Trailer Tire Question - Sprinter-Forum

Aqua Puttana · 06-20-2012, 02:30 AM

We towed the boat back from sunny Cleveland without issue and backed her into the normal storage location. This morning as I walked the dog I noticed the trailer was not level. At first I thought that maybe I was off the cement, but it turned out to be a flat tire. I had checked the tires at 50 psi before we left. I mentioned it to my wife and commented that we were lucky it was a slow leak that probably went flat after it was parked.

Man, was I wrong. Removed the tire today and found steel belts showing and chunks of tread missing. I see what looks like a nail end. It was 98% freeway towing. I didn't noticed any poor handling, but clearly we drove for a while while flat/extremely low to tear up the tire so badly. The rim is undamaged.

The spare is on now so we're good to go.

My question is this...
Does anyone have experience as to how long it takes for a flat trailer tire to lose chunks of tread at 60 mph or so? Is it miles, hundreds of yards, hundreds of feet, minutes? I imagine how quickly the air escapes during failure figures into the equation so maybe there is no answer. My guess is that it was very low and not completely flat for some period of time.

I generally look at the trailer tire profiles in my side mirrors pretty regularly. I didn't notice anything unusual the times I checked. I'll be watching closer from now on. Maybe we need a TPMS system for trailer tires more than for the vehicle? I know that I have noticed vehicle flats/low tires in short order. vic

06-20-2012, 02:30 AM	#1
Aqua Puttana Poly - Thread Finder Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: The Falls of Niagara, USA Posts: 8,425 Thanks: 3,109 Thanked 3,352 Times in 2,215 Posts	Trailer Tire Question We towed the boat back from sunny Cleveland without issue and backed her into the normal storage location. This morning as I walked the dog I noticed the trailer was not level. At first I thought that maybe I was off the cement, but it turned out to be a flat tire. I had checked the tires at 50 psi before we left. I mentioned it to my wife and commented that we were lucky it was a slow leak that probably went flat after it was parked. Man, was I wrong. Removed the tire today and found steel belts showing and chunks of tread missing. I see what looks like a nail end. It was 98% freeway towing. I didn't noticed any poor handling, but clearly we drove for a while while flat/extremely low to tear up the tire so badly. The rim is undamaged. The spare is on now so we're good to go. My question is this... Does anyone have experience as to how long it takes for a flat trailer tire to lose chunks of tread at 60 mph or so? Is it miles, hundreds of yards, hundreds of feet, minutes? I imagine how quickly the air escapes during failure figures into the equation so maybe there is no answer. My guess is that it was very low and not completely flat for some period of time. I generally look at the trailer tire profiles in my side mirrors pretty regularly. I didn't notice anything unusual the times I checked. I'll be watching closer from now on. Maybe we need a TPMS system for trailer tires more than for the vehicle? I know that I have noticed vehicle flats/low tires in short order. vic __________________ NAFTA 2004 OM647 140 2500 Std Roof >255,000 mi. Paint=Arctic Whitewash DAD "My opinion and worth everything you'll never pay for it." is expressly implied. Keeping me on topic will be as successful as herding cats. Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm. Publilius Syrus "There are only 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't." HaWiiLuVeR Some people have 10 years experience, others just 1 year 10 times.

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