tireman9

Well, don't I feel silly. It's been so long I forgot to plug in the power cord. I may know about tires but that doesn't mean I can't forget something this basic. Thanks to all who responded. I'll buy u a cup of coffee at Perry or Gillette. Just see me at one of my seminars on Tires or Genealogy.

Just fired up generator in my coach (Class-C w/ 4K Onan) No auto transfer switch in my coach. Haven't used the generator in some time but it was working fine last time I used it. When it started, I get no 110v reading on the outlet. No display on the Microwave. Looked at power panel and no circuit breakers are tripped. Before I get really involved in tracing the problem anyone have a couple of basic things to check.

Check out my post on the "New tires" thread.

Don't forget to change out the rubber parts (gaskets & "O" rings etc) of your valves and related parts such as extension hoses when you get new tires. These rubber parts age out too but it is easy to forget their "age" as they are not marked. Changing when you change tires makes it easy to remember. large tire dealerships should be able to change the rubber without having to buy an entire new bolt in valves. Be sure to record the full DOT serial, including date portion, of each tire when you buy them and keep this info with other important papers. A lot easier to do when the dealer is mounting them. Before you leave the tire store ask if the dealer "registered" your ownership of the tires with the tire company. That way you can be notified if there is ever a tire recall. Here is a post on tire registration and why it is important.

I have seen one brand of hoses that come with brackets that are bolted down with 2 of the lug nuts. If you have aluminum wheels don't you have a center hub cover? This would be a little like my older chevy hub covers seen in the link from my Feb 11 post. RE my install being wrong and hoses going to fail. Sorry, but I put about 40k miles on the plastic hub cover set-up with no visible wear on the hoses. I only have another 10k miles on my 2016 RV that has SS wheel simulators as seen in this picture. Two hoses show contact but no abrasion as the outer ends are firmly attached. Since they are 8 years old it is time to replace them as the internal rubber has "aged out". Hoses are off right now as I am installing an internal TPM system that I am evaluating. Will have a report on Internal vs external TPMS at Perry.

I understand there is supposed to be an APP for Perry with a map and other info. If you are registered you should get an email about the APP soon.

Having been to a number of Family Reunion Conventions, I thought I might pass along a suggestion on what seminars to attend. With 100 seminars to choose from at Perry, making a selection can be daunting especially for a first timer but in my opinion, you can make attending seminars both enjoyable and educational. Others will have some alternate suggestions but this would be my generic list. I have not seen the detailed list so some of my suggestions may have different titles but hopefully, you get the idea. Once I get the detail list of seminars and the schedule I would try and match my generic list to what is offered at this convention. Even if I had attended a similar seminar in the past I have found that there is always something new to be learned. So in no particular order of priority: 1. First-time attendee orientation. This gives you an overview of current FMCA member benefits 2. Chassis seminar (list various chassis i.e. Freightliner, Spartan, etc. If no seminar offered by a MFG then list the chassis-specific FMCA Chapter seminars i.e. Bounder, Diesel club, Tiffin etc) might be a good bet for finding a support group when you have questions on your RV. 3. "Fire & Life Safety". I have attended this seminar a couple of times. It is entertaining and informative on the topic of personal safety when it comes to fire and RV ownership. Do you know how to get out your emergency Exit? 4. "RV Weight & Tire Safety" and/or "Tire Knowledge for RV owner", Ya this is a plug for a seminar I give on tire knowledge but if you can't attend my seminar then definitely put the Weight & Safety seminar on your must-attend list. 5. "Ask the Experts" Always entertaining and informative. Even if you don't want to ask a question, you will learn some stuff. 6. Area Gatherings. Get to know fellow RV owners from your geographic area. Learn about upcoming area events. 7. "The RV Doctor's Top 10 RV Facts Of Life " by Gary Bunzer RV Doctor (and any of his other seminars) The following seminars may or may not be offered at Perry. Non-product seminars with an emphasis on basic information that would be educational to first timers and good reminders to experienced RVers 8 "Water in and Waste out" RV Plumbing an overview (Winterizing, Sanitation, preventive maintenance) This info is many times covered in RV Doctor's seminars. 9. "The shocking story" RV Electrics. Shore power, Generators, and RV electrical systems overview & preventive maintenance and how to decide if you can repair it yourself. I am not aware of any such current seminar but learning about RV electrics is a good thing. 10. RV driving, an introduction, and refresher to RV life. Topics to look for: Driving a motorhome is not like driving a car. Things to learn and Things to remember. There is a special course on driving an RV. Completion might earn you an insurance discount. As I said this is just my personal list. Others have suggested considering It isn't possible to attend all those in one National Convention to see what you can and then keep the list and keep checking them off until you have attended the whole list. In addition I would suggest the diesel engine seminar (for those so equipped or considering going diesel) with reps from each of the engine manufacturers. There is a driving course dedicated to women that should be on their list. Louise also likes to get the latest information on cooking in the motorhome. The vendor service center is always on my list. Make an appointment and get an expert to come to your motorhome to identify and possibly fix your most irritating problem. Also If a diesel engine, either the Caterpillar or Cummins Seminar If handling or ride concerns, the Suspension/Coach Ride & Handling Seminar

I understand that some area rallies have people who provide individual tire position weights. At Int'l conventions RVSEF offers that service but if there are other companies I would be interested in developing a list for my RV Tire Blog and for the Tire thread on the Tech forum here. Thanks in advance for your assistance PS If you are going to Perry or Gillette this Summer stop in at one of my seminars and say HI.

I think the key thing many fail to do with steel braided hose extenders is to firmly bolt down the outer end. Yes my hand holes (GM) are larger than some others but I get zero movement of the hose even when I push on it by hand. I do not like the rubber "donut" things as they do not hold the hose and that rubber can age and get stiff. I have even seen an example of a brass metal extension being worn through due to movement.

Valve stem threads are universal worldwide for pass, LT and truck at 0.305-32 thread or in metric 7.7x0.794

If you use beads you MUST use new special valves that filter the air so beads do not come up the valve stem and block the valve core or ruin the TPM sensor.

I have been running steel braded extender hoses for 12 years with no problems. Just be sure the outer end is securely fastened down. Picture on THIS post on hoses happened to be taken with TPM sensors off You might review my blog on TPMS topic as I have posts on how I suggest people set the warning levels.

Class B should probably be able to get air at any tire shop and save the cost and lost space of getting an air compressor that should only be needed a couple times a year.

Good suggestion. Just be sure you have the front axle on one "pad" and the rears on a separate "pad" otherwise you may not get an accurate reading. Pads are usually outlined in paint. Heather HERE is a link to CAT scale with sample info. and a video at bottom of the page. If you have questions just park out of the way and go into the counter. the Weighmaster will be happy to help you. Most truck stop scales are very similar.

Tom. If your TPMS didn't provide a warning before your "blowout" are you sure the failure was not a "Belt/Tread Separation" those can sound like an explosion and the tire can then lose air. I cover the difference in detail in a number of the posts on my blog and cover in my tire seminars. Will be at Perry, Gillette and Glamarama this summer.

Most of us only deal with ice in our drinks or used to get our beer cold but some folks may find themselves wanting? to drive in areas where roads get snow and ice covered and even in areas where the use of chains is required. The question is; What does the RV owner do when it comes to using chains in the dual application? If we choose to travel in such areas, it is important to have the correct type and size of "chains" for our application or we may end up doing damage to both our tires and the side of our coach. There are a variety of types of chain set-ups and even some alternatives such as "cables". I cannot address the legality of the alternate styles in all areas other than to offer that if there is an advisory that chains must be used and you get stuck and do not have chains on the unit you may face some fines and other penalties so you need to confirm the details of the requirement in your area before spending your money or before traveling out and about on snow and ice covered roads. If you do not have duals your choice is to be sure you select the equipment correct for your size tire. Duals have a few options. There are "Triple Rail" as seen in this video. There are some "cable" type systems as seen here, and some newer designs as seen HERE . I have not been involved in any direct comparisons so cannot offer any advice on relative performance. For that, you may need to do some additional investigation on the internet or even talk with some over the road drivers. Looking at the different videos it appears to me that some designs may be more durable than others. I do know that driving on dry roads with chains can cause some serious tire damage so only you can properly evaluate what system would be best for your situation.

Localized wear could also be a sign of impending failure due to belt separation. Can you post pictures of the worn areas? Best if you can turn the wheels full and get the locations of interest in full sunlight. The picture needs to capture the full width of the tread. Close enough to just get the tread is best.

Until you learn your actual "4 corner weights" it is best to inflate the tires to the inflation specified on the spec sheet where you found the tire size.

When I was doing "failed tire inspections" I had a stand with six 4' fluorescent lights plus a work light with 75 watt bulb for checking the interior. You really need "flat" light that few "flashlights can provide. You could try THIS light but as I point out in my post on tire inspection you also need to "feel" the complete tire sidewall and tread area and rotate the tire as covered in my blog post on Tire Inspection.

(Sarcasm) Good to know. Then you can probably develop the fatigue behavior and life predictions for rubber bands including every size and all possible uses of said bands. See how easy a task would be with a single material item. Now do that with a tire that has 15 to 20 different rubber compounds and you would be good to go. Oh ya you also need all the tire companies to share their secret formulas too.. (Sarcasm) I have covered the effects of temperature on rubber properties based on the chemical reaction rate change due to temperature in the posts on tire covers. The problem is we are not talking about the chemical reaction rate in a constant temperature location. Even with a formula how would you go about determining the temperature history of all the different components of a tire when different parts of a tire run at variable speed & load in variable temperature chamber may have over 150F range. Easy question. So is developing the Theory of General Relativity..... not

You have the option of filing a complaint with NHTSA on Superior Tire for not registering your tires or even providing you with the needed paperwork. Did you read the info in my post of Dec 1?

I can't address the Firestone situation other than I recall seeing full-page newspaper advertisements on the recall. Tire registration was not mandatory back in 2000 when the Firestone recall took place. New laws were passed in Dec 2015 making registration mandatory for tires but we all can get our tires registered if we are willing to make a little effort. The law, as I understand it is aimed at new tire sales so when you sell or buy a used vehicle with used tires there is no requirement. Newmar, as a vehicle manufacturer is supposed to have registered your tires when the coach was first sold. Recall notices sent to the original owners many times ask for the name of the current owner if the vehicle has been sold. RE Norcold recall. Refrigerators are not required to be registered so that example doesn't apply. Also, fire extinguishers are not required to be registered so the current Kidde extinguisher recall is not covered. However, your vehicle was registered with your state and the VIN is part of that registration. The RV company apparently had records of vehicle VIN and which contained the refrigerator so that is probably how you were identified after the RV company and Norcold went to the significant expense and effort to match vehicle registrations with VIN number list. For tire recalls, if you have a tire so covered and if you know about the recall (information available on the NHTSA website) you would not get a check for $1.18 but would in all probability receive new tires when you returned the recalled tires. Tires are a special category and to my knowledge are the only component that is to be registered. The problem is that many dealers do not bother and many owners also don't seem to know or care about making the effort to fill out the form and mail it in. Owners are however more than happy to complain even if they can't be bothered to report tire failures to NHTSA.

"What If My Tires Are Not Registered? If you think that your tires were not registered at the time of purchase, your dealer did you and your family a great disservice. In the event of a safety-related recall, you would not be notified, since your tires may not be registered. You may also print out our "Consumer Rights Certificate" (in Adobe PDF format) to take back to your dealer, and request that he give you the required tire registration forms. It is your right to be protected in the event of a safety-related tire recall. It's the law." Source for above from CIMS the industry’s largest tire registration company.

Observation about Cardiologist is reasonable, but my Dr has never offered "every dinner of fish you eat instead of beef will extend your life x days" For tires, one reality that few consider is the large variation in temperature across the US and even across some states. I have covered the effects of temperature on rubber properties and life in my RV Tire blog. This is one effect that does have a formula for the chemical reaction rate and breakdown of the "cross-link density" which is a measure of the elasticity of rubber. So while the amount of time you spend with the tire at 80F vs 90F vs 100F etc etc will change the reaction rate and could theoretically be used to predict tire life. But you can't even make a generalization such as "I spend all my time in Arizona". Does that mean Phoenix or Flagstaff? Remember just parking your RV in the shade in Cleveland, OH will age a tire faster than a year in the shade than Flagstaff AZ. While this can give an indication of the upper limit of the structure what further complicates the prediction of "life" is the fact that the load on each tire means the forces are different and the 'stretch" of each tire is also different As the stretch increases the creation and growth of molecular level cracks also increases. It's these cracks that can lead to a belt separation. Increase the load and two things happen. The tire runs hotter (shorter life) and the rubber stretches more (shorter life) Tire technology is constantly changing with new tires or updated rubber compounds hitting the roads monthly so even if you managed to run a controlled test you would probably be developing out of date information before you finished the first round of testing. But if you want to give it a shot at developing a predictive model, I suggest you start with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and go on to a PHD in organic chemistry. While you are at it raise enough money to build an enclosed test track the size of Indianapolis Speedway. Your testing for tire durability will only cost you about $1 a test mile. I for one would love to see your data. RE taking care of your tires. I can't comment on how much effort you need to give to taking care of your tires as only you know the value you place on having uninterrupted travel or protecting your family from harm. I fear some are looking for some hard and fast numbers but in my experience life seldom provides the level of certainty some would wish for.

Yup. That's a reasonable practice I would follow.