manholt Report post Posted April 21, 2019 Ford was the first American made car, that came out with Radial tires as stock, on the Continental Mark III, in 1970! Citroen, French POS, came with Radials in 1958. Another French Company, Michelin invented the true Radial Steel Belted tire in 1915! Trivia for today! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mailman Report post Posted April 21, 2019 I was wondering could some one cover a topic travel trailers ,5th wheel, bus , semi's and semi trailers, and anything recreational W H A T IS T I R E LIFE FOR THEM? I have never seen this covered HUM ! Tim the mailman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tireman9 Report post Posted April 21, 2019 3 hours ago, mailman said: I was wondering could some one cover a topic travel trailers ,5th wheel, bus , semi's and semi trailers, and anything recreational W H A T IS T I R E LIFE FOR THEM? I have never seen this covered HUM ! Tim the mailman 6 I have covered this in a few different posts on my blog but to put it all in one place. Generally, tire life for Bus and HD truck is based on wear, not time, as these vehicles may drive 50 to 100,000 miles a year with the tires wearing out at 50 to 80,000 miles. Daily drivers (cars & P/U) drive about 12,000 a year and may get 3 to 5 years life again most based on wearing out. With RV (Trailer & Motorhome) mileage might be as low as a few hundred miles a year to a few driving up to 20,000. BUT if you consult your owner's manuals you will probably see them point out expected life to be 3 to 5 on trailers. Motorhomes probably hit 7 to the suggested max of 10 years, again before wear-out in most cases. The primary reason for the earlier "end of life" on trailers is the result of the unique radial belt shear forces identified in the industry technical papers as "Interply Shear" that comes from a combination of tires being dragged rather than steered around corners and tires "fighting" each other when going around corners as the tires on different axles are not all rotating around the same center of the turn. It is the Interply Shear that initiates the cracks between the belts and accelerated the crack growth that can end up as a belt separation before the tires wear out. The interply Shear damage is augmented by damage from improper (low) inflation, improper (high) load and in some cases, excess heat due to speeds higher than the basic design called for. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rayin Report post Posted April 22, 2019 On 4/20/2019 at 7:38 PM, WILDEBILL308 said: Absolutely. I think I remember reading that it was Ford who had a big hand in the problem by running the tire way soft for a better ride. Perhaps our resident tire expert can enlighten us as he was probably working in the industry back then. Bill I remember it that way too; Ford set the Federal Tire Placard tire pressures below what Firestone said was minimum air pressure for the weight of the Explorer. Some tires rolled off the rim as a consequence, resulting in Ford Explorer roll-overs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manholt Report post Posted April 22, 2019 The best Ford I ever owned, was a 1996 Ford Explorer, 1 ton, 4 x 4 Factory built. They did 2 ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildebill308 Report post Posted April 22, 2019 21 hours ago, tireman9 said: I have covered this in a few different posts on my blog but to put it all in one place. I don't care about your blog or what you post somewhere else, If you are posting here you need to post the information hear. 21 hours ago, tireman9 said: Motorhomes probably hit 7 to the suggested max of 10 years, again before wear-out in most cases. Please give us some documentation where it is ok as a general practise to run RV tires to 10 years. Who is going to pay for the damage if they go 9.5 years and have a blow out? 21 hours ago, tireman9 said: The primary reason for the earlier "end of life" on trailers is the result of the unique radial belt shear forces identified in the industry technical papers as "Interply Shear" that comes from a combination of tires being dragged rather than steered around corners and tires "fighting" each other when going around corners as the tires on different axles are not all rotating around the same center of the turn. It is the Interply Shear that initiates the cracks between the belts and accelerated the crack growth that can end up as a belt separation before the tires wear out. The interply Shear damage is augmented by damage from improper (low) inflation, improper (high) load and in some cases, excess heat due to speeds higher than the basic design called for. This is true I have seen how badly a big 5th wheel abuses it's tires when turning sharply. The question is why arn't trailer rated tires made better? There is a large group of trailer owners going to LT tires because they stand up to the abuse better. Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rayin Report post Posted April 22, 2019 9 hours ago, WILDEBILL308 said: Please give us some documentation where it is ok as a general practise to run RV tires to 10 years. Who is going to pay for the damage if they go 9.5 years and have a blow out? This is true I have seen how badly a big 5th wheel abuses it's tires when turning sharply. The question is why arn't trailer rated tires made better? There is a large group of trailer owners going to LT tires because they stand up to the abuse better. Bill Read the Michelin RV tire brochure to read what they say about the Service Life of Recreational Vehicle Tires. I could type/copy it here, but I sense you would believe Michelin more than me. Trailer tires-ST tires have heavier sidewalls to withstand side forces better than LT tires, IF they are inflated to sidewall listed maximum air pressure. Many years ago I watched a truck N 5er make a spot turn on a wide street in Van, TX (July). I have no idea what tire pressure the owner ran, but in the middle of that spot turn one trailer tire lost pressure due to the bead losing its seal. That was what Roger referred to as "interply shear", I call it side stress on the tire. In Tireman9's defense, we post here for free-well pay dues, Roger is a commercial member, which if I recall required paying to participate in the forums. His experience and knowledge is IMO unsurpassed by any member of the various RVing forums. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
five Report post Posted April 22, 2019 On 4/20/2019 at 7:59 PM, manholt said: Ford was the first American made car, that came out with Radial tires as stock, on the Continental Mark III, in 1970! Citroen, French POS, came with Radials in 1958. Another French Company, Michelin invented the true Radial Steel Belted tire in 1915! Trivia for today! I have quite a bit of personal experience with Michelins and where they are grown. Back in 1967, I spent many days and nights (not pleasant nights) in the Michelin Rubber Plantation adjacent to Dau Tieng, SVN. For everyone that we "damaged" the US had to pay the SVN government a set amount as a fee. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manholt Report post Posted April 23, 2019 Lovely place! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildebill308 Report post Posted April 23, 2019 That whole area seemed a bit humid for my taste. Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tireman9 Report post Posted May 17, 2019 On 4/18/2019 at 9:58 PM, elkhartjim said: Michelin specifically states to begin inspecting tires after five years. Of course Michelin has been the tire manufacturer with most of the zipper blowout issues. "Zipper" failures are specifically identified in the tire industry condition manual as the sidewall failure due to the tire being run significantly under-inflated. This is the result of steel fatigue due to excessive flexing. This is the same mechanism used to "break" a paper-clip by bending back and forth. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
