Repeat blowing rear tire question

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by Davinger

As I said before the coaches are being built very close to the GVWR. I had mine weighed with a full tank of gas, a full LP tank and just the gear. No food no water nothing in the other tanks and I was about 300 LBS below the GVWR. I don't have a spare tire. If you add the family, the food and my 96 LB German Sheppard and my 78 LB German Sheppard wife, kids, water, beer and me we are several hundred LBS over the GVWR.

The good news is that DOT doesn't enforce weight requirements on non commercial vehicles. The chassis can handle the weight of your family and the gear. If you want to take a load of freight with you that's another story. Generally speaking I'll put five gallons in the fresh tank and two gallons in the black tank with chemicals for pottie breaks while driving. The weight you're adding is a very small fraction above what they recommend.

Go Gators!

So are you overloading your tires or have you changed tire size and /or Load Range.

[hoakken]

Any progress on fix? Thread keeps going astray with discussions on tire rating. If original post understood correctly problem suddenly developed with a unit with no issue previously observed. Unless owner started hauling his anvil collection weight is most likely not the issue. Tire rating is important but I would bet in this case the stated problem is most likely mechanical in nature. I agree weight should be properly distributed and monitored but lets get to the solution to this problem first. I watch this almost daily to see if problem has been solved. As an automotive trainer this has me puzzled as I can't put eyes on it myself. I can only hope the op posts the fix.

[Tireman9]

Hoakken

Post #1
OP originally said "blew or tread worn off to the dangerous level 4 tires, 3 on same side in back and 1 front, "

#4 OP said "air pressure was put to factory max, as stated inside door and yes checked it every few days. what bothered me is the tread wear was way off to, inside and outside of tire was nearly bald, yet center had decent tread on 1 tire, rear and front also."

#6 OP was asked if tire gauge was accurate

#8 I asked OP if there were any pictures

#15 OP confirmed Front alignment was "out bad" and again confirmed he was guessing on weight

#29 OP admits he is probably overloading tires

Lots of post with discussion on RV weight gets us to today

So here we are almost 6 weeks after the original question.
-We do not know how many or which tires blew out and how many had bad shoulder wear.
-We do know from many other sources that shoulder wear is indication of overload & under inflation
-We know the RV in question is overloaded when it is loaded for a trip but do not know if the overload is uniformly distributed or offset to one side.
-We know that at least the front tire wear is probably because of "Bad" front end alignment
-We do not have any pictures of the failed tires that would help us understand the problem
-We do not know if the tire pressure gauge is reading high by 10 or 15 psi which would make the OP think the tires were properly inflated when they were not.
-I am not sure how the RV wore "3 on the same side in back" I didn't think this RV had a Tag axle

I think we need lots more information from the OP or we will just continue to guess what the cause of the problem was, because I for one am not sure what the problem really is.

[Gordon Dewald]

The good news is that DOT doesn't enforce weight requirements on non commercial vehicles. The chassis can handle the weight of your family and the gear. If you want to take a load of freight with you that's another story. Generally speaking I'll put five gallons in the fresh tank and two gallons in the black tank with chemicals for pottie breaks while driving. The weight you're adding is a very small fraction above what they recommend.

Not true. DOT can and will enforce weight requirements of any vehicle they determine may be a hazard to public safety. The officers have the authority to require any vehicle to cross a scale, write a ticket or impound the vehicle. Whether they chose to or not is up to their discretion.

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by Gordon Dewald

The good news is that DOT doesn't enforce weight requirements on non commercial vehicles. The chassis can handle the weight of your family and the gear. If you want to take a load of freight with you that's another story. Generally speaking I'll put five gallons in the fresh tank and two gallons in the black tank with chemicals for pottie breaks while driving. The weight you're adding is a very small fraction above what they recommend.

Not true. DOT can and will enforce weight requirements of any vehicle they determine may be a hazard to public safety. The officers have the authority to require any vehicle to cross a scale, write a ticket or impound the vehicle. Whether they chose to or not is up to their discretion.

Maybe the State DOT's can but it appears that the Feds only care about commercial trucks and buses.

Truck Size and Weight - FHWA Freight Management and Operations

Federal interest in preserving highways goes back to the enactment of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which authorized the Interstate and Defense Highway System. To preserve our Nation's infrastructure and to keep trucks and buses moving efficiently, states must ensure that commercial motor vehicles comply with federal size and weight standards. FHWA is responsible for certifying state compliance with Federal standards. This site provides a ready source of information on Federal standards and guidelines, state enforcement activities, reporting requirements, and contacts.

[Davinger]

Nope still running the factory tires on mine. The tire companies also build in some extra pounds since every tire they produce has to "meet or exceed" the rating. Being a tire expert myself I'm not worried that a few hundred pounds over the GVWR is going to cause my tires or chassis to fail.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by Davinger

Nope still running the factory tires on mine. The tire companies also build in some extra pounds since every tire they produce has to "meet or exceed" the rating. Being a tire expert myself I'm not worried that a few hundred pounds over the GVWR is going to cause my tires or chassis to fail.

Don't want to start a "Battle of the Tire Experts" but have to wonder how much "Overload" or "Under-Inflation" you consider too much.

If you are talking about 600# equally distributed on six tires, all of which have been inflated using an accurate (+/- 2 psi or less from actual inflation) gauge you may be correct that an owner might get many years use on a motorhome but less likely on a multi-axle trailer due to Interply shear.

BUT since we have no idea if the gauge the OP is accurate to +/- 1 psi or is reading 15psi high as one gauge I tested was
or if one end of his front axle is 1100# over on one side of a 50/50 split and the other 5 tires are underloaded by 100# each, I don't wanted to be pointed to as the "expert source" that said it was OK to be overloaded when the under-inflated and grossly overloaded tire lets go at 70 mph.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by Gordon Dewald

The good news is that DOT doesn't enforce weight requirements on non commercial vehicles. The chassis can handle the weight of your family and the gear. If you want to take a load of freight with you that's another story. Generally speaking I'll put five gallons in the fresh tank and two gallons in the black tank with chemicals for pottie breaks while driving. The weight you're adding is a very small fraction above what they recommend.

Not true. DOT can and will enforce weight requirements of any vehicle they determine may be a hazard to public safety. The officers have the authority to require any vehicle to cross a scale, write a ticket or impound the vehicle. Whether they chose to or not is up to their discretion.

I'm less concerned with what the DOT or State Police might do and a LOT more concerned with science and facts. Tires have to meet certain minimum standards when brand new. Once the tire is a few years old and has hit a few hundred pot-holes and curbs, as an Engineer, I know that some tires will no longer pass the same test requirements.
In some cases simply time and accumulated temperature affects might result in a tire no longer being able to pass the same test it passed when new.
It is well established fact that rubber degrades with time. Even when stored in a garage.

[Gordon Dewald]

Originally Posted by Mr_D

Maybe the State DOT's can but it appears that the Feds only care about commercial trucks and buses.

I suppose it would be good if you stayed within a couple miles of interstates all of the time. There is inconsistent regulations and enforement form state to state and province to province.

[porchracer]

Well, Another post that's gone so many direction, with so many people sharing their expertise, theory's. To the original poster, SORRY! Some very good suggestions, some total B.S. These posts tend to have a mind of not their own but everybodys. You have no hope in getting to the bottom of your problem. We've got guys with D.P., travel trailers, class c, class b, 20ft, 40,ft and everything in between. We've heard side wall failure, overloading, over/under inflation orig equipment , and been schooled on gvw and ggvw. 4 wheel scales tongue weight, No one has yet asked. What color is your coach. Sorry rain on everyones parade but some of the replys by people on these forums tend to rant ramble and confuse. Carry On. To the original poster I really hope you find your problem so you can enjoy the motorhome without tire problems.

[hoakken]

Tireman

I fully agree with your summation that a ton of variables have been shared but without much more info and pictures we will most likely never know the actual cause or the solution. I would love to have been able to put my eyes and hands on the rig but owner was 1200 miles from me. Your background definitely showed with your suggestions. Before I was a trainer I worked with large fleets with all types of vehicles including truck chassis of various types so problems similar to this have been seen before. I only hope the owner solves his problem so he can enjoy his travels.

[Davinger]

Originally Posted by Tireman9

I'm less concerned with what the DOT or State Police might do and a LOT more concerned with science and facts. Tires have to meet certain minimum standards when brand new. Once the tire is a few years old and has hit a few hundred pot-holes and curbs, as an Engineer, I know that some tires will no longer pass the same test requirements.
In some cases simply time and accumulated temperature affects might result in a tire no longer being able to pass the same test it passed when new.
It is well established fact that rubber degrades with time. Even when stored in a garage.

I'm totally in agreement with you there. many people assume that most of the tread we see on the highway comes from the big rigs retreads when in fact that most of the bits of tire we find ourselves dodging in the middle of the road is in fact virgin tread. Tires have a shelf life and that goes for installed tires. My rule of thumb is 5 years. Yes I know that they say 6 yo 8 years in many cases but my motor home isn't my daily driver. I check the tire pressure before every trip for several reasons the least of which is the better gas mileage you get by maintaining them.

My coach GVWR is 14700 and with a full tank of gas and a full tank of LP but all other tanks empty and no food. I did have the gear such as towels sheets ,pillows and dishes ect. I was only 300LBS under the GVWR.

If I add the family, the dogs and food drink and water to use the toilet it puts me around 735 LBS over the GVWR. Based on weight of family and standard fluid weights. 5 people, 2 dogs and provisions for a weekend trip.

I don't see where adding around 1% over the GVWR is really going to cause any damage to the components. If the tires or chassis fails with a 1% overage then there was something wrong with it in the first place.

The tire companies have allowances as do the chassis cab makers because they're aware that the RV people are going to take it very close to the limit before the customer gets inside.

[Pds47]

Originally Posted by bulldogs101

date codes were just about 3 1/2 years old and 4 years old, they did not have many miles on them as stated, air pressure was put to factory max, as stated inside door and yes checked it every few days. what bothered me is the tread wear was way off to, inside and outside of tire was nearly bald, yet center had decent tread on 1 tire, rear and front also. its weird, not sure what is going on

inside and outside wear indicate low air pressure