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Old 10-10-2011, 08:50 AM   #55
klash
Seasoned Camper
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Sidney
Posts: 91
M.O.C. #9399
So now I know who all those guys are in trucks and trailers flying by me like they are racing to get somewhere in an emergency.
We have been towing for 32 years with 7 trucks and 7 different trailers, 39 states, 10 Canadian provinces, over 300,000 miles all at EXACTLY 55 mph, and have never had a tire blow out.

At the end of the our daily run which is just 250 miles a day, I feel relaxed and refreshed, and know that I have not abused either the truck or the trailer, and I could stop safely. We spend a lot of time driving through and staying in California and if you drive and tow there you had better stay at 55 mph, it's the law.

I recently attended a Goodyear Tire Seminar when we were in Yuma, it was put on by a local tire dealer. The presenter answered a lot of questions, and for those who actually listened and took something away from the seminar, they would realize what an RVer who tows needs to do. There are three things which will lead to the rapid deterioration and eventual blow out of any ST tire.

First and foremost, exceeding the weight limit of your tire. So know the Gross Vehicle Weight of your rig.

Second, keep the air pressure in your tires at the maximum recommended by the manufacturer. I have one of those infra red digital temperature gauges and always check temps of tires as they sit cold and then periodically check them while in transit, rest stops, etc. Temperatures will of course go up while towing, what you want to watch out for is any one tire being much warmer than the others.
Low pressure or overload will increase side wall and tread flexing and this of course will build up the heat within the tire.

Lastly, tow at the slower speeds. Goodyears website actually state that at speeds over 65 mph, an ST rated tire is no longer round, they will become oval in the direction of travel. This of course will cause unnecessary tread and sidewall flexing, and heat built up.

On the 24th of October we begin our journey from B.C. here in Canada and we are heading for Yuma and will take 6 days to get there.

We have a 2007 Montana 2955RL that had the Chinese Mission tires. We had 15,000 miles on them but after reading all the shocking news of premature failures here on the MOC, we changed to Goodyear Marathons last fall.
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