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Westlake Tire Failure
!!! PLEASE READ THE RESPONSES AFTER THIS POST, I AM IN ERROR BELOW. THE TIRES WERE UNDER INFLATED, NOT OVER INFLATED. I READ THE TIRE WARNING LABEL WRONG !!!
Hello GD Owners,
My family and I are caravaning on a long trip up the East coast, hitting a stop every 300-400 miles or so. We've traveled from South Florida and have hit spots in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and now Pennsylvania, with our furthest planned destination in Maine. We are pulling a 2019 2800BH model Grand Design.
On our last leg, we had a CATASTROPHIC blow out. We were traveling on I-81 in VA @ ~65-70mph when I heard a huge BANG! Looking in the rear view, I saw smoke and debris pouring from the passenger side wheel well as the tire tread whipped around beating the crap out of everything around it. My Dad was following directly behind us, in his motorhome. He described it like being in a war-time dog fight, where the plane blows up ahead and you have to fly through the smoke and shrapnel of the explosion. We pulled off the road safely. Then I started trying to figure out what went wrong, and fix it. That's when I snapped the pictures that are attached.
I went to tech school for auto technology and I used to change tires at a garage, so I felt confident enough to do the work myself. I used the jack from my F-150 and tools that I just happened to have in the front RV compartment. If you've driven I-81 before, you know the speed limit is 70mph. On the side of the road, when big rigs scream by with 3-4ft clearance, the whole RV rocks back and forth. I didn't want to spend any more time than necessary in that situation, waiting for AAA.
So, I go in the back and pull off the spare, which has the same tire as those mounted on the RV. Once I've changed the tire and let the RV back down, I wanted to check the tire pressure before we pull away. I think the spare had ~45psi in it, which I thought was under inflated. The sticker on the side of the RV says max pressure is 80 PSI. But my Dad, who also pulled off the road behind me, had the idea to double check the tire itself. Low and behold, you can see in the attached image, the small warning paragraph on the tire says, "TO AVOID DANGEROUS EXPLOSION NEVER EXCEED 40 LBS."
:-o... HOLY CRAP, ALL 4 OF MY TIRES ARE ~20 LBS OVER INFLATED! Even the spare had more than 40 PSI in it. The sticker, image attached, says 80 PSI max. I was running ~60 PSI, well within spec, I thought. This is my word of warning folks, "Don't trust the sticker on the side of your RV. Go check the small print directly ON your tires." You might be running too much pressure and risking a similar blow out. Also, you want to pre-plan your actions in a similar situation and have the tools and know-how ready to go. Figure out the proper jacking points of your RV, that was something I was unsure of. Get the right tire iron / socket for your trailer lug nuts, it's not the same as that of an F-150. Or, just plan on calling AAA and waiting a while. In either case, know what you want to do, or you're liable to make a bad decision.
Also, if you do have tires with 40 LBS max tires, please post back here. I have called Grand Design looking to buy a new wheel fairing and side molding, which they said to call the local dealer. But, he also said, they don't put 40 PSI tires on their RVs. They are all supposed to be 80 PSI rated. He gave me the number of http://lionsheadtireandwheel.com/, which is who provides their tires. But, I'm not sure what to say.
I'd like to hear from all of you. Are there others with 40 PSI tires? Or am I a "one off" mistake?
Ideally, I'd like them to replace all 5 tires with the proper rated tires.
Thanks for reading.
Sean
Davie, FL (currently Williamsport, PA).
Hello GD Owners,
My family and I are caravaning on a long trip up the East coast, hitting a stop every 300-400 miles or so. We've traveled from South Florida and have hit spots in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and now Pennsylvania, with our furthest planned destination in Maine. We are pulling a 2019 2800BH model Grand Design.
On our last leg, we had a CATASTROPHIC blow out. We were traveling on I-81 in VA @ ~65-70mph when I heard a huge BANG! Looking in the rear view, I saw smoke and debris pouring from the passenger side wheel well as the tire tread whipped around beating the crap out of everything around it. My Dad was following directly behind us, in his motorhome. He described it like being in a war-time dog fight, where the plane blows up ahead and you have to fly through the smoke and shrapnel of the explosion. We pulled off the road safely. Then I started trying to figure out what went wrong, and fix it. That's when I snapped the pictures that are attached.
I went to tech school for auto technology and I used to change tires at a garage, so I felt confident enough to do the work myself. I used the jack from my F-150 and tools that I just happened to have in the front RV compartment. If you've driven I-81 before, you know the speed limit is 70mph. On the side of the road, when big rigs scream by with 3-4ft clearance, the whole RV rocks back and forth. I didn't want to spend any more time than necessary in that situation, waiting for AAA.
So, I go in the back and pull off the spare, which has the same tire as those mounted on the RV. Once I've changed the tire and let the RV back down, I wanted to check the tire pressure before we pull away. I think the spare had ~45psi in it, which I thought was under inflated. The sticker on the side of the RV says max pressure is 80 PSI. But my Dad, who also pulled off the road behind me, had the idea to double check the tire itself. Low and behold, you can see in the attached image, the small warning paragraph on the tire says, "TO AVOID DANGEROUS EXPLOSION NEVER EXCEED 40 LBS."
:-o... HOLY CRAP, ALL 4 OF MY TIRES ARE ~20 LBS OVER INFLATED! Even the spare had more than 40 PSI in it. The sticker, image attached, says 80 PSI max. I was running ~60 PSI, well within spec, I thought. This is my word of warning folks, "Don't trust the sticker on the side of your RV. Go check the small print directly ON your tires." You might be running too much pressure and risking a similar blow out. Also, you want to pre-plan your actions in a similar situation and have the tools and know-how ready to go. Figure out the proper jacking points of your RV, that was something I was unsure of. Get the right tire iron / socket for your trailer lug nuts, it's not the same as that of an F-150. Or, just plan on calling AAA and waiting a while. In either case, know what you want to do, or you're liable to make a bad decision.
Also, if you do have tires with 40 LBS max tires, please post back here. I have called Grand Design looking to buy a new wheel fairing and side molding, which they said to call the local dealer. But, he also said, they don't put 40 PSI tires on their RVs. They are all supposed to be 80 PSI rated. He gave me the number of http://lionsheadtireandwheel.com/, which is who provides their tires. But, I'm not sure what to say.
I'd like to hear from all of you. Are there others with 40 PSI tires? Or am I a "one off" mistake?
Ideally, I'd like them to replace all 5 tires with the proper rated tires.
Thanks for reading.
Sean
Davie, FL (currently Williamsport, PA).
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