Blowing trailer tires (255/70R22.5)
 

I've blown two of these tires in 2 months now. I have not overloaded them, kept the tire pressure at 120(according to mfg specs) and I don't hit anything. They always blow out the tread, not the sidewall. Like a damn cannon.

One was a recap (rear axle, outside tire, passenger side) the other was a virgin (rear axle, drivers side, inside tire).

The only thing I can think of is the previous owner abused the tires. The pressures were low (90 psi or so) when I first got the trailer. This particular size needs to be 110 psi to be legal for US weights, and 120 psi to be legal for Canadian weights. But a low pressure situation usually leads to a sidewall blowout.

The re cap blowing should be self explanatory.

As far as the virgin, what brand was it? How many plies? Was it half assed repaired from a previous puncture?

Alan, I wouldn't trust trailer makers with the pressure number for the tires. Mine are 17.5 and the sign on the side of the trailer says, Air Pressure: 125 (!) PSI for the rating of ... 5,675 lbs per tire in a dual setup. Now, I still remember the high school math, so I multiplied 5,675 by 8 and it's 45,400 lbs per 2 axles! I never have that much. I think I did a stricktly Canadian load once in 3 years and that was like 39,000 on the trailer axle. With US we carry 34,000 lbs / 8 = 4,250 lbs only. And that's maximum.

If 125 corresponds to 5675 lbs then x should correspond to 4,250.

X= 4250 x 125 / 5675 or 93 (!) PSI.

I asked the Trailers Canada about this and they said, "Use 115 PSI for light loads and 125 for heavy loads." Then I found the "Dr. Tire" on the Bridgestone site (my tires are Bridgestone) and I emailed them my question about the recommended tire pressure for the maximum of 34,000 lbs on the trailer tandems.

Guess what Bridgestone said? "As long as you maintain 110 PSI consistently, you should be fine with your types of loads. But 110 is the minimum." When I asked them about 115 they said it was okay too because that gave me 5 PSI reserve... So, I"m running 115 PSI on these 17.5" tires while the Wilson insisted I use 125.

What I"m trying to say is I think your tires blew because you had too much pressure in the first place and then they heated up to something like 140 psi at the highway speed and ... BOOM!

Tracer, the higher pressure you run the less the tire flexes meaning the tire pressure doesn't increase as much. When the tire is run soft it overheats the rubber and any weak spots or broken/damaged belt will be where seperation will occur.

Allan, I had 2 tires on my step deck recapped. Both blew before I had put 1,000 miles on them. In talking with some tire people they tell me that the 255/22.5 tires don't do well when capped. In fact, one to whom I spoke told me that the only way they will cap a tire is if the owner wants his own casings capped. I have had 2 new tires on the same trailer where the tread has blown off. One was a Ching Ching and the other Cooper. They warrantied the Ching Ching. I am waiting on the Cooper. Heat tends to build up more on the smaller tires. That is one reason that I didn't buy the smaller tires on my step deck when I bought my trailer. Smaller tires build up heat much more quickly than larger tires which can cause failure. I don't know why the tread came off of my tires and neither does my tire distributor. They attributed it to a manufacturers defect. Those are the only tires that I have had a problem. My biggest challenge is keeping them from wearing out so quickly.

allan, this sounds too elementary, but you mentioned the "previous owner" of the tires/trailer. Maybe the tires are old and beyond their likely "life span". Even tires with alot of tread left and no visible faults can fail because of age.

tracer at Canadian weights I do have to run 120 psi. Usually a low psi/overheat situation will blow out the sidewall.

I think I'm going to change the rest of the tires. I have two new goodyear RST 104's, and I'll switch the other 6 to those as well.

I think part of the problem is most 255/70R22.5 tires are all position tires, with more tread depth. I think running a true trailer tire is a better idea.

The trailer is the same age as my drive tires. It's quite bizarre actually, they have lots of tread left and absolutely no visible signs of damage.

You stated that the tires were underinflated when you bought the trailer, that's 1 strike against them.

Who knows whether the "previous owner" was jumping curbs, running over big rocks etc?

The steel cords inside the tires can be damaged without any externally visible signs.

Patching a punctured tubeless tire on the inside without plugging the hole in the tread can allow water and salt to rust the steel cords leading to failure in the tread area.

Very true.