Wierd Tire Question
 

so a guy, recently skidded two of his trailer tires on same axle for quite a few kilometers. upon inspection, the outer tire sidewall was blown. guy who changed the set , thinks the outer flat tire with the sidewall blown, caused the whole axle to stop rotating, thus skidding them both. another tire expert says the skidded tires caused the sidewall hole. this was on snowy roads. anyone hear of this happening, or is the brake freezing the only way the axle can stop spinning ? seems plausable if not alot of road friction. it was post blizzard conditions , just after about a foot of snow fell. obviously the driver didn't see it till was too late, and skidded them a ways. someone else thinks its impossible for the axle to stop spinning with one good tire. thoughts ?

It is difficult to say for sure what caused the tires to skid. Since you were in blizzard conditions, I would think that the brakes could have locked. Water can get into brake lines and freeze in winter. That is why most of us don't set our trailer brakes when we are in snow of freezing temperatures. It is also possible for the axle to stop spinning, when applying the brakes, due to the icy roads. If the tires are not getting traction the axle could lock on icy roads.

wasn't me, but tires were skidded all the way through, leaving 2 inch holes. when tire guy came , and jacked it up, the axle was moving freely. how many miles would take to wear them down like that if was fully loaded trailer you think ? anyone ?

I've never dragged a frozen axle far (maybe 70-80 feet) just to a clear dry spot so I didn't have to lay in slush to knock it loose, in that short distance I could see a small flat spot starting! I never would've thought that short way would have done that but ya learn something new every day.

It doesn't take much to damage a tire. I once had a brake freeze up and just driving out of my parking space and a short distance around the parking lot put flat spots on my tires. I don't know how long it would take to put holes in a tire, but it would not likely take too long. If a wheel is locked where the tire is not turning, you should feel some drag. You should also see some smoke coming from the tires after a short time.

I drug one for not even 1 km and it blew out. I had just pulled off from a stop sign, a brake didn't release and kablammo. Didn't see smoke, to be honest, wasn't looking in my mirror to see if a tire was locked as I was pulling off because it hadn't locked till then. I hadn't gone but maybe 150 ft, depends on the tread on the tire as to how quick it will blow. I've seen tires drug for a good mile with no sign of a blowouts.......flat spotted, yep!

Really the only way to know the answer of what happened was, when it was jacked up, did it turn freely before the tires were taken off? As GMAN said, water/salt can get in there and cause issues in the brakes. It can get into the drum area and cause issues too. I have a trailer that does that on 1 brake, if I haven't pulled it for a week and it rains at all, brake is stuck. In the winter its a real bear to break loose.