It seems that there are a couple normal “go-to” responses when an RV owner has a tire problem.
- Post on the internet about just how “bad” the tires are that are made by (fill in the name of a tire company).
- Post on the internet about just how “bad” the tires are that are “Made in China.”
- Declare that they will be buying “12 Ply” or “16 Ply” or “25 Ply” tires that are “strong enough to never fail.”
One thing I have never seen is a declaration that: “I am taking the failed tire to a dealer for XYZ tire company and requesting an inspection and an ‘adjustment’,” if no evidence of road hazard is found.
Note: “Adjustment” in the tire industry means a discount or refund on a replacement tire if a manufacturing error is discovered to have caused the failure.
Overreaction on an RV forum
After posting on one RV forum some steps that I felt, if taken, could result in longer tire life by lowering the Interply Shear Forces, I got this reply:
Sounds like tires should never be used or stored in any configuration other than the “as cured” state or they simply self-destruct. Gonna have to figure out how to make these RVs hovercrafts.
I offered the following:
“A bit of an overreaction.” My advice is intended to offer a series of steps that can be taken to extend the life of the tires rather than actions or inaction that may shorten tire life.
Determining root cause of tire failure
One of the biggest problems is the inability to understand what the real “root cause” of tire failure is. In my opinion, too many simply assume that somehow the ZIP code of the factory where the tires are made is a “cause” for a failure.
Have you read and do you understand “why” trailer tires fail more often than tow vehicle tires—even when both are made in the same country?
Tire pressure monitoring system
A tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS), when properly programmed and used, can essentially eliminate one of the two primary reasons for tire failure.
The failure covered in THIS post could have been avoided if the owner had been using a TPMS that would probably have warned him of the slow leak that started 50 miles earlier.
Having a good level (15% to 25%) of Reserve Load is the second major thing people can do to get a more reasonable tire life. I would expect that tires with at least 15% actual Reserve Load to perform much better than the more normal 0% to 10% overload.
On my Class C I have been running 20% to 25% Reserve Load since 2008 and have had zero failures.
Roger Marble
If you have tire questions, check out Roger’s many posts on RVtravel.com. There are hundreds of posts covering everything to do with tires.
If you still have a question for Roger after searching the above posts, send your inquiries to him using the form below.
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Good point on taking the tire back to the tire shop. I put around 7000 miles per year on my truck and trailer tires. I’ve only had one failure and that was a 2007 inside dually tire on my 2017 truck. I bought the truck used in Tampa from a dealer and didn’t know older tires were installed on the inside duallies. I was towing my 5th wheel in NE Virginia when this occurred. The tire shop who replaced the tire asked for the dealer information. He called that dealer asking them why they sold a 2017 truck with 2007 tires. They claimed they did not inspect the tires for age on any of their used vehicles. Lesson learned: when buying a used vehicle check all tires for age before signing the contract
Low tire pressure is the biggest factor for blown tires. Put the max tire pressure listed on tire and put TPMS on em. Some may disagree but after over 300,000 miles and no blow out I’ll stick to what I’m doing.
When purchasing tires, you should always ask to see the tires being installed, check manufacture date, size, and type of tire. Recently did this and found brand new tire to have defect on inside, good thing I looked
Thank you, Roger! Sadly, you are an actual, trained expert of an area in which there are many self-anointed, untrained “experts.” Thank you for persistently attempting to educate. 🙂 Happy new year and safe travels!
Goodyear not only replaced a faulty tire for my RV they also picked up a $2,200 tab for damage repair to my wheelwell and subflooring. I was lucky that a district rep was in the store when I arrived. He approved the replacement and repair on the spot!
Used to repair tires as a teenager, (1980s) on weekends, at our local gas station. I can not tell you how often we had to tell customers their tire was unsalvageable from a flat. Even to the untrained eye damages were visible.
Also can not tell you how often we were accused of ripping them off, to purchase a new tire. As the dismounted tire and wheel was ultimately their property, we had to relinquish them. I’m sure some other shop patched/plugged that tire and remounted it. I would not, and sometimes lost the customer.