Catastrophic tire failures?

[290smallcam]

So I started a thread yesterday about running bigger duals on a 5 ton and a member said the 14.00R20 XL's are known for catastrophic random failure. Has any one heard of this? Has anyone ever had any such catastrophic failures with any tire? Goodyear or michelin? The only issue I've ever heard about is that the XZL's tend to dry root. I poundered on it and all I could figure would be consistent inflation and deflation of the CTIS, which weakened the side walls or in that nature? If there are bad tires out there I would love to know which ones. No one needs a 21,000 pound truck blowing a steer tire and killing someone!!

 

[Elijah95]

XL’s are the main issue, it even got to a point where the military was swapping XL’s off the front axle of M939 trucks for safety. I think it’s a combination of age and other factors. someone may come along and correct me but the newest XL’s are mid to late 90s production.

Then, being used on trucks equipped with CTIS if the truck is parked for a while with a leaking seal the tire goes flat, sits for a few days/weeks/months damaging the sidewall, someone pumps it up, “looks good!” And sends it down the line. Dry rot and sidewall damage combined means they suffered even more of a rash of failures.

As far as CTIS inflation/deflation damaging a tire, that’s out of the equation. Think about this, your tire flexes millions of times in its lifetime, everytime it rolls it is exercised, if CTIS was causing damage or stress by inflate and deflate, your tires would blow welllll before a few thousand miles. So that theory isn’t true.


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[simp5782]

XLs are generally 18 to 20yrs old or older at the point.

Unicure will remold a 1400 casing XZL or XL into a new XL

@Scrounger has 6 brand new 1400R20 XLs for sale

 

[290smallcam]

So avoid these next unless it's a Unicure re mold?

 

[simp5782]

Most of us would.

 

[Russ Knight]

I bought 6 of the 1600R20 remolds from Wes. They were like brand new. Had zero issues with them. I would assume the 1400's would be the same.

 

[Jbulach]

This one went one night while sitting in the garage.

 

[Jbulach]

This one was a little more catastrophic. 55 mph, 12 ton in the bed on a 98 degree day with only 70 psi in the tires. You could say I was asking for it.

Can’t find pictures of the other one that I ran a 2” diameter stump through in the woods at Haspin.

 

[BKubu]

As Wes stated, the XLs are generally 18+ years old at this point. They are NOT failing because there is some inherent design flaw. They are not prone to blow outs or failure per se. They just are old tires at this point. If we were in 1999 or 2001, those tires would be the best you could get. If you have old tires on your truck, and you are hauling a reasonable amount of weight, you are asking for trouble. I'd suggest you replace your tires. You need to be concerned with old tires, not just XLs.

 

[G744]

I have both Goodyear AT2A and Michelin XL tires here. I went with the Goodyears, as they just look tougher.

All failures have been flats, occurring from running over junk at slow speeds. Shredded the things to pieces before I wanted to stop. Otherwise I've run them many miles on highways @ 55, nary a problem. Keep them at 90 lbs.

The tread is so thick, as I check them often when stopped. Many a time I've pulled nails or screws out before they went all the way thru.

Another thing is I run radial tubes and flaps in the GI 10X20 wheels. I could never keep air in the tubeless mode.

I used the XL's on my Ford 8N tractor with homemade adapter plates and commercial 10X20 wheels. No problems, of course.

DG

 

[silverstate55]

I seem to remember a series of discussions about these XL issues some years back. Should be readily available via Search.

I’m fairly certain there’s a difference in sidewall & casing construction of the XLs vs the XZLs; if you look at XL sidewalls, they are wavy-looking whereas with the XZLs are flat & square as can be...

 

[BKubu]

I seem to remember a series of discussions about these XL issues some years back. Should be readily available via Search.

I’m fairly certain there’s a difference in sidewall & casing construction of the XLs vs the XZLs; if you look at XL sidewalls, they are wavy-looking whereas with the XZLs are flat & square as can be...

The "wavy" sidewall is how the tires come from the factory. I had multiple sets of new tires back in the day. The XLs were my go to tire. I used to get them from John Winslow in NC (God rest his soul). I put them on everything years ago. Now, I wouldn't touch them, but it has nothing to do with wavy sidewalls or rumors that they are prone to blowouts. If you look at the sidewalls closely, you will see that those "waves" are in a regular pattern and are from the construction of the tire.

 

[BKubu]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I see a prior poster (G744) said that he thinks the Goodyears look better. I have had trucks with the Goodyears on them, but I thought the XLs were the more aggressive looking off road tire (back in the day...now I prefer the XZLs). There was a point about 20 years ago where the XLs were the harder tire to find. I once HAD to put the Goodyears on an M929A1 that I got in September 2001 because no XLs were available. I do feel the Goodyears wear better than the XLs, though. I don't have any trucks with the XLs any longer. If I did, I'd be looking to replace them at this point.

With all this said, I have a like new set of 1100 XLs on an M149A2 that I have. The trailer sits in a garage and only gets taken out occasionally. It is one of the cleanest water buffalos I have ever seen. I have no intention to replace those XLs. They still have mold seams and look fresh (no dry cracking), probably because they have been in a garage most of the time since they were put on. And, the sidewalls have the alternating wavy look.

 

[Russ Knight]

I had the AT2's on my truck before I bought the 1600's from Wes. They just about shook me out of the truck and one wore very badly on one side. I did not care for them at all.