Three weeks ago we left the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia to go to a wedding in Key West.   We took 2 vehicles because of the large group we were taking.

It was supposed to be a 2400mi trip.  So before we left I checked the tires as usual for date, tread etc.  I even converted them to nitrogen for less temp/pressure swing.  We did the trip down I95 with the big boys.  We were near Savanna GA when we had the first blowout.  

We lost a lot of time at a Walmart trying to get a tire for a spare, as we were now running a spare.  All they had that would fit was a car tire (not a trailer tire) and I was insistent that they put it on as I did not want to go any further without a spare.  

It’s a good thing I did, because a couple hours later we blew another one.  

.  The first blowout I didn’t feel a thing.   My wife pulled into the lane beside me, flashed her lights and called me.  When she told me I had just had a blowout I was surprised.   I was still doing 70mph and had no idea.   We pulled over at a pilot and changed it, and got a new spare at Walmart.

We were in Kingsland GA we blew the second one.  This one was on the same side.  This time I felt a vibration, but absolutely no sway.  I got out to change it, and it still had air!   The tread had delaminated.  We limped into a campground for the night and spent the next morning gathering up replacement tires and wheels at the tractor supply stores in South Georgia and North Florida.  

 After replacing all 4 tires and losing a day on the schedule we counted our blessings.  No one was hurt, there was no accident.  A blowout on a trailer can end a trip at best, lives at worst, and we had suffered through two!  

 I believe the Hand of God was on us but I do have a few lessons learned.

1.  We bought this camper used. I will ALWAYS put new tires on a used unit in the future.  

2.   I’m glad I had a rechargeable 18v impact along the way. We bought it just before the trip special for the camper.  

3.  I need a special jack just for the camper.  It’s a lightweight trailer and uses C-channel frame instead of tube, on the last 2 tire change out the trailer kept falling off the jack, it didn’t help that we were in sand.   I always keep a few extra 2x6 pressure treated planks around which made it easier.  

4.  Always have a backup plan.  I knew if we needed tires Walmart’s and Tractor Supply’s would be useful.  

5.  We bought a Hensley Hitch just before the trip.  I believe this is why we didn’t have problems during the blowouts.  


TLDR: after two blowouts on the same day and a 3000mi trip on I95 pay attention to your tires, and pay the extra for the Hensley it could save your life

Friend lost 3 out of 4 new trailer tires hauling a light weight jeep on a trip.  all Chinese manufacturer.  

And my wife wonders why I want to spend $120 each on 2 new trailer tires.

Factory originals with probably over 7k on them, 3 years old. I forget the original manufacturer, but probably chinesum.

Plus some of the pics I've seen of damaged caused to wheel wells by blowouts.

First blowout, totally shredded!

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Second totally delaminated, with air still in it.
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I had some site prep work done recently and they blew a tire on their dump trailer while they were at my place. Said they had blown 14 tires in the last 3 or 4 months. Strange.

My buddy's and I like to do backwoods hiking/fishing trips. We were in Idaho with a couple of rental Suburbans slowly driving the mountain roads when the warning light came on indicating one of the tires was low. I forget what the rocks on the road (basalt?) were made of but they sliced right through the regular tread tires. The guys in the other vehicle were giving us shit and telling us how to drive. We hadn't gone much further when they had a flat of their own. Then we started sweating bullets hoping we'd make it to the trailhead and back without anymore tire issues.

A couple of guys stayed at the trailhead due to some back issues and while we were gone a volunteer trail worker drove them into town to get the tires repaired. Apparently it happens a lot in the area.

ST (special trailer) service tires are 99.9999998% Chinese production and are all reverse engineered versions of the Goodyear Marathon which is the biggest piece of shit to ever wear the Goodyear name (which is something in itself).

Goodyear does now produce a different ST which seems to be a better tire but the model name escapes me and I'm unsure of the nation of origin.

If you have Chinaman ST tires you WILL ultimately experience one or more catastrophic failures.

My personal recommendation is to replace them with LT tires of good name brand manufacture. In cases where you cannot, just be aware of what will come.

The Goodyear Endurance is what replaced the Marathon.

I had 4 of them installed last year before our first trip out. If you catch the sales right you can get a good deal through Discount/America's Tire. I ended up right around $95 per tire installed after discounts and rebates.

Other tires that come highly recommended are Carlisle and the Maxxis M8008 trailer tire if you are on a budget.

Somewhere I got the piece of advice to check the speed rating on my trailer tires. Turns out they were 65 mph. I blew the first one on the way home from purchasing the trailer.  I was doing the 70 mph speed limit.  Upgraded to better tires but still only drive 65.  Gives me a little margin.

I had a blowout in may.  Just bought a 72 chevelle and was driving it back home 4hr.  Right in the middle of shitlanta around rush hour, kablam.  Out of nowhere, front tire explodes.  It had plenty of tread left and it wasnt dryrotted.  PoS just blew up.

I put on the old raggity spare and limped back home.

I was sick of the cheap trailer tires that always catch nails and just don’t last when making trips to the dump, I found some super heavy 14 ply tires online. Still Chinese but they are tough.

Ironman....DO NOT BUY THAT BRAND!! I let myself be talked into a pair for my work van. Worst tires ever! Rubber was so soft it set off the stabilitrac on corners. They wouldn't take them back so they put them on the front of the van so it wouldn't trip the stabilitrac. I did almost get 50K of tread wear but I hated driving on them the whole time. Farm truck tires that should never see the hi way.

When we left ND (going home to WV before dad's second tour in Vietnam) he had three blow outs on the new GMC pickup truck.  1968 GMC, trip was spring of 1970.  First two where the 6 ply snow tires.  He was pulling a U haul trailer and both the truck and the trailer were loaded down.

He drove down the road in the car (left me and mom in the truck - car was pretty well loaded, too) and got two new tires put on the the two snow tire rims.  A few hours later he had another blow out on one of the new tires.  Blew a fist sized chunk of rubber out of that one and he and the truck/trailer were all over the road before he got stopped.  We got the tire changed and then spent some time moving some stuff from the back of the truck to the trailer and made it the rest of the way home okay.

Only time in all our Air Force moving around from base to base that we had any tire issues.

Sometimes they wobble/weave and sometimes they go boom.  The boom ones are the scariest.

As it's been pointed out check the speed rating on your trailer tires, many are only rated for 65 MPH. If it's a really hot day out even running at the rated speed with crappy Chinese trailer tires is risky. It's summer time and the break down lanes out here in the west are filled with RVs and boat trailers that suffered blowouts, I see several every day during my travels. The high temperatures, crappy tires and 80 mph speed limits is a bad combination.

It's getting hard to find a good quality trailer tire anymore. I put 6 new Goodyear Endurance (made in the USA) tires on my toy hauler last year. I don't have enough miles or time on them to say they're good to go or not (crossing my fingers).

I have blown tires before and they do a lot of damage to the trailer. I'm looking for new tires now. The Goodyear endurance is suppose to be made the USA and speed rated to 87mph. I also learned trailer tire wear out by age not thread depth. Keeping air pressure checked and replacing them every 3 years is supposed to help avoid this. I haven't done it yet but, light truck tires are supposed to last longer and have better speed ratings. They also may have longer life than standard trailer tires.

I have the Hartland P205/75R15 tires on my rig.  Just added TPMS to the tires, we are going on a long trip into Commiefornia next month, but we did a long Utah trip last year, had zero problems with these tires.  Discount Tire sells them, even though they are Chinese tires, I have seen mostly good reviews for them.

There's a reason I travel offroad with two spares. The roads out here can be absolutely diabolical. I'm well-acquainted with my local Discount Tire guys.