Tire Blowout

[j.whitbread]

You should be running E's for sure.

[vlamgat]

I had the same experience as you this month - same position. But I have virtually new E rated Michelin tires. So higher load ratings are not proof against this problem. I had mine inflated to 80 psi but have since established this may be over inflated for the load. My SM B's 8900 lbs with 2 up and half tank of gas and water. So easily 9000 with full tanks. That means my average wheel loading is 2,250 lbs. But the maximum tire loading is 3100 lbs so I only need to inflate to 73% of maximum pressure or 58 psi. Big difference. At least that is the theory but it makes me very uncomfortable to inflate it to less than the admittedly lest robust D rated maximum pressure of 65 psi even though I know that the tire has a different spec.

I had exactly the same damage that you experienced and in addition the blow destroyed some wiring and severed the rear heater coolant lines causing me to loose all my coolant on a day when the ambient temps were over 100. Charming! By clamping the hoses to each other and putting in the 4 gallons or so of water needed to get coolant to register, I was able to limped to a shop.

This is my first blow out with this van in the 8 years I have owned it. For the first 3 years I drove it on D rated tires like yours until the belts started to separate causing the vibration you remarked on. SMB and my shop were having fits that I stayed with D rated tires especially as the certification of the vehicle as an RV requires E rated tires. In addition I tow with at least a 1200 lb hitch weight so I was really surprised that this tire gave out with so little warning and no likely source of road debris.

The big lesson I learned is that I need to travel at all times with the equipment to jack this thing up, repair hoses with sleeves and clamps, and remove lug nuts. And none of the equipment provided by Ford and I would guess Chevy is adequate for the weight of these things. Problem is that there is virtually nothing out there jack wise that is user friendly. Many use the Hi Lift but it impossible to store without an off road bumper rig. Bottle jacks are too low, too unstable and require you lie under the vehicle while you jack it up - NOT a good idea.

I have searched all over this forum and it seems there is no solution but Hope - But for me Hope is never a strategy but I am surprised how big it is for everyone else. Especially given the investment we have to make to own some of these vans.

[jage]

This Jack comes up for sale in various places, several members have them- I'm sure there are other threads. I have two- one permanently in the van, one in the garage (so I don't have to dig in my XL storage unless necessary).

Successfully used to swap tires with twogone (e.g. each of the 4 corners of two vans with only one of these) the downfall is you might not be able to get the jack under a flat- so I still carry the Ford stock bottle jack simply to make room.

As far as compromises go, this is a good one for jacks.

[WVvan]

[vlamgat]

Funny you should show that - I have one and it is the best solution but for one issue and that is you have to lie under the van to use it. I recognize that if a seal blew out while I was jacking that the vehicle would fall on its blown tire and rim and premably there would be the same clearance above me that I would have had when I strarted the jacking process. But given how low the axle gets to the ground without an inflated tire especially on the shoulder of a secondary road one has to lie very very flat.

Also notable is all the wood supports in the picture to deal with ground instability. I carry multiple versions of those in my trailer but its difficult to find the storage room for them in the van given all the other stuff we tend to carry and the size of the XL bin.

But thanks anyway - that is THE jack

[WVvan]

If the bottle jack should fail once you get it going the jack will still stay up. You have to pull down on the rectangular handle to get the jack to retract.

[ANZAC]

Originally Posted by vlamgat

I had the same experience as you this month - same position. But I have virtually new E rated Michelin tires. So higher load ratings are not proof against this problem. I had mine inflated to 80 psi but have since established this may be over inflated for the load. My SM B's 8900 lbs with 2 up and half tank of gas and water. So easily 9000 with full tanks. That means my average wheel loading is 2,250 lbs. But the maximum tire loading is 3100 lbs so I only need to inflate to 73% of maximum pressure or 58 psi. Big difference. At least that is the theory but it makes me very uncomfortable to inflate it to less than the admittedly lest robust D rated maximum pressure of 65 psi even though I know that the tire has a different spec.

I am not an expert but I do not agree with (under) inflating tires based on actual load, they need to be inflated to match the load carrying capacity of the vehicle, which is on the tire placard. If you have different than OE sizes, you need to inflate that tire to >= equivalent load carrying capacity of the OE/placard size, see thread in 4x4 forum. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1582

If the tire at it's max pressure does not meet the OE placard load carrying requirements, then you need a better tire.

Re yes I carry the jack that jage has, I have one in the garage too. I should find out if my leveling blocks create enough clearance. Nice thing is it will work on the frame if you needed to unload the suspension, and it seems to have a layer or two of safety stops.

[vlamgat]

"Nice thing is it will work on the frame if you needed to unload the suspension, and it seems to have a layer or two of safety stops."

I presume you intend to pack planks underneath the jack base to get enough height to reach a frame rail. Its a lot to bulky wood to carry around. BTDT so anticipating a jack that has frame access is not easily accommodated

[tildadog]

Thanks for the info on the bottle jack combo. Just FYI for anybody else looking to purchase I just bought one from the Tractor Supply webpage for $29.00 + 10% off since it was my first purchase with them online.

Kyle

[John and Dana]

Tire pressure was between 60/65 psi (cold) and 25k miles on the van. So no more than that on these tires.

Bummer about your blow out, I am glad everyone was ok.

I have read numerous threads on this forum about tire problems with D rated BFG's and one common thing I see in each post is that the tires are being run over their maximum pressure. For example if you are running 60 psi in a tire rated for 50 psi (D rated BFG) you are running 120% of your maximum designed working pressure. Everyone blames the weight of the vans and yes they are heavy but running your tires over their maximum working pressure when they are already performing near capacity may be contributing as much to the blow outs as the weight of the van.

Stephen I am not posting this to point out anything you may have done wrong but hopefully all of those who are running D rated tires at over 50psi may learn from your experience.

Again I am glad to hear no one was hurt this time.

Cheers,

John