weird failure more of radial trailer tires, lots of wires sticking out (pictures)

Is it a single axle trailer and did they go flat on you? It seems really unlikely 2 tires would go wacko simultaneously on their own. (not doubting you)

Seriously weird. What happens if you pull on a wire?

Hope Capriracer sees this one!
single axle. never deflated. they kept the nominal pressure of 50PSI despite wires sticking out. i cut the wires and didn't pull on them as i needed to drive to the place with replacement wheels. I can pull on them tomorrow.
 
I just can't see these wires coming out of the tires like that. No cracking, no dry rot, there has to be more to this story.
And yeah, what happens when you pull on these wires?
there is nothing more. the wires are from the tire. i clipped them before driving back and they grew longer since. i'll pull on them tomorrow just for fun of it.
 
That's a failure of rubber adhesion to the wire in the steel belt. When that happens, the individual wires "snake" their way through the rubber and eventually come out. Kind of rare as rubber to steel adhesion is pretty straight forward.
many thanks for the technical info from the guru. i'll google on that more...
 
many thanks for the technical info from the guru. i'll google on that more...
Here's what you need to do:

Call the manufacturer or the distributor. Tell them about the tires. They should direct you to a dealer. That dealer will need to talk to whoever you talked to and they should give you a credit towards the purchase of the replacement tires.

If you don't call first, the dealer might not know what to do and give you no credit.

And for those who want to know more about the failure:

Rubber doesn't bond well to steel. But copper does, and if the steel is electrocoated with brass or bronze, and some chemical enhancers are adding to the rubber that surrounds the steel, the bond is really good!

What usually happens in cases like this is that there isn't enough of that chemical enhancer, or there is poor disbursal, and the wires don't adhere - they are like floating in the rubber, and they will move when the tire is flexed. You should see what happens when there is NO chemical enhancer. The tire acts like the belt isn't even there and the tire tread really bulges. I've seen tires that didn't even make it out of the shop!
 
I have had good luck with plain old bias ply (nylon) trailer tires, I think the only radials I'd trust are the Goodyear Endurance. Bias tires are simpler to make, and more tolerant of less than great quality control. However to be fair, many trailer tire problems are caused by overloaded trailers, boats often weigh more than the manufacturer's specs, sometimes by a lot, and trailer tires often do not have much of a safety margin, much less than vehicles do. The boat I thought weighed about 3200 lbs was in fact 1,000 lbs heavier. Wouldn't have known till I weighed it.
 
I would not buy made in China tires.
I have rum them thousands of miles all over the country with zero issues. But I don't curb hop, pull over 65 mph. Nor scrub the tires on tight turns, and always check my inflation. Imagine that zero issues.
 
Borrowed my friends trailer as I have many times. About 4-5 years ago I put Supermax STM1 Radial ST tires on it from Mavis. Made in China, date code 0918, 7/32" tread still. Mavis was the only place open back then for leaving next morning with tires in stock. Size 205-75-15.

2 1/2 weeks ago I made sure tires were full at 65psi, they were like 55psi when I went to pick it up after sitting all winter. Towed the trailer about 150 miles one way. Loaded it up and came back. I checked tires before return trip and all was well. I just noticed a tire looked low, checked it, 11psi but didn't see any nails etc. I took tire off and got about dozen short steel wires sticking out and they were at a couple spots around tire but basically brushed/broke off when touched. I'd say they look like they came from a wire brush if I had used one recently but didn't. I sprayed the whole tire with soapy water, nothing that I can find leaking, valve stem, core, beads, tread, sidewalls.

Of course I need it for Sunday morning. The shop I use often has 8 ply CargoMax trailer tires in stock for the morning. Probably made in China, for about $90 each. They were just closing before I could get there so need to go tomorrow.

I know everyone says GY Endurance and not China ones. I'll try to call some more places when I get up just in case they have that. Thoughts on the CargoMax? I might not have many choices either way.

As soon as I saw the wires I thought of this thread saying how weird it was so it stuck in my head. I haven't weighed the trailer but it's not crazy.

1684533543204.jpeg

Both Walmart's by me show Carlisle Reliance Radial ST in stock also as an option.
 
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it's a long story, but to make it short, i took my boat to a lake an 1hr of interstate driving away. tires are fairly new, 2.5 years old with a third boating season. low miles with tread like new. proper size and load rating. the tires were in great shape and properly inflated before the trip. no problems with this part of the trip and i drove at 60-65 mph. after retrieving the boat from the lake, after it got dark, and i had to take a few tries as the slip was weird with trailer crooked, i heard a rubbing sound and it looked like one of the tires was rubbing the plastic fender. after wasting some time trying to make more clearance (I thought the fender was distorted by boat not positioned correctly at the first try), i noticed wires sticking from tires on both sides. they were shorter at that time but then i realized the tires were shot.

i'll skip the details how we hot back home, unless someone is curious about it.

these are the daytime pictures after returning home (both tires are comparable):

View attachment 117094
View attachment 117095

After owning cars and a boat for a looong time, i haven't seen anything like that. but this is my first time with trailer radial tires.

My questions:

1. what caused both tires go bad at the same instance?
2. is this a bad idea to have radial trailer tires in the first place?
3. i noticed the tires were made in china. is this the new normal?
4. is it covered by warranty? I need to figure out first where i bought tires, i had them mounted. i liked the idea or radial at that time.
5. the replacement tires on wheels i bought at a nearby WMT just before they closed are also Chinese, but bias ply ones. are they going to fail soon too?
6. after i clip the sticking wires, can i use them as spares for short trips? I suspect the answer is no, LOL!

Thanks for reading!
You want radial tires. Bias ply are ancient technology. Third go for usa made tires
 
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I ended up with Carlisle Reliance Radial ST from Walmart. 205/75R15 Load range D, M-speed rating. 4922 date code, made in Thailand. $80 each.

I at least have heard more about Carlisle and they do have US manufacturing even those these were not made in USA. Also figured if issues might be easier with other Walmart stores vs. just the local shop.
 
Different strokes. Never had a problem with 6 ply Carlisle trailer tires on my bass boat trailer.
 
I find on trailer tires everyone pays attention to load rating but ignores speed rating. I see a lot of L and M ratings and for me, that doesn't cut it, especially on hot summer road trips. I'm less concerned about where the tire is made.
 
L=75 mph, M=81 mph. How fast are you towing your trailer?

Unless you get possibly some LT tires with higher speed ratings but many trailer sizes don't come in LT tires.
 
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