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550 / 560 Spare Tire

L

Les Izmore

Junior Ranger
We had occasion to use our camper's spare tire yesterday, just short of our camper's five year anniversary and after many miles on the road. We had just crossed into North Dakota, where I was waiting for Alea to finish up our cycling for the day. We loaded her up and went on our way, having accelerated to about 30 mph when we noticed an odd sound behind us. Alea quickly pointed out that the curbside tire was flat. I immediately pulled over and slowed down. At that point there was no shoulder on the road, and about an eighth of a mile ahead was a driveway apron that would allow us a place to jack the trailer up and substitute the spare tire. In that short distance and after crawling along at a pace of 5 mph, the trailer tire was shredded - something that has never happened in my prior driving experience.

IMG_20170717_123638172.webp


Why this tire shredded I can only speculate. I suspect the main reason may be that trailer tires are not designed to hold up when they go flat in the same way that most passenger tires do. I would further speculate that makes them a lot less expensive to produce, and ours were significantly less expensive than our passenger tires. But having traveled in some fairly remote areas, I would like to know for sure. So if anyone can help in this regard, we would be very grateful.

I suspect this may be why some owners have opted to put passenger tires on their campers. And if that is the means of avoiding a repeat of yesterday's brief drama, we would certainly plan on doing the same when it is time to replace the current tires. We would much prefer having a tire that was repairable vs trying to approximate a reasonable match to our surviving tire...

I will also note that I had failed to heed the advice of the Owner's Manual to periodically check the pressure of the spare tire, which should be inflated to 65-85 psi. Ours had 40 psi when we put it on, but since we travel with a bicycle floor pump, it was easy enough to get them up to spec (which is why we hadn't been too concerned about the condition of the spare). Though with it being 97 degrees out at the time, I did wish that I hadn't let it go quite so long...

Those of you traveling without a bicycle floor pump or electric compressor might want to check the pressure on your spare tire the next time you pull the mattress out of the cabin for other routine maintenance.
 
Inn42 said:
We had occasion to use our camper's spare tire yesterday, just short of our camper's five year anniversary and after many miles on the road. We had just crossed into North Dakota, where I was waiting for Alea to finish up our cycling for the day. We loaded her up and went on our way, having accelerated to about 30 mph when we noticed an odd sound behind us. Alea quickly pointed out that the curbside tire was flat. I immediately pulled over and slowed down. At that point there was no shoulder on the road, and about an eighth of a mile ahead was a driveway apron that would allow us a place to jack the trailer up and substitute the spare tire. In that short distance and after crawling along at a pace of 5 mph, the trailer tire was shredded - something that has never happened in my prior driving experience.

View attachment 2895

Why this tire shredded I can only speculate. I suspect the main reason may be that trailer tires are not designed to hold up when they go flat in the same way that most passenger tires do. I would further speculate that makes them a lot less expensive to produce, and ours were significantly less expensive than our passenger tires. But having traveled in some fairly remote areas, I would like to know for sure. So if anyone can help in this regard, we would be very grateful.

I suspect this may be why some owners have opted to put passenger tires on their campers. And if that is the means of avoiding a repeat of yesterday's brief drama, we would certainly plan on doing the same when it is time to replace the current tires. We would much prefer having a tire that was repairable vs trying to approximate a reasonable match to our surviving tire...

I will also note that I had failed to heed the advice of the Owner's Manual to periodically check the pressure of the spare tire, which should be inflated to 65-85 psi. Ours had 40 psi when we put it on, but since we travel with a bicycle floor pump, it was easy enough to get them up to spec (which is why we hadn't been too concerned about the condition of the spare). Though with it being 97 degrees out at the time, I did wish that I hadn't let it go quite so long...

Those of you traveling without a bicycle floor pump or electric compressor might want to check the pressure on your spare tire the next time you pull the mattress out of the cabin for other routine maintenance.
Click to expand...

Our 550 did not come with a spare tire. Is the spare full size? Or is it reduced size as to fit in the storage compartment? If it is a reduced size, do you know the size, as we really need to get a spare. I've been told not to run tires longer than 5 years, because they lose 50 percent of their strength during that time. Wish we had the opportunity to travel as much as the two of you do. Safe travels! Van & Terri
 
Here is the link to the page of the Camp Inn Store that has the spare tire:
Teardrop Accessories Online Store

It is a smaller than standard spare, but highway rated. Cary could likely tell you the specific size if that is important to you. The important thing to me is that it fits in the floor storage in the cabin and has the same bolt pattern as the standard wheel. It worked great for the 80 mile drive to find a replacement.

The tire we shredded was less than one year old - we replaced both trailer tires last fall before heading to Mexico.

In reading up on shredded tires, it may be that the tire had been under inflated for a while to cause this sort of damage. But I really doubt that if it had lost any significant air pressure that it was for very long... I am certain that 200 miles earlier it was in great shape.
 
Inn42 said:
Here is the link to the page of the Camp Inn Store that has the spare tire:
Teardrop Accessories Online Store

It is a smaller than standard spare, but highway rated. Cary could likely tell you the specific size if that is important to you. The important thing to me is that it fits in the floor storage in the cabin and has the same bolt pattern as the standard wheel. It worked great for the 80 mile drive to find a replacement.

The tire we shredded was less than one year old - we replaced both trailer tires last fall before heading to Mexico.

In reading up on shredded tires, it may be that the tire had been under inflated for a while to cause this sort of damage. But I really doubt that if it had lost any significant air pressure that it was for very long... I am certain that 200 miles earlier it was in great shape.
Click to expand...

Thank you Steve!
 
It's important for trailer tires to be properly inflated given the amount of bouncing that occurs, which creates heat. Trailer Tires will appear fully inflated vs. the sag you see on an under inflated car tire because the side walls are much stiffer. But if you drive with them under inflated the bounce is weakening those sidewalls which could in part lead to shredding. 40psi on a trailer would be like 20psi on a car...it's really low. For trailer tires, they are typically filled at 65-80psi...max cold air pressure for that tire. Not a range, but a specific pressure for that tire. Very different than car tire recommendations.

Be safe out there!
 
Brian & Lucy said:
It's important for trailer tires to be properly inflated given the amount of bouncing that occurs, which creates heat. Trailer Tires will appear fully inflated vs. the sag you see on an under inflated car tire because the side walls are much stiffer. But if you drive with them under inflated the bounce is weakening those sidewalls which could in part lead to shredding. 40psi on a trailer would be like 20psi on a car...it's really low. For trailer tires, they are typically filled at 65-80psi...max cold air pressure for that tire. Not a range, but a specific pressure for that tire. Very different than car tire recommendations.

Be safe out there!
Click to expand...
I think this is the answer that we were looking for. But to be clear, it was our spare that was under inflated at 40 psi and which should have been inflated to between 65 & 85 psi.

I checked the twin to the shredded tire and it had only 38 psi. That tire and the new replacement tire both should be inflated to 50 psi when cold. So this morning I got another free workout with the floor pump. ;-)

Thanks!
 
Discount tire didn't inflate mine to maximum cold pressure either, which surprised me and cause me to question what's right. I think there's a general lack of clarity on what to do, so individual installers do what they think is safe. I towed a 6600lb boat from Austin, TX to Lake Powell, UT a few years ago and did a ton of research before that trip. Rarely are we asked to do anything to the MAX, much less air pressure in a tire, so I quadruple validated that I should air up to max. That trailer had low profile car tires, not trailer tires, but I was still told to max air them because I'd otherwise increase bounce and stress on the sidewalls, leading to more heat and potential for failure. He noted unlike a car's suspension which absorbs road conditions, a trailer takes the pounding in the tire.

Validated it again before I put 15" rims on my CI. I carry an ARB air pump in my TV because I off-road my 4Runner on some trips...airing down to <20psi. I checked my CI tire pressures along the way...they seemed to lose 3-5psi over the course of the trip...possibly the large altitude change? Not sure. I topped them off to max twice on our trip. My friends RV at 80psi did the same!

I won't confess to being a tire expert, but I'm comfortable with my research and will continue to air up to max cold air pressure on my trailer. I'm using trailer tires...Discount Tire recommended that given the heat in Texas. Prior owner had car tires on it. That's a different discussion! :)
 
According to a poster in a Walmart in Grand Forks, ND, the sort of damage that we experienced is the result of severe under inflation. My best guess is that at some point we either developed a slow leak or the valve failed suddenly. If it was a leak (fairly likely, as we routinely pull off by the side of the road several times per day), I am thinking that it is harder to notice the loss of air pressure than if the same thing happened on the tow vehicle. So this suggests to me that the type of tire is irrelevant, and there is simply a risk of this type of failure. We feel lucky that we have only experienced this once, and hope this will be our only such experience.
 
The only reason the type of tire matters is a car tire will give you a more obvious sign of a leak...you can visually see the tire is low by the sag/pooch in the tire. A trailer tire has more solid sidewalls, so you may not have a visual warning. You're right, the outcome can be the same regardless of tire type.
 
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