Snowbirding – There’s a Lot Riding on Your Tires
December 10, 2022
In the mid-eighties Michelin came up with an ad campaign that hit home with baby boomers like me.
The ads insinuated that only parents who do not care about their baby or their family’s safety would consider purchasing any tire other than a Michelin. My son had just been born and meant everything to me, so it was an easy sell, although made on a purely emotional level.
Prior to that, affordability seemed to be the overriding consideration when purchasing tires, at least in my world. I remember traveling to the USA with my parents and siblings when I was about 12 years old to visit family. Hearing loud thumping noises below our feet, dad looked in the rear-view mirror and saw layers of rubber peeling off the tires as our car wobbled down the road at a significant speed.
At that time retreads were the only tires my parents could afford. The cost of producing new rubber to cover an old tire carcass is much lower than the cost of the original tire.
By the time my son was 17 it was determined that the baby ads were irrelevant to those customers who then made up the biggest growth areas in vehicle sales. The company determined it needed to appeal primarily to these generally younger buyers, and the decision was made to bring back the Michelin Man. I immediately lost interest. If I want to look at images of someone wearing tires, I need only look in the mirror.
I continued to know little about tires and was puzzled by the size and number of pieces of shredded rubber that we so often see alongside the highways we travel. What causes them to explode, and why does it happen so frequently? Fortunately, I have ready access to expert knowledge on the subject.
My husband, Gary, started working in the tire industry at the age of 16. He gained experience with the manufacture, installation, servicing, and repair of tires, both big and small. Soon he had his own tire business.
Once, when his youngest son was watching, a tire Gary was working on exploded. Its cord structure had been compromised by a lack of air to hold it in its proper place. Had it not blown away from Gary rather than toward him, it would have ended his life. A sobering thought.
I peppered Gary with a variety of questions, the answers to which he is certain will bore you to death. But I’m not so sure. Purely by chance, we saw a woman on TikTok bemoaning the number of tire blowouts she and her husband, a retired air traffic controller, have experienced on their 5th wheel trailer. Each time, damage was caused not only to the tires but also to the unit itself. One can only imagine what insurance on their trailer must cost, or how much longer anyone will even agree to provide insurance.
Possible explanations for tire problems include:
- Tire fatigue. Ozone in the air ages the tire, causing cracking in the sidewall. The rule of thumb is that tires should be replaced every seven years, although Gary’s practiced eye can tell when a tire is fatigued.
- Cheap, poorly designed and/or poorly made tires. When it comes to tires, you get what you pay for. Whether you’re a helpless baby or a macho male, your safety is paramount. Buy only tires produced by manufacturers that have been in business for over forty years. This is true for all vehicles, not just RVs.
- Tires that are not properly aligned, creating uneven distribution of weight. This causes both a heat problem and uneven wear on the tires.
- Tires not large enough to support the load of the trailer (load capacity of tires is noted on their sidewall).
- An overloaded trailer (the TikTok couple have a toy hauler on the back of their 5th wheel that carries their two Harleys. This extra weight may be the source of their problems).
- Incorrect tire pressure.
- Taking the advice of people who are not qualified to give it. The couple on TikTok were told they should stop and let their tires cool down periodically. It should have been explained to them that overheating might be the result of either underinflation or excessive weight, and those problems should be corrected as soon as possible. In the meantime, a coolant that is not petroleum-based could be used to reduce the operating temperature of the tires.
Newer vehicles now have a tire-pressure monitoring system built into the dashboard to alert drivers to a potential problem. The proper pounds per square inch (PSI) for each of the tires is shown on the sidewall of the tire or on the inside of the driver’s door, as is the maximum weight for which that PSI is appropriate. An air pressure gauge should be used to verify the correct air pressure of each tire. Underinflated tires are dangerous, and overfilling the tire serves no useful purpose but leads to other problems.
Air loss can be caused by a variety of factors.
- All tires are porous so naturally lose air if they are not being used for a significant length of time or if there is a significant change of outside temperature.
- Tires can be punctured by things on the road.
- Sometimes the seal between the rim and the bead of the tire is inadequate.
A lack of air pressure can cause a tire to go flat or to explode due to excessive heat build-up. Both are caused by underinflation.
Although tire remnants we see on the road are often from large commercial vehicles, passenger vehicle tires also make a significant contribution to the debris. The smaller the tire the more readily it wears because it requires many more revolutions per mile.
You now probably have more information about tires than you ever wanted, but such knowledge may serve you well. Stay safe.
