[Vintage-race] Trailer tires

[mhkitchen at aol.com]

All:



Interesting discussion and timely as I just had a trailer tire blow-out
yesterday! B  One of three remaining original Carlisle tires on my 2000 Carson
trailer let go on HWY 101 near Gonzales CA in 100 deg heat. B It definitely
delaminated as the tread is still mostly intact, but definitely separating
from the tire body. Of course, these tires are at least 8 years old, but have
little tread wear on them, and not that many miles (although one other blew
out about 5 years ago).




These are on a 20ft enclosed trailer, and it was hauling a Mini at the time
(estimate about 5,000 lb GVW). B  With no spare, I took off the blown tire and
wheel and I managed to stuff a 4 X 4 block between the spring perch and the
frame to keep the front axle off the ground. B I pumped up the remaining tire
on that side to 60 psi, and then limped home at 45MPH on the 3 remaining
wheels the remaining 70 miles (convinced me to also buy a spare for this
thing). B 




Taking the weight off the wheels is probably a good idea if you don't tow it
often. B I also wonder as that side of the trailer gets more daily sun, and
perhaps those tires are getting too much UV exposure? B Perhaps tire covers
are also a good idea if you don't drive a lot?




Most of these tires are all made in China now, which also causes some
concerns. B Anyone have any tire brand/model recommendations here?




Regards,

Myles H. Kitchen

1965 Lotus Cortina Mk1 #1280A



-----Original Message-----
From: John Caffrey <jdc6 at Lehigh.EDU>
To: Elton E. (Tony) Clark <eltonclark at gmail.com>
Cc: John.Desantis at inficon.com; vintage-race at autox.team.net
Sent: Thu, 2 Oct 2008 8:25 am
Subject: Re: [Vintage-race] Trailer tires








Over a 6 year span I destroyed 4 tandem fiberglass fenders on my 18"
Pace American because of tire blowouts, and two of them were not due to
age. The lightweight trailers that use the triangular torsion tube axles
do not evenly distribute the weight on each axle unless the trailer is
level, and because we towed with two different trucks, had not been
careful in trailer leveling. When we were 1.5" higher in the front we
would overload the tires on the rear-most axle. We have the highest load
capacity 13 trailer tires, and there isn't room between the axles to
switch to 14" so have to live with it.. I thought I had it figured out,
but now will closely watch the tires for crowning. Thanks for the heads up.
John
Fogelsville, PA



Elton E. (Tony) Clark wrote:
> *We've experienced exactly the same thing and are becoming convinced the
> phenom is caused by the tires  sitting without movement for long periods of
> time under the trailer weight . . It's going to be a minor pain in the azz
> but I think we're gonna start blocking the trailer axles off the ground
when
> we know the trailer won't move for a month or so. *
> *Tony in Texas  *
>
> On Thu, Oct 2, 2008 at 7:08 AM, <John.Desantis at inficon.com> wrote
:
>
>
>>        Two friends of mine have recently had multiple trailer tire
>> failures (tread pealing off) while on trips.  When purchasing replacement
>> tires, friend #2 was told that trailer tires delaminate in about 4 years.
>> The tire seller also mentioned that it was easy to determine when the
>> tires were near failure.  He mentioned that the center section of the
>> tread raises up.  So I go home and check out my 4 year old ST205/75-15's
>> and they are very distinctly raised in the center, approximately 1/4 inch.
>>  When I checked the spare that is the same age as the tires on the
>> trailer- it looked normal.  I am planning to buy 4 new tires come spring.
>>
>>        Reading anything I could find on the web about trailer tires I
>> found the it is highly recommended to replace them every
>> 4 year.  I also found info on tread delamination, I could not find any
>> thing mentioned about the tread raising up.
>>
>>        Has anyone out there had similar experience with raised tread?
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