I got "Blowmaxed" yesterday. 205/75 R14 Power king STR Towmax junk

[Samuel]

After reading tons of threads about these tires blowing out, I convinced myself that since they are 14 inch they will be ok. Well that was wrong. I lost my left rear on the way home from the Outer Banks yesterday.
The trip is 7 hours one way and she blew 3 hours away from home. I was running 70mph and the ambient temperature per the truck was 95 degrees so the surface temp was up there.

The tires are 205/75R14 and set to 45 psi (50 max cold). The trailer was born in 2013 and I have not logged miles but estimate maybe 4-5k. Tread is good and no sign of any problem.

Trailer has a tore up well and it put a hold on the floor. Also busted a drain pipe. I swapped out to the spare and was able to put a temp repair on the side of the highway.
Limped to a Walmart and had a radial put on for the spare and then patched up the hole a little bit so the now pouring rain damage would be minimal.

Going to try and see if I can get insurance to cover the cost of the repair but if not, I'll will do it myself and will not have a problem again.

Trailer is a 2013 Hartland Pioneer BH25. Dry it is 5k. She was loaded coming home from a 10 day trip. Truck is a 2012 F-250 diesel and when she let go I could only feel a slight bounce then saw the debris in the mirror.

Good luck to all out there that still have these pos tires.


Date code is 4812. So it should be the 48th day in 2012 I would think.


In any case 5 miles over the speed rating, 5 psi lower than max, and 5 year old tire should not be that much of a concern.
If walking a mine field yes but these are DOT approved and if they are that prone to fail I would recommend to all to swap to car radials or something else ASAP and you could potentially save a life.
In my case it would have saved me all of the damage (who knows the cost of this repair now that I have inspected better) and frustration of being hours from home with limited resources and 4 children in the middle of a severe storm.

I wanted to put this out there in case guys like myself are reading, my experience can influence their decision to take preventative actions. I also posted this on iRV as well


Thanks!
Sam

 

[danemayer]

Hi Samuel,

Sorry to hear about the damage to your trailer. There are plenty of posts here and all across the internet about Towmax blowouts. As you noted, most problems have been on heavier trailers with 16" tires.

Some tire experts caution that ST tires have a maximum speed rating of 65 and that we should treat that like a red line on the truck's tachometer.

As you go faster, the tread and belts flex at a higher rate, generating more heat. When you tow faster than 65, you may be generating more internal heat that the tire is capable of shedding. The heat buildup causes damage to the internal fibers. And all of that damage is cumulative, ultimately ending in a failure.

Also, it's a good idea to inflate the tires to the max cold pressure on the sidewall - 50 psi in your case. 45 would be 10% low. If your tire gauge is off a little bit, you could actually be lower than you think. And if you read Goodyear tire publications, you'll find that their engineers consider 20% low as a flat tire, leading to failure. Underinflation also causes more flex, leading to more heat.

Of course given the reputation of Towmax tires, it may be that none of this matters. You'll probably want to replace all the Towmax tires. Whatever you end up with, if they're ST tires, keep speed to 65 and inflate to the max cold pressure on the sidewall.

And 4812 probably means 48th week of 2012.

 

[lynndiwagoner]

Dan, you should be a politician.

 

[avvidclif]

Be very careful as when one tire blows it puts an excessive load on the other tire on the same side causing it to prematurely fail. My son found out the hard way. Blowout, mount spare, and then 10 mi later the other blew out. He then bought 2 new for that side.

 

[berky]

Not all Tomax's are bad. Just replaced my late year 2012 Towmax 225/75-15 D-range tires. After 5 years and 10,000 miles, no bubbles and no tread separation. Only replaced them because the sun's UV was starting to discolor the south-facing sidewalls. Was I just lucky? I don't think so:
- always inflated to 62 PSI cold ( max. inflation is 65 PSI cold)
- never ran over 62 MPH
- trailer on-the-road weight (less tongue weight) is only 2/3 the rating of the four tires. (Thanks Heartland!)

What did I replace the Towmaxs with? Four more Towmaxs. (You did what???). With a good Towmax track record - and Marathons quoted as 75% more - that's made the most sense for me.

 

[kowAlski631]

Good luck. We weren't as fortunate.

 

[WillyBill]

Samuel,

I just went through the blowout/insurance claim routine (not a Blowmax). Allstate paid for the trailer damage less my comprehensive deductible but did not pay for the tire even though it had 95% tread. Be sure to state that the tire was in serviceable shape and that you had kept up with inspections and proper air in them and that you had not clipped any curbs, etc with them, did not see any road hazards but only noticed the tire flat and shedding rubber after looking (as we all do all too frequently) in the rear view mirror. After all I have read here I feel it makes sense and I believe most here will agree - run trailer tires at LEAST one whole load range bigger that the trailer was originally equipped with. It's money well spent and I believe that in the long run will be the cheapest on your wallet. I just changed the Load Range "E: on my triple axle Cyclone to "G's". Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

WillyBill

 

[gbkim]

Samuel,

"I just went through the blowout/insurance claim routine (not a Blowmax). Allstate paid for the trailer damage less my comprehensive deductible but did not pay for the tire even though it had 95% tread. Be sure to state that the tire was in serviceable shape and that you had kept up with inspections and proper air in them and that you had not clipped any curbs, etc with them, did not see any road hazards but only noticed the tire flat and shedding rubber after looking (as we all do all too frequently) in the rear view mirror."

WillyBill

Thanks for the insurance tips.

Gene

 

[JohnD]

I am going from D range to E range later this summer . . .

 

[Lynn1130]

Considering how long trailers sit, in the sun, between uses 5 years is too long to wait to replace tires. This is especially true in very hot climates where road temps can be way above the air temps. Then add to that the curb hits, the potholes, and the severe torque put on them when making sharp turns, backward or forward and 3-4 is my max. I tried to stretch the last set a few months longer because I got the "we really need new tires?" at three years. Luckily it was only a road service call when one blew rather than a damage repair. I doubt that I will hear about buying new tires again