Check your tires

So I'm on a stupid road trip to move my cousin. 3/4 ton ford tow rig doing great. Borrowed my mothers horse trailer and am told the tires are "almost new". I check all the pressures (OCD about that) and set off. 650 miles up to get him all appears good. 250 miles back under load and we stop for gas, I check the tires and hear hissing from the passenger side front axle.

Long story short, both tires on that side had failed. Within 15 minutes front was flat and rear was leaking around a plug. I nurse it over to a tire place for two new tires. Steel belts had come out, broken inside, just a mess.

Talked to tech (tremendously helpful guy) about why. He said that it looked like really old tires (4years old via the stamp) and they were a brand he'd never heard of. Mom admits they are parked in a way that the right side is exposed to a lot of sunlight.

I'm glad I caught the problem when I did though, another 10-15 minutes on the highway would have been fairly catastrophic and a much more expensive PITA to repair.

I saw a tire fire on a trailer once. Everything on the trailer was destroyed. Difficulty: It was hauling new cars.

In reply to Knurled:

Were the cars Ferraris?

I remember when I was about 12 and my family and I were setting out on one of our annual camping trips. My dad's '89 F250 that was pulling our 30 ft trailer got a puncture in the left rear tire while doing 65 on the highway. Luckily we were on the very edge of town and were able to find a commercial truck tire place. They were able to pull the tire without disconnecting the trailer. It literally took them more time to take the wheel off than plug the tire. The culprit? A 4in long piece of steel. It must of fallen off of a chip truck as that part of the highway has lots of chip truck traffic.

That plug lasted almost another 30k miles until he bought new tires.

My dad taught me the importance of maintaining your tires. Especially if you are towing something.

I'm glad nothing worse happened to you (or the trailer).