Defective Trailer tire

S

South lake

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Dec 8, 2011
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Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C
3 years ago this coming October, Deb and I took a cruise down the Ohio river. We left our trailer at a marina. The trailer was stolen but we were covered by insurance. That November we got a new custom made trailer with 5 new KENDA/LOADSTAR tires (1 a spare mounted on the frame).

The spare has never been on the road. It's only 3 years from manufacture date. So, I was pretty surprised when I walked by the trailer over the weekend and noticed a huge bulge in the sidewall. Photos are below. Just click on them for larger images.

I contacted Kenda because they tout their warranty. But what I found was that they warranty their tires against manufacturing defects for 4 years from date of manufacture (good) or 2 years from date of purchase, whichever comes first (not so good). So, while they acknowledged in writing that "Yes it certainly is defective side wall separation ", they will do nothing about it. Even though the tire has never been used.

I'm getting a new tire from my local tire store tomorrow. And before I get the boat out of storage in the spring I'll think hard about replacing the 4 tires on the axles. Obviously with a different brand. Just thought I'd share this in case you' have Kenda trailer tires that are over 2 years old. Keep an eye on them.



 
Thanks for sharing this information about the tire and the company. This is one tire company I will not be doing business with.
Safe travels
 
Sux. Could the trailer company be of help by applying pressure on their tire supplier?

CN
 
I purchased Maxis Tires before leaving for our PNW trip. They had pretty good reviews. So far, so good. Keeping my fingers crossed. Regardless of how good a tire may be, if the manufacturer can't stand behind it, there are others. Perhaps,as a last ditch effort you may want to inform them that you are a member on a rather large boating site community that has trailerable boats and that prior to making a post of their poor client relations they may want to reconsider. You can then recant your post. :mrgreen:
 
I had the same bubble defect on the inside of the right rear trailer tire this summer on a Goodyear Marathon, fortunately was caught before a blowout.

As an aside, that new tire got about 2000 mi before picking up a large nail crossing a rr track next to home marina.

I must admit that I had been keeping a steady 65 mph with what i thought was a very mild and occasional trailer sway. And a couple times having to pass a vehicle at 70, then realing trailer was swaying like a windshield wiper. That should be on the Mea Culpa thread.

As a precaution, i've reduced trailering speed to 63 and have not noticed any sway, locking in permanent residence in the slow lane.

Yes, I know that boat weight and loading affect trailer behavior; towing with about 45 gal diesel, no water, no waste tank, most spare gear removed.

Until float-on trailer is re-engineered to handle larger diameter trailer tire like Michelin XPS Rib then My 2 cents is that almost any trailer tire is subject to these defects.

One thought; would a 3 axle trailer be less susceptible to these tire mishaps if load of boat was distributed over 6 wheels?

If so, then who's going to upgrade to a new trailer?
 
I have equipped two tandem axle trailers with Maxxis brand tires. One set is three years-old and the other is two. So far, so good.
 
Our Float On trailer came with some Chinese Radials rated as S.T. tires. I believe this stands for **** tires. I blew two out trailering to the west coast. I bought four Michelin XPS ribs tires of the proper size and load rating. They ride nicer and handle the sway better. As always I have the trailer tires balanced. I dare say I have exceeded 65 mph maybe a few times. 😉 . Not a whimper from the Michelin's. They run cooler and I trust them not to blow out like the Chinese going to pops or the Chinese may pops.
 
Just completed a 4,000 mile trip with my EZ Loader single axle trailer with a 21 EC pretty heavily loaded. 65 mph all the way on Maxxis E-rated tires with little wear and no heat build-up. Have had these tires on our travel trailer with no problems there as well. I'm sold on them.
 
I went to a three axle trailer for an R25. Far less input while going down the road and the bow is six feet further back from the rear of my truck which helps when launching. My tow vehicle outweighs my R25 boat/trailer combo and still I was surprised at the amount of increase in towing comfort. Six brakes instead of four helps the safety margin and the front bunks capture the bow and boat nicely when recovering.
 
Crewdog":1zkvmcla said:
I had the same bubble defect on the inside of the right rear trailer tire this summer on a Goodyear Marathon, fortunately was caught before a blowout.

As an aside, that new tire got about 2000 mi before picking up a large nail crossing a rr track next to home marina.

I must admit that I had been keeping a steady 65 mph with what i thought was a very mild and occasional trailer sway. And a couple times having to pass a vehicle at 70, then realing trailer was swaying like a windshield wiper. That should be on the Mea Culpa thread.

As a precaution, i've reduced trailering speed to 63 and have not noticed any sway, locking in permanent residence in the slow lane.

Yes, I know that boat weight and loading affect trailer behavior; towing with about 45 gal diesel, no water, no waste tank, most spare gear removed.

Until float-on trailer is re-engineered to handle larger diameter trailer tire like Michelin XPS Rib then My 2 cents is that almost any trailer tire is subject to these defects.

One thought; would a 3 axle trailer be less susceptible to these tire mishaps if load of boat was distributed over 6 wheels?

If so, then who's going to upgrade to a new trailer?
Click to expand...

Bill,

I think your tongue weight may need adjustment. You should not have any sway. I can pass any 18 wheeler without sway and have done 75 for passing with no issue. I do travel mostly at 65MPH. A tri-axel, IMO, gives you two more tires to worry about. Our boats should be fine with two axles.

Mike
 
"You should not have any sway. I can pass any 18 wheeler without sway and have done 75 for passing with no issue. I do travel mostly at 65MPH."
Were you in a school zone or something? :mrgreen:
I saw two other R27 boats at the Roche Harbor Rendezvous that were trailered from the east coast. I believe all three were brought out on tandem axle Float On trailers.
I don't really care how many axles you have. If you trailer cross country sometimes in 100 degree temps you'll need good quality tires. Our Kodiak disc brakes with the electric over hydraulic brakes stop very well. I don't feel we need to increase our braking ability. We measure about 58' long truck and trailer. A longer trailer is also not something I have on our wish list. But that's just me.
 
Mea Culpa on tongue weight, but my real point was to question whether excessive sidewall flexing in tire can exacerbate the kind of bubble defects pictured in original post in a trailer tire?
 
Just to make sure I was clear, there was no sidewall flexing because the tire was never used. It was a spare, resting on the trailer frame. The manufacturer rep confirmed it was a defect. Had it been used, perhaps the failure would have occurred earlier.
 
We weighed or whole rig today on a certified scale. Our Chevy truck with a Duramax diesel with boat attached the steering axle 4440 lbs. Drive axle 4460 lbs. tandem trailer axles 10,060 lbs. gross weight 18,960. Did a reweigh on just the truck steering axle 4540 drive axle 3520 Ibs. I deduced that my tongue weight is 940 Ibs. Not much water in boat about 30 gallons of fuel in the boat. About 1/4 tank (10 gallons) in the truck. The truck and boat were loaded for a coast to coast trip. Except for two days we have slept on the boat since we left PA July 15th we made it home today. Our four new Michelin XPS rib trailer tires took everything our truck could give them. We have Michelin tires on the truck also. I think they are the best. We blew out two Chinese radials on the way out on two separate days. Stopped in Moses Lake after the second one blew. The tire guy had the four new Michelin XPS ribs delivered and installed the next am. Money well spent.
 
A question about the Michelin XPS Rib tires:

The original Float-on tandem axle trailer tires are ST235/80R16 E. This size is not available according to Michelin Website.

What size did you go with and what is clearance between your front and back trailer tires?

Overall diameter on Goodyear marathon tire ST235/80R16 E is listed as 30.7 inches. Max load listed as 3420 lbs.

Overall diameter on Michelin XPS Rib LT235/85R16 E is listed as 32 inches. Max load listed as 3041 lbs.

Going down 1 size an XPS Rib LT 225/75R16 E is listed as 29.4 inches. Max load 2680 lbs
 
On edit; our tongue weight is actually 840 pounds. Rich of Roam fame caught my math mistake. I think it's worthy of mentioning I felt as the trailer was originally delivered with the boat on it. It did seem to be balanced a little too well. On bumps the rear of the truck seemed to get lifted from the trailer responding to the bumps. I slid the bow stop up three inches and now the setup seems to work very well. The Michelin XPS ribs that are on our trailer are the LT 235 85R 16 and have been balanced. I didn't see any clearance issues. I got them in Moses Lake Washington as the Float On supplied tires could not hack it to get us even to Bellingham. We made the trip back home to PA in six driving days. I dare say these tires don't mind 70mph + all day long. They seem to ride softer even though they still have 80 Lbs. of air pressure. Things in the boats cabin seem to move around as much. The tires are rated for 3042 pounds according to the side wall info.. I'll post pictures of the scale tickets later.
 
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