfully ask you to refrain from additional comments about how you feel about your trailer. Your point has been well made more than once and this community is very clear on it. No need to belabor it - please.

That said, in no way do I mean to deny your feelings about your trailer or take away from the significance of it. I am only saying, please do not elaborate on it any more on this forum. There are many other forums out there to do that on if later, you feel you need to vent more on it.

Thank you for understanding.

Jim Beletti
Admin/Owner
Heartland Owners Forum

Jim
Very well said.
Yes we have have a flat, From a screw in the tire. Found it before we hit the road. The kids at Wallmart said they would not fix it so took it to a proper tire shop who fixed it properly.
Rand

Rand,

By having 3 flats in one season and none of them being blowouts, I am counting my blessings and trying to be even more vigilant when it comes to monitoring pressure and inspecting the tires visually. What Clark found on his dually (cracks in sidewall) is a scary reminder that it's not just loading and tire pressure we need to focus on but visual checks as well. I know many, many users here already have great safety practices they follow. And mine are getting more rigorous as well.

Similar to you, I had a large nail penetrate a tire in the center of the tread. It was repairable. The next flat was caused by a sidewall puncture from something picked up on I-90 outside of the Wisconsin Dells area. I have high hopes for my new Goodyear Unisteels. Hope I am not let down.

Travel safe Rand!

Jim

Jim There will be no new postings from me on this formum. I will just enjoy reading the other postings

Thanks

bighorn3600,

That's your call. Either way, I understand and I wish you all the best.

Jim

First of all I think my Golden Gate is great and would buy another.
I think the tires we have on our rv's or bad quality, but I cannot prove its the tires fault. I found all of the tire and did not find any punctures so I consider it a bad tire and possible to much air pressure @ 110. I have always ran 90PSI and have never had a problem.
I will have to replace tire, wheel, fender flair, the panel in front of the tire, the furnace door, the waste hose housing and waste pipe and repair damage to the panel above the fender flair. Most of the area around the wheel opening will have to be repaired.
But thats part of the adventure of RVing.

Cooper,

Since you have the carcass and as much of the rest of the tire as you could find, I think you're in a good position to work with the tire Mfr on a claim. Search for your brand in the 5er section of RV.net and you're sure to find a phone number to get you started. Best of luck.

Jim

Having a blowout really scares me. I am wondering what speed people usually pull their trailers and what speed they were going when they had the blowouts.

If I remember correct, the company that weighed our trailers at the rally told us the Road Boss tires we have on our Grand Canyon should not be pulled over 65 mph.

Hi J-WE;

Jim, I usually pull my Grand Canyon at 60 mph. I carry 110 pounds in all four. I also have the Doran Pressure Pro. At this point in time, I have over 10,000 miles on my Trail Americas. After having the trailer weighed at the Rally last year and working to get it balanced as much as possible, I'm comfortable with this set up. I agree, that it may not be for everybody, but with the weight I'm carrying, it has worked for me, so far.

Hope to see you at the Rally in 2007,

John

Hi All,
Just another reminder for everyone to keep a check on tire scuffing on the inside of all your tires. Mine have a slight scuff on them that happens during sharp turns which Scott said was normal. Don't know weather that is true but I am keeping a close eye on this issue. It may be that some are rubbing too much and causing it to blow out.

Ken

Jim the ST tires that are put on trailers are only rated for 65 milers per hour. The LT tires for light trucks are are rated for higher speeds. I keep my tires inflated to 100 pounds, look at them at each stop and check tire pressure most of the time before I leave a campground or storage area. I travel around 62 mph which is 2000 rpms on my tach.

I do have the complete casing is there a lawsuite going on on these tires.
I was driving around 65 or less and 110 psi per tire. The front drivers side blowed out so no scuffing. Now if it was a rear tire I would worry about scuffing. I finally got the estimate $4,200.00 after a week of waiting.
Man I need another vacation.

Copper,
If you get time, would you please post some pictures and maybe that will encourage us to check our tires more often.

Ken

Makes a set of Michelin replacement tires look cheap. Sorry to hear of your bad luck.

fireflipper

To Cooper
Just a quick note about your blowout. I know several people who have experiecned this type of failure, any way I am sorry to hear aobut yours. I myself have had rim failures, 2 with the steel rims and 2 with the aluminum. In all cases the manufacuter replaced the rims and stated that it was a default. After the second aluminum failure the distributor replaced all four rims again, with a different manufacturer. That was a year ago and so far, knock on wood, no problems. Check with the tire manufactuer, they may reimburse you for the damage and repair to your Golden Gate, and maybe replace the tires. Just make sure you keep the blow out for them to inspect.

Good Luck

I have tried to pull up Travel America tires but have not been successful.
But I have not give up yet.

Cooper, if yours are like mine, it is Trail America. Little info on the web.