Trailer Parked and Tire Exploded

[Bopper]

I have never heard of this so I am asking if anyone has seen this. The trailer has been parked for months due to show schedule and now Covid situation. Trailer is under a cover and tires are covered individually. One of the tires exploded this week. Blew a hold in the tire cover. Make a loud noise. We were in the area and could NOT figure out where the noise came from until today.

The same tire location had a flat a few months ago. Trailer was completely serviced and checked in December. Tires are about 4 years old (I have not checked exact date yet).

Has anyone ever seen this?

[Guilherme]

A quick Google search under “spontaneous tire explosions” turned up several instances and a common item was a patched sidewall. I’ve always been told you do NOT patch sidewall, only tread. Since I know nothing about tires precept that you monitor tread life and keep them properly inflated I’ll have to go with what I’ve been sold about patching.

If the tire were relatively new I’d make a warranty claim. If it’s out of warranty I’d carefully check the other one(s).

G.

[Bopper]

It does not look like a sidewall issue. I am checking others and will bring the tire to may trailer place and ask them what they think. I was just looking for any ideas until I can get the tire brought in.

[PaddockWood]

Your question me wondering about something possibly related and I’ve wondered. How often does a trailer need driven to keep the tires in the best shape? My trailer has sat for 6 months for example.

[clanter]

what is the age of the tire???

here is how to figured that out

https://www.tires-easy.com/blog/tire-dot-date-code/

[Mango20]

Can you tell where the tire blew? If not, maybe it was the valve stem. I had flat tires on 3 out of 4 trailer tires over a couple of years due to the valve stem leaking where it met the wheel. Mine were all gradual leaks, but I suppose it could fail more spectacularly in some cases. In my case, the tire place replaced my rubber/plastic valve stems with metal ones and it fixed the problem.

[Bopper]

It blew out of the tread facing toward the back of the trailer. It is a large hole. I have to check the date but I think that they are 4 years old. I am going to take it out for a drive tomorrow after we change the tire.

[Mulligan314]

We had a tire blow out in a parking lot after hauling a long distance. It was in the sidewall though. The tire was 3 or 4 times hotter than any of the other tires. This was the trip that we realized that we needed to ship a single horse in the back stall of the 2 horse slant rather than the front slot, as a single horse in the first slot wasn’t distributing the weight over the tires evenly and putting too much pressure on the front drivers side tire. Live and learn. We were grateful that is happened while we were in the gas station and not somewhere in the middle of nowhere…which is where we were going…lol.

ETA: to my knowledge, the sidewall on this tire had not been patched…

ETA2: I should totally read all of a post before commenting sometimes…lol. I didn’t catch the trailer just being parked completely. My bad.

[wildlifer]

How much do you trust the “trailer place.”? It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve heard of a business that did not pay attention to the max pressure a tire was labeled for - just recently someone discovered that a supposed professional service person put 30 psi in 10-12 psi tires (tractor). They were very lucky they found it before someone got hurt.

[Chips_mom]

It happened to me a few years years back. The trailer was parked, hadn’t been used for a few days.
we were unloading a hay wagon when we heard s big bang. Tore right through the sidewall.
Tires were probably about four years old. It also happened to the spare as it was stored on the outside of the trailer.
The sidewall was really ripped open on that one too. I think they were cheaper tires and the summer heat may have
weakened them over time. They didn’t have much wear at all. I have no other explaination The other two tires blew
when I was hauling so I think they were just crummy tires

[Bopper]

I check the tires several weeks ago even though the trailer is not in use and inflation was okay. My trailer place does discuss tires pressure with me usually when I pick up the trailer to make sure that I am keeping the tires at the correct psi.

Just really weird.

[Foxglove]

Might do a web search about trailer tires in general. We are in the “trailer capital of the world” here in Elkhart, IN. What I know is that trailer tires are not car/truck tires --they are different. Four years would be the OUTSIDE life of a trailer tire --we change tires and rims on our horse trailer every 3 years --then sell the old tires with rims to someone with a boat trailer or less crucial trailer. It doesn’t matter how much you drive your trailer --well, clearly if you are putting a million miles on those tires it would, but what is more important is the age of the tire. Covered or uncoverd, trailer tires don’t last as long as car/truck tires.

As to why your tire blew --age would be my first guess followed by some unseen damage. I’ve seen horses at shows paw at the trailer where they are tied. I saw one bite a tire (it went flat) -scared the horse! But again, age is probably the factor.

Because we have a trailer repair and tire store on every corner here in my county, finding a good service place is easy --but like all the horse people in the area --I use the shop that specializes in horse trailers. Still, I back them up by having the tire store check out my tires before a long trip. Free for them to give an opinion and has saved my bacon more than once —the tire guys pulled a nail out of a tire right before (as in just as I was leaving) at night to haul from IN to NY for a show —I would have been on the 80/90 Toll Road in the dark with a flat if I hadn’t stopped in for a quick check --fixed my tire, checked the rest (including my spare) and sent me on my way.

Good article about trailer tires --notice the paragraph about when to change them . . .

https://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/Trailer-Tire-Basics

[Lusoluv]

I have a rare trailer brand: St Georges Imara, 2H. Similar to popular Euro trailer brands. I did a ton of research trying to find the same brand/size the trailer came with without luck. Talked to a few COTHers about what they used as replacements for Brenderups, Fautras, etc. Replies were greatly appreciated, but were all over the board from passenger tires to pickup tires and others. Talked to several trailer dealers, RV & utility trailer service, and tire shops. No one sounded sure what to do. Finally found a hitch service place that has been in biz for 40+ years and had enough clients with B’ups that I trusted his opinion. He installed TowMax radials, ST185/80R13 tires on my trailer last spring. So far so good.

I had low miles on my 2011 trailer, under 6k miles, tread looked good, etc. But trailer is stored outside. He said 2 tires looked fine, but 2 were badly dry rotted. Figure it’s better to be safe than sorry and still pushed my luck with 9 yr old tires. Spent $521 to replace 4 tires and the spare and now I keep tires covered.