I have been told that one should not keep tires on a motorhome over 8 years. I have a micromini Toyota motorhome and in the last two years have blown three tires. The tires appear to be in good shape but have been on vehicle for 10 years. They are duel tires and have blown on the same side both times. I would appreciate any information anyone may have about this. Thanks.
All tires not only wear out from use, but from sun damage. Thats why many RVs are stored with tire covers, to guard against this. RV and trailer tires usually get so little use that the UV rays from the sun wear them out before the tread wears out. Tires can also dry rot over time, but Im not too familiar as to why this happens, Ive only seen it once.
With car and truck tires, the tread usually wears out before the tire gets a chance to wear out otherwise.
Dry rot is the result of ozone breaking down the polymers in the tire. Waxes are added to the tire to protect against ozone and these waxes will migrate toward the surface as the tire is used. When they sit idle, the ozone can attack and break down the wax and then start working on the polymer.
Your experience counts too. It says to chenge them at the eight year limit.
How often do you check the air in them? Maybe there is another reason other than age…Some tires hold up better than others…
Yea, and we are all telling you the same thing. Age does damage tyres. Sun makes it worse. If you can keep them out of the sun, they will do better, but they will not last forever. I just replaced the tyres on my Motorcycle. I don’t drive it often enough to wear out the tyres before they are damaged by age. I did not wait for a blowout. I got them in time. I suggest you do the same in the future and avoid a possible hazard. BTW what you told us means you have at least one more tyre to replace. Do it now, don’t take a trip with that puppy without replacing that forth tyre.
BTW some tyres are designed to handle age better. Well at least at one time there were some. When you go to buy tyres, look for that feature.
One more thing. You should try to match the left/right tyres very closely. They should be the exact same model and size and they should not be significantly older or much difference in tread wear. In most vehicles, the rear tyres should always have the best tyres on them to keep the vehicle more stable in emergency conditions.
Most motor home owners I’ve talked to in RV parks tell me 5 years is the time limit for them.
I have a 2000 travel trailer with the same make/size tires on it as what came from the factory (by Marathon). I haven’t checked out the date of manufacture so I don’t know if these are the second set on it.
I’m the second owner (Owned the trailer for two years now) and after doing a very close inspection (crawling under the trailer with a flashlight) on the tires, find no problems.
I cover the tires to protect them from the uv-rays and if the trailer sits for more than two months at a time (winter storage) I move the trailer ahead 1/2 wheel turn (to relocate the tire bulge location (ground contact point) in the tire).
I keep the pressure up to the max that these tires call for year round. I don’t over-inflate to compensate for cold weather conditions.
I tow this trailer to South Carolina twice a year plus shorter trips up here in Canada but have never had tire trouble. Lucky? Perhaps.
I do maintain a sensible speed of 62-65 mph (as the tire/trailer manufacturer recommends), I check the tires and hubs of each wheel when making rest stops and so far everything is ‘cool’.
My neighbor has a C class motor home and this last spring he had the tires checked during a service and found sidewall cracks on the inside of the inboard tire. Had he not checked everything (himself) at this time he could have had a blowout on the highway.
These tires were 4 years old so he decided to change all four across the rear.
We bought a new 1987 class C on a Ford chassis; kept the tires for 10 years; never had even a flat. The tires, Michelins, were showing cracks between the tread rows when replaced. The motorhome spent most of its time in the upper Midwest. Deep south in the US will be rougher on tires due to harsher sunlight and more heat.
You might want to check the load rating of your tires as on the sidewalls and then bring your RV to a larger truck stop with a platform scale to have it weighed at both ends to see how near your tires are to their load limit. It costs very little to weigh.
Just one thing. How much air pressure do you have. A lot of people don’t have the tires inflated enough. Some of those tires need 60 psi.