tireman9

Sorry, Wayne but there are ways to identify the probable inflation & load history of a tire. Just as a Medical Examiner can do an autopsy and identify the signs of bad diet and poor or no exercise, or years of smoking, it is many times possible to see the external signs of low inflation and high load. These signs can show up in the indentation into the tire left by the wheel. Also, the different flex markings can be seen on the interior of a tire. Manufacturing "Defects" will usually result in early life failure i.e. <1,000 miles. Tire failure is in itself not proof of some nebulous "defect" even though lawyers and those not experienced in failed tire inspection want to think so. Once you examine, in detail, a few thousand tires from both controlled testing and from day to day use & abuse the conditions seen in tires tell a story of the tire's history. Too often people simply think of the conditions (load, speed, inflation, road) at the moment the tire fails as the "facts" to be considered when trying to decide the "why" a tire failed. In reality, the damage might have been done hours, days or even months earlier. As I point out in my RV Tire Knowledge Seminars at FMCA Conventions, tires are like potato salad, putting the salad back in the refrigerator after it was left for hours in the hot sun does not "fix it" and make it good to eat the next day any more than taking the burnt hot dog off the grill and letting it cool down before serving it makes for a good meal. Adding the correct air in a tire after running it low for thousands of miles does not repair the damage. Slowing down to 50 after hours of 70 to 80 over the preceding weeks and months does not "fix" or heal the thousands of microscopic cracks that were formed in the overheated and overstressed belt rubber. If a person stopped his smoking addiction of 2 packs a day for 40 years a couple months ago, will his lungs be clean and clear today?

I have covered the question of Multi-Axle trailer tire inflation ( run the sidewall pressure as your CIP ) along with the engineering analysis behind this recommendation in my blog RVTireSafety.com I have also covered the question of max operating speed (65 MAX) as the load formula for St type tires has not been changed since the early 70's. Speed "Rating" is just like your engine "Red Line" rating. You can exceed it but you will end up with a shorter tire or engine life.

Can't be 100% sure about "structural" support. I just assumed (hoped) that Coachmen has a structure right around the opening. I always have a roll of "Racer-Tape" aka "duct-tape" in the toolbox and that would help keep boards centered. Probably could have used 1x3 set vertically but had scrap 2x4 laying around and have "dead storage" space under dinette seating.

Well, they only have to work long enough to get home. Also, they are a "snug" fit and I need to pound on them a little to get in place. But thanks for the observation. I just hope I never have to use them. maybe these are like carrying an umbrella so it never rains.

Sorry to hear about your tire problem. Didn't your TPMS give a low-pressure warning? Any chance you can share a few pictures of the failed tire. I like to help provide a possible suggestion on the "Why" a tire failed. I also am a bit surprised by only 5-year life, unless the failure was due to some non-tire issue such as leaking valve or valve core. I am guessing your tires are LR-E and say 80 psi on them. I suggest you run 80 as your Cold Inflation Pressure till you can confirm your actual tire loading.

I have Schwintechslide on my coach. I have watched the various You Tube videos on how to change the motor etc. If the system fails when the slide is in I can probably just live with it till I get home but if it fails when out I am stuck. Removing the motors also removes the "lock" that holds the slide in. My back-up and work around it simple as a couple of 2x4's. I believe that with the help of some fellow campers I will be able to get the slide in without the motors but then I need to make sure it will not slide out as I drive home. The 2x4's just fit to hold the slide in. They don't take up much space and can be stored anywhere as I do not expect to ever need to use them. Here is what it looks like with the "Lock" in place.

Tim you really do need to confirm you are not overloading any tires. Just because it is Class-C does not mean it can't be overloaded. Data shows over half of RVs have a tire and or axle in overload. I also strongly recommend all RV owners run TPMS as they can give advance warning of air loss due to cut, puncture or leaking valve or leaking valve core. You might also check out my blog or if at FMCA Int's Convention in Gillette WY attend my seminars.

Good pictures of the failed tire can sometimes provide important information on the "why" the tire failed. Get the tire in full sunlight and take 4 to 8 pictures of the failed area in good focus. You didn't answer my question on TPMS. What were your scale readings on the front axle? Tire Size & LR and your cold inflation.

Yes those are sometimes called "combi-patch" Just be sure the tire was dismounted and the interior of the tire was inspected for any damage. Here is damage you would not know about if the tire was not dismounted.

Air circulation is not a problem in residential refrigerators as they come with fans built in. However, those of us with standard RV refrigerators could use some help with moving the cool air around inside the fridg. There are battery operated fans but I prefer a more permanent solution. I simply adapted a Computer case fan and wired it to run whenever the fridge is turned on. If you can do some soldering and a bit of tinkering you can install your own fan. I found a ball bearing low current (0.18A) 70x70mm fan at the local PC repair shop for $5 or you can check Amazon or eBay. First, you need to identify the ground wire in your light (usually black wire) The 12v hot wire in my fridge was red. I attached a standard spade connector to the fan wire and using a Female to Male spade adapter. Used some small aluminum angle to attach the fan to the side of the fridge and made sure the wires were out of the way and not touching the bulb. The biggest difficulty was the very small wire on the fan Smaller than 22 Ga so take your time striping the wire. I also used some shrink wrap to strengthen the end of the wire. Test the wire on the light with your multi-meter to be sure you are using the always hot wires as you want the fan to run even when the door is closed.

The only proper repair is to dismount the tire, inspect the interior, apply a patch and a plug. This per DOT, Michelin, Goodyear, Bridgestone and me. But hey what do we know. Sounds like some of you need to attend my Tire Seminar where I show pictures why.

You received this email because you have requested to be notified by NHTSA if there is a safety recall regarding Tires. Please click on the following NHTSA Recall ID links to view the recall information. NHTSA Recall ID Number : 18T006 Synopsis : Continental Tire the Americas, LLC. (Continental Tire) is recalling certain Conti Hybrid HS3 tires, size 11R22.5 Load Range G, with tire identification numbers (TIN) A33TKWUX and DOT date codes of 0918 through 1118. Cords may be visible through the innerliner. Tires with visible cords through the innerliner may have a sudden loss of air, increasing the risk of a crash. Continental Tire will notify owners, and dealers will replace the tires, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule. Owners may contact Continental Tire customer service at 1-888-799-2168.

Yes, Michelin doesn't do us any favors with their Load & Infl tables. They know that individual tire loads are important and that you should inflate all tires on any one axle to at least the pressure specified for the tires with the heavier end but then they go and make stuff complicated by publishing axle loads. I suspect the reason for this is that their tables are aimed at truckers who only do axle weights because their loads are more balanced side to side than RVs. You can do yourself a favor by writing down your own version of Michelin numbers but show the load per tire for fronts and per set of duals for the drive position as the rest of the tire industry does. You can confirm you did the math correctly by looking at a Goodyear or Bridgestone or other truck tire chart. The numbers should be the same or almost the same as in the Michelin table. (The reason for the minor differences can be confusing so just accept that the French have their way of thinking) Minimum inflation. You are correct to not run lower than the lowest number on the table. Just be sure you compare to a different company chart to confirm your math. RE "Engineers" I sometimes wonder if the RV companies have Automotive or similar engineers involved in the design of the coach part of a motorhome. The chassis does, I'm just not sure about the coach based on some of the stuff I have seen in RV coaches and trailers.

Chrome platingAluminum takes some special processing as Chrome doesn't stick to Aluminum. You first plate with Copper, then Nickel then Chrome and the process in the aftermarket can be quite expensive. There are spray on clear wheel "paints" that I have used. You first clean & polish your wheels then spray the clear coat. You do need to remember that any abrasive cleaning will damage the clear coat so be careful.

I only use a hand gauge when adding air at the start of the season or if I have had a drop in pressure of more than 10%. I know this is OK as I use my TPMS "Morning Reset" feature at the start of each travel day. This sets my TPMS readings on the monitor to 0 PSI and 32°F. I then go get my coffee and after a few minutes, I have the current CIP readings. (Side note) I have learned that if I have a slow response from a sensor it is an indication the battery is getting old so I just put replacing the battery on my to-do list for the next day) Since my CIP is set to be the minimum inflation based on my heavier ends, of each axles + 10%. I have a built-in margin so have learned that +/- a few psi is normal. Since psi of air and N2 changes by about 2% for each change in temperature of 10°F. I know that the Ambient temperature would have to drop by 50°F or more before I would need to be adding air. The availability of TPMS has actually created a bit of a problem as folks now know their tire pressure and temperature so since they have little or no experience with what they have been running for the past 5 or 20 years then get un-necessarily worried when they see the pressure change by a couple or even5 psi. NOTE I am talking COLD pressure (CIP) measured with a pressure gauge that is accurate to within +/- 3% of your CIP. Tire engineers know that tire temperature and pressure will increase with running. maybe even as much as 20 to 25% if you run heavy and fast. You are not going to get a "Blowout" from the normal pressure increase unless you have somehow severely damaged your tire. Most street tires I know of can handle a 50 to 100% pressure increase. I suggest you read this post if you are still concerned.

Only Aluminum stems I know of are either racing stems or the stems on some passenger car OE TPMS. These are subject to corrosion and are not as strong as brass stems. Don't know of any normal auto part store or truck stop selling Aluminum racing stems. They definitely are not as strong as Brass. Unless you are running at Indy, F1 or in an ultra small light weight car I don't see the lower weight as an advantage. I never rant them in any of my race cars. Please be aware that some truck stems are the "yellow" brass color while other brass stems are simply chrome or nickel plated to make them loop nice.

NO Wheel pressure is CIP Not the hot pressure. Basically, the 120 would match up with the tires that would be applied to the Rv using those wheels. Might be a couple different sizes but in each case, the tire is rated for its max load AT 120psi. Wheels like tires are designed to tolerate normal pressure increase. Side comment on your TPM readings. I recently did an evaluation of TPM pressure accuracy. Results HERE. TPMS are designed to warn of pressure drop. If you did a test with your system and could let out an identical amount of air I bet you would find that all 6 of your sensors would give a warning when they lost the same number of pounds (+/- 1 or 2 psi) Bottom line. All this variation might be "Measurable" but the differences in the numbers are not really "Meaningful" You can get a better understanding of these two terms HERE. Hope I was able to answer your questions. I may not always be available for quick answers but I bet that just about all the questions folks might have on tires in RV use have been covered in my blog which is available 24/7

First off I would not be concerned with the numbers you have. Tires normally change temperature pressure by about 2% for each change in temperature of 10F. The only pressure I am concerned with is the CIP or Cold Inflation Pressure. If you have that correct for your load the increase can easily be tolerated by your tires. You can see the Science for the pressure change in my blog. I covered the temperature effect in three posts HERE. Gotta run the DW just called me to dinner. Will post a bit more in about an hour.

Didn't your TPMS provide a warning of the air loss? Have any clear pictures of the tire? True "Defects" usually occurs at early mileage. Do you have your tire scale readings? What size and what is your Cold inflation pressure?

While I never personally ran wheel tests, I do recall reading some technical reports back in the 70's talking about the stress loading on wheels of radials being different than from bias tires. "Different" doesn't mean higher but the loading on wheels is much more complex than many people realize. Might be greater in one area and lower in another. Few people realize that the "disk" portion (the part that bolts on) actually functions much like a Bellville washer and if you pay attention you can see the distortion when torquing passenger steel wheels. The rim portion also transferred loads differently from the tire bead to the disk so yes wheels can be rated "bias only". The same axle warning is not based on the wheels but on the lateral deflection difference so one tire may get a disproportionately higher level of lateral forces.

I understand the Eternabond tape is good for seams that need something to hold the seam together but if you just want a bit of extra waterproofing like around the ladder feet that attach to the roof why wouldn't 100% silicone seal be OK? Comes in smaller, resealable and less expensive container than Dicor. Have also wondered about "Flex Seal" as advertised on TV ? Thoughts

What is the proper ratio of Bleach to water? 1 cup per 5 gal capacity?? 1 cup per 15 gal capacity ?? I have heard both. The Class-C was drained and had antifreeze over winter. Was drained but not flushed when I left campground after Perry in March. Want to sanitize and flush before I head out in 3 weeks.

From experience, I know that some items are discontinued simply because the volumes do not justify carrying inventory. Tires are made in batches of a few hundred to continuous runs of thousands a day. If you only make a run of say 500 tires how can you properly stock your warehouses? If you only sell a couple thousand a year or maybe only 500 a year, how can you justify disrupting the production of an item you make and sell at hundreds a day? There is a lot of lost downtime of very expensive equipment when there is a change in a production run. How often do you want to shut down a building machine that has a 10 tire output per hour when it might take 2 hours to make the change over? These machines can cost $250,000 to $500,000 each and tire production is 24/7. Then there is the QA requirements. If an item is out of production for a long enough period of time the plant may need to run additional QA checks which can cost the company $thousands in testing and analysis plus the destruction of a number of tires run on the tests or simply cut up to confirm proper machine set-up.

I don't think he was. Kiltedpig just didn't read the complete tire size. He did what many do. I get numerous questions such as. " How much inflation should I run in my 262R22.5 tires or similar abbreviations or typos.

The Big 3 have "company stores" that work together with their inventory. You can check dealer location from the corporate website. Goodyear, Michelin, or Bridgestone. Firestone uses same stores as Bridgestone and Dunlop would share Goodyear and Uniroyal with Michelin. I would just go to the company website for the brand you run or are interested in and look for the link on "Dealers" or "Store Location"