BOOM !

[Lt.Mike]

A couple of weeks back I picked up a good used tire as a spare for my boat trailer. It has plenty of tread and no checking what so ever. In fact it looked so new I doubt it was ever mounted. I know I never did, I just bolted it up to the spare carrier spot on my trailer.
Today, a nice day, sunny, 80 degrees, I'm in the house and my wife is gardening ( about 20' away from where the boat was parked) and...BOOM !
I thought a shotgun went off in my backyard. (wouldn't be the first :wink: ) Scared the cr*p out of my wife.
The tire warmed from the sun let go through the tread. Wow that was a new one for me. Guess that used tire didn't save me much. but I'd rather it didn't go while trailering.
Ever see one let go like this did?
Mike

 

[Firenailer]

You're having a heck of a week Buddy! Never saw that before, what was it inflated too?

 

[Bumpye]

I've been in the tire business for 41 years and I've never seen that happen while the tire is just sitting there. I have seen sidewalls blow out but not in the tread area. My guess is that it developed a ply separation. The tire will develop a pocket of air trapped in the plies and create a bubble. I think it's the bubble that burst. It could be due to age or it could be a quality issue. The way to check a date on the tire is to look at the DOT number. If the tire was made after 2000, the last 4 digits are the date code. For example, 2403 would be the 24th week of 2003. 3 digits would read 179, which would be the 17th week of 1999. Regardless of how the tire looks, you should avoid any tire 10 years old or more.
Hope that helps-not much you can do about it now anyway.

 

[Michigan Brian]

It has happened to me.

Same scenario, but the tire was on the trailer spare carrier when I bought the boat.

A few years after owning it blew exactly like yours.

They just age from sitting out in the sun

I change my tires by age, not wear. But I overlooked the spare. I change them at 5 years

lesson learned

 

[Lt.Mike]

I had asked the tire dealer to find me a good used tire for use as a spare. He sold me this for $25, With no sidewall checking and good tread I thought I got a pretty good deal. Didn't care what brand it was and checking the date code never entered my mind. I only needed it if another tire went flat and then only long enough to get me home. The tire is a Towmaster made in China and it has a 2 digit date code of "06" so I'm guessing its a 10 year old tire.
Looking it over I can't find any evidence of prior damage or repair. I never even mounted it on the trailer. Well if it was going to go its better it happened here in my yard than on the road and I'm only out $25. I've seen worse. I'm leaning towards a new set of Kenda loadstar tires like I have on my camper and landscape trailers.
They've proven reliable on those. I think I'll stay away from the odd or no name brands.
Mike.

 

[ROBERTH]

I had the same experience. Tire completely separated on the spare. It was not even 2 years old. Carlisle's were a problem for me. Had several blow outs over periods of a few years and after the spare went on it's own, that told me to switch out.
Went over to Maxxis tires and never had any issue so far. There are definately some bad series of tires out there and lots of posts about the Carlisle's. I noticed also, that they would get very hot in a very short period. Compared with my truck tires, they were a lot hotter. Now, the Maxxis tires when I check are cooler than my truck's tires.... Dunno what is up with that, but it is the real story!

 

[Tucker]

Noticed sidewall cracking on the sunny side of the trailer. I use the trailer twice, to launch and retrieve and tow the boat less than 10-miles each time, going less than 60-MPH. Is that sidewall cracking, in my case, reason for concern??

 

[Michigan Brian]

Noticed sidewall cracking on the sunny side of the trailer. I use the trailer twice, to launch and retrieve and tow the boat less than 10-miles each time, going less than 60-MPH. Is that sidewall cracking, in my case, reason for concern??

yes there is reason for concern. you can gamble with it if you like.

all up to you and your tolerance for risk

 

[Lt.Mike]

Noticed sidewall cracking on the sunny side of the trailer. I use the trailer twice, to launch and retrieve and tow the boat less than 10-miles each time, going less than 60-MPH. Is that sidewall cracking, in my case, reason for concern??

Yup thats a risk for sure. This tire showed no reason for exploding before it went but I have another utility trailer that has a set cracked up like yours.The tires on that trailer are really, really old and are badly cracked in the sidewall. In fact they are so badly cracked that you could stick a quarter in the crack. I dont go far or all that fast with that trailer so if they go no biggie, but they don't. They just keep going. This spare tire is old but not even a third of the cracked tires age with no cracks and its the one that blows, go figure.
A replacement set of 4 bias ply trailer tires (just the tires) will run about $300. If your traveling locally you don't need radials. At that price it just makes sense to play it safe. If your towing on just one axle definitely get new tires. Whats your boat worth again?
Something I saw last weekend comes to mind, it was a nice newer looking boat pulled by a newer SUV on the side of the parkway with the whole family sitting staring at the rig from the hill behind. Flat trailer tire and no spare. Do you carry a spare for your trailer?
Mike.