It happened to me

[rvfirefighter]

In all my travels, on all my long drives to other places I have always been lucky. No problems on the trip to Alaska and back.
Today on a short trip from Tallahassee to Panama City Beach I had a blowout on the front tire, door side of the Montana. I wasn't going fast, around 50mph on a state road. I heard a bang, and I had a feeling what it was, I slowed down to stop, but I saw the tread come off and flapping up the side of the trailer.
The damage could have been alot worst, broke the plastic wheel well trim, put a couple of dents in the metal along the bottom, and alot of black marks from the door back to the slide window.
Tomorrow we go tire shopping, time to change all the tires to try and prevent this from happening again.

[Waynem]

David,
Just what kind of tires WERE on the Monty?
Inquisitive minds must know.

[rvfirefighter]

I have Tacoma's, I had them inspected this past Sept. at the sevice center in Goshen and a body shop they recommended because of irregular wear, but they said everything was fine.
I'm not sure what kind I will replace them with, I will talk with RV Connections where I bought the unit here in town and see if they have any recommendations.

[Steve and Brenda]

Glad you heard the blowout. We did not hear ours, a tire pressure monitor may be your next purchase consideration.

[David and Jo-Anna]

Ouch!!! Sorry to hear about your blowout. Know the feeling--we had the same thing happen to us last February in a rig that was only 10 months old. Troublesome to think that one's rig has been damaged, but a good repair shop helped us get thru the process.

We went with the Goodyear G614s as replacement tires, but they are expensive. If the weight of your rig is below 6,000# per axle, you might want to consider the Michelins or the Bridgestones that others have gone with. If you have questions after talking to your dealer, ask Lonnie B--he's a great source of info on tires--and lots more!!

Good luck!!

[Glenn and Lorraine]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I was very lucky as my tires all failed me while I was sitting still.

Your RV dealer could be a good source of information about replacements but most RV dealers know RVs and little about tires. I would search out the tire dealers in your area. The tire dealers I refer to would be the dealers that sell and work on tires for light trucks, big trucks and buses. The dealer should also be a very reputable tire dealer and typically knowledgable. One that can explain the variations in tires. They are the ones that have the experience and knowledge concerning tires. Ii would not be uncommon to ask to speak to the owner or general manager as they got to where they are thru lots of experience.
If your area has more than one such dealer than check with them all. Do not be afraid to ask questions, even if YOU think it's stupid ASK the question as this is the only way to learn.
Keep in mind that tire dealers are in business to make money and their best way to make money is to sell their brands. After talking to more than one dealer it is now your job to figure out which one is the best to deal with.
If after speaking to these dealers you are still a bit confused do not hesitate coming back to the MOC and ask for clarification of the dealers statement.
So far as I know, between LonnieB and I, we have enough tire business experience to answer most any question. You can also PM or Email either one or both of us if you care to.

[rvfirefighter]

The failure of this tire was catastrophic and I had not been on the road that long.
I will be shopping today for replacements, I have been in touch with LonnieB and got some good advice from him and Glenn. My damage is small enough I don't think I will need a repair shop, just replacement of the plastic wheelwell trim and wax off the blackmarks.
Thanks for the comments and advice.

[Emmel]

Dave, after reading about the tire failures here, we have decided the pressure monitors is the way we are going. We still have those Chinese tires now, but that is the best reason to get the monitors now!

[bw2]

Dave & Brenda, Sorry to hear about the tire blow-out, we are happy you were able to get stopped without too much damage.

bw2

[Tiffensdad]

Dave & Brenda, sorry you had to join the club. I can simpathize having just losing the tread on one that tore up the underside. Mine just shed the tread and I was able to limp in on the steel belts. I am hoping it was because of the rut we hit and not a brand problem. I am considering the pressure monitors also. After looking at the remaining tires, I see the start of checking on the sides and figure it is soon time and will do the monitors at that time.
Glad you heard it go, it probably saved you alot of damage.

[rvfirefighter]

Its hard to say the cause of a blowout. I check my tires regular, definitely before I start on any trip. I always make sure they are inflated to right pressure and check them at every stop. These tires had some inregular wear but nothing excessive. They did have miles on them, but I have pulled another unit for 5 years with alot of miles and had no problems.

I don't know if pressure monitors would have prevented a blowout or given me advanced warning before it decided to blow. It could have been excessive heat, the temps. that day were very hot, upper 90's and the belts could have separated.
I replaced them with Uniroyal Laredo HD/D same rating as all the name brands, I have experience with this brand on my first Montana, and never had any problems for 5 years and pulled that unit all over the U.S.

Like I said, it could have been worst.

[sailer]

rvfirefighter i took off my missions and replaced with goodrich .. i am happy so far and am thinking of putting in nitr in the tires as they run cooler and never loose air like reg air as i have it in the truck foe 6 months now as they stay ay 80 year rd ,, sailer

[sreigle]

David, you heard the tire pop so yours was probably a true blowout. We've only heard ours pop once. The other times we didn't know we had a tire problem until someone clued us as they passed us and once when a Jeep behind us swerved to miss the flying rubber, then pulled up and let us know about the tire. I suspect in some cases we may have picked up a nail or had some other cause for the tires to lose pressure. But since we didn't know it we ran on down the road until the rim shredded the tire, making it appear to be a blowout. In those instances tire monitors might clue you quickly enough you can avoid the damage of a shredding tire by pulling over before it shreds. They won't help on a true blowout but I suspect blowouts are the exception and running a flat until it shreds is the more common situation. And they'll help on that. Someday I'll bite the bullet and get the monitors.

[rvfirefighter]

I can see where they could be very beneficial and be a early warning system. I am not opposed to the idea, I just don't need another gadget to clutter my truck and don't really want to spend the money on them.

Let me answer that again if I have another tire problem.

[DonPd]

Costco is now selling RV Tires.

Please use the "short form" for posting long links.

Thank you. RVWheels, MOC Admin.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/
Productgroup.aspx?Prodid=11218411&
search=rv&Mo=3&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_
Left_Nav-_-Top_search#12296;=en-US&Nr=P_
CatalogName:BC&Sp=S&N=
5000043&whse=BC&Dx=mode+
matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=
P_CatalogName:BC&Ne=4000000&D=
rv&Ntt=rv&No=1&Ntx=mode+
matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1

[berridge]

Just a thought on possible damage during a tire failure. If pieces of tire are released and or the steel belt starts to become unstuck it is possible that the waterproof layer and other parts of the underbelly have been breached which lets water and dirt in. This was the case with me. The area above the tire was stripped away down to the plywood and so had to be repaired. Such damage is often not easy to see without getting down and dirty.