# Tire Blow Out



## Justman (Jul 22, 2006)

Well, it finally happened.

When we bought our trailer, I went all the way to Nacogdoches, TX to pick it up. After signing my life away, I pulled our brand new 25RSS all the way back to Shreveport, LA. We took it out camping locally once and while parking it in our driveway upon our return, I found what appeared to be ******** stuck to one tire. Upon closer inspection, I determined that the tire had been patched! As you can imagine, I was kinda upset about this, seeing that I had just plunked down a lot of money for a brand new trailer, which should have included 4 brand new tires (correct me if I'm wrong here...).

I shot an e-mail to the dealer (with pictures of the patch) and told him that I would like it replaced. He told me that I could go down to a tire place and get a replacement and send him the bill and he would send me a check to cover the cost. Since I didn't want to drive all the way back to Nacogdoches just to get a replacement tire, I agreed.

Then, procrastination set it... I took it out about 5 more times without incident, so I got lazy. I didn't really have the time to take the old tire off and take it down to have it replaced... Or did I?

Well, this Thanksgiving we decided we would tow our trailer down to my Dad's house in Leesville, LA, about 3 hours South of Shreveport. The trailer did fine on that leg. On Saturday, we decided we would skip church and head back over to Nacogdoches to see my mom. About 30 miles South of San Augustine on Hwy 96, some guy pulls around me and starts waving like crazy for me to pull over... Immediately I checked my mirrors in just enough time to see the main portion of the patched tire go flying into the road behind us...









I eased on the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road and began my 1.5 hour long ordeal of changing the tire. A word of caution... Make sure you are carrying a good, stout 4 way lug wrench or a good single with a cheater pipe. The dudes who put my lug nuts on must have been built like Arnold (the "I'll be back" guy) when he was young or else they used an impact wrench. My bet is on the impact wrench... Anway, I managed to finally get the nuts off using some...ahem..."engineering" skills and replaced the tire.

Being that it was midday Saturday, I knew that tire places were going to be closing soon and I really needed a spare, so I started calling as soon as I got to my Moms house. Of course, the dealer I bought the trailer from closed at 1:00, so that was out. I got in touch with a guy at a Tire Max in Nacogdoches who said he would wait for me if I came in quickly. They sold me a Duro ST20575R14. I was concerned because the original tires on the trailer were the Duro ST20575D15. The best I could figure after looking at the Duro site was that the D was for a Bias ply tire and the R was for a radial tire. Other than that, the specs were the same. Load range C, etc.

Anyway, all that to say that I never felt the tire blow and might not have know had that nice guy not come around and told me... I reckon you can say the Hensley did it's job. So, how does a guy like me know that a tire has blown besides the slewing, etc. that usually comes with a blown tire? I trust the Hensley, but don't trust it to the point of stupidity. I know that if both tires blow on one side, bad things can happen regardless of what you have to control it...


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## Above & Beyond (May 20, 2006)

the tire you say they sold you will not fit your tires are 15" & the new tire is a 14" it wont fit on your rim!


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## Crawfish (Sep 14, 2005)

Hey Todd, Justman has a 25RSS. That model comes with 14" rims. I didn't know if you noticed that or not.

Leon


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## ED_RN (Jun 25, 2006)

Check your tire size hopefully you have the right one. I'm not sure you want to mix bias and radials though that could create some wear issues.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Due to the marginal tire rating to start with, when you have a blow out the other tire that remain go into over load. If you drive any distance at all then it would be a good idea to replace them all. I decided to upgrade my 14" tires to 15" and up rate from C to D (1825 to 2540 pound load rating) and that allows a safety margin for a blow out.

As for the question in the topic header I drove for maybe 5 or 6 miles after mine blew out and did not know it. I heard pop but thought it was just junk in the road. I was waved over about 5 minutes later and told I was missing a tire. So unless you install remote pressure sensors in the tires (about $450) then you may not know until you lose the second tire.


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

I've always worried about loosing a tire and not knowing it. I always check my tires when I stop and if i'm in a tight curve I will look at my tires but this only works on the drivers side, the passengers side mirrors makes it to far to tell. For the reason Andy mentioned I think I will buy a second spare just got to fugure out where to store it.


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## Justman (Jul 22, 2006)

Ummm... I made a mistake in my original post.









The original tires are 14 inch, vs. the 15 inch I put on the post. Sorry!

Right now, the spare is on there so I still have bias ply tires all around. The radial has now taken its post on the rear of the camper.

I seem to recall someone on the forum talking about a remote pressure sensor. Anyone have any experience with one they would recommend?


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

N7OQ said:


> I've always worried about loosing a tire and not knowing it. I always check my tires when I stop and if i'm in a tight curve I will look at my tires but this only works on the drivers side, the passengers side mirrors makes it to far to tell. For the reason Andy mentioned I think I will buy a second spare just got to fugure out where to store it.


I'm with you! In fact, losing a tire on either my car has always been my biggest fear on the road (even the Miata gets driven like an old clunker for a week or so after I get new tires....!







) Then compound that with the TV and TT combo and I could just about lose my mind if I let my thoughts run on. It's good to hear you "old pros" say that you can lose a TT tire and not even know it. (I do understand - clearly, there areboth pros & cons to that...) Thanks.


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

N7OQ said:


> I've always worried about loosing a tire and not knowing it. I always check my tires when I stop and if i'm in a tight curve I will look at my tires but this only works on the drivers side, the passengers side mirrors makes it to far to tell. For the reason Andy mentioned I think I will buy a second spare just got to fugure out where to store it.


I do the same. I check my tires at every stop and any turn that gives me a chance to look.

Thor


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## Herbicidal (Aug 29, 2003)

Justman said:


> I seem to recall someone on the forum talking about a remote pressure sensor. Anyone have any experience with one they would recommend?


That was most likely me! Here's a link to that whole entire episode. If you have time, give it a read. Otherwise, the short answer would be the Doran tire pressure monitoring system. I posted a review after I bought and used it on one trip. I have now used the system twice and I highly recommend it.







If you haven't already, I would suggest removing ALL the wheels and torque the lug nuts with a quality torque wrench so you know they were done correctly. If you choose to do that, make sure you check the torque on the lug nuts several more times and then at least once on every trip thereafter.

I'm glad nothing more serious happened to you or your family.


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Justman,

The important thing is, everybody and everything came through without a scratch. I have to agree with Andy though. The OEM tires are marginal at best, and blowing one will put a lot of load on the remaining tires (especially the one on the same side). Upgrading to 15" 'D' rated rubber is a very smart move, and I heartily recommend it!

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

A tire pressure monitoring system is on the long list...
For now, we check the mirrors and at every stop along the way.


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

PDX_Doug said:


> Justman,
> 
> The important thing is, everybody and everything came through without a scratch. I have to agree with Andy though. The OEM tires are marginal at best, and blowing one will put a lot of load on the remaining tires (especially the one on the same side). Upgrading to 15" 'D' rated rubber is a very smart move, and I heartily recommend it!
> 
> ...


Is this a good idea for all Outbacks or just the larger ones ?


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## out4fun (Aug 22, 2006)

You should never mix bias and radil tires the side walls dont flex at the same rate.

Angelo


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

N7OQ said:


> Justman,
> 
> The important thing is, everybody and everything came through without a scratch. I have to agree with Andy though. The OEM tires are marginal at best, and blowing one will put a lot of load on the remaining tires (especially the one on the same side). Upgrading to 15" 'D' rated rubber is a very smart move, and I heartily recommend it!
> 
> ...


Is this a good idea for all Outbacks or just the larger ones ?
[/quote]

Going to the higher rated tires is a good idea for all of the trailers but should have been stock on all of the 7000 pound GVWR trailers but Keystone saved a few buck and put the minimum they could get by with on them


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

Like Andy, when I had a blowout on the rear axle of the trailer, I felt a little something initially, but dismissed it as something in the road. About 4 or 5 minutes later, someone flagged me down. Only took me about 45 minutes to change though....









As I will be getting new tires before the spring season gets in full swing, I am considering upgrading to 15's and Load range D's. I just have to decide whether I'm gonna flip the axles too, for the extra clearance.

Tim


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Tim, you should not have to flip the axles for clearance for the 15 in tires. Most need to because of the slide, like on a 28rsds. However the 28rss has room without flipping. If you are doing it for other clearance reasons, just remember that it raises the trailer 4 1/2 in. You can use a portable step by the door but the nuisance is the outside cook area is also 4 1/2 in higher now.

John


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