I had less than 20k miles on them. They were made the second week of 2011. BFG had just released that new tire model not long before I bought them.

The truck is all fixed and the shop did an excellent job on it. My insurance paid for a new tire, plus America's Tire gave me a new one under their road hazard warranty. So I ended up with two new tires, which I have mounted on the rear to support our fifthwheel trailer. Interesting thing - both of the replacement tires, provided from two different sources, were all made the second week of 2011. Same as the originals. Makes me wonder if that was the only production run of that tire in my size.


On Edit: I was mistaken about the two new tires being the same date code as the originals. When I got them out for a better view I found that they were fresh tires, made this year. So Rob, if you have newer production of that tire you might have better luck. I hope you do.

 

Another tread separation!!! Got back a couple of days ago from a hunting trip to WY pulling our fifthwheel. Headed home at around Little America WY I began to feel the vibration. It's the kind of thing you're not sure of, maybe the road surface, maybe a balance weight was lost, maybe a wheel bearing, you just don't know for sure. But by the time I reached Provo UT, in a gully washer rain storm BTW, I knew it was time to pull over. We spent the night boondocking in a parking lot in Provo and I inspected the tires the next morning. Found this bulge in the front passenger side tire. It isn't easy to see, and finding it is more by feel than by sight. And if you happen to park with that bulge on the bottom, you still wouldn't find it until you moved. Out of the 4 original tires, 2 had tread separations, within 1 month and 2,000 miles of each other.


This photo shows it pretty well.



I mounted the spare and drove the 700 miles home on that. Went to Americas Tire the next day and told them I didn't ever want to see those tires again, and what could they and BFG/Michelin do for me. Michelin offered to credit me 100% on 1 tire, 85% on 1 tire, and 50% on two tires, based on tread remaining. I used that to go with a full set of Michelin LTX A/T 2 all-terrains. They are a less aggressive tread pattern than I would like, but for the job of pulling a fifthwheel I hope they will be a better choice.

 

I was having the same problem.
I was separating tires like nobody's bidness.
I went through Continentals, michelins and one more brand that I can't remember.
Finally asked my GUY if there was something different.
He said, what about Hercules? I said give me a break, don't bs me.
It's Coopers second brand.
So far so good (after 20k) and they're wereing very well.
Cross fingers.
BTW they're cheaper than most.

 

good save bill! last thing you need is to have a front fender bashed to hell.

 

Last Thursday on I-15, south of Provo, I had a complete tread separation and sudden loss of pressure on the left rear of our travel trailer.

It also took off most of the drain plumbing, leaving only the black water valve inner portion, which then allowed a small brown puddle by the side of the interstate, in the general area in which I was crouched down with a jack and lug wrench.

I put on one of the spares, and pressed on with a very slow brown drip. Uggh! Nasty!

At the next fuel stop (Beaver Chevron), the "attendant" mentioned that the left front had the signs of a separation developing. The wear pattern was absolutely normal, so I had Marge drive ahead slowly while I looked and felt that tire. Nothing looked or felt out of the ordinary.

When I got home and carefully inspected the tires, it turns out that there was, indeed, a separation developing.

Last year I very carefully selected premium tires (Maxxis 8008's all around), had them balanced, and used a TST TPMS on all of them, keeping them all at optimum inflation.

WTF?? Now what's the cause of all this?

Some real quick research got me to ask the question, "Are the axles truly parallel?"

The answer is, "It looks like they may not be." There may be as much as a half-inch difference between axle centers from side to side. It probably wants to turn right, while the truck wants it to tow in a straight-ahead direction.

THAT will develop some abnormal heating and sidewall flexing, fer' sure!

I have some in-depth work ahead of me with measuring tapes and jigs. I will probably fill in the blanks in this PDF as a start:
http://lci1.com/assets/content/suppo...sheet/0143.pdf

The best laid plans of mice and men........

Pop

 

Dang, too many tire problems. IIRC you have a popup, Pop, and I wouldn't expect tire problems on that. And I really hate hearing that it was Maxxis tires, since I just put a set on our fiver this spring.

I assume you have had it on the scales. Did you happen to check left and right sides? If the weight isn't even, that will splay your axles on the lighter side.

 

It's a Flagstaff 21-footer, not a pop-up.

Have not had it on the scales.... YET! Agreed, side-to-side weights must be close to be right.

I did, however, replace the two that went bad with the exact same tire, as I believe my unknowing abuse of them is what caused the failure. I still believe them to be a top-tier, non-ChiCom, tire.

If necessary, I may replace the remaining two as well, but I don't believe that will be necessary.

Pop

 

Guess it was my turn yesterday after the G2G. Thx Marv for the call and concern!

 

Gray steelie is working fine. Making me think twice about my used tire philosophy.

 

I'm glad it came apart small and didn't do any body damage, as far as I can see anyway.


I don't think they are making tires like they used to. Not sure what changed, but I'm betting it has something to do with adhesive between steel and rubber. Possibly related to emissions regulations, just like we've seen with all adhesives and paints.


I've driven for more than 40 years, often on tires that were very worn because at the time it was all I could afford. And I never had a tread separation until about 3 years ago. That was an old tire and I didn't think much about it because I had abused the tires off-road. But these days I am hearing tread separation reports from just about everyone when we talk tires. Not just ST tires either, which I tend to write off as, you-get-what-you-pay-for. Even the top of the line name brand tires are coming apart.

 

Thought I'd post this where it belongs.
Bought two new batteries ( 750s ) at Ford on the way home.
Installed.
They measured 12.50 new.
Started her right up and were at 13.86.
I'm gonna say that's prolly normal at the battery until I do a little more research.
I figure Pops right and the old ones were just at the end of their life (5 yrs).
Could not for the life of me get a probe onto the rear of the alt.
Thanks Ford.
Time for a cocktail.

 

Reserve capacity is something we don't think about until it bites us at exactly the most inopportune time!

I'd bet that you're fully good-to-go, now, Marc.

Pop

 

You're good for another 5 Marc; by that time we'll have a new technology to replace these old skool lead's.

 

Two days, no problems.
Did some research and found that I should be reading 13.60 to 14 at the battery terminal so I'm in the middle of that range at 13.86.
So no worries.

 

Getting the trailer ready for camping between 26-30th. Needs shocks & a new pinion seal.