i had the unfortunate pleasure although pleasure probably not right of having a rear tyre on my motor home explode at 100 kph. Luckily I was able to pull it up without any further dramas. The tyre managed to damage some of the bodywork as you can see from the photo.
Hi Jimbo
Main thing is you are alright. Can I ask a few questions like tyre pressure at the time, brand of tyre and your motorhome weight etc. Not trying to be a sticky beak but I have a motorhome and just trying to find out if anything might impact others.
Dave
Dave I purchased the MH a 2007 Jayco Conquest on a Fiat Ducato about 6 months ago. The previous owner had replaced the rear tyres and they appeared to be in good nick with plenty of tread. They are not recaps. I ran them at around 60 psi although on the advice of the supplier of the two new tyres I put on I now run them at 80psi. Of interest is the repairer and tyre place asked how old the tyres were apparently older tyres are more prone to have a problem. In my case it looks like the tread separated and blew big time.
The caravan next to me pulled in with a spare tyre on the back just steel cords and a bit of rubbers,Ihave seen this happen a few times over the years,with a single axel van ,you need a tremendous amount of ground to pull off the road dead straight,and that does not happen when you need it you have to look for a convenient space and it can take sometime,meanwhile things are beiNg torn to pieces,with a motor home you can pull over almost straight away, with a bogey wheel van one tyre can carry the load,with a single axel Van your stuffed.so it's bad news with your tyre but lucky it was a motor home...
The same happened to me about a year ago driving into Echuca. The first I knew was hearing rubber banging on the road.
Thankfully it was a back tyre and also no damage done to my van.
Thanks Jimbo. Ours has the same Ducato front and comes in about the same weight. The tyres from new are quoted at 80 psi and when I queried it they insisted that was what was required. I guess just bad luck for you BUT good that everybody ended up ok. Safe travels. Thanks for the reply. Dave
Tyre "rubber" ain't rubber anymore.
Just different compounds to suit applications.
Usually..... Around 6 yrs is MAX I keep a tyre on anything.
apart from my 6x4 that does the 7km dump run once a month
Check the little box on side of carcase. Se what vintage tyre is.
I just threw away a full set on my van Incl spare. Virtually unused.
but they still went down the dump with stanley knife through sidewalls.
they were 6 1\2 yrs old and I'm not going to use them.
Specially up North and higher temp's.
7 yr onward tyres have a bad habit of going pop.
It's not worth it.
Read up on tyre longevity and safety nowadays on NET.
I was reading in the last week that it is common for single rear wheel motorhomes to have rear tyre blowouts due to weight on the rears, This can be made worse by under inflating tyres as this makes the tyre flex more and heat up. I had a tube blowout on the outer rear of the coaster and still got home without changing it 140km. Too tired and risked it but made it ok.
My tires at the time were 11 years old and so were the tubes, So have fitted 6 new tyres and heavy duty tubes as split rims. I run 75 PSI in the front and 60 in the rears. With single rear wheels I would be fitting the heaviest ply tyre on the rim and running max recommended PSI and you shouldn't have any issues as long as your weight is not over specs to your vehicle.
BTW that was the 1st blowout I have experienced in 50 years of driving so it doesn't happen often but I always run run higher than recommended for my vehicles as always have plenty of crap in the Nissan and tow heavy loads at times with it. Check them often.
Would you mind telling us the make of the tyre please, and if you can still see the markings, the year of manufacture
When I purchased my 2006 Fiat motorhome in 2014, the rear tyres (Michelin) were original, (made 2005) at just over 30,000 kilometres
I replaced them with the same brand, and the tyre fitter told me that there was nothing wrong with the originals
I explained that as I could see some very fine hairline cracks, on the tyre which had been facing the sun for a few years, that I was not prepared to take the risk
I got the feeling that the young tyre fitter, (about 25 years of age), was unaware that tyres do have a limited life
The front tyres (Federal Ecovan), had been recently replaced before I purchased the vehicle
I hit a pothole covered with water, (not going fast), on the passenger side. Within a few hundred kilometres the steering wheel started to shake
I found an egg on the side of the front passenger tyre As I had only travelled just over 3,000 kilometres, I replaced it with the same brand, (Federal Ecovan)
When I had travelled around 23,000 kilometres the original driver front (Federal Ecovan), also got an egg in it
To the best of my knowledge I did not hit any more potholes
I now have Michelin all round
I am not pushing any tyre manufacturer, I am just explaining what happened, so that others may be aware
Wow not only the tyre the damage looks bad as well, glad all were safe. I was crossing NSW with a van, had a blow out (single axle) and by the time I could safely pull over all that was left was the part of the rim with the stud pattern on it and a badly damaged undercarriage on the van. It was interesting to read about the life of a tyre in this thread, I am actually off today to get new shoes on my tow vehicle for that reason my front tyres only look half worn but they are old (they must of had some years on them when I bought them because they haven't been on long)
I use Pirelli on cars. and mainly Bridgestone on my vans. 4wd's.
The H/T tyres on mags on D,max for driving round locally are 10pr Bridgy's.
good gripping in wet and on marbles.
The A/T on steel rims are 697's in 10pr.
Again. Stiffer walls and shoulders.
Only had one blow in last 40 yrs. Good Year......
and I always change tyres at 6 1\2 yrs. or 3\4 worn. NEVER go down to bars.
That's when you in Puncture territory.
This van came with new KELLY 10pr Truck tyres. (cheap) We'll see.
The spare I bought was Bridgy 631 to suit. At least it a Tandem not single axle.
They got here from Melbourne ok.
