EXISS LQ Horse Trailer and HI-RUN Tire debacle! - Diesel Forum

haul_n_horses2 · 08-23-2007, 01:31 PM

The Trainer and a client at our stable went in together on a new EXISS LQ 4 horse slant load trailer late last fall. The trailer has been used several times a month since then and probably has less than 10,000 miles on it. When it arrived from Exiss and the dealership, I noted that the weight tag listed a GVWR on G-rated 235/85R16 tires at 110 psi but the supplied tires were E-rated at 80 psi max. Replacement tires had to be shipped from Exiss. Since the tires were replaced (I check the inflation myself), 3 of 4 tires have failed. Two catastrophically on the road and 1 impending failure. The first failure was greeted with an "Oh so sorry, we will send you a replacement." Unfortunately, they sent another E rated tire. Sigh. This last weekend, on returning from a 180 mile round trip to horse trial, another tire was on the verge of blowing. You can see a photo album of the tires (Made in Beijing, China BTW and not subject to any current recalls) in a webshots photo album here. Fortunately, the trailer, livestock and humans are all safe. Trailer is currently on blocks waiting for 5 new Goodyear G-rated tires. Hopefully those will last more than a few months. To the dealerships and EXISS's credit they are paying for everything and requested the tire carcasses for evaluation.

Be careful out there.

On Edit: We are notifying NHTSA.

shitface · 08-23-2007, 02:17 PM

I'm getting pretty pissed about the state of affares with china at the moment! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] I can not understand for the life of me why all imports from that place have not been halted!?!? They fed our kids tooth paste with ANTI FREEZE in it for Gods sake! I still buy chinese tools from harbour freight, but I won't run chinese tires, or eat anything that I know came from china. It's almost like they are doing this intentionally??????

Good luck to you.

danjreed · 08-23-2007, 06:01 PM

I've seen good results with the 16" uni-steel from GY. Increased ambulance stability dramatically to the point the drivers thought we had installed a sports car suspension.
Someone else's truck I worked on (OBS, btw) hauled 5th wheels for a living and absolutely swore by the G159s on all four corners. He wouldn't buy anything else.
The county (Putnam) had us put on G151s (I think that was the number, they were agressive) on a plow pickup and couldn't get the driver back in a full-size plow truck after that.

haul_n_horses2 · 08-23-2007, 06:11 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I've seen good results with the 16" uni-steel from GY. Increased ambulance stability dramatically to the point the drivers thought we had installed a sports car suspension.
Someone else's truck I worked on (OBS, btw) hauled 5th wheels for a living and absolutely swore by the G159s on all four corners. He wouldn't buy anything else.
The county (Putnam) had us put on G151s (I think that was the number, they were agressive) on a plow pickup and couldn't get the driver back in a full-size plow truck after that.

[/ QUOTE ]Uni-steel G614 are what they were replaced with. G-rated with steel sidewalls and steel belts. Only downside is if you get a flat you MUST change out the tire and reinflate the flat in a steel cage.

Steve F. · 08-23-2007, 08:41 PM

Looking at your pics you have something else going on there, not just a tire problem. You can see the chopping that is going on, make sure you balance the next set of tires and see if that chopping goes away.

haul_n_horses2 · 08-23-2007, 09:02 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Looking at your pics you have something else going on there, not just a tire problem. You can see the chopping that is going on, make sure you balance the next set of tires and see if that chopping goes away.

[/ QUOTE ] Actually, the tread elsewhere did not feel bad running your hand over it. In the pic of the tire's shoulder, the tread is severely distorted by the near rupture of the tire. Remember these are no longer inflated. The new tires are balanced. The OEM tires from Exiss (the second ones not the E rated tires) were not balanced at all. I do not think that contributed to the failure. But I am no tire engineer.

Dualie · 08-24-2007, 12:08 AM

The G rated Goodyear G614's are no better than the are no better than the Goodyear G159's they were supposed to replace.

Do yourself and them a favor and just get E load range Michelin XPS Rib's and be done with it. There far superior to the 17.5H load range tires also.

I'm also of the opinion that forged alloy rims are a fantastic idea on horse trailers! they do several things to help you out as aluminum is the best material for a heat sink. they draw the heat out of the brake drum, and out of the tire sidewall.

I have a Murray 16 Tire lowbed that can carry 60,000 Lbs legally here in CA just on the trailer axle grouping alone. It runs 17.5" continental HTR 215/75R17.5 H Load range And they seem to be holding up better than any of the other 17.5's I have ran in the past. This is a very heavy hard use environment also. LOTS of heavily loads and sharp turns on pavement and off highway.

Whatever you do don't stand right next to a true steel sidewall tire when adding air. I know 2 people personally that were disfigured permanently by a catastrophic sidewall failure. Get a long whip hose mad up to inflate them. you want to be at least 4-6 foot away from those things when adding air.

The ratings on the side of the tire really don't me a lot in the long run. the Michelin holds much better than any of the G rated good year stuff and its a lowly E rating. I have over 70,000 miles on XPS ribs on my four horse featherlite. They are do for replacement soon do to weathering but for a 6 year old tire that's not a bad run at all.

what is the actual loaded axle weights on the trailer? I'm going to assume its torsion axles, what size living quarters? just for peace of mind if it was my trailer and with that many tire failures at this early juncture I would definitely measure the axles for being square from the center of the hitch to all four corners with the wheels and tires off and the trailer supported on sufficient stands. I have seen several NEW very expensive trailers (2 Exiss)with not so square axles.

another good idea is take a road trip on a hot day and stop every so often and check the tires with a non contact thermometer and see what the actual tire temps are running down the highway.

haul_n_horses2 · 08-24-2007, 11:18 AM

I have Bridgestone Commercial Trailer tires (125 psi Ugh) on 17.5" on Alcoa Forged hubcentric wheels on 8000# axles on my head to head trailer. No problems. I run the Michelin XPS Tractions on my truck. They are an awesome tire. Exiss paid for the G614s and we will see how they work. If these have problems we will be looking into the axle alignment.

Dualie · 08-24-2007, 09:39 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I have Bridge stone Commercial Trailer tires (125 psi Ugh) on 17.5" on Alcoa Forged hubcentric wheels on 8000# axles on my head to head trailer. No problems. I run the Michelin XPS Tractions on my truck. They are an awesome tire. Exiss paid for the G614s and we will see how they work. If these have problems we will be looking into the axle alignment.

[/ QUOTE ]

how are those working out for you? I ran a set of the bridgestone R-184's on my old sooner and it was a real pain in the A$$ keeping 125 PSI in them. They did last for about 20K up until one by one they started going boom one after another. I just started replacing as they blew out from that point on with whatever decent tire I could get. I would have at least 2 mounted spares and one un mounted tire at all times. And a couple of different ways to jack the trailer up also. It just became par for the course.

mikal · 08-25-2007, 10:17 AM

Interesting...... Checking out the various livestock trailers, horse trailers etc at a sale a few months back I could'nt believe the amount of trailers that had wheel-well damage from severe blowouts. Mine is messed up too from one.

Zorz · 08-26-2007, 11:10 PM

I had a very similiar experience with my Exiss. It is a 2005 4 horse with a 14' short wall. It came with G rated tires. They where labeled Trail America. Nowhere on the tires did they say made in China. In April I had a blow out. Two weeks later I had 2 blow outs within 50 miles. When we took the tires off the rims they where marked made in China under the edge of the rim. The rims where also labeled made in China. I purchased new American made rims and Goodyear tires G rated tires.
It is odd that I pulled the trailer for almost 2 years with no issues. I always feel the tires at every stop to make sure they are not hot. The tires where wearing even and looked fine. There is no recall that I can find on the tire brand that I had.

haul_n_horses2 · 08-27-2007, 07:32 AM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Zorz</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> I always feel the tires at every stop to make sure they are not hot. </div></div>I believe this is a very good practice. I keep a infrared thermometer in the side door and when I pull over for a pit stop on the road. I quickly check the temp of the sidewall of all four tires. When properly inflated, they are always within a degree or two of one another.

haul_n_horses2 · 08-27-2007, 07:34 AM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Dualie</div><div class="ubbcode-body">how are those working out for you? I ran a set of the bridgestone R-184's on my old sooner and it was a real pain in the A$$ keeping 125 PSI in them. They did last for about 20K up until one by one they started going boom one after another. I just started replacing as they blew out from that point on with whatever decent tire I could get. I would have at least 2 mounted spares and one un mounted tire at all times. And a couple of different ways to jack the trailer up also. It just became par for the course. </div></div>In two years and probably 10,000 miles I have had no problems.