In a little over a year of ownership, we’ve had three flat tires on our Airstream.
The first occurred in Myers Flat, California. After rolling into one of the prettiest private campgrounds in California’s redwood forests, our tire died. We woke up the next morning, and it was just…gone. It didn’t even leave a note. Thankfully, there was a tire shop right outside our campground, and we were soon up and running.
The second flat tire was at least 98% my fault. After a long day of towing across the great American West, we exited the highway in Amarillo, Texas. But alas! In a memorable case of pilot error, my exit trajectory was sloppy. When making a right turn on a tight street, we clipped a curve. Poof! The new tire we’d purchased in Myers Flat met its sudden, sad demise. It was so young. We got the tire replaced, but the rim never forgave me.
Our third flat tire happened in Florida. We woke up one morning to discover that our tire was flat. (Apparently they tend to die of natural causes in the middle of the night.) We towed our Airstream to a nearby tire dealer and got it replaced. One nice feature of a towable trailer like an Airstream is that you can safely tow short distances even with one flat tire.
Our latest tire drama involves a bizarre, uneven wear pattern. As you’ll see in the video, this tire is wearing in an uneven, dangerous fashion. Naturally, it’s happening to the NEW tire we had mounted in Texas. Coincidence?
My suspicion is that clipping the curb last summer caused further damage to our Airstream than we realized. I hope that I’m wrong, though. Hopefully someone out there knows better than me.
And so, now I pose the question to you tire experts out there. What’s wrong with our tire? If you have any ideas, please let us know.
Sean, have the alignment of the axles checked. I don’t think it’s the tires.
Thanks Jack… We are at an Airstream dealership now. We’re going to have a couple of items checked tomorrow, including the wheel and axle. I suspect the problem is the axle, but am hoping it’s just a wheel that’s badly out of round. Stay tuned!
After reading that you hit the curb making the turn, no doubt by the looks of the tire your axle is bent up from the impact. You didn’t say how fast you were going when you hit the curb…obviously it was an accident when you hit the curb but, it’s just something you don’t want to incurr with any speed. Probably going to have to replace it, anxious to hear what was wrong.. Enjoy reading your blog, we have 25′ FB 2005…
I’m eager to know what happened? was it the axel?
I’ve been reading a lot about tires and watching the videos from RVeducation101.com (they’re quite good for us newbies) and he says tire failure is often from an overloaded, or unevenly loaded RV.
So now I’m paranoid about this and am curious – have you weighed your trailer? not just the whole thing, but each side and each tire load?
I found these articles on it, maybe it will help
http://www.rvuniversity.com/article.php/20070729094720572?query=firestone
http://www.trucktires.com/bridgestone/us_eng/press/zip/RV_Brochure.pdf
It was indeed the axle.
https://longlonghoneymoon.com/2008/09/03/video-axle-woes/
I haven’t weighed our trailer but I think that’s a great idea. Of course I know the posted weight as stated by the factory.
No need for paranoia, but a little fear is healthy. 🙂 Just make certain your tires are in good shape and properly inflated before you depart (this also goes for your tow vehicle, if you have one).