Towmax blowout 2 days ago

[jnbhobe]

Buy Sailuns, they are the best tire going for trailers right now.

 

[1_oldgoat]

Fastcarsspeed, we replaced the towmax tires with westlakes, same rateings as the goodyear g614's for about half the price, so far so good, just make sure your wheels and valve stems are rated for 110psi, i looked for sailun tires but could not find any from.local tire dealerships and would have had to order a set, with a blown towmax and no spare on the trailer, we couldn't wait, i didn't dare go any further after heariing of others having another tire failure within a few miles after the first blowout, i really think any 14 ply tire with a g rateing will be better than the towmax tires for sure.....just be safe and replace them whatever you do, its not worth taking a chance using the towmax set on your trailer.

 

[fastcarsspeed]

Thanks. I think I am going to keep looking for a nice set of LT truck tires to order. I am taking the trailer in for inspection tomorrow for MD and going to ask them to look the tires over very well. I only have a couple semi local trips planned so I am going to just take it easy and see if I can hold of for a month.

 

[tireman9]

Thanks. I think I am going to keep looking for a nice set of LT truck tires to order. I am taking the trailer in for inspection tomorrow for MD and going to ask them to look the tires over very well. I only have a couple semi local trips planned so I am going to just take it easy and see if I can hold of for a month.

If considering a change from ST type to LT type be sure to note that you will need to go up in size and/or Load Range (ply rating). Also you should not exceed the max psi rating of your wheels. If you go up in Load Range you must run the higher pressure to gain the increased capacity. It is the air that carries the load not the tire.

 

[jakoenig1]

If considering a change from ST type to LT type be sure to note that you will need to go up in size and/or Load Range (ply rating). Also you should not exceed the max psi rating of your wheels. If you go up in Load Range you must run the higher pressure to gain the increased capacity. It is the air that carries the load not the tire.

It is difficult to go up in size on some fifth wheels with shocks. I put LT245/75R16's on my 40 ft fifth wheel. This is 10 mm wider (.2 inch per side) than the stock 235's. I only had about 3/8 inch clearance to the shocks with the 245's. I wanted to go to 265's for the added safety factor but I would have been down to 1/8 inch clearance which I considered too low. I ran my trailer over the scales fully loaded and the combined axle weight was 11,240 lbs, 2,810 per tire. The LT245 Michelins are rated at 3,086 lbs. I would like to know the load rating if the speed rating was dropped to 62 MPH like ST tires. I wouldn't doubt that the Michelins would be rated at 3500 lbs (or more) at 62 MPH. I have been unable to find a chart showing the interaction between speed rating and load rating. I think LT's are rated at 106 MPH with rated load.

 

[1_oldgoat]

Found this interesting, supposedly the towmax tires can be ran at higher speeds if the max cold pressure of 80 psi is increased by 10 psi, so driving at 75 from 65 will not hurt the tire, i wouldn't recommend doing this and know the towmax tires are not safe at any speed, just thought this was some decent information on st type tires, i looked at speed ratings but could only find info on auto tires, nothing on trailer tires as far as load and speed ratings were concerned.

 

[TravelTiger]

View attachment 51959

Found this interesting, supposedly the towmax tires can be ran at higher speeds if the max cold pressure of 80 psi is increased by 10 psi, so driving at 75 from 65 will not hurt the tire, i wouldn't recommend doing this and know the towmax tires are not safe at any speed, just thought this was some decent information on st type tires, i looked at speed ratings but could only find info on auto tires, nothing on trailer tires as far as load and speed ratings were concerned.

Yep, just more air to blow out ... I guess you'll get more "bang" for your buck!


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[danemayer]

View attachment 51959

Found this interesting, supposedly the towmax tires can be ran at higher speeds if the max cold pressure of 80 psi is increased by 10 psi, so driving at 75 from 65 will not hurt the tire, i wouldn't recommend doing this and know the towmax tires are not safe at any speed, just thought this was some decent information on st type tires, i looked at speed ratings but could only find info on auto tires, nothing on trailer tires as far as load and speed ratings were concerned.

I'd be surprised if the author of this information will provide assistance if you have a blowout at 75 mph.

 

[mlpeloquin]

View attachment 51959

Found this interesting, supposedly the towmax tires can be ran at higher speeds if the max cold pressure of 80 psi is increased by 10 psi, so driving at 75 from 65 will not hurt the tire, i wouldn't recommend doing this and know the towmax tires are not safe at any speed, just thought this was some decent information on st type tires, i looked at speed ratings but could only find info on auto tires, nothing on trailer tires as far as load and speed ratings were concerned.

I wish I kept the original, I think from DOT but I could be wrong about the source, that ST radial tires can be used at 75 mph by increasing the cold inflation pressure by ten psi and reducing the load capacity by 10%. That is reducing to 10% below the maximum rated load for the tire. This was not a "or" but an "and" statement. As far as Towmax, I think it would not matter.

 

[tireman9]

It is difficult to go up in size on some fifth wheels with shocks. I put LT245/75R16's on my 40 ft fifth wheel. This is 10 mm wider (.2 inch per side) than the stock 235's. I only had about 3/8 inch clearance to the shocks with the 245's. I wanted to go to 265's for the added safety factor but I would have been down to 1/8 inch clearance which I considered too low. I ran my trailer over the scales fully loaded and the combined axle weight was 11,240 lbs, 2,810 per tire. The LT245 Michelins are rated at 3,086 lbs. I would like to know the load rating if the speed rating was dropped to 62 MPH like ST tires. I wouldn't doubt that the Michelins would be rated at 3500 lbs (or more) at 62 MPH. I have been unable to find a chart showing the interaction between speed rating and load rating. I think LT's are rated at 106 MPH with rated load.

Sorry but there no recognized adjustment of increasing load capacity by running lower speed on LT or ST type tires. Not sure where the 62 mph cane from as most ST type tires made prior to 2016 were rated for a max of 65.

The adjustment for running up to 75 with a +10 psi was covered in a Goodyear Tech bulletin so obviously would only apply to GY tires and a similar bullitin that would only apply to Towmax tires..

You might also like to review THIS post on speed rating adjustments.

- - - Updated - - -

View attachment 51959

Found this interesting, supposedly the towmax tires can be ran at higher speeds if the max cold pressure of 80 psi is increased by 10 psi, so driving at 75 from 65 will not hurt the tire, i wouldn't recommend doing this and know the towmax tires are not safe at any speed, just thought this was some decent information on st type tires, i looked at speed ratings but could only find info on auto tires, nothing on trailer tires as far as load and speed ratings were concerned.

There are other items to consider. Valves and max pressure rating of the wheel that could prevent you from increasing the pressure.

 

[fastcarsspeed]

Had my first hand experience with a Blowmax today coming home from Cape May NJ. Funny thing we were lucky to be in some traffic when it let go so we were only doing 15 mph probably. Pulled over and changed it out with the spare which of course is a blowmax. Got the rig home and now looking for tires. Was hoping to make one more regional trip before having to do this but no go.

 

[tireman9]

Had my first hand experience with a Blowmax today coming home from Cape May NJ. Funny thing we were lucky to be in some traffic when it let go so we were only doing 15 mph probably. Pulled over and changed it out with the spare which of course is a blowmax. Got the rig home and now looking for tires. Was hoping to make one more regional trip before having to do this but no go.

Any chance you can provide a couple pictures to help us understand if the failure was a belt/tread separation or a sidewall flex failure due to air loss?

 

[fastcarsspeed]

Here are a couple of photos of the tire. Don't think my Tire Warranty is going to cover this but it is worth a shot. ordering replacement tires this week.

 

[terribruce]

Wow!! We've had the same experience from them China bombs too. We were traveling to Montana, went to a Les Schwab and they took them back under warranty. After the trip and back home we changed them all out.

Safe travels!

Terri

 

[tireman9]

Here are a couple of photos of the tire. Don't think my Tire Warranty is going to cover this but it is worth a shot. ordering replacement tires this week.

I would classify the failure as a Belt Separation. This should be covered by the tire company as this is not a run low flex failure but is caused by a weakness in the tire construction either by design or manufacturing.

In addition to seeking a replacement I suggest you file a complaint with NHTSA. You will need the full DOT serial. You are welcome to say you had a tire engineer look at the photos and gave his opinion that the failure was a belt separation.

 

[Charlie263]

How can you tell a trailer with Blowmax tires on them?

They look like this on the side of the road...

I had the same thing happen on a long trip to Disney on I-75. One swollen up like a balloon and we stopped before it blew , thanks to a friendly motorist. I had to let air out of it to get it off. On the way back, no such luck , tire blew and did $2500 worth of damage to my trailer. When I got home , went and got a new set of tires. Tire dealer told me that towmax tires are actually not bad tires. Problem is that the tires on my torque 380 triple axle were actually two ply tires. He said towing host much weight, he suggested a 10 ply tire. Haven't had any problems so far. Towmax wouldn't even do anything but buy me a tire. Such pals.


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[TheWade2]

We had a TowMax blow out. Took out the fender and a whole lot more. Put a spare on with the help of Good Sam and headed straight to Les Schwab. In checking the tires, they found another tire all ready to blow. We bought and had installed two new tires. Got home and bought 3 more, which included the spare. We fixed/repaired the damage to the RV. The morale of the story, don't use TowMax tires!

 

[tireman9]

I had the same thing happen on a long trip to Disney on I-75. One swollen up like a balloon and we stopped before it blew , thanks to a friendly motorist. I had to let air out of it to get it off. On the way back, no such luck , tire blew and did $2500 worth of damage to my trailer. When I got home , went and got a new set of tires. Tire dealer told me that towmax tires are actually not bad tires. Problem is that the tires on my torque 380 triple axle were actually two ply tires. He said towing host much weight, he suggested a 10 ply tire. Haven't had any problems so far. Towmax wouldn't even do anything but buy me a tire. Such pals.


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Have you ever done a thorough "free spin" inspection as I outlined in my RV Tire Blog? Have you filed a complaint for every tire failure to NHTSA?

The number of actual ply is not a meaningful measure of tire quality. Would you claim that all the 22.5" tires on Class-A RVs are even worse since they only have one ply body?

RE "10 ply" tires. Have you actually read the construction information on the tire sidewall?

What does your trailer weigh? What size and Load Range tire was it that failed? What inflation was showing on your TPMS just prior to the failures?

 

[paleclaire]

Read enough and looked at enough pictures in this forum. Ordered 4 new rims and Goodyear G114s. Peace of mind for 7 years.


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[Gary521]

I had the same thing happen on a long trip to Disney on I-75. One swollen up like a balloon and we stopped before it blew , thanks to a friendly motorist. I had to let air out of it to get it off. On the way back, no such luck , tire blew and did $2500 worth of damage to my trailer. When I got home , went and got a new set of tires. Tire dealer told me that towmax tires are actually not bad tires. Problem is that the tires on my torque 380 triple axle were actually two ply tires. He said towing host much weight, he suggested a 10 ply tire. Haven't had any problems so far. Towmax wouldn't even do anything but buy me a tire. Such pals.


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This is a good lesson, never listen to the tire man at the counter.