Tire blowouts on single axle trailers

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Dave Walter

A few years ago, I was following a truck pulling an obviously overloaded flatbed trailer (precast concrete pipes) in my small town. While the trailer was making a sharp turn in front of me, three of the trailer tires popped (from scrubbing?) one after the other, with the sound of the blowouts sounding like rifle shots and scaring the crap out of me and my son. I had never seen anything like that before.

That would have been alarming!

It likely resulted from the lateral distortion (rather than the scrubbing) of the sharp turn while under excessive load. The fighting of tires on one axle against those on the other axle is hard on tire sidewalls to the extent that they have traction, and hard on tire treads to the extent that they scrub.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I recently talked with the couple that split their delivery with mine for my 2014 Escape, they were thinking of upgrading but when discussing with them what they need to do I found out they still had the original 2013 tires. Some people do not realize how lucky they can be.....

Despite the widespread paranoia, 7-year-old tires are not a reason for concern... except by people who profit from selling replacement tires. If those tires were not abused, not worn out, and visibly suffering from damage due to exposure, there would have been no reason to rush to replace them. Few of the vehicles that I have owned have used a set of tires for less than 7 years; I last had a tire failure in the early 1990's (and it was due to puncture by an object on the road).

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by emers382

Carl that's not quite true since it costs nothing to GO to PEI either bridge or ferry but you pay to leave

Leaving sometime after arriving is implied. I never intended to stay on PEI for the remainder of my days!

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

I find it interesting how many people are convinced that they need two tires on each side of the trailer for reliability, but are perfectly happy with only one tire at each corner of the tow vehicle... there's no demand for tandem truck axles, or even dual wheels. Front tires are always singles and except in very rare cases there is only one front axle, so should we all live in fear of a front tire failure? In commercial trucks, tandem axles are used even in the rear only when the axle load exceeds what is allowed for one axle (about ten tons).

Trailer tires are more likely to fail than motor vehicle tire, due to low quality of construction, overloading, underinflation, and being smashed into curbs. On the other hand, I've never having had a flat on any trailer, and seeing that people who do have tire failures on single-axle trailers typically have no problem handling them, this is a redundancy that has little value to me.

Also, when one tire fails on a tandem-axle trailer, the other one on that side is then overloaded, and can be expected to fail as well (although later, when you're not expecting it).

All good points, Brian. When I had a Scamp 19, I envisioned, maybe unnecessarily, that a blowout could result in trailer damage as well as damage to the bed of the truck due to the relatively small clearance between the loft and the bed rails. Actually, like you have not had any flats or blowouts on any of my trailers, but have had tow vehicle tires pick up nails or other pointed items.

Originally Posted by gbaglo

To add, if a tandem tire fails and you don't notice it immediately, the shredded tire can pulverize the wheel well.

That’s why I am a proponent of TPMS.

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Also true in Canada: there isn't a single toll road required to cross Canada coast-to-coast (but of course it takes a ferry to get to islands off the coasts). I think people who live in areas where toll roads are common worry more about those tolls than the rest of us, perhaps not realizing that most areas don't have any toll roads or bridges. Even in the Vancouver BC area, only some of the bridges had tolls, and even those tolls have since been removed.

The Confederation Bridge tolls only add $8.25 per axle, but the two-axle tow vehicle is $48.50 to start with, so I agree that whether the added trailer is single axle ($56.75 total) or tandem ($65.00 total) doesn't matter much. If your trip unfortunately has you leaving Prince Edward Island by ferry (which is substantially more expensive than the bridge), then the ferry fare presumably depends on overall vehicle combination length, regardless of the number of axles.

Agreed, a few more dollars doesn’t matter much in the overall scheme of things. Actually, I didn’t mind the $65 toll coming off of PEI. But I did find the approximate $125 (US), $155 (CA) fee to bypass Toronto a bit excessive. And I avoid ferries whenever possible. I don’t like boats!

[emers382]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

the GG Bridge is an extreme case, tolls are southbound (into SF from Marin) only...

2-axles (car, pickup truck) - $7.35
3 axles (tug + single axle trailer) - $22.05
4 axles (tug + dual axle trailer) - $29.40

those are all the discounted 'fastrak' prices.

That's why John when we went to our daughter's wedding in PG (stayed overnight in your town on way from SF) and later spend three days in SF we toured going north on the GG bridge but returned around the bay through Oakland and the toll into SF was very reasonable.

[arniesea]

Originally Posted by emers382

Carl that's not quite true since it costs nothing to GO to PEI either bridge or ferry but you pay to leave

That is the opposite of the system used with the Washington State Ferries. It costs to get on the islands but you can leave for free. The residents don't want you trapped on their islands!

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by arniesea

That is the opposite of the system used with the Washington State Ferries. It costs to get on the islands but you can leave for free. The residents don't want you trapped on their islands!

Can’t imagine why.

[rubicon327]

The blowout issue aside I just like the look of the dual axle trailers. Especially with the aluminum rims.

[Micheal K]

All other things being equal, tandem axles supposedly resist sway and track better than a single axle. The fellow at ETI also mentioned this when I picked up our trailer. It certainly turned out to be true that our 19 tows better than our previous single axle trailer, but my sample size is only one of each.

Nevertheless, I would still have prefered a single axle 19 for better maneuverability, lower weight, less maintenance (bearings and brakes), and fewer tires to replace.

[Nindy]

If you searched, you probably found my 17B blowout which was not alarming and a very controlled stop. To answer your other questions I was probably going something between 60 and 67 and had a WDH. Having excess weight on the other tire was a moot point because when I stopped to air up the spare after it was put on, the other tire had a nail in it and was leaking.

[Escape Plan]

Originally Posted by MarGreen

We were safe and didn't lose control or anything, but the blown tire made a hole in the fiberglass underneath and a lot of black marks.

How does one fix holes in the fiberglass wheel wells when a tire blows out? What's the best way to fix something like that when it happens?


James

[tractors1]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Despite the widespread paranoia, 7-year-old tires are not a reason for concern... except by people who profit from selling replacement tires. If those tires were not abused, not worn out, and visibly suffering from damage due to exposure, there would have been no reason to rush to replace them. Few of the vehicles that I have owned have used a set of tires for less than 7 years; I last had a tire failure in the early 1990's (and it was due to puncture by an object on the road).

Agree. I run a TPMS on my trailers, and they're stored indoors. See maybe 6 weeks of direct sun per year. I've run my tires out to 10 years with zero problems.

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by Escape Plan

How does one fix holes in the fiberglass wheel wells when a tire blows out? What's the best way to fix something like that when it happens?


James

It’s fiberglass repair work. It’s done to boats, some fiberglassed body cars and other fiberglass accessories. We repaired fiberglass picnic tables, playground equipment, disc golf goals etc. when I worked in public parks and recreation. We used the cloth and resin and laid up the repair.
It can be done if necessary, rest assured.
Iowa Dave

[padlin]

Originally Posted by Escape Plan

How does one fix holes in the fiberglass wheel wells when a tire blows out? What's the best way to fix something like that when it happens?


James

I'd take mine to a boat repair shop if I didn't want to do it myself.

I had a blow out o. the highway a few years back on my 2 axle trailer, it did no damage so damage is not a given.

[75thRanger]

Originally Posted by holo

Our 17B had a blowout on a four lane highway going about 55 mph with a wdh.There was no control issue. We noticed a rumbling sound and a thumping noise. The tire was shredded and left marks in the wheel well and side.
We pulled over, called Good Sam roadside assistance, waited 45 minutes. No help arrived but a local told us of a tire shop about 3/4 mile up the hill. I did not feel comfortable changing it myself with narrow shoulder and an uphill situation. We limped in. Got a repair. The rim was scratched but the tire guy said it was good enough for the spare.
Lessons learned....get new tires before they are five years old. We discovered the other tire sidewall was also showing cracks. Inspect tires more carefully before each drive. Find a better roadside assistance company.

Has anyone used AAA for roadside assistance? Any suggestions or experiences with other outfits?

I've had occasion to use my Good Sam 4 times. All were prompt and Got the job done.

[fudge_brownie]

Originally Posted by tractors1

Agree. I run a TPMS on my trailers, and they're stored indoors. See maybe 6 weeks of direct sun per year. I've run my tires out to 10 years with zero problems.

You have touched on a topic that has numerous opinions.How long do trailer tires last ? I thought it worth a mention that there are numerous "experts" that recommend replacement after six(6) years. So tires have a range of years that they should be replaced, there are many variables that go into that decision, as an owner you need to make a decision that is best for you.

[Iowa Dave]

I’ve never had Escape tires “age out”. My solution is to keep the trailer rolling so they have about 4/32 tread at about three years. Then we get new ones. I rotate them myself about every 8 to 10 thousand miles. I thought I’d be ok (on the set I have on the 21 now) and maybe change out after the 5,000 mile Osoyoos trip and any other spring rallies and trips. But she’s still setting in the barn and I would predict mid summer next year at about 42,000 and 4 years.
My utility trailer has the same size tires as the Escape and doesn’t roll 500 miles a year so when it needs tires, I have a, “I’ll probably never run out” source. Of course you have to have a little storage and pay for the mounting. I make an occasional trip to our county landfill. Their tire recycle pile cost is $2.00 per tire. Back when I was working, a lot of my seasonal personnel appreciated it when I’d drop off used tires that were considerably better than what they were running. Two guys got into an argument over who got the Michelin’s when Smitty gets new ones. Win win
Iowa Dave