Tires and tire rotation

[diddlyv]

It is time to once again replace my Elkridge 292 Extreme Lite trailer tires. I am planning on gettting Goodyear Endurance ST 225/75 R 15 E1 tires. The spare which has been on the ground for all of 15 miles is 6 years old and will probably replace that also. Now for the question. Should I include the spare in the rotation cycle. The spare is a steel vs alloy wheel. I can live with the difference in looks if it means I actually get to wear out the spare rather than discarding a tire that has never been on the ground due to age of tire.

 

[taskswap]

I never have but always swear I will. Maybe this year I'll start. For me it's not just the tire life. I'm lucky to get 2 years out of a set of tires - we travel a lot. It's just that you want to know your spare is actually good when you need it. On the very first trailer I ever bought, I bought it used. The spare had never been used. We blew a tire in the first month and blew the spare within the first hour after putting it on. Dry rot.

If you're going to rotate your tires, it seems to me rotating the spare through is a good opportunity to inspect it and make sure it's ready when you need it...

 

[TrailCreek]

Don't forget to have TPMS on the spare and your truck spare. Flat spare tire sucks.

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[sengli]

I guess thats up to you. I never rotate the tires on the RV. Ours, unlike many others here doesnt get very many road miles. Its just too much a pain to even think about getting the spare down from the BAL rack under our rig. I get the fact you feel like your throwing money away on a spare that never seen the ground, but I also fall into that bucket.

 

[TrailCreek]

If they are 5 years old, miles are not the issue. 2 of my 5 year old Sailuns blew at less than 10,000 miles.

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[FL-JOE]

If they are 5 years old, miles are not the issue. 2 of my 5 year old Sailuns blew at less than 10,000 miles.

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Looks like some pretty good damage. Are you running a TPMS? Have you weighed your RV and set the psi accordingly?

 

[TrailCreek]

Yes, yes, yes. TPMS was fine until I heard the pops. 130's psi +‐, 130's temps in upper 90's weather. High, but within range. Just wasn't aware of the 5 year rule. Had 2 days of 40+mph side winds and the Coop Tire manager said that and being beyond safe age was likely the cause. We were heavy, but within limits. Ran through the scales on our way out of town.

As a past RV tech / service manager / manufacturing manager I should have known. I pulled many new units from the factory to the lot, but they were all new. Although I fixed the electrical damage, overall it will likely be over $5,000 (both sides rear tires blew the same day with similar damage). Two stinking claims, two stinking deductables. Since it has full body paint, I can't fix the J-trim and wheel trim myself.

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[TrailCreek]

AND, I will be changing all 5 every 4.5 years or sooner, based on wear from now on. I can buy 3 sets for what this day cost, not to mention being full time and the time needed to repair much of it at the dealer, we'll have to move out for ?? weeks!

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[LBR]

Yes, yes, yes. TPMS was fine until I heard the pops. 130's psi +‐, 130's temps in upper 90's weather. High, but within range. Just wasn't aware of the 5 year rule. Had 2 days of 40+mph side winds and the Coop Tire manager said that and being beyond safe age was likely the cause. We were heavy, but within limits. Ran through the scales on our way out of town.

As a past RV tech / service manager / manufacturing manager I should have known. I pulled many new units from the factory to the lot, but they were all new. Although I fixed the electrical damage, overall it will likely be over $5,000 (both sides rear tires blew the same day with similar damage). Two stinking claims, two stinking deductables. Since it has full body paint, I can't fix the J-trim and wheel trim myself.

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Out of curiously, had you checked all of your tire dates... especially those that had blown?

We bought our factory-order 2017 CY tri-axle trailer in October 2016. After it's delivery to Oregon and when we did our PDI to accept it, I checked all 6 date codes. 5 were the same week and 1 was a couple weeks older than the 5...but all were in the 2 month old (August 2016) range, so all was good. They are 5 yr and 3 month old now, and I'll be replacing them this next summer....fingers crossed they can make that date! Some say 5 yr, some say 6...but 6 years is the max for sure.

I can't remember if it was a thread on this site or an FB page, that someone reported that an unscrupulous dealership have taken delivery of their trailer, then swapped out the factory fresh tires for much older, dated ones.

Sorry for your damage and having to deal with moving out temporarily for service repair. We full time also and can't imagine having to displace our pets and belongings for such a necessary time.

 

[TrailCreek]

They were all Sailun manufactured in October 2016, if I remember correctly. Unit is a 2017 delivered in January, ordered at the 2016 Tampa show and fresh from the factory.

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[TrailCreek]

What's the difference between 5 or 6 years? For us it was bad news.

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[david-steph2018]

All of our tires are 2417 date. Next year before we leave Goodyear to head north I am thinking on replacing all 6 of our tires. That will make the tires around 5 years old, so I figure to play it at the 5 year mark for tires.

 

[TrailCreek]

Spare?. If not at the same time, when? If you wait until the next replacement cycle, the spare is 10 years old. If you put it on the ground at 7,8 or 9 years old, how safe will that be? I know I'm jaded on this topic, but risk/reward for me is too high. Once bitten....

Chad and Tara from Changing Lanes put out a great YouTube video on this very issue. https://changinglanesrv.us18.list-m...52e82a529faa798569&id=3c01465f15&e=a8d73a68ef


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[cookie]

Being as chea....uh I mean thrifty as I am it goes against the grain to replace the spare every time I replace tires.
But as much as it hurts I replace the spare when replacing the tires.
I just replace the five tires a couple months ago.

Peace
Dave

 

[TrailCreek]

After two blowouts, August 13th, yep a Friday and an hour after getting back on the road between them, we hit the closest RV park and changed everything, including ditching internal Ford TPMS. I was quick to stop but no clue from Ford. Now using TST pass through and they have been great.

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[FL-JOE]

Been full timing for awhile now, 3 different fivers, one gas coach, and a 43' tag axle DP. I have used the same TST system since 2011 and have never had a blow out or a "regular" flat tire. I have had two different valve stem failures which the TPMS gave the audible alarm for and allowed me to safely pull over.

I have always weighed my rigs loaded and set the psi in my tires according to the manufacturer's charts. When driving/towing in hot temps I keep an eye on the psi and tire temps and if they start getting too high I'll back off the throttle some. Almost all good quality tires, unless grossly overloaded, won't blow unless they get up close to 160 degrees.

Every year as we travel around there are not very many days, especially out west, that we don't pass an RV on the side of the road with a blown tire. I think 90% of those poor souls are overloaded and are running way too fast. Just my personal observation.

 

[diddlyv]

Might be helpful to tell the tire shop to mount the tires with the born on date visible. Think mine all face in the f****rs