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Old 10-14-2019, 12:17 PM   #1
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Recurring tire issues, class C

I have a 2 year old Chateau 31E (32' class C) on the E450 platform. It has about 35K miles on it now. A couple of months ago, the left inside rear tire blew out and shredded. I suspected a valve stem problem that caused it to lose pressure, but not sure if this was really the cause. I ended up replacing both of the left rear tires.



Now the right inside rear tire has also blown out and shredded. Before the trip I checked all the tire pressures (as I always do), and the tire had lots of tread left, so I'm wondering why this happened. It could just be a freak occurrence, like running over something, but it's a strange coincidence that both inside rear tires failed within a couple of months of each other.



Is 2 years and 35K miles the lifetime of these tires? I would expect them to go several years longer as long as there is good tread remaining them. They are the Hankook Dynapro tires that came from the factory.

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Old 10-14-2019, 01:10 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jabrabu View Post
I have a 2 year old Chateau 31E (32' class C) on the E450 platform. It has about 35K miles on it now. A couple of months ago, the left inside rear tire blew out and shredded. I suspected a valve stem problem that caused it to lose pressure, but not sure if this was really the cause. I ended up replacing both of the left rear tires.



Now the right inside rear tire has also blown out and shredded. Before the trip I checked all the tire pressures (as I always do), and the tire had lots of tread left, so I'm wondering why this happened. It could just be a freak occurrence, like running over something, but it's a strange coincidence that both inside rear tires failed within a couple of months of each other.



Is 2 years and 35K miles the lifetime of these tires? I would expect them to go several years longer as long as there is good tread remaining them. They are the Hankook Dynapro tires that came from the factory.
So, you didn't answer the question of the tire stems. You must have had a concern about them. Several of the tire stem setups on original tires, speaking of the rear duals, are doomed from the start because of leaks. Sounds like that is where I would start. I am not a fan of the tires you mentioned but I still doubt that two year old tires would just fail like that. Our 2019 S.O.B. Class A had rear inside valve stems in the rear that would not accept air no matter what I did to them. Bit the bullet and had "dually valves" installed which are solid valve stems.
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Old 10-14-2019, 03:29 PM   #3
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Defective tire?
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Old 10-14-2019, 03:38 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by jabrabu View Post
Defective tire?
Check the date on the tire itself. Let us know if you don't know how to get that. Some places are FAMOUS for putting older tires on the inside where the numbers can't be easily read to ID them.
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Old 10-14-2019, 04:38 PM   #5
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Recurring tire issues, class C

Have you weighed your rig fully loaded?

I had an Outlaw 29H with the same chassis and tires. At full load of fuel, water, propane and passengers I was at the GVWR weight, which is also the limit of the tires. I was very conscious of monitoring tire pressures and temperatures with my TPMS during every trip.

When I had my Can-Am Spyder in the garage of the Outlaw, I was 1000lbs overweight even though the sticker in the garage said 1500lb capacity. The garage may hold that structurally but with the Spyder at 1100lbs, that was over the limit of the tires and the GVWR.

I was going to install Goodyear Commercial Rated 16” tires and that would take the weight capacity of each tire to over 3000lbs. I decide to move to a Super C instead. Nexian and Continental also make Commercial Rated 16” tires.

The challenge with the LT tires used in the Class C’s is they are not designed for heavy loads all the time. Light trucks are loaded and unloaded where a Class C has a heavy load all the time. A Commercial Rated tire is designed to carry heavy loads all the time and handle curb strikes better, etc. i.e. delivery trucks.

When you run close to the capacity of the tire most of the time, pressure and temperatures are key to preventing failures. The inside tires also become more prone to failure because of the extra heat they get from the brakes and less airflow for cooling, especially if you are close to the maximum weight of the tire.
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Old 10-14-2019, 05:12 PM   #6
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I have not weighed my rig, but I have seen actual weights from similar floorplans and I suspect that my rear axle is at the weight limit, or maybe even a little over.


What did you see with your TPMS, and what adjustments did you make? I set my rear pressures at 80 psi cold. I'm sure pressure goes up significantly when hot, but my understanding is that is okay.
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Old 10-14-2019, 07:30 PM   #7
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The max pressure listed on the tire sidewall is for cold tires. Generally the tire manufactures assume the tire pressure will rise about 20 psi when the tires are loaded to the maximum rated weight. Exceeding the tire's rated speed (usually 65 mph for most small truck tires) will overheat the tires and can cause de-lamination. NHTSA gross weight calculations for cars and light trucks state the tires should not be loaded to more than 90% of the side wall load weight. I personally that is a good figure for class 5 and 6 trucks (16,000 to 26,000 lbs), also. While there some good tires manufactured in China, the term "China Bomb" was coined by the class 8 truckers to relay their thought on tire quality.
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Old 10-14-2019, 10:20 PM   #8
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Question now that it’s getting cold do you check the pressure in the morning when it’s coldest or later when it’s warmer
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Old 10-14-2019, 10:57 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by bjones3211 View Post
Question now that it’s getting cold do you check the pressure in the morning when it’s coldest or later when it’s warmer
"Cold" is not related to ambient temperature. "Cold" means after the vehicle has sat long enough for the tires to coll to ambient temperature and before rolling down the road.

If I fill my tires to their "cold" pressure of 80 psi in the winter and have absolutely no leakage they may be 85 psi in the summer "cold" - not enough to worry about, let alone the difference between morning and afternoon.
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Old 10-14-2019, 11:00 PM   #10
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When I had class c motorhomes on the E-450 chassis I always ran load range e tires inflated at 80 psi. An e tire is a 10 ply tire designed to run and carry loads. In 20 years, I had 3 flats. One from a valve failure and 2 from road hazards. All were on an inside dual.
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Old 10-14-2019, 11:38 PM   #11
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"Cold" is not related to ambient temperature. "Cold" means after the vehicle has sat long enough for the tires to coll to ambient temperature and before rolling down the road.



If I fill my tires to their "cold" pressure of 80 psi in the winter and have absolutely no leakage they may be 85 psi in the summer "cold" - not enough to worry about, let alone the difference between morning and afternoon.


So it’s in the 80,s now and I have 80 psi when it gets in the 40tees and the pressure reads 75 do I add more air to make them 80
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Old 10-15-2019, 12:10 AM   #12
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Check the mounting bracket for your mud flaps. I had the mud flap bracket that is mounted to the front of the rear tires cut down a tire a couple weeks ago on the inner dual.
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Old 10-15-2019, 05:29 AM   #13
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Your tires were junk when they were new and they're also overloaded.

Ditch them all and replace with decent, preferably larger tires and you won't have anymore blown tires. My 27.7 Vegas was easily overloaded with just full gas and water and basic camping cargo, I'm betting your 32' Class C is also overloaded.

I went with taller tires, on a 32' I would strongly suggest doing the same. You'll have to get your ECM tuned to correct the speedo if you go bigger on tires. Stock tires are 225/75/16. I'm running Michelin XPS Rib 235/85/16's. They have significantly higher load ratings and run way quieter and smoother than the Hankook junk. I got rid of those stock tires before our Vegas had 3k miles on it.

Take my advice, get rid of those tires NOW! And don't replace them with the same ones.
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Old 10-15-2019, 12:31 PM   #14
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Just make sure you know how you're changing the performance with taller tires. They will change the RPM at a given speed (revolutions per mile) and may require you to drive a bit faster to stay in the same engine torque range as the original tires did. There are simple formulas you can apply taking in account for engine RPM, revolutions per mile and gear ratios, etc. Running in the proper torque range is everything where it comes to pulling power.
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Old 10-15-2019, 01:08 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by gmtech16450yz View Post
Your tires were junk when they were new and they're also overloaded.

Ditch them all and replace with decent, preferably larger tires and you won't have anymore blown tires. My 27.7 Vegas was easily overloaded with just full gas and water and basic camping cargo, I'm betting your 32' Class C is also overloaded.

I went with taller tires, on a 32' I would strongly suggest doing the same. You'll have to get your ECM tuned to correct the speedo if you go bigger on tires. Stock tires are 225/75/16. I'm running Michelin XPS Rib 235/85/16's. They have significantly higher load ratings and run way quieter and smoother than the Hankook junk. I got rid of those stock tires before our Vegas had 3k miles on it.

Take my advice, get rid of those tires NOW! And don't replace them with the same ones.

Did you use the same width rims for those bigger tires?
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Old 10-15-2019, 07:37 PM   #16
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Recurring tire issues, class C

Quote:
Originally Posted by jabrabu View Post
I have not weighed my rig, but I have seen actual weights from similar floorplans and I suspect that my rear axle is at the weight limit, or maybe even a little over.


What did you see with your TPMS, and what adjustments did you make? I set my rear pressures at 80 psi cold. I'm sure pressure goes up significantly when hot, but my understanding is that is okay.


I ran my rear tires at 80psi given I was pushing the max weight and saw them increase to well over 90psi on very hot days. The inside tire pressure and temps were always higher than the outside pressures and temps.

After a long run and stopping for gas, my high temp alarm went off on the inside tire while pumping gas. This was from the what if the brakes and sitting still with no air flow for cooling.

I actually started running the inside tires about 2 - 3 psi less than the outside tires when cold so they evened out more or less during running conditions.

If I would have kept my 29H, I would have switched to these tires next spring:

https://www.goodyear.com/en-US/tires...tude-ht-c-type
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Old 10-15-2019, 07:57 PM   #17
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Guy with a 32' C that was too close on weight went with Commercial Nexen tire which had much higher weight rating. Search 17.5 inch class c tire upgrade on this forum and look toward end. I am thinking to switch to the Nexen next year as a much weight capacity is appealing since most of my summer towing is on hot SE roads.
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Old 10-15-2019, 08:05 PM   #18
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I am under GVWR but tires will be 5 years old in June 2020 off date code. They are Michelins. I got lucky and front end alignment was perfect, no cupping or scalloping of fronts in over 25000 miles. My buddies Four Winds class c 25 foot destroyed fronts at 17000 miles.

I did notice early on that handling improved as soon as crown wore off front tires.
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Old 10-15-2019, 08:24 PM   #19
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Recurring tire issues, class C

Quote:
Originally Posted by bjones3211 View Post
So it’s in the 80,s now and I have 80 psi when it gets in the 40tees and the pressure reads 75 do I add more air to make them 80

Yes take them back up to 80 in the winter.
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Old 10-17-2019, 03:29 PM   #20
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my rig is the same size as yours....
and yep, overloaded. These 32ft E-450's are nearly overloaded on the rear when empty!
I am surprised though that it was your inners. My outer blew, and I figure that made sense because that's the one much more likely to have kissed a few curbs, run off the edge of the pavement, and such, over stressing it.

I only skimmed the thread above, so pardon me if I'm repeating someone.
I did see that someone mentioned the commercial "c" tires. I wish I'd know about that option when mine blew and I replaced the tires! I understand they are a bit rare and hard to get....but from what I could find at the time the load range E was the highest option for that size.

I knew about rickson 17-1/2 inch wheels at the time, and had in the back of my mind to get those some day, but when mine blew I needed new tires and couldn't wait.
https://www.ricksontruckwheels.com/w...rd-e350450.php
I still kick myself for not doing it then....since my tires are a constant state of concern for me.

Oh, the other thing I might be repeating...suggest to look into a TPMS. Sadly, in the case of my blowout it didn't help...but my blowout was not caused by the things these systems help to monitor so I still feel a bit better I have it.
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