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Why RV Tires Fail

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  • Why RV Tires Fail

    This information in the linked article is not new, but I thought it was pertinent to post on this forum. The article is from rvtiresafety.net: Heat, High Speed and the "Magic" in ST tires

    A few quotes that caught my attention:

    Tire failures usually occur because of cumulative internal structural damage from heat and time. The excess heat comes from the combination of speed/inflation/load.

    ...tires can tolerate a certain level of abuse be it over-load, under inflation or over speed. But every minute a tire is operating outside its design capacity the driver is consuming large portions of the tire life and the tire will eventually fail. Sometimes in a catastrophic manner.

    When that happens all to often the driver says "I was just driving 50 mph down the road and had checked the air that morning when the tire blew out. must have been a defective tire". In reality it was the driver's conscious decision to ignore the specifications for the tire be it load, inflation or speed and many miles of improper operation finally caught up with the driver.

    Howard
    Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.

    2017 Ford F-350 DRW, '19 315RLTSPlus

  • #2
    I tow at 60mph but I often wonder how fast the delivery driver was going while towing my rig 2,100 miles from the factory in Indiana to my dealer in Oregon. Now you've got me wondering if I should replace my tires Howard!
    Brian & Kellie
    2020 Grand Design Solitude 310GK-R, FBP, MORryde IS, 1,460w solar and 540ah BBGC3
    2020 Ford F-350 Platinum SRW PSD Tremor, 60g TF fuel tank, Hensley BD3-F air bag hitch

    Previous setups:
    2019 Grand Design Solitude 373FB-R, 2019 Ford F-350 Platinum DRW Powerstroke, Hensley BD5 air bag hitch
    2016 Grand Design Reflection 318RST, 2016 GMC 3500 Denali SRW Duramax, Hensley BD3 air bag hitch

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by bertschb View Post
      I tow at 60mph but I often wonder how fast the delivery driver was going while towing my rig 2,100 miles from the factory in Indiana to my dealer in Oregon. Now you've got me wondering if I should replace my tires Howard!
      You should be fine. The Westlakes have been rated for 75mph since early 2015. Before that, it was 65mph. Not only that, but they were pulling an empty trailer so the loading doesn't really come into play.

      Not only that, but I believe your tires are "G" rated. The E rated tires on larger units are where many of the failures occurred.


      Jim
      Jim and Ginnie
      2024 Solitude 310GK
      GDRV Technical Forum Moderator
      GDRV Rally Support Coordinator

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by TucsonJim View Post
        ...Not only that, but I believe your tires are "G" rated.
        Oh yeah, they are G rated. No way I would keep E rated Westlake tires on my Solitude (sorry Cate&Rob).
        Brian & Kellie
        2020 Grand Design Solitude 310GK-R, FBP, MORryde IS, 1,460w solar and 540ah BBGC3
        2020 Ford F-350 Platinum SRW PSD Tremor, 60g TF fuel tank, Hensley BD3-F air bag hitch

        Previous setups:
        2019 Grand Design Solitude 373FB-R, 2019 Ford F-350 Platinum DRW Powerstroke, Hensley BD5 air bag hitch
        2016 Grand Design Reflection 318RST, 2016 GMC 3500 Denali SRW Duramax, Hensley BD3 air bag hitch

        Comment


        • #5
          Color me cautious but replaced Westlakes at 1500m with GY Endurance even for the light trailer we have. May have wasted money prematurely but I feel better. Did the same thing on our previous trailer although Westlakes seem to have a better reputation then Castle Rocks.
          2010 Tundra SR5 DC 5.7L
          2020 Imagine XLS 22MLE
          Andersen WDH
          Dexter E-Z Flex Suspension Kit
          2018 Rockwood Mini Lite 2104s
          2014 Jayco x17z Hybrid

          Comment


          • #6
            Sold my Westlake D rated tires after two years and 2000 miles on my Imagine. Replaced with E rated Goodyear Endurance and air them based on their inflation tables. Tow at 60-63 where passing can result in 70 mph at times. Agree with Tuscon where the E rated Westlakes were having issues where I believe this may have been an application issue. But seeing far too many Westlakes fully inflated with no tread resulted in a visit to the Goodyear dealer.

            Jim

            Comment


            • #7
              That's why I just spent the money to upgrade to new 16" wheels and Goodyear tires. Our Reflection has a gross weight of 10995lbs and the 4 tires only had a combined weight of 11320lbs. That's only 81 lbs of reserve per tire. I know that doesn't subtract the tongue weight, but I don't buy into that way of thinking. When you're going down the road at 65mph and going over all the huge bumps in the road, those tires are taking the brunt of all that weight.
              2018 Reflection 315RLTS
              2023 F350 Lariat 6.7L/CC/LB/FX4

              Comment


              • #8
                Guys,

                Looking at static loading may be ok but the dynamic loading is far greater, depending on the abusive roads and the input to the tire. For me, I did not like the fact that I was towing at max side wall pressures where the tires were at their max capacity and hard as stones. So I moved up a rating but air them down based on load. This softer tire will still run cool but is better protected from impacts and road debris.

                But I've also not seen many failures of the G rated tires. The Westlake failures were most all in the E rated category and I believe they were too light for the application, even though the static loading fell into spec.

                I was not confident in the Chinese tires of any rating or brand and can now tow without a concern. US made Michelins on the TV and Goodyear Endurance on the trailer.

                Jim
                Last edited by Guest; 06-25-2020, 06:16 AM.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by MidwestCamper View Post
                  Guys,

                  Looking at static loading may be ok but the dynamic loading is far greater, depending on the abusive roads and the input to the tire. For me, I did not like the fact that I was towing at max side wall pressures where the tires were at their max capacity and hard as stones. So I moved up a rating but air them down based on load. This softer tire will still run cool but is better protected from impacts and road debris.

                  But I've also not seen many failures of the G rated tires. The Westlake failures were most all in the E rated category and I believe they were too light for the application, even though the static loading fell into spec.

                  I was not confident in the Chinese tires of any rating or brand and can now tow without a concern. US made Michelins on the TV and Goodyear Endurance on the trailer.

                  Jim
                  Jim,

                  Can I ask you what tire pressure you were running at with your D rated Westlakes? I am running at 65 psi and the trailer is weighs 6250 lbs static And tongue weight of 750 lbs. I was thinking of dropping the pressure down to 60 psi. Based on the tire inflation chats from Maxxis ( couldn’t find a Westlake chart) the load rating is still over 2000 lbs a tire. A side note is that after I brought the trailer home from the dealer all tire except one were properly inflated one tire was at 78 psi!
                  Dave and Susan
                  Imagine 2250RK
                  2019 Ford Ranger

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by S&D's Immy View Post

                    Jim,

                    Can I ask you what tire pressure you were running at with your D rated Westlakes? I am running at 65 psi and the trailer is weighs 6250 lbs static And tongue weight of 750 lbs. I was thinking of dropping the pressure down to 60 psi. Based on the tire inflation chats from Maxxis ( couldn’t find a Westlake chart) the load rating is still over 2000 lbs a tire. A side note is that after I brought the trailer home from the dealer all tire except one were properly inflated one tire was at 78 psi!
                    Dave,

                    I moved up from a Westlake D rated tire (no issues) to an E rated Goodyear Endurance. I run the Goodyear's at 60 psi cold which still exhibits a higher load capacity than the Westlakes had at max sidewall pressure of 65 psi. Verbiage is in our GDRV manuals that tire pressure charts can be used. However, if the chart for the Westlakes cannot be found, it may be best to air them at the recommended pressure listed on the side of the rig or contact Lionshead for additional information.

                    Jim
                    Last edited by Guest; 06-25-2020, 09:30 AM.

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