Psa: Look at those trailer tires

[Boog]

I sure am glad tire manufacturers are required to date code vehicle tires now. It's too easy to forget just how old tires are on a rarely used vehicle or trailer. Then you find out just how old they are when one blows out in the middle of nowhere and ripping the fender off or shredding the wheel well.
While the tires on my camper are way deep in tread they are beyond their safe use. We only use it a few times a year and not at all this year, so far. I cleaned up and readied our camper for use a while back including checking the air pressures. I checked them all and added only a little to a couple. Outwardly they looked good, just like last year.
Well last week I noticed what I thought was cracks in one tire down in the tread area. So I squatted down to have a good look and holy moly. The tread was cracking, separating from the belts, splitting open. Only one tire I thought. Yesterday I got more serious and gave them all a good look over. Ya have to get down there a give em a real good look. Ah, check for that date code we've heard about. One from 2013 and three from 2010. No wonder they're coming apart. All 3 from 2010 were coming apart. And they looked so good at a glance. These are steel belted trailer service tires with 8 or 10 ply rating. I dropped them all off at the tire store for some new boots yesterday.
We don't need any tire failures on the road. They never happen in a good place.
Have a look at those date codes now and then and maybe save yourself a headache and unnecessary repair costs.

[Stocker]

Wow! Great advice, Boog. Hard to believe they can go so bad, so quickly. Glad you caught it before it caught you.

A few years ago I finally replaced the last remaining original tire on my K20. It was a nearly bald highway tire, 7.50-16, that was in the spare position when I bought the truck in 1977.
It still held air and the rubber looked good, no cracking or checking.

[GOPAPA]

They say that 95 % of trailer tires are made in China .. the nick name "China Bombs" is floating around a lot these days as the tires are exploding with not so may miles on them ..we need better laws for tire manufactures to go by when making them .. glad you caught the bad tires Boog , my TT tires was bought from a pretty good name business in our area ( Les Swab Tires )and I mean to stop in and ask questions about if they were made in China and if I am to be on the look our for blow outs early on..

[72c20customcamper]

Happened to me picking up my Suburban last year . After the second one blew out I stopped at a tractor supply bought tires on rims . Same deal tires looked good till you looked in the treads

[flashed]

Its not just imported tires you need to look at . About 3 years ago I was gonna drive my Chevelle convertible from Ga to Northern Ohio and while doing an oil change I inspected all 4 tires . My tires (BFG) looked like new on the tread and sidewall but deep in the tread they were dry rotted .

[cwcarpenter98]

My dad's 84 Champion boat trailer had tires from the 90s on it. They looked good, but were starting to crack, so we replaced them. Dry rotted tires are not something to take lightly!

Also, here's a pic of one of the tires that was on my truck when I bought it. I had thrown it in the bed as a "spare" because it was still holding air, but it would have been bad if I needed it on the road The tire was sitting in the sun, so once the pressure built up enough, it split open. Sounded like a gunshot when it happened

[1976gmc20]

The tires on our camper trailer - which hasn't been out of the yard in 10-15 years - are takeoffs from our 77 Suburban which we sold in 2001

So probably from the early 1990s

[Palf70Step]

2 of my friends had blow outs recently. One we were sitting watching a race in the shop when we heard a huge explosion. Turned out was the tire on his 70. Tires date code was very early 2000. Another guy had his spare blow up in the Van spare holder, date code early2003. I decided to look on my DD Dodge and notice a date code of 2nd week of 2004. New tires go on in couple days.

[Sheepdip]

Originally Posted by GOPAPA

They say that 95 % of trailer tires are made in China .. the nick name "China Bombs" is floating around a lot these days as the tires are exploding with not so may miles on them ..we need better laws for tire manufactures to go by when making them .. glad you caught the bad tires Boog , my TT tires was bought from a pretty good name business in our area ( Les Swab Tires )and I mean to stop in and ask questions about if they were made in China and if I am to be on the look our for blow outs early on..

Happened to me, brand new tires first trip out blew one and took the whole wheelwell/side of the trailer out.

[truckster]

The ones that concern me are on my motorhome. They're getting old, and I need to replace them. Six tires at roughly $400 each kinda hurts... but having a blowout on the freeway hurts more.

[Boog]

Motorhome. Oh yeah. Keep good rubber on it. I saw a video of a motorhome that blew a front tire and it ended up rolling in the median. Complete loss.
I was getting our 5th wheel camper ready for a guest to stay in last week and caught a glimpse of dark marks on one of the tires and kneeled down to get a better look and found they were cracks deep in the tread. Almost showing steel belts. This comes after I had already looked the rig over real good a few months ago while getting it ready to take out this year. I didn't pay attention to the date code at that time. I should have. One of those tires would not have made it out of town. I didn't want to pull it to the tire shop so I removed them and took them in the pkup.
Ready to go now though.

[davischevy]

We sold our 2016 motorhome ,with 17,000 miles on the original tires, a month ago. It had a blowout before the buyer got back to his home in Missouri.

It had always been stored in a warehouse out of the sun.

[Boog]

That's is just nuts. UV rays didn't kill them and it certainly wasn't the miles so...
Since my wife was driving out of town most weekends by herself I wanted safe tires on her Yukon and after using Goodyear Wranglers then Cooper Discoverers I put on Michelins this time. It sure is smooth and quiet again. Is there a safer, longer lasting tire than Michelins?

[davischevy]

I don't think you can beat Michelins.

[1976gmc20]

Originally Posted by Boog

... Is there a safer, longer lasting tire than Michelins?

Our Jeep had Michelins on it when we got it five years ago. Dunno how old they were, but the tread looked brand new and the sidewalls were badly cracked. We were just using it locally mostly off pavement so I was determined to wear them down before I replaced them. Then the tire shop wouldn't fix a flat because the tire was so badly cracked; they wouldn't re-install and re-inflate it.

So we replaced them all and about a year later had a flat and ruined the tire. We had paid for the complete warranty but it turned out they didn't have and could no longer get that size anymore. So they did give us four new tires in a larger size but I had to pay for a brand new spare (plus installation/new warranty). The new ones are Starfire brand but I doubt I can ever manage to wear them out before they are out of date or rotted.

I guess the Michelins would be a good deal if you're going to drive the heck out of them, like 20K+ miles per year.

[Redneck Rydes]

Originally Posted by Boog

I sure am glad tire manufacturers are required to date code vehicle tires now. It's too easy to forget just how old tires are on a rarely used vehicle or trailer. Then you find out just how old they are when one blows out in the middle of nowhere and ripping the fender off or shredding the wheel well.
While the tires on my camper are way deep in tread they are beyond their safe use. We only use it a few times a year and not at all this year, so far. I cleaned up and readied our camper for use a while back including checking the air pressures. I checked them all and added only a little to a couple. Outwardly they looked good, just like last year.
Well last week I noticed what I thought was cracks in one tire down in the tread area. So I squatted down to have a good look and holy moly. The tread was cracking, separating from the belts, splitting open. Only one tire I thought. Yesterday I got more serious and gave them all a good look over. Ya have to get down there a give em a real good look. Ah, check for that date code we've heard about. One from 2013 and three from 2010. No wonder they're coming apart. All 3 from 2010 were coming apart. And they looked so good at a glance. These are steel belted trailer service tires with 8 or 10 ply rating. I dropped them all off at the tire store for some new boots yesterday.
We don't need any tire failures on the road. They never happen in a good place.
Have a look at those date codes now and then and maybe save yourself a headache and unnecessary repair costs.

This is what happens when tires sit on dirt or grass,I store all my trailers on boards and cover the tires,I even put my tractor in the garage in the winter when I go away and put them tires on boards even on concrete,good catch though

[truckdude239]

My trailer is a 2010 noticed this year they where wearing funny had no cracks in them i had 2 new ones put on no chances, my honda had some Ironman image 3 tires on them i hated themed noisy and shaked no matter who balanced them i got 34k out them and replaced with Michelins totaly happy with them

[Steeveedee]

There isn't any tire immune from the rot. On my '05 Corolla commuter car which I had outfitted with Michelin tires, just short of five years I took it in because of cracks in two of the tires. I got lucky and only had to pay for the tread I used, but I was told that if I had come in two months later (tires >5 years old) there would have been no warranty. Tires are good for 5 years, TOPS, per the manufacturer. My wife has a '14 KIA Soul that I'm going to take up for tires (CostCo). I'm not asking questions, I'm replacing tires, end of story.

I bought a new set of tires for my truck a couple of years ago. I'm thinking about selling them, wheels and all, at a really attractive price to someone who can drive most of the tread off before they get too old. I'm in that boat where an old tire can be a problem (never mind all the other hazards on the road), and that is an easy one to avoid. I'd also like to avoid losing money, but that's secondary to personal injury or vehicle damage. When I think about this, it reinforces Tim's comments about planned obsolescence. The manufacturers seem to have the formula down on tires turning into toast.

[1976gmc20]

I reckon the tires on my K1500 are pretty old. They were on it when I bought it in 2013 and I suppose weren't too new then. They still have lots of tread.

Not too excited about buying new tires for a firewood/trash pickup that I drive less than 1000 miles per year.

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by 1976gmc20

I reckon the tires on my K1500 are pretty old. They were on it when I bought it in 2013 and I suppose weren't too new then. They still have lots of tread.

Not too excited about buying new tires for a firewood/trash pickup that I drive less than 1000 miles per year.

If you're going too far or too fast, just let them pop when they're ready. That's what I would do, but if it's muddy or snowing, that's probably not a good idea, eh?

[1976gmc20]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

If you're going too far or too fast, just let them pop when they're ready. That's what I would do, but if it's muddy or snowing, that's probably not a good idea, eh?

Besides my property and the neighborhood, only place it goes is 25 miles to the county dump in town, and that's only 15 miles of highway. I usually just drive about 55-60 because the front axles are locked together.

Farthest it's been in 7+ years is to Billings to get a new windshield and that was only ~40 miles because I went the back way: 25 miles of dirt/gravel.

It's muddy or snowing here most of the year. I dunno why the tires would pop at 15-25 mph ???

I want to find a solid axle K/20 to replace this K1500. I suppose new 16" tires could be moved over to another pickup.

[fun in dirt]

Thanks for the idea - I have to write a safety newsletter every 2 weeks & this is a great topic as we have alot of vehicles & trailers here at work.

[special-K]

Ever since tire mfgrs were mandated to put the date of mfgr on tires they make sure their tires won't last any longer than that. I'd rather see quality long lasting materials mandated so you wouldn't have to think about how old your tires are. My friend has a '40 with the original tires still on it. Not a single check, and he bought the bike 45 years ago. When I sold my '71 wrecker about 5 years ago it had the tires I had bought for my '70 CST/30 with utility body on it that I bought in '89, no cracks. I have a utility trailer that I bought new in '97. I just changed the original tires a few years ago because I was concerned with their age. I think they did have some checking started, but still hauled a load. Just got to be worrisome, so I bought new tires. I bought bias-ply so they would wear out before coming apart. They already look pretty far down. Thinking about replacements already. Why buy good tires that give long miles if they become dangerous before they wear out? The original tires were Goodyear. I also bought a couple sizes oversized, just because. It was an old school way of reducing road wear and heat build up, whether effective or not I don't know. Looks cool with taller rubber, though

[1976gmc20]

Why buy good tires that give long miles if they become dangerous before they wear out?

That's my question.

[Palf70Step]

Replaced mine on the daily driver. These tires had maybe 20K on them. This was the least worse of them. All of them had chunks out or popping out as the tires were being dismounted. I guess I was being watched over and caught them in time.

I agree with you on cost. Bought cheapest good tires I have had luck with. I will put more on the Dodge than last owner(37K in 21 years). I've put on 12K in 18 months.

Anyways I feel safer now for a while. Guess I should check the spare closer too. It looks like the original 1998 one.