Community Forums

keninvic · 04-18-2013, 09:29 PM

Recently while driving north on I5 in California I had the unfortunate experience of a tire blowout on the right rear outside tire on my 2004 National Dolphin. There was only 12,000 miles on the 2 year old tire. The sidewall exploded outward releasing all of the air immediately. The defective area was on the inside of the rear right duals. Hard to see unless you crawl under the chassis and are specifically looking for a defect.

Now before all of you jump in with all of the things I probably did wrong, here are the facts:

- I travel with a large AC powered compressor and check all tires regularly.

- this is a 32ft motorhome on a Workhorse chassis, it is not overloaded, and based on the manufacturers recommended pressures and information from Michelin's website the pressure was set at 95lbs.

- the tires are always covered when the motorhome is stationary for more than two days.

- there was no abnormal wear on the tires, tread wear was minimal, tires look like new.

The other tires were all purchased at the same time, nothing apparently wrong with them so far, but I will be keeping a close watch for any defects from now on.

Btw Good Sam would only deliver a Good Year tire of the same size. They apparently have a contract with a specific supplier and Michelin was not an option even though I was paying for the replacement and labour to mount it. I did not like the idea of mixing manufacturers tires on a dual, and instead drove several hours in the toad to find the exact Michelin replacement.

Have any of you had similar failures with the sidewalls on your Michelin XRV tires?

mfire1339 · 04-18-2013, 09:47 PM

2008 right front blowout on 5 year old xrv. 95psi that morning. they were all cracked pretty bad and they prorated 5 tires at 50%.

Mike

GreaTOne65 · 04-18-2013, 09:52 PM

When we were hauling grain, we had a bunch of problems with Michelin tires, the same as you experienced. The side-walls blew out on all but 2 on the tractors 10 tires. No, Michelins for me, thanks, I'll take Toyo's.

RickO · 04-18-2013, 09:54 PM

Glad everyone is safe and it sounds as though the damage was minimal.

It stinks that Good Sam would only provide a tire from a mfg they had a contract with. Did Michelin cover the cost of the tire under warranty?

Rick

keninvic · 04-18-2013, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickO

Glad everyone is safe and it sounds as though the damage was minimal.

It stinks that Good Sam would only provide a tire from a mfg they had a contract with. Did Michelin cover the cost of the tire under warranty?

Rick

Tire blew out 8 days ago, nothing from Michelin so far.

Mr_D · 04-18-2013, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keninvic

Tire blew out 8 days ago, nothing from Michelin so far.

Hope you saved the old tire, Michelin will want to see it before any determination of warranty coverage is made.

keninvic · 04-18-2013, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_D

Hope you saved the old tire, Michelin will want to see it before any determination of warranty coverage is made.

Took photos of the tire and left it with the dealer I purchased the replacement from.

**JohnRR** · 04-18-2013, 10:13 PM

Any damage to either coach?

keninvic · 04-18-2013, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnRR

Any damage to either coach?

Mine failed after driving over a typical rough section of California I5 near Los Banos. Lucky for us we were stopped at the time it blew, so no damage. Lost a full day though.

mfire1339 · 04-18-2013, 10:30 PM

Kinked and twisted "gold plated" brake line. Well workhorse thought it was gold.

Mike

Mr_D · 04-18-2013, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keninvic

Took photos of the tire and left it with the dealer I purchased the replacement from.

Hope they kept it, photo's might not show rusted belts or other hidden damage that the actual tire will.

**JohnRR** · 04-18-2013, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keninvic

Mine failed after driving over a typical rough section of California I5 near Los Banos. Lucky for us we were stopped at the time it blew, so no damage. Lost a full day though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfire1339

Kinked and twisted "gold plated" brake line. Well workhorse thought it was gold.

Mike

That's good to hear.

Dutch Star Don · 04-22-2013, 10:55 PM

keninvic.......You didn't say why you thought it was a bad tire. The most common tire to blow on a motor home is the right rear. It's the tire that sees the most road debris.

Gary RVRoamer · 04-23-2013, 05:16 AM

Good Sam doesn't supply the tires. If you ask for a tire to be delivered, you are buying from whoever is doing the road service (a subcontractor). They may be a tire dealer for a certain brand, or buy only from a certain distributor.