Had to buy new tires far away from home

[pasusan]

I'm so glad for this forum. While on our latest trip we had major tire problems and had to buy a new set on the road.

I often store information I read here in a special file I have and had copied info about Michelin Agilis tires. Of course I didn't have the file with me on the road, but did remember there was a well reviewed tire. I came to the forum using my phone and did a search and came up with the name.

It all started while we were driving on I-68 and we started feeling some vibration - at first we thought it might be the road. It got worse and we pulled over on the shoulder - didn't see or feel anything wrong with the tires. We got off on a smaller highway driving slower looking for a place to pull off. We found a gravel parking area and pulled over - a fellow behind us pulled over to tell us there was something wrong with our right rear tire. Thankfully! Since we couldn't see or feel anything wrong with it - we felt around the back and found a huge bubble on the back side of the tire.



We put on the spare and went on our way. Later we found the other rear tire was bubbling.



We never saw this phenomenon before and ended up getting a brand new set of tires for 1200.00.

The drive home was fine - the new tires are quiet and they seem to stick to the road nicely.

[booster]

Do you happen to know the age and mileage on the tire that failed? What load range is it?



Roadtrek 170s don't run all that heavy in back, so that is not a common issue.

[pasusan]

Don't know the age or mileage - they were on there when we bought it and looked brand new. Load range E. We put about 15,000 miles on them since 2017.

We figured we'd get new tires soon, but they still had great tread and were always stored inside with correct pressure.

I asked the guy at the tire shop if those bubbles are normal - and he nodded his head and rolled his eyes.

[mkguitar]

check the DOT codes on the sidewall of tire for load range and date of manufacture



in Arizona the sun, ozone and temperatures make "lotso tread" tires dead after 6 years


glad you got on top of that issue before it got you !


Mike

[pasusan]

Thanks, Mike... Yeah - we didn't get to see the date codes on the old tires - they were gone before we could check.

And the new tires - I guess the date code is on the inside - the outside doesn't have them.

We are very thankful not to have had a blowout - could've made a real mess of the fiberglass wheel wells.

[dmb496]

This is a typical date code. The tire was manufactured 27th week of 2018.

https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/...81474979926158

[rvsprinterguy]

Thanks for posting the date-code info link. I knew the code was there, but had forgotten how straightforward its format is.

[terance13]

That is an impact bubble. You hit something hard, like a pothole, and split the inner lining allowing the air in the tire to leak between the lining and sidewall. We see it almost every at our shop. Sorry, but no manufacture will warranty that tire.

[mkguitar]

Originally Posted by terance13

You hit something hard, like a pothole, and split the inner lining allowing the air in the tire to leak between the lining and sidewall..

thanks for the explanation for the cause of that type of failure


mike

[pasusan]

Originally Posted by terance13

That is an impact bubble. You hit something hard, like a pothole, and split the inner lining allowing the air in the tire to leak between the lining and sidewall. We see it almost every at our shop. Sorry, but no manufacture will warranty that tire.

Yes, thank you for the explanation. We sure don't remember any hard impact. What about the long thinner bubble on the other rear tire?

[booster]

Originally Posted by pasusan

Yes, thank you for the explanation. We sure don't remember any hard impact. What about the long thinner bubble on the other rear tire?

I am not a tire expert or dealer so could be way off base, but cord separation and bulges have been around for a long time so I have seen quite a few of them. Many also seem to make the news when a particular brand/model tire has lots of the failures.


My guess would that, as mentioned, a hard hit could cause such and issue by fracturing the internal rubber/cord bonds, but that doesn't necessarily line up with the fact that many of the bubble/bulge problems I have seen included multiple tires on the same vehicle at about the same time and that is the way this case is. That timing of multiple failures would make me believe that something else, like a manufacturing or design problem was involved. The fact that the OP had separations on two tires at the same time and that they both were on the high load rear might indicate the tires were just not up to the task.


Does it really matter if it was singular damage (or multiple damage) or a flaw in the tires? I think the answer to that is a loud yes for me. If I had a tire bulge like the the one the OP showed and it didn't show obvious signs of an impact damage of some sort, I would without hesitation replace all the tires with a different brand/model as the odds of one the other tires doing similar and blowing out would be significantly higher than if no failure had occurred.

[terance13]

I still not leaning toward a manufacturer's defect. I've seen this show up on tires months after an impact...it just depends on the circumstances.

I agree that rear tires usually are not the victims of this type of trauma...but we don't know the maintenance history of the tires.

I will add that Asian tires are constructed differently from US made tires. I made a decision years ago and refuse to install them on RVs and other heavy vehicles. It has cost me some customers, but their safety and my being able to sleep nights outweigh the economic considerations.

FYI...I replace my tires every other year. I know it help being in the business, but regardless, I'd recommend that to other folk too.

[Bud]

"FYI...I replace my tires every other year."

Please explain. What are the circumstances that necessitate replacing tires after 2 years?

Bud

[terance13]

A tire's achilles heel is "dry rot"...the breakdown of rubber. It is primarily due to heat humidity and salt air. Rubber loves to expand and contract...frequently! So if a tire isn't used for a while (especially when it is cold outside) and then is used and heats up, the rubber is stressed and cracks. Most of us do not drive our rigs daily or even weekly. And I don't want to be in the middle of nowhere with a tire issue and the repair shop has no idea what a Michelin is.

Think of it as "routine maintenance" with a scheduled replacement...just like your fluids, filters, etc. Amortize the cost of the tires over the number of trips or miles and you'll see it is a very reasonable insurance policy.

[avanti]

Industry best practice is generally cited as requiring annual tire inspections after five (or six) years, with unconditional replacement at ten years. Random example:

https://www.michelinman.com/auto/aut...need-new-tires

A competent tire shop can do a reasonable job at assessing the condition of your tires. Of course, they would also have to be honest, which can be a problem.

[terance13]

I'm in 100% agreement with your post. It's just I deal with rubber everyday and have a personal bias to early replacement. I also advocate replacing the oil twice a year as it loses viscosity just sitting in the pan. But all of us have budgets and preferences.