Whether you’ve got a motorhome, travel trailer, or 5th wheel, it’s extremely important to understand how to minimize the possibility of a tire blowout and what to do if one should occur. But, why do RV tires blow out?
Tire blowouts are more common on RVs than you may think, and there are a number of reasons why. Understanding your RV’s tires is one of the most important safety factors in RVing. Yet tires are among the most ignored features on many rigs. Especially if they’re relatively new, the tendency may be to set ’em and forget ’em. Unfortunately for many, this can be a costly mistake.
Luckily, there are many things you can do to minimize the likelihood of experiencing a tire blowout. We think the topic of tires is so important, we wrote an entire eBook about inflating RV tires correctly (blog subscribers get access to it for free).
Let’s get right into this very important topic.
Are RV Tire Blowouts Common?
RV tire blowouts are more common than blowouts on other types of vehicles. There are several reasons why this is the case, and understanding them is key to prevention. Most motor vehicle tire blowouts are caused by underinflation. When tires aren’t properly inflated, the side of the tire will flex under the stress of driving and this generates excessive heat. It’s that heat that leads to most tire blowouts on the average motor vehicle.
However, there are many additional reasons why RV tires blow out more frequently. Let’s take a look at those reasons, followed by a list of things you can do to prevent your motorhome, travel trailer, or 5th wheel tires from blowing out.
What Are Some Common Causes of Tire Blowouts?
We’ve noted the most common cause of vehicle tire blowouts in general, but when you’re talking about RVs, there are other common contributing factors. So, whether you’ve got a motorhome, 5th wheel, truck camper, or travel trailer of any size, several factors can cause one or more of your tires to blow out while you’re traveling down the highway. It goes without saying that this is an experience we all hope to avoid.
Improper Tire Pressures
Again, as with all vehicles, improper tire pressures are a significant cause of RV tire blowouts. As we noted above, underinflation can cause a tire to flex under the stress of driving, leading to excessive heat buildup. With the additional weight of an RV compared to a car, this issue becomes even more pronounced.
Proper tire pressure is key to avoiding RV tire blowouts. Subscribers to our blog get FREE access to our eBook How To Inflate RV Tires Correctly, so if you’re not already a subscriber, sign up today!
There are several things you can do to minimize the likelihood that you’ll have underinflated tires. First, check your tire pressures before you head out in your RV. You can’t just set and forget your tire pressures. They need to be correctly set and then maintained. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is with a tire pressure monitoring system. For much more information on this very important piece of RVing gear, see our post on RV TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system). We’ll explain what a TPMS is and why it’s so important to have and use one.
Essentially, a TPMS does exactly what its name suggests — it monitors tire pressure. Many also monitor tire temperatures, allowing the system to alert you when tire pressure or temperature are high or low. Some systems are more elaborate than others, but they’re all designed to let you know when your tire pressures need immediate attention.
After more than 20 years of full-time RVing, our favorite brand and the one we have come to depend on ourselves has been the EEZ TPMS. You can check out that post to find out why it’s the one we’ve depended on for accurate reporting of our tire pressures. And yes, it does indeed monitor temperature as well. Increasing heat is an early sign of problems with both motorhome and trailer tires, and it can be worse in hot weather.
But here’s another thing that’s incredibly important:
Despite the fact that the safety of everyone traveling in your RV is riding on those tires, most RVers don’t have a clear understanding of what their tire pressures should be or how to inflate their tires properly. It’s not as simple as checking the pressures noted on the tire sidewall, or on a sticker inside a door sill, and then inflating your tires with a compressor.
In fact, we’re continually surprised at how the topic of RV tire inflation is so misunderstood, that we wrote an entire eBook about it. We’re mentioning this again because it is SO important and SO poorly understood by so many RVers. Our book is FREE if you’d like a copy – just click here to subscribe to our informative RVing newsletter and we’ll send you free access to it. (Our newsletters are also free!)
It’s also important to carry a high-quality tire compressor with you, because you can’t just pop into any old gas station and expect to find an air compressor that delivers the 80-120 pounds of pressure many RV tires require.
If you need one of the best air compressors on the market designed specifically for RVers, we invite you to use the discount/promo code RVGEEKS at the following link to save 5% on a Viair 450P-RV air compressor, the same one we’ve used for years.
TechnoRV.com is a supplier of leading RV technology products that are designed to enhance your RV lifestyle. That includes items like LevelMatePRO, Viair portable air compressors, connectivity equipment, and more!
Use the Promo Code...Show More
TechnoRV.com is a supplier of leading RV technology products that are designed to enhance your RV lifestyle. That includes items like LevelMatePRO, Viair portable air compressors, connectivity equipment, and more!
Use the Promo Code "RVGEEKS" to save 5% on your entire order at TechnoRV.
Show LessThey’re also available at Amazon:
- Tire Inflator Kit: Bid adieu to tire troubles with the VIAIR 450P Automatic Portable Compressor. Our air compressor always offers a versatile and...
- Easy-to-Use: Featuring a built-in pressure cut-off sensor, the automatic portable air compressor is ideal for tire-to-tire transitions or checking...
Tire Age and Wear
The integrity of a tire isn’t just about the condition of the tread. Tire age is a significant factor. As tires age, they can develop issues that compromise their integrity and weaken them, making them more prone to blowouts. Many RVs are unused or stored for long periods of time, and tires can develop dry rot. Tire dry rot is not only a result of aging but also of UV damage, as well as exposure to the elements.
But the fact remains that most RV tires have to be replaced due to age long before the tread is worn out. RV tires “age out” before they “wear out” in many cases.
For more information on how often RV tires need to be replaced, how to determine the age of your tires, and how to get the safest use out of them, we encourage you to watch our YouTube video on the topic of RV tire care, age, and replacement.
General Care of Tires
The general care (or lack thereof) of RV tires can also be a contributing factor to RV tire blowouts. We’ve already discussed proper tire pressures, but there are other ways to care for your RV tires:
Use Tire Covers
The sun’s UV rays are one of the most damaging factors on tire rubber. So they should be covered to protect them from the sun whenever possible. This is why we loved the RV tire covers we had on our motorhome (and now have for our travel trailer). A good quality tire cover will help to protect your RV tires from UV rays and other harmful environmental elements.
Our favorite tire covers by far are SnapRing TireSavers. If you need a great set of tire covers to protect your RV tires, you can save 10% simply by shopping through this link and using the code RVGEEKS. Why are these are favorite tire covers? This video sums it up!
Use a Quality Tire Cleaner with UV Protectant
You can further protect your tires by regularly using a high-quality tire cleaner with UV protectant. These products help prevent fading and cracking, while also repelling dust and dirt. We continue to use the following to extend the life of our tires and help to keep them in optimal condition as we travel.
- Watch dirt and grime dissolve quickly and easily with our color changing foam formula
- Prevents and removes tire browning, tire blossoming, and dry rot
- ULTIMATE PROTECTION: Shield your outdoor products from harmful UV rays, dust, dirt, salt water, & staining with this 303 protectant. Prevents fading...
- NON-GREASY: This 303 protectant also offers a non-greasy formula that dries to a smooth matte finish for a like-new appearance for both the exterior...
Check Tire Temperatures
We’ve long used a digital temperature gun to monitor the temperatures of our RV tires as we’re traveling. When you stop for fuel, food, or a bathroom break, give your tires a quick check. If you spot an abnormal tire temperature, you’ll be alerted to pending trouble before it happens. This is a backup to the TMPS, which also monitors temperature as mentioned above (plus, there are tons of other uses for this cool gadget around the RV!).
- 𝐖𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞: Measure a temperature range from...
- 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬: Infrared technology allows you to measure the surface temperature of objects with...
Overweight RVs
There’s a maximum weight that your RV (and each of your tires) can handle, so adhering to weight limits is super important. You may be familiar with GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating), which is the maximum weight a vehicle can weigh as it travels down the road. For motorhomes that tow a car or trailer, GCWR (gross combined weight rating) is important to understand. This is the maximum weight of a vehicle, anything it’s towing, and all passengers and cargo in both the RV and the trailer or towed car.
It’s important that RVers understand the meanings of these weight ratings and know what their RV can handle. Check your owner’s manual or placard behind the driver’s seat for details. Weigh stations and truck stops can provide scales that allow you to check gross vehicle weight.
But, as outlined in our eBook, individual tire weight limits need to be determined using “corner” or “position” weights. The details are too much to go into here, which is why we wrote a whole book about it. We simply can’t stress it enough — get your copy by subscribing to our blog today!
Operator Actions
Finally, our own actions as RV drivers can contribute to tire blowouts. If you’re wondering how your driving itself can relate to the question “Why do RV tires blow out?” think about the impact of striking the tires against objects. Things like scrubbing curbs with our RV tires, hitting deep potholes at speed, or running over debris in the roadway can all contribute to tire fatigue. Stay alert!
So, when we ask “Why do RV tires blow out?” there are many factors to consider.
Fortunately, most of them are in our control.
RettroBand To The Rescue!
If you haven’t seen the highest-end protection available to prevent the driver of a motorhome from losing control in the event of a blowout, check out the video below! National Indoor RV Centers (NIRVC) founder Brett Davis puts his money (and his life) where his mouth is in this amazing demonstration.
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Gay Travel Enthusiast (Jason)
Friday 25th of October 2024
I've had tires blow out on me. It's not fun. It's damned scary! 😨 How one deals with the blowout is important to bringing your vehicle safely to a stop.
Stephen Klinger
Monday 20th of May 2024
I live on a long gravel road and my Class B tires constantly pick up pebbles to the point where it is just not practical to remove them all before driving on pavement. (I try to do it for longer trips.) While it stands to reason that an excess of pebbles may lead to blowouts or at least reduced tire life, I haven't seen any expert advice on this. Your thoughts?
TheRVgeeks
Tuesday 21st of May 2024
Hi Stephen. Good question. But we've never heard/read anything about needing to worry about that. We've driven both our RV and our car on gravelly/pebbly dirt roads over MANY years, and other than the annoyance of hearing the stones "clacking" or banging about under the vehicle body once you hit pavement, we've never worried about them. You'd likely only need to be worried about larger rocks that could get stuck between dually tires (one of the reasons anyone with larger trucks who want to go offroad will single their rear axle out, switching from dual tires on each end of the axle to one larger wheel and tire).
Tires are incredibly durable and designed to withstand that kind of "abuse". 😉
Gary R. Junker
Wednesday 26th of October 2022
Very good article with a lot of useful information that many may not be familiar with. I have been RVing for a number of years but relatively new to the class A diesel. I do tow a car the majority of time and would like your thoughts on tire failure exposure that one has while towing a vehicle. My thoughts are the exposure is high since the awareness of what's going on with the vehicle is generally limited to the backup camera. If a tire goes down on a towed vehicle will the RV driver know by adverse handling of the RV? Thank you for your dedication to a positive RV experience.
TheRVgeeks
Thursday 27th of October 2022
Hi Gary. Chances are, when towing a car behind a Class A Diesel, you wouldn't have any indication of a flat/blow-out on the towed, since the RV barely even notices that there's a car back there at all. That's why we have a TPMS system (it's actually the one we use on the RV tires as well) to monitor the towed car's tires while we're driving. If anything happened like that, the TPMS would alert us.
Ken Hallock
Tuesday 25th of October 2022
Near the beginning of this article, the following claim is made - “Most motor vehicle tire blowouts are caused by underinflation of the tires”.
So I am curious just how it could be known that a tire had been under inflated just prior to failure. I suppose TPS pressure history would be one way but I suspect that data would be rarely available.
I would most appreciate if you could share references to research studies that reached this conclusion.
—Just Very Curious
TheRVgeeks
Wednesday 26th of October 2022
Hi Ken. The article we’ve linked to below is just one of dozens of similar articles we found in our research, where tire manufacturers, insurance companies, and a wide range of related sources cite low tire pressure as the leading cause of blowouts, and the impetus for the mandate that all new cars come equipped with TPMS. If you’d be more comfortable with the verbiage, you can substitute “many” for “most” and still recognize the dangers of low tire pressure at a prime contributor to blowouts due to sidewall flexing and subsequent overheating.
https://www.idrivesafely.com/defensive-driving/trending/how-avoid-tire-blowout-and-what-do-if-it-happens?amp
John S.
Saturday 22nd of October 2022
Good reminder for this topic.
Question: When checking tire TEMPS suring fuel stops what you you usually see? Do you have a 'worry about' temperature or are you more interested in finding one tire much hotter than the others?
TheRVgeeks
Sunday 23rd of October 2022
Hi John. Good question. We're usually looking for a tire that's abnormally different than the others. The actual temps vary pretty dramatically based on outside temp, angle (and intensity) of the sun, and even the amount of crowning on the road (the downhill side tires get hotter as a result of the shift in weight).