Gentlemen,
I own a 2001 Holiday Rambler Endeavor Motor Home. On a recent vacation the front right tire blew out immediately pulling me off the road through some trees and into a ditch. No one was injured and the motor coach is at the body shop for repairs.
While having the windshield replaced, I heard of a product “Tyron”, that helps maintain control of a vehicle in the event of a blown front tire.
Is this a good product, worthy of the $2800.00 investment?
Danny Almeida
Limerick, Pa
I’ve never heard of this product but after a look at their site I have some reservations about it to put it politely. The lack of detailed info, the TV dramatic flashing cop car lights and burned wreckage video, and the test of the police car makes me question this quite a bit.
With the police car test they did not perform this test with a blown tire. It appears to me the tire was very seriously underinflated but not blown out. They could have run the tire over a spike strip to prove a point but they did not.
A tire blows out due to one of several reasons.
Underinflation or overinflation.
Aged, dry rotted tires.
Overloaded (weight wise) tires.
Road hazard, as in somebody’s old muffler or whatever.
So why did the tire blow out?
Hello, and thank you for your response. I acquired the motorhome in March of 2010. It had been garage kept for several years. I had the vehicle legally inspected and specifically asked about the tire condition. There were no visible cracks in the side walls and the inspection station assured me the tires were in good condition. I did take a number of trips of the summer to become comfortable with driving it and to learn about it’s complete functionality. The road conditions were dry and clear. When the tire blew out a large section of the tread came off. I did not run over anything in the roadway and had the air pressure checked just prior to my taking to the road.
I do not have a reasonable explanation for why the tire blew out.
Here is a video from a credible source, Michelin, on how to handle a motorhome blowout. We owned a motorhome for about 12 or 13 years and I would not have known this technique. We were lucky that we never had a blowout.
My gut feeling anyway is that the tire gave up due to age if the RV has the originals on it. Many car manufacturers recommend changing tires around the 6 or 7 year mark as all rubber degrades over time.
I believe if the RV were mine I’d put new tires on it if it has the originals on it now and keep a tire pressure gauge in the vehicle rather than spring for 2800 dollars worth of optimism.
That product may be legit but the site info comes across as not very detailed to me and the police car test would be a bit more plausible if the tire being tested was actually blown out instead of underinflated. I would want to see that test done during a legitmate blowout with hunks of tire being thrown everywhere.
The main thing is that you were not injured and I suppose one additional point could be made. Surely this was not a recap tire that blew out? Recaps were popular 50 years ago but generally you only see them on large trucks and never on the front steering axle.
Some tire damage is caused by low pressure in the tires. You may want to run 60 PSI or greater, depending on the tire. The weight of the vehicle is another factor, the more weight, the more pressure is required. Somewhere at the max psi should be considered with some truck tires.
As a tire engineer, I can tell that the product does absolutely nothing to prevent a blowout - unlike the way the web site seems to portray the product. What it does is prevent the tire from coming off the rim after it loses its inflation pressure. That’s a good thing, but certainly not worth $2,800!
I doubt that it would have prevented your going into the ditch.
And like OK4450, I think the tires were too old. Not only should you get new tires all around, but you should review the inflation pressure procedure. These vehicles are frequently neglected. You should make it a point that every day that you operate it should start with a check of the pressures - just like the big rigs do!
Tire condition cannot be assessed visually. Use the date code to determine how old they are, and replace them if they’re more than 6 years old.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11
That, and knowing how to react in the event of a blowout is your best bet to avoid an off-road excursion like you had previously.
Do not make any assumptions about tire pressure. Follow the recommendations on the tire inflation placard or in the Owner’s Manual.
This is from the Holiday Rambler website (http://www.holidayrambler.com/service/faqs.html#3):
3 -
What is the proper tire inflation for my unit? Each tire manufacturer has a recommended tire pressure based on the weight of the vehicle. We recommend that you take your fully-loaded motorhome or towable to a truck scale and have it weighed. You can then refer to the tire inflation chart in your owner’s manual for the recommended tire pressure. If this information is not in your owner’s manual (older units), tire inflation charts can be found at any retail tire outlet.