Blowout! Check you tires often!

[The_Handier_Man1]

From: Derrek  (Original Message)
Sent: 3/15/2005 11:23 AM

Since I already shared the positive side on my recent 2,100 mile trip with the group, it is now time for the negative part of the trip.
I experience the dreaded "Blowout" for the first, and hopefully last, time.

It occurred about 2 hours into our trip from Ohio to Florida. I was driving, and my wife was in the back sleeping. I reached the top of a hill and backed off the throttle slightly and heard a unbelievable KABOOM!!! I was certain that the sound came from under the engine cover. My first thought was "the engine just threw a rod!!". ..lol.

I checked my gauges and everything looked fine. My wife ran up to the drivers seat wondering what the noise was. She asked if I thought we may have blown a tire, but I said no, because I didn't feel anything in the steering wheel and when I let go of the wheel, the motor home tracked perfectly straight. I pulled off at the next exit, and this is what I found, a tire had blown out completely, damaging the body a well.

(In case anyone is wondering, this happened at about 5:30 am. I could not see the damage in my mirror because it was still dark.)

I installed the spare tire, cut off the damaged fiberglass section off using a hacksaw, and threw it in the motor home. Luckily, we were back on the road in about an hour and a half.

The damage looked worse than it actually was. There is a seam along the top of the damaged section that is held by screws. The screws were rusty, so the "explosion" simply snapped the screw heads off instead of shredding the fiberglass. I was able to get some screws and re-attach the section once we reached Florida. I have a few small areas that will still need to be repaired, but I was very lucky to have minimal damage considering the situation.

One thing to note: The damage was done when the tire ruptured, not by pieces of tire beating the fiberglass. The fiberglass had no rubber marks on it anywhere.

I will never know for certain exactly what caused the tire to fail, but here is a list of facts surrounding the blowout:

I had just weighed the motor home before the trip and it was not overloaded

I had just checked the pressure before we left.

According to the DOT code on the side of the tires, they were 7 years old and I had planned to replace them this summer.

I had personally inspected the tires, and also had them inspected last fall by a local tire shop. The tire shop said that the tires appeared fine, but should be replaced, due to age, this summer (The 7 year mark)

A recent tire article in motor home magazine backed up what the tire shop said, stating that  "RV tires should be inspected at 5 years and replaced at 7 years, regardless of appearance".

I purchased 6 new tires in Ormond Beach, FL from AA Acurate and was very pleased with the price and service.

People with brand new tires on their RV can still experience a blowout, but after experiencing a blowout and the damage caused by it, I will be sure to replace my tires at the 5 year mark, to reduce the risk.

                                                                                 Derrek



From: Derrek
Sent: 3/15/2005 11:26 AM
 
Here is some info on Reading DOT tire codes:

One important thing to know is the age of the tires on your RV. This can be done by checking the DOT codes branded on the side of the tire. I modified a picture I found on the net using Microsoft paint to better explain how to find a decipher the code.

The DOT code can be found on the sidewall of the tire near the rim. You will see the letters DOT followed by several sets of numbers branded inside of a series of oval shapes molded into the sidewall of the tire. The last set of digits will tell you the week and year the tires were produced. For tires made before the year 2000 the code will read like this example:

347 = 34th week of 1997

For tires made after 2000 the code will read like this:

3404 = 34th week of 2004

The latest issue of motor home magazine has an excellent article on tires. In the article it states that tires should be inspected when they reach 5 years old and replaced at 7 years regardless of the appearance.
                                                                                 
                                                                                      Derrek



From: elandan2
Sent: 3/15/2005 12:50 PM

Hi Derrek,  The thing you have to remember about the former DOT codes is that the 507  Could be the 50th week of 1997 or 1987 or 1977.  I sure am glad they changed the coding system.  Good to see that was all the damage you guys suffered, imagine if that were a front wheel, scary.  Rick



From: Derrek
Sent: 3/15/2005 1:48 PM

Yes, you are right about the DOT codes before 2000. I didn't add that info because I didn't figure anyone would have 15 year old tires (or more) on their motor home..

I agree, the new coding system is much better.

  I would not want to have a blowout on the front. Luckily, my Apollo has factory stabilizers on the front wheels to help maintain control in the event of a front tire blowout. I don't know if they work, and I don't want to find out...

                                                                                                         Derrek