RE: [A/S] Tire blow out

["Perry Joe Scudder" <perryjoe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi List,

The inflation pressure is very important in any tires, but it seems to be
easier to forget on trailer tires where the vehicle sets for long periods.
We tend to forget how long it has been sense the pressure was checked and
corrected. I have 6 Marathons (Load Range D) on my 34' Limited that are
equipped with the SmarTTire pressure and temperature sensors. I have put
about 40,000 miles on them sense I installed them in the spring of 2001, and
have had no problems with any of them. I did have to replace one of them
when I ran a huge spike through the edge of the sidewall while driving
through a graveled parking lot of a country store - actually part of an old
rusted gate latch laying in the gravel.
I have found out that one must add air to the tires about every 60 days in
order to keep the pressure no more than 5 PSI below the desired pressure. I
have run my tires at a desired pressure of 65 PSI sense the day they were
installed. The warning light lights up on the SmarTTire monitor when my
pressure gets 5 PSI below the desired pressure. The buzzer alarm goes off if
that reaches 10 PSI below the desired pressure. I take the time to add air
when the warning light starts to come on when the tires are cold in the
morning. This is usually 30 to 45 days when we are out on a caravan or
extended trip on our own. I find the tires are usually down as much as 5 to
10 pounds after the trailer has set in the storage lot for 3 to 4 months.
You can see how low some people run their tires when they only check the
pressure once a year if that often.
I also made sure the tires were high speed balanced when first installed.
The combination of good tire pressure and balanced tires has netted me 40
thousand miles out of a set of Marathons, and they would be good for more
miles, sense they still have about 1/2 of the tread left and are worn
perfectly even across the face of each tire. I plan on replacing them before
starting out our travels next year, because there is never a good time to
have tire trouble on the road. I have listened to this list and have decided
to go with the fact that tires fail because of age. My tires will have been
manufactured 4 years in January of 2004, time for a change before the
trouble starts.

Joe Scudder
WBCCI 8624