Newell Gurus

Had a LF Goodyear blowout at 60 mph on I-10 about 90 miles west of Mesa back in May of 2008. Was able to control to the shoulder.....no damage to coach, or rim.....only tire....feel blessed after seeing those pictures.

I had a left front tire blow out today @ 60 mph, on the Howard Frankland Bridge over Tampa Bay, that connects Tampa to St.Petersburg Florida. Was able to control to the side of bridge on a skinny emergency lane. ( a dire position to be in) considering 4 lanes of high speed traffic crossing the bridge flying by inches from you.
The tire was a 24.5" Sumitomo (2014 date) bought 2 years ago. Damaged wheel beyond repair, took out the wheel flare, and broke the brake line fitting. Roadside swapped the inside rear wheel, crimped the brake line, and drove it to Parliment coach to be repaired.
It was hair raising to put it lightly. My wife nearly got sick from fear.
I did not hit the brakes (which would be a normal reaction), I just stayed calm and rolled it to the side of the road.
The blowout did damage the truck travelling right next to us, damaging both of his side doors, causing all of his side curtain air bags to deploy.
So, not a pleasant way to finish off a nice Memorial Day Weekend. We were coming back from The Florida Folk Festival in White Springs, Florida, on the Suwanee River.
Anyone know where to get a 24.5 " wheel? And a fender flare?

John , you did a great job keeping it under control....That could've got ugly. 24.5 wheels are still around. This might be a good time to consider the 365 tire upgrade. Search this board for information. I would hope Newell could have a fender flare.
It would be helpful to know why that tire failed if you can. What was the tires load rating and air pressure?
I'll be it scared the "putty" out of the guy next to you as well!

John,

I am sorry about the blowout. Glad you remembered to stay off the brakes. Good reaction on your part.

Do you mind sharing the load rating of the tires and what pressure you normally ran?

Not sure of the load rating, I'll check that. I had 105 PSI.

(05-30-2017, 04:45 AM)HoosierDaddy Wrote: [ -> ]John , you did a great job keeping it under control....That could've got ugly. 24.5 wheels are still around. This might be a good time to consider the 365 tire upgrade. Search this board for information. I would hope Newell could have a fender flare.
It would be helpful to know why that tire failed if you can. What was the tires load rating and air pressure?
I'll be it scared the "putty" out of the guy next to you as well!

Thank you, Hoosier, What is the significance of the 365 upgrade?

If you had the 315 tire on the front, I believe you should have had 130 PSI and Newell suggest a low speed for this tire. If you will research this forum you will find a lot of discussions regarding the necessity for the 365 tire and rim.

Chester - Do you really mean "necessity"? I would not go that far. There are advantages, but I certainly don't see the upgrade as a necessity. With know axle weights and staying within the carrying capacity, having the correct inflation for that capacity, and observing the maximum speed rating for the tire ( I run much slower than that ) and replacing the tire based on age I feel the 315 is up to the task.

Russ

For those of us running the 11R 24.5 tire on our 96 vintage coaches, even a 315 is an upgrade. I have been running the same 24.5 Sumitomo tire - the ST778SE. Its load rated 16/H, 7160 pounds at 120 psi max. Sumitomo lists their 315 tire on a 22.5 rim, with a max load rating of 8270 lbs. 

I think the 315 would be a nice upgrade, with the 365 being a little too much for a non-slide coach such as mine. Also not sure a 365 would work on a Ridewell solid front axle.

I've asked Creslie at Newell what he thought of an upgrade to the 315 for a little added peace of mind. He said he would consider the fact that the coach has rolled around the country for 20 years with out incident. In other words don't bother. Not sure I like that answer.

I will eventually go the 315 route, but I feel the 365 would just be too much.

John as I understand it, the additional weight carried on the front axle when a coach is equipped with slide-outs could be overloading the tire weight capacity. The 365/22.5 (?) tire offers additional capacity. There are others on this board who have actually converted to the larger tire. You can find their experiences here.