What happens if you get a blowout?

Hi, everyone.

My wife and I are interested in TMs (probably a 2720SL), but I'm a little put off by all the talk of tire troubles.

I realize that "real" RVers hate single axle trailers, but agree with TM's decision to save the weight.  Still, the talk of blowouts being a very real possibility is daunting.   What happens when a tire blows out at speed on a single axle trailer?   Apparently some of you have had this experience and I'm curious how hairy it gets.

Does anyone know how many TMs are made each year? We'd sure like to look at one, but the nearest dealer is on Cape Cod, four hours away.   Talked to a couple of ex-dealers, both of whom said that TM is a great trailer, but just too expensive for many people to be willing to buy.  Is the company doing OK?

Larry

We own a 3124KS that also has a single axle. On our first trip when we towed it from Seattle to our home in the Central Valley of California, we had a blowout. The blowout occurred in a Carlisle tire while driving on a two lane highway near the coast in Northern California. Our truck was going about 35 to 40 mph around a curve when it happened. When I heard the noise, I knew what had caused it and just pulled over to the side of the road where there was a wide flat spot. After the blowout the trailer continued to track straight behind my truck although I could feel that it was harder to pull along. Since we were out in the country, I decided to put on the spare tire myself. It took us about an hour and then we were on our way. The next day I purchased two new Goodyear Marathon tires in the small town in which we overnighted. Since then we've made one 6,000+ mile round trip without any trailer tire problems. We did have a tire blowout on that trip but it occurred in one of our truck's rear tires.

We also had a 3124k and after 2 blowouts changed to Load range D, Goodyear tires and no more trouble.  We kept the at the full 65 pounds and checked it regularly. On a tandem axle, when one tires blows, the other tire is severely overloaded.  Other forums have had posts that reccomend replacing both.  I have a friend that only replaced one tire and later that trip it's mate blew out.

[BOB_STRONG]

Larry,

Trailmanor makes about 2 units per day in their new factory. The company is doing very well and is adding new dealers all the time. The big area that never had dealers was out west. Every year their sales have been increasing a lot.  Yes, they are an expensive unit to buy, but you don't have to buy a gas guzzling $40,000 tow unit to pull it around. The extra gas cost, maintenance, and up keep can add up very quickly.

I have owned 3 Trailmnaors since 1992 and I have never had a blowout. The 3 Trailmnaors always had Goodyear tires on them. The problems were with Carlisle tires and other brands that may have been used. Watch the air pressure and the weight in the trailer, and make sure you have Goodyear tires, and I'm sure you will be OK.

Living in Albany, I would think that Bryant's RV would be closer for you than the dealer out in Hyannis on the Cape. Bryant's is in Dallas Pa just outside of Wilkes-Barre Pa.

Bob Strong

Larry ,

I blew out a Carlisle on my 2720 at 65mph on the interstate.  The tread came cleanly off the belts in one piece leaving the entire tread laying in the lane like a cheap retread.  

The trailer remained stable and required only a calm reaction to slow and get off the road.  Lucky for me the tread came off without causing any real damage to the trailer.  

I have put on Marathon tires.

I have a 1999 3023 I bought used in Texas. The place I bought it from let the trailer sit in one spot for a year. This caused a patch of tread to be severely weather checked. Unfortunately I did not notice the problem. While towing it home to Colorado, I had a blowout coming down Raton pass at 75 mph. Last week, coming home from a trip to California, I had another blowout at 75 mph on I-80. It was caused by a damaged valve stem allowing the tire to loose pressure. In both instances the trailer behaved extremely well, there was no sway or any other reactions. In fact, when the tire blew on I-80, as I started to pull over, my wife asked why I was pulling over. The wife and kids had no idea that we had lost a tire.

I have owned two TM trailers and I bought both used. On both deals, I was able to get them at least 3k below book! The internet is a great place to find used TM's. Here are some sites you may want to try.
http://www.rvtraderonline.com/

http://www.rvtrader.com/

http://www.rvsearch.com/index.cfm?ac...ublic_criteria

Unfortunately, we can now answer this question! On our way to Cherokee, NC, last week, we had a blow out on one of the camper's tires.

Wayne is very careful to keep all tires inflated properly. At every pit stop, he walks around and feels the tires on both the Explorer and the TM to make sure they're not overheated. So we are not sure what caused the blow out. The tread stayed pretty much intact, but the sidewalls were almost shredded!

It all happened very fast and we got stopped quickly. I don't recall any sense of loss of control or stability of the TM. Of course, Wayne was driving ... might have seemed different to him!

Thankfully, there was no damage to the camper. I'm glad that we were on a two lane country road at 55mph instead of on the interstate at 75mph. We were able to turn onto a fairly level side road and change the tire.

The worst part was having to set the camper up on the side of the road to be able to remove the "fender skirt" ... no, I take that back. The worst part was having to unload so much stuff from the back of the Explorer to get to the jack handle!

[Carol]

MawCraig,

What kind of tires did you have on the TM when the blowout occurred?

They were Goodyear, load range C.

Wayne feels sure we must have picked up a nail or rock somewhere along the way. Slow leaks or flat tires on our vehicles are not uncommon. Just a couple of weeks ago, Wayne had to plug one of the tires on his Ranger .... the rock he pulled out of the tire looked like an arrow head! We live 1.5 miles down a gravel road. (As Jeff Foxworthy says: You might be a redneck if directions to your house include "turn off the paved road.&quot

I'd have to say I've been around this place not long, but around the time they started using the Goodyears, and they had been for long enough for the Goodyears to prove themselves, I think what happened to Mawcraig was an isolated incedent, and is the only flat/blowout I've heard of since switching over from the Carlisles to the Goodyears, and like Mawcraig said, probably due to road debris.

[glow=red,2,300]Happytrails...........[/glow]