Has this ever happened to you? - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

jcurtis95 · 06-20-2012, 05:49 PM

We have been working inside and outside the house today and an hour ago, Carol went outside and yelled for me to come outside. She thought someone had slit one of our tires but it definitely was a sidewall failure. It has been sitting in the driveway for the past month and I know it had not burst this morning when I was outside. The temperature is not that hot today due to overcast skies and I can think of nothing other than just age that caused the tire failure. We are so lucky it happened while in our driveway.

Attached are two pics of the tire. Looks like I will be in the market for [4] new tires soon! Any special preferences from the forum?

Jerry & Carol Curtis
2406T F250 7.3L 4x4 ext. cab
Fredericksburg, TX

RichR · 06-20-2012, 05:53 PM

That's a scary sight, your lucky that was at home. How old are the tires?

jcurtis95 · 06-20-2012, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichR

That's a scary sight, your lucky that was at home. How old are the tires?

Rich R,

I'm not sure. The spare was never on the ground and I put about 100 miles on it after getting a flat repaired [on this same tire] . I'm thinking that although the tread looks good on them that I will not take a chance on the other three and buy new tires before we use it this fall. They are probably the original tires as the spare has the same tread as those on the ground.

Yes, we were very fortunate that this happened while sitting in our driveway!

Jerry Curtis
2406 T

RichR · 06-20-2012, 06:31 PM

There should be a date code on the tires. It is four digits and is the week number and year. Example: 1209....Week 12 2009. If they are more than five years old replace them.

PopRichie77 · 06-20-2012, 07:09 PM

If they came with the 2006 trailer, that makes them about 6 years old, they are past the recommended age for replacement regardless of the amount of tread. Also this is typical of a tire that was under inflated or exceeded 65 miles per hour for to long of a time. I am not saying that you did either of these, as the tires are old.
Here is how to read the DOT code for the year of manufacture. http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f48/dot-codes-1123/

JackandJanet · 06-20-2012, 07:49 PM

Interesting how it failed, almost like a retread.

I like Maxxis tires myself, and I get load range D tires. I can get them through Discount Tire. They BALANCE them when they mount them too.

- Jack

jcurtis95 · 06-20-2012, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PopRichie77

If they came with the 2006 trailer, that makes them about 6 years old, they are past the recommended age for replacement regardless of the amount of tread. Also this is typical of a tire that was under inflated or exceeded 65 miles per hour for to long of a time. I am not saying that you did either of these, as the tires are old.
Here is how to read the DOT code for the year of manufacture. http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f48/dot-codes-1123/

PopRichie77& RichR,

I never fail to air the tires up to the recommended 50 pounds before departing and again while I'm gone and before starting back home. I very seldom drive over 65 except to pass. This was a case of 'old age' more than anything else.

I checked the dates per RichR's information and found that the "new" spare tire was manufactured in May of 2004 making them 8 years old. They were two years old when placed on our RV! I have read reports of tires being 8-10 years old having sat on a rack all that time before being sold as brand new! I would think the 2004 manufacture date would have fallen within the acceptable parameters.

I am presently looking at either Carlisle, TowMax, or Loadstar 6ply tires which I believe I can get any of them at Discount Tire. Carlisle seems to be the top of the line of these three.

Thanks for all your help.

Jerry Curtis 2406 T

PopRichie77 · 06-20-2012, 10:11 PM

There is a lot of information on tires in the Reference Library, here is one of them it is from Carlisle on tire life, and can be found on their web site.
http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f48/...en-replace-17/

JackandJanet · 06-21-2012, 01:15 AM

I've read a lot of negative press on Carlisle tires in other forums, and the guy I work with at Discount doesn't seem to care for them either. Having never used one, I have no firsthand experience and am just passing on what I've learned. I DO like the Maxxis brand, mostly because I can get load range D in our size.

- Jack

hilltool · 06-21-2012, 10:27 AM

I checked my tire mfg dates yesterday. 07. Checked with dealer says those tire were put on NEW 6 months ago. I believe that. I guess I will just watch them closely . Trail America. He says they were ordered so if that is true his supplier is shipping tires that are five years old. I hate to spend money replacing tires with less than 1000 miles on em and that have been mounted less than six months but I may have to.

Rick

RichR · 06-21-2012, 10:58 AM

The tire may be new, as in never used, but they are still old age wise.

hilltool · 06-21-2012, 12:18 PM

I hear ya. I don't WANT to hear you but I do.

JackandJanet · 06-21-2012, 01:00 PM

My understanding is that the "age" starts as soon as the tire comes off the assembly line, regardless of how or where it's stored/used. And, five years is pretty much the limit.

- Jack

hilltool · 06-21-2012, 04:22 PM

I suspect the dealer had these in stock and sold them cheap.....hard to say. He says they were ordered. The story goes that the guy brought in the hi-lo, bought there originally, to get four tires put on as he had blown one. His wife, while they were there, "fell in love with a new trailer" and he bought that and traded the 2001 tl. So- when I bought it i was told there were four new tires on it and wheel bearings had been repacked etc. So- after reading this thread and checking a few others online I went out and checked the trailer tires----which, by the way, all had 40lbs in them instead of 50---and saw the DOT codes. While running some errands yesterday I stopped by the dealer and asked, again, about the tires. He sort of feigned surprise (kind of) , but went back over the story again . So I believe the tires are relatively "new" , but, yes, they were manufactured five years ago.

I'm headed "up north" for the weekend---so I just put 50 lbs in everything and we will see. I guess i will try to get through the summer and look for new ones by end of the season or, sooner, if one goes. Meanwhile- I checked the truck spare while I was running around with my tire gageand it was flat----so I dropped it and took it in only to discover the rim is bent (I'm not sure how that happened....) and ow I'm waiting for a quote on a new wheel. It never really quits...does it.

Rick

Rick

PopRichie77 · 06-21-2012, 04:50 PM

Pick one up at a salvage yard, a steel wheel runs from 8 to 15 bucks.

sam · 06-21-2012, 07:25 PM

I'll have to check the dates on our HiLo tires soon. We did have our HiLo dealer replace them two years ago. Just replaced the tires on our truck earlier this year(had to order them in). Also had to put new tires on our utility trailer. Thanks to this forum I will have to remember to check tire dates before I let anyone install tires for us.

jcurtis95 · 06-22-2012, 10:25 AM

I really appreciate all the comments and information in response to my tire problem. I have been taking your recommendations to heart and right now I am still deciding which tire I will choose when replacing them probably in August or September. Meanwhile, I am going to put the spare tire on to relieve the double load on the one single tire bearing the weight intended for two.

I was out running errands yesterday and stopped by the Uni-Royal tire shop and went in to see what tires they offered. He can provide me with Maxxis 6 or 8 ply, Carlisle 6 or 8 ply, or a new one to me that he brought out that he was very high on called Gremax. It was an 8-ply steel belted radial and I was impressed with the tire. I was even more impressed with the price for a set of 4. Total installed price for the 8 ply Gremax set would cost me a total of $493 versus $628 for Maxxis and $688 for the Carlisle tires.

I have not found any stateside reviews of this tire, mainly in France and England and I am assuming they are from a UK Manufacturer and are imported. There were no reviews that I could find stateside but the European reviews were high and all that I saw said they would definitely buy these tires again. The only weakness that was common from all users was snow traction which was rated low that would not be a problem for me; tire wear was rated consistently high from all users.

The Uniroyal Manager said they sold a lot of these tires and there has been no problems with them. I checked the manufacture date and it was manufactured in 2012. I am leaning on trying a set out; just wondering if anyone on the forum has tried these tires?

Jerry Curtis
2406 T

sayhonkmon · 06-22-2012, 10:23 PM

Cooper tires are made in the USA. The HiLo tires on my HiLo are made in China. I can't wait to get rid of them!! I am going to get made in USA tires because you can go to a dealer or contact the tire company and not speak chinese or spanish. Blowouts on a Hilo can cause a lot of damage to the Hilo on the road.