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  1. #1
    Rolling Along
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    When Something Goes Bang!

    So there we were, on I95 in SC headed south for the holidays. The rain had finally stopped and we were just chugging along with the cruise set at 61 when... Bang!!!

    It took a microsecond for me to recognize the sound. In that brief moment, I actually felt bad for whoever just blew a tire. As I was looking around to see who it was, I saw the carnage in the mirror. I looked just in time to see the trim exploding off the side of our new home.

    Now the back story... That morning, when I checked all my tire pressures I noticed that one had lost about ten pounds since I checked it the day before. I figured, air it up and it will be ok until I check in again in a couple hours. Guess which one blew?

    Even before all of that, one of the things I do soon after I get a new trailer (RV or otherwise) is put new tires on it. Well, life happened and I never got to it. They'll make this one more trip, right?

    Oh yeah! I was planning on getting a TPMS too. Well, I was gonna!

    The moral of the story... I'll leave that up to you.

    There is a happy ending though. I went from E rated Westlakes (that's code for China Bomb) to G rated Heartlands. They are smoother, more stable and increased mileage by ten percent. I could tell that because from southern SC to South Fl the biggest Hill is 50 feet and that's the overpass at the exit ramp. It's easy to get a good apples to apples comparison.

    With a ten percent increase in mileage, the new tires will pay for themselves in 40k miles. Sometimes I need that kind of thing to make me feel better when I do dumb things.

  2. #2
    Site Team traveldawg's Avatar
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    Glad it didn't take anything else out when it blew.
    Larry KE4DMG
    2022 F-350 KRU SRW LB - Airlift 5000+, ForScan, 37 RDS Aux Tank,
    2019 310GK-R - Sailuns; MorRyde IS; Disc Brakes; 20K Reese Goosebox
    Search kalakamods for my mods


  3. #3
    Rolling Along
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    Well, it took out a twelve foot piece of sheet metal and there is some floor damage as well. Looks like a month to get parts from Grand Design. But in the bigger picture, nobody wrecked and nobody got hurt. (I was surprised that I actually never felt anything in the truck or the trailer.)

  4. #4
    Site Sponsor
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    You do know Hartland trailer tires are also made in China, right?
    John & Kathy
    2014 F250 Lariat FX4 6.2L SBCC
    2014 Reflection 303RLS
    SW Indiana

  5. #5
    Rolling Along
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    Yes, they are made in China. They all are. Maybe with higher quality Chinesium?

  6. #6
    Site Sponsor
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    Quote Originally Posted by Roll With The Changes View Post
    Yes, they are made in China. They all are. Maybe with higher quality Chinesium?
    There are US made trailer tires. Goodyear Endurance for one.
    John & Kathy
    2014 F250 Lariat FX4 6.2L SBCC
    2014 Reflection 303RLS
    SW Indiana

  7. #7
    Site Sponsor livinthelife's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jkwilson View Post
    There are US made trailer tires. Goodyear Endurance for one.
    That's what we got. After we had one tire replaced 2 months after we got our rig. And a second one developed a large blister on the wall.

    2017 Reflection 26RL "Mili"
    2016 Ford F250 Extended Cab Gas Engine "Buck" (the truck)

  8. #8
    Fireside Member BC315RLTS's Avatar
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    This sounds like something was in the tire causing it to lose air. I'm not sure I understand how that is a Westlake problem?
    2019 Reflection 315RLTS
    2019 Ford F250 Lariat SuperCab PSD SRW

    Former set up:
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    2017 Ford F150 Platinum

  9. #9
    Rolling Along
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    Not really sure how this got to a tire debate. My point was actually about all of the cues that I missed, and how I got burned and my own experience after the fact. I just tried to tell the story in an entertaining way.

    But since we're talking about tires... I'm not an expert. I only know what I read on forums like this. I did not make up the term China bomb. Westlake tires have that reputation.

    Here is what I do know... I'm not as old as dirt, but I'm not a spring chicken either. I have never heard of a passenger car tire exploding. I'm sure it happens, but usually they just go flat. In forums like this, it is common to here about the flying rubber. So, I have to wonder what is going on. Obviously, there is a difference in the standards to which trailer tires are manufactured. Just as obvious to me, after the fact is that the sidewall of brand x tire was significantly stiffer than that of brand y. Brand x tire was significantly heavier than brand y. And, brand y had a single layer of reinforcement cords laid on a bias. I could see that in the exploded carcass. It was obvious to me that that asymmetric design of that tire could not possibly run the same in all tire positions on any trailer.

    To wrap up, there are Ford people and there are Chevy people. They are all correct and they are all wrong. But none of them are experts.

  10. #10
    Site Sponsor
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    Quote Originally Posted by Roll With The Changes View Post
    Not really sure how this got to a tire debate. My point was actually about all of the cues that I missed, and how I got burned and my own experience after the fact. I just tried to tell the story in an entertaining way.

    But since we're talking about tires... I'm not an expert. I only know what I read on forums like this. I did not make up the term China bomb. Westlake tires have that reputation.

    Here is what I do know... I'm not as old as dirt, but I'm not a spring chicken either. I have never heard of a passenger car tire exploding. I'm sure it happens, but usually they just go flat. In forums like this, it is common to here about the flying rubber. So, I have to wonder what is going on. Obviously, there is a difference in the standards to which trailer tires are manufactured. Just as obvious to me, after the fact is that the sidewall of brand x tire was significantly stiffer than that of brand y. Brand x tire was significantly heavier than brand y. And, brand y had a single layer of reinforcement cords laid on a bias. I could see that in the exploded carcass. It was obvious to me that that asymmetric design of that tire could not possibly run the same in all tire positions on any trailer.

    To wrap up, there are Ford people and there are Chevy people. They are all correct and they are all wrong. But none of them are experts.
    I think the confusion comes from conflating China bombs with Westlakes. The term China bomb is used to refer to all trailer tires made in China. Westlakes are actually among the better ones compared to some others. I believe the term actually originated when Goodyear moved their Marathon production to China 12 or 15 years ago.
    John & Kathy
    2014 F250 Lariat FX4 6.2L SBCC
    2014 Reflection 303RLS
    SW Indiana

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