Single axle trailer tyre blow out - MYTH BUSTED!

[B.RAD]

Spoiler alert - there's no drama! 😆

 

Just thought I would round out and answer once and for all a common myth - that a tyre puncture or blowout on a single axle trailer would be devastating, scary, dangerous or in any way concerning. Despite reassurances from @John previously, others seem to hold a belief it would be some kind of issue. Well I can now confirm - it's no problem.

 

Just had a tyre blowout in spectacular style on my single axle Brian James trailer.  It was on the M6 heading north for the three sisters sprint.  There was a slightly unusual noise, then a feeling of braking resistance from the trailer - looked in the mirrors to see a rather spectacular and somewhat beautiful display of tyre carcass showering down the hard shoulder! 😄 Pulled over to the hard shoulder easily, jumped out the van, chuckled at what remained of the tyre, then set to replacing it with the spare. 10 minutes later I was back on the road, all ok. The only scary bit was keeping half an eye on the oncoming traffic to make sure there were no errant lorries careening down the hard shoulder 😳

 

 

So, for anyone that holds this as a concern or is choosing a trailer and avoiding a single axle I say to you, fear not! It's all good! 😊

[Kit Car Electronics]

I had exactly the same experience as you - no real drama at all apart from the scary wheel changing. The Police arrived and set a cone (and their car) behind me for protection.

 

In hindsight, I was chancing it on 10 year old tyres with some slight sidewall cracking - so my fault, really.

[Snappy]

Glad your safe and sound..

 

Problem with tyres is often they look all ok but there not..

 

Tyres often look fine externally; the first tyre images below show a tyre which the customer had a slow puncture in, his tyre monitoring system kept letting him know it was going down, as he was busy he kept blowing it up but insisted it had never dropped more than 5 psi over the week. We new instantly the tyre was knackered as those will with a keen eye will clearly see a line around the side wall showing external damage from overheating due to being run soft. Once the tyre was removed you could see the regular pattern had worn off on the inside and in some places the structure of the tyre was exposed. you will also see the pile of rubber inside tyre that had been worn away. He was a little miffed when I said we couldn't repair it, once he saw it for himself he happily ordered a new tyre..

 

The disintegrating rubber on the inside is commonly seen in tyres that have been run underinflated or heavily over loaded, this is only found if you have cause to remove the tyre.

 

The third image down shows a customers front tyres!!  The car came in for an alignment as the customer said the car just doesn't handle like it used to and was shocking in the wet!

[Andrew]

I've had two blow outs on my single axle trailer quite a few years back. Was my fault really.. pushing the limits of the tyres ratings with my son's Civic on board. Have since gone up on the wheel size with higher rated tyres no problems since. But as you say.. no drama at all. I suppose the worst bit is a twin axle you can keep going and pick a spot for the wheel change where the single axle demands more immediate action?

[B.RAD]

What size wheels and tyres are you running now @Andrew? I'm thinking a slight raise in trailer height will help the hitch angle...

[Andrew]

8 minutes ago, BCF said:

What size wheels and tyres are you running now @Andrew? I'm thinking a slight raise in trailer height will help the hitch angle...

 

I went from skinny little 10" rims to 12".

These I think.. 

https://www.trailertek.com/trailer-parts/wheels-tyres-mudgaurds/wheel-and-tyre-assemblies/12-inch-wheel-assemblies/155-70-r12-c-4-on-5-5-pcd-wheel-assembly

[Blatman]

Proper Mini's used 10" rims for decades. Is it possible that tyre choice (age/condition notwithstanding) is a contributing factor? Would a proper 165/70/10 radial be a better choice than trailer tyres?

Not trying to start and argument, I am genuinely interested.

[B.RAD]

Normal car tyres are 4 ply. Trailer tyres must be a minimum of 6 ply and rated to the towing weight capacity of your trailer. You definitely must not put normal road tyres on a single axle trailer!

[Andrew]

9 hours ago, Blatman said:

Proper Mini's used 10" rims for decades. Is it possible that tyre choice (age/condition notwithstanding) is a contributing factor? Would a proper 165/70/10 radial be a better choice than trailer tyres?

 

The 10" rims I originally used were on proper rated trailer tyres but were crossplies. The car felt OK towing but people following had commented the trailer seemed to constantly dance from side to side. Replacement wheels and tyres are radials and the trailer  seems much more planted than before.

[dhutch]

Very interesting, thanks for the post. I see no reason why a well loaded single axle trailer behind a suitable tow vehicle should be dangerous having a blowout but good to have first hand account of it. 

[maurici]

Well @BCF i think you are due to finish the whole story...

I did blew a tyre years ago in spain... no drama at all. I didnt actually felt it untill i saw sparks in my rearview mirror.

 

[maurici]

13 hours ago, BCF said:

Normal car tyres are 4 ply. Trailer tyres must be a minimum of 6 ply and rated to the towing weight capacity of your trailer. You definitely must not put normal road tyres on a single axle trailer!

Another busted mith by the way... from today on...

[dhutch]

52 minutes ago, maurici said:

Another busted mith by the way... from today on...

I've got normal mini tyres (and wheels) on my twin axle kitcar trailer. No issues, all well within load ratings. Last set where part worns of an actual mini. Trailer does so little miles 2yo tyres with half the tread left seemed much better than the 10yo ones with near full tread that came off. 

 

Daniel

[B.RAD]

8 hours ago, dhutch said:

I've got normal mini tyres (and wheels) on my twin axle kitcar trailer. No issues, all well within load ratings. Last set where part worns of an actual mini. Trailer does so little miles 2yo tyres with half the tread left seemed much better than the 10yo ones with near full tread that came off. 

 

Daniel

That's why I specifically mentioned they're not suitable for a single axle trailer. A typical load rating of a standard road tyre is around 550kgs, particularly on 13" or smaller tyres. For most purposes and for twin axle trailers, that's more than enough, but for a single axle trailer with a gross capacity of 1300kgs, it's not suitable. 

[B.RAD]

9 hours ago, maurici said:

Well @BCF i think you are due to finish the whole story...

 

There is indeed another element to this story - the other tyre blew out on my way home 

 

I hadn't had an opportunity to replace the spare, so it left me stranded in an emergency layby on the M6. Took 2 hours and 20 mins for the recovery to get to me, and I negotiated for them to take the trailer in to secure overnight storage.

 

Booked myself in to a Premier Inn and went to bed confident of finding a replacement set of tyres in the morning. Next day, after an hour of calls, not a single place had either a trailer tyre, or a 13" road tyre in stock. Fortunately, the absolute legend @maurici stepped in, gave me a pair of 13" continental road tyres and managed to fit them using his own tyre machine. What a hero! I'd still be in Crewe without him! 

 

I wasn't convinced they'd make it home. My gross trailer weight was about 100kgs over the tyre rating, but with no other choice, I tensed up and set off for home.  Clearly, I made it back fine with no drama, and also found the trailer was much more stable on 185 profile tyres than the 165 that were on there. But they will be coming off immediately and proper tyres going back on.

 

Next question - tyre pressure. Brian James manual says 35psi for 165/13 profile tyres, but they always had an unhealthy looking bulge in the sidewall above the tyre/road contact point. I've recently been increasing pressure and on Saturday put them up to 45psi - I wonder if this caused them to overheat and contribute to the failure (if you overlook the fact that the tyres were 17 years old - date stamps were on the inside and not visible 🤦‍♂️)? Any thoughts on trailer tyre pressures on 13" rims?