campnow2008

We are in the process of buying 6 new tires after experiencing a blow out on 10 year old tires. All six of our tires have plenty of tread depth left, even after 40,000 miles, and are not checked or cracked. The right front tire let go with a bang at 55 mph. A golf ball sized hole blew in the inside sidewall and fortunately the tread did not separate to damage the coach. I had no trouble bringing the coach (35 foot Aerbus) to a safe halt, pulling off onto the right shoulder of I-90. It could have happened in a lot worse places. I'm buying 6 new Goodyears and had not considered that the new tires might have been manufactured a year or two ago. However, it is my opinion that a tire doesn't age significantly until it is under pressure and load so I am not concerned about that. Since Goodyear says their warranty begins when the tires is installed they must agree with that. Afterall they have the expertise and the engineering to know the intimate details of how a tire ages and they build tires knowing that peoples lives are riding on them. It is how we, the consumers, treat the tires that makes the biggest difference in how long they last. Anyone who doesn't keep the receipt for a major purchase such as this is nuts. There, that's my two bits worth.

We have a 2001 35 foot Aerbus. We had it weighted by RVSEF at an FMCA rally so we know what each wheel weight is and we are right at the max gross of 20,500 lb. So I use the recommended 80 psi for the 245/70 R19.5 Goodyear tires. I bought two pressure gages from Camping World and they disagreed by 5 to 7 psi, so I bought a digital gage (Slime 20071, reviewed in the Aug 2010 Motorhome magazine) believing it would be more accurate. Since it agrees with one of the other gages, those are the two I use to check pressures. At 80 psi, we have excess capacity, so I saw no reason to inflate the tires to the max of 85 psi. We ran this way for 6 years and 27,000 miles until this past July 3rd when the RH front tire let go with a Ka-Blam! It was a warm sunny day and we were 3 hours from home ending a 2200 mile trip to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. Fortunately, instead of the narrow, two lane, no shoulder mountain roads we had been on for a month, we were on I-90, west of Moses Lake, Wa. on a straight, wide stretch of freeway. Good Sam ERS and in 1 1/2 hours we were back on the road. The tire had a golf ball sized hole in the inside wall, but the tread didn't separate and no damage was done to the coach. The tires looked good, no cracks, no checks, no evidence of impending failure and lots of tread left, but they are 10 years old. Next week we will be sitting on 6 new Goodyears. A friend of mine with a 1999 33 foot Southwind experienced the same type of failure in tires of similar age. Now I'm a believer that it is age, not mileage that determines when motorhome tires should be replaced.

Our coach (2001 Aerbus 3550 BSL) had the braided stainless valve stem extensions on it when we bought it in 2004. I check the pressure before every trip and until last year had no issues. Last year I noticed the RH inside dual was low everytime I checked, losing about 5 psi per day and I thought it might be time to replace the tires. A local tire shop who handles trucks and motorhomes checked and found that it was the extension that was leaking where it had a pretty sharp bend and was touching the steel wheel. We couldn't find a set of new extensions at any of the RV suppliers, so we ordered them and the tire shop installed all four, figuring that if one was leaking it was time to replace them all. Checking my pressures during a subsequent trip, I found the inside dual leaking again. After returning home, I removed the shiny wheel trim ring and discovered that the tire shop had not properly installed the extension and crushed it against the wheel causing it to leak. It was a small detail, but a critical one. Obtaining a new single extension from the manufacturer, I installed it myself and properly aligned the wheel trim ring and have had no problems since. I like the extensions because they make checking the pressures easy. I use both a mechanical and digital tire pressure gage and always carry a 110v air compressor in the coach. Several times I have had to use it to inflate the tires of a friends coach during a camping trip, but fortunately have not had any serious tire trouble (yet) of my own.

We have a new Roadmaster Sterling All Terrain tow bar on our 09 Honda Fit. We've used it twice so far and find it very easy to hook up and disconnect. I don't like the hardware left out on the front of the car, so I remove that too, and it is very easy to do so, storing the pieces in a large plastic storage bin that has a foam liner, with cut outs for each of the pieces. This keeps things clean and organized. We looked at the Blue Ox and Roadmaster tow bars at RV shows and the only reason we went with the Roadmaster was because Camping World offered it online for $606, vs the regular $1000+ price. When I began my online research in October, neither Blue Ox or Roadmaster had brackets available for the 09 Fit and I had to wait several months before the brackets were available. Having used a dolly for that last 3 years, I am looking forward to our upcoming 6 week trip with the tow bar and our Fit. When the tow brackets are off the car, all you can see is the electrical connection for the tail lights. So far we think it is great.