Tire Failure - Blowout!

[bdosborn]

We were coming back home from Fort Robinson today and had a tire failure. We were traveling on a back road at 65mph and it was about 73F outside. We heard a big POP and I pulled over immediately. The trailer handled like a champ the whole time, I was surprised at how stable it was pulling off the road. I was even more surprised when I saw the tire:





I had checked all the tires before we left and the Marathons were at 46 psi. The tread didn't come off, the tire split down the middle. It seems like a pretty bad failure, I've never seen a diagonal tear like that. The good news is that it didn't damage the wheel or the wheel well (other than to rub some paint off the frame and to tear the mudflap loose). This could have been much worse. I've read about a lot of Marathon failures on the RV forum, I guess I can add mine to the list. I'll probably be using a different tire from now on. Anybody know why this happened? I wonder if I got a flat while running but I doubt it would have popped so loudly if it was flat.


Bruce

[kirkman]

Wow! where you lucky!

[Engineer Guy]

I'm guessing the same failure mode that happened on the Paris Runway years back: a shard of metal debris [but not a Nail] from a prior Jet take off puncturing a Jet Airplane Tire. The Tire then shredded on take off and took out the Fuel Tank. Down went the Concorde SST. Forensics suggest your Tire was under pressure, but that a surface area larger than a Nail hole was damaged 'instantly'. Your Trailer track would need to be only slightly different than your TV for this to happen where only the Trailer Tire hits the debris.

We were on I-25 one time beside a 'Wide Load' Modular Home under tow. One of 5 Tires on the left side had gone out. The too-high PSI on the remaining Tires caused a 2nd Tire to blow RIGHT in my Wife's right Ear with her [Passenger side] Window down. The sound was extremely loud; quite memorable to this day.

Say some Contractor dropped a short piece of House Shingle Metal Drip Edge that had been cut sharp with Shears, etc....

Wikipedia: Concorde Disaster

[bdosborn]

Your Trailer track would need to be only slightly different than your TV for this to happen where only the Trailer Tire hits the debris.

Nope, I made the track of the trailer exactly the same as the truck and I was driving in a straight line. Interestingly, the tire did not shred, it just split down the middle. I don't think it went flat, I think it popped. I'm starting to wonder if maybe I damaged it internally when I was pulling it at 75mph through Wyoming in 101F heat.

Bruce

[Engineer Guy]

Oh, OK... GIGO on that theory. I read the ambient temp as much lower.

We were traveling on a back road at 65mph and it was about 73F outside.

Yah, Manufacturing defect that finally gotcha?

[bdosborn]

Yah, Manufacturing defect that finally gotcha?

The guys at the other forum are leaning towards Made in China and 5 years old as being the culprit.

I'm looking at these to replace the Marathons:

Kumho 857

Q rated so hopefully I can run at 75mph.

Bruce

[vreihen]

On the top right corner of the second picture, I see a few strands of steel belt sticking out where it appears that the inner layer separated from the tread. Could the cause of this blowout have been one of the belts fraying inside the tire and ultimately poking it's way through the outside like a pin over time?

Your 75 MPH trip through Wyoming at 101 F theory causing an internal failure does have some merit. Per the second bullet item on this Goodyear dealer bulletin, they want you to go 10 PSI *over* the maximum sidewall pressure rating if you're driving at 75 MPH:

http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/goodyear/Marathon_Special_Trailer_Applications.pdf

Never thought I'd see a tire manufacturer say to over-inflate their tires in writing.....

[wired]

I had a similar thing happen to a tire on a 25' fifth wheel that I used to own. Guy at a tire shop told me not to put radials on a trailer as the constant side to side movement of the trailer going down the road stresses out the belts and could cause failure. He said to use only bias belted tires made specifically for trailers. Replaced the tire and sold the rig not long after so I don't know how the other 3 tires fared. FWIW

[emiller]

That happen to me a few years back after hitting a pot hole on the interstate. Here are some tire info.
http://www.championtrailers.com/tire_art.html
http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTr ... eFacts.dos
http://www.trailer411.com/goodyear-trailer-tires.html

[bdosborn]

I just pulled the trigger on new Kumho tires. Its rated for around 400# more than the Marathon. It has a higher max inflation at 65 psi but my wheels are rated for the higher pressure (but not the additional load at 1900# max). They have a Q speed rating so I should be able to run at 75mph in the heat. The Marathon has been a great tire (until it blew up) and I've done a lot of research about them. Bottom line is there are too many posts on the internet about Marathon failures for me to risk buying another set, even though there are probably more Marathons out there than any other ST tire.

Everyone points at under-inflation as a problem for 85% of failures but my tires have always been run at 45 psi, which should be adequate for the axle weight and 75 mph. I'm good about checking the tires when we leave the house but I'll certainly be looking at my tires more often when we're on the road. I might have had a slow leak that caused the tire to overheat and never noticed it. I'm also going to run max psi from now on.

Bruce

[angib]

Sorry to see that.

Now I'm not saying I believe what I'm about to say, but I think I ought to say it, seeing as it's what lots of folk would say if the situation was the other way round.

It's these dangerous large 14" wheels you used that caused the problem - if you had had safe little 8" tyres, there wouldn't have been a problem.....

[Shadow Catcher]

OK so what is the rational behind trailer tires vs automotive particularly in a situation where they are in essence under loaded in comparison to...
I have never had a problem with Bridgestone or Michelin tires that were less than 8 years old.
How old were the tires?

I would be talking with Goodyear if they are less than 8 years old.

Finding un biased answers to my first question is difficult.
http://www.taskmasterproducts.com/acata ... rtires.pdf
http://www.trucktires.com/bridgestone/u ... ochure.pdf

One speculation is that Marathon tires do not fail any more than any other but since there so may of them you will hear of more failures and because of the nature of the tire (more rigid higher pressure) when they do fail it is more spectacular. But I would still be having a talk with Goodyear and asking for an analysis of why it failed.

[Engineer Guy]

When I saw the Tire construction above, this 'truism' posted above I'd heard also popped into my Head:

'Guy at a tire shop told me not to put radials on a trailer as the constant side to side movement of the trailer going down the road stresses out the belts and could cause failure. He said to use only bias belted tires made specifically for trailers'.

It's hard to quantify, so it could be Urban Myth... A few conversations at the Truck Stop Parking Lot might yield some common experiences?

A wise pal who tows large Horse Trailers only buys 1 Ton Dually Trucks. He and his Son both have had sidewall 'squirm' issues on the Truck Tires if they're singles. He claims that the substantial downward 5th Wheel Hitch PSI can be within spec. But, it's a whole different Tire stress dynamic on Mountain curves when 2 Tires on the rear Axle take all the stress, rather than 4.

As with the Bias Ply observation above, this Horse Trailer wisdom was something I mentally filed 'just in case' it ever was an issue.

[bdosborn]

It's these dangerous large 14" wheels you used that caused the problem - if you had had safe little 8" tyres, there wouldn't have been a problem.....

Bruce

[bdosborn]

A wise pal who tows large Horse Trailers only buys 1 Ton Dually Trucks...

Duallys won't fit in my wheel wells.

Bruce