tireman9

Had a thought. There is a difference between Measurable and Meaningful. In fact I did a blog post just on this topic. But here is a simple test anyone here can do. Stop at a tire store and ask for a couple of old 3 OZ weights. They should be willing to sell you a couple for a buck or even for free . Next drive to your test road. It needs to be smooth and flat. Then slap both of the weights on one spot of a front rim. You don't need the special hammer just use a piece of Duct-Tape to hold them on a flat portion of the rim. ( be sure the wheel is clean and dry so the tape sticks well. Be sure to use plenty of tape as we don't want the weights to come off at 50 mph. I just used one piece to help you understnad what I am talking about. I would use more tape if I were doing the test. Now drive sown your smooth test road. Do you really feel the difference between no weights and weights? If not you know that being out of balance by 6 OZ is not meaningful. You could even do the same test with one weight and then with no weights. Ideally the driver would NOT be the person applying weights so the test could be run "blind" and the driver not knowing when one, two or no weights were used. I have seen some data that would suggest the primary reason for ride disturbance on Large RVs is out of round. This can be tires, wheels, hub, centering of the wheel on the hub and even incomplete seating of the tire on the rim. Sometimes you can "fix" a ride problem by simply removing the wheel and rotating it two bolt holes and re-attaching the tire/wheel assembly to the hub. Before I got all wound up on being 1/2 oz out of balance I would confirm the tire is round to within 0.060" inch. If not I would get that fixed first.

I understand the two basic designs of hose extenders. One is pressurized as it opens the valve core on the stem that is bolted through the wheel. This type can be used with an external TPM sensor at the outer end of the hose or with a "flow-thru" type TPM sensor attached to the bolt in valve and then the hose running out to allow air to be added to the tire. The second system has a hose with a flexible "rod" on the inside which opens the valve core in the valve bolted to the wheel. This hose is not pressurized except when measuring tire pressure. BUT if you attach an external sensor to the outer end it must depress the "rod" and then pressurize the hose for the sensor to provide a reading. A "flow-thru" sensor could also be used with this system if it is placed on the valve stem with the non-pressurized hose connecting to the outer end of the flow thru sensor. Since this is the hose you have I believe you need to use flow-thru TPM sensors so this might limit your choices. If properly installed I see no reason for either system to work Now it is of course that either design could have detail features such as better quality hose or "O-Rings" or attaching points of hose to fittings but without doing detailed examination of specific product and possibly conduction some testing so I would not call one any "better" than the other. RE "DOT Approved" While I have not done research on the specific question of hose extenders, I do understand the "DOT Approval" of tires. This is a very common misunderstanding of how DOT works. They write rules and regulations and test procedures to be used by a manufacturer when they want to certify a tire or other component as meeting DOT regulations. To my knowledge DOT does not approve specific products. It is the manufacturer who "certifies" that a product would pass all DOT test requirements, if it were tested. For example, I have seen plastic brake light lenses with "DOT" on them. To me this is nothing more than an indication by the manufacturing company that the lens is "certified" by the manufacture to pass the appropriate DOT standards.

I guess all you can do is point out to the dealer that he needs to get his salesmen educated on RV tires. You also now have some knowledge that you can share with friends or others that talk with you about buying a used RV.

If you have a poor ride it may not be an out of balance issue but an Out of Round issue. Don't forget its possible to "balance" a cinder block. My tires were balanced when new and weights added. No noticeable vibration with the addition on both internal and external TPMS and hose extenders on rear 4 tires with no change in the original weights.

Not a good idea. I believe RMA has a statement against using it. Moisture in antifreeze can attack the steel in belts and body of tire and of steel wheels.

Found a 2 part epoxy from 3M #8115 that will bond with LDPE. Will look into the flame prep as extra insurance. Think I will do a test panel.

Am trying to do a repair on the black tank but it appears the tank is not ABS but some other type of plastic. How do I glue ABS to the tank? 2008 Coachmen Freelander. Dump valves not installed correctly so handles pointed down and have been broken twice by road debris. So am replacing valves & lines. Have ABS pipe & fittings to go from tank to new valves and while removing old ABS pipe it appears the neck of the tank is NOT ABS as it doesn't melt like ABS does from heat of the saw or soften when ABS solvent glue is applied. So now I have a real problem as I have no idea how to properly glue ABS fittings or reinforcement panel tot he side of the tank. Coachmen did glue some ABS pipe into the tank but the glue they uses didn't fuse the tank plastic. Ideas appreciated as it appears my only option now is a new tank assuming I can get one as I find nothing similar in size & shape from businesses selling holding tanks and there is no identifiable part number on the tank. This job is going downhill fast. help is needed.

When I bought my Coachmen Class-C I discovered the front was out of align from the factory. I used the old Internet search for "truck alignment". Even though it is on a Chevy C3500 chassis the whole thing is a bit too big for the local Chevy dealer to handle. Found a local "Heavy Duty Truck Alignment" shop and they quickly got the front end fixed. Now being a Chevy that make is pretty standard for them MB may not be so easy so I would spend some time talking with the shop first.

I know of no technical reason for some tires to gain pressure other than an increase in temperature. Please remember that TPMS are primarily a warning system for air pressure loss. When doing pressure testing I use a set of three digital gages. These gages have been tested against ISO certified laboratory gauges and found to be accurate to +/- 0.5 psi which is their smallest reading. I have tested 12 different TPM sensors and have found them to be "accurate" relative to my test instruments within +/- 2 psi. More importantly I have found the TPM sensors to be repetitive to within +/- 1 psi. SO I guess what I am saying is that once you set your COLD pressure using your "Master" digital gauge and then screw on the TPM sensor you can look at the TPM reading and use that as your base.

Sorry the info didn't work out for you. The sales side of the RV industry IMO treats tires as the least desirable thing to talk about when they are trying to make a sale. It is also true that the guy on the floor may know little or nothing about tires. After all he may have been selling cars last month. Not all RV publications do prospective owners any favors either. I just saw an article on affordabley priced, entry level Class-A units (~$100k). They gave some facts and included GVWR but didn't bother with the more important IMO CCC or Cargo Carrying Capacity. What good is it to know your GVWR is 18,000# if the CCC is only 800# when a different RV might have a GVWR of 16,000# but might have a CCC of 1,200#. A quick check on-line and I note that few brochures offer this important figure to the prospective buyer.

Mike Have you learned how to find and read the DOT serial of your tires? ALL tires have a full serial but most only have it on one side of the tire. The receipt should have the FULL 11 or 12 character serial for each tire written on on it. If there is ever a recall the DOT serial is what you need to know to learn if your tires are under a recall or not. Get and KEEP this information where you can find it. RE your load situation. IMO it looks like the dealer failed to adequately warn you of the small load capacity of this unit. Of course I think some dealers either have no idea of what feature is important and are more interested in making the sale so just talk about the "Bling", lights and mirrors and simply have no idea about load capacity or don't want to tell the prospective buyer. Now what to do? The only thing I can suggest is to off load more of the stuff you carry. Don't know where the water tank is but maybe you need to cut back on how much fresh water you carry and plan on needing water hook-up every night camping. Holding tanks probably need to be emptied every time you leave a campground. The tongue weight of the trailer could be 50# or it could be 250# check it out. Good luck. This might not be good news but at least you know you need to do some work which is better than not knowing and having a tire problem down the road.

A general comment on tire overloading on long Class-C RVs. ie over 28' in length. In my opinion.... As RV assemblers move to longer and longer "Class-C" RVs it appears they may be compromising the original design intent and limits of the chassis manufacturer (Ford or Chevy). Extending the wheel base will definitely increase the loading and if not done correctly, will result in not only a loss of total load capacity but hamper the ability of the owner to carry the clothes and other "stuff" they want to take along. If you own a Class-C longer than 28' or have a friend who does, you can do both you and your friend a favor by ensuring you have the capacity to carry the load you want. When selling the "bling" there are not many RV dealers that are willing to loose a potential sale by pointing out a low or limited load capacity. Some may not be aware of modifications to the original chassis which might contribute to future difficulties such as overloaded tires or driveshaft issues or possible tire "kissing" problems. Did a bit of research and find a LT225/70R19.5 listed for current F450. While these might provide more tire capacity they will not increase the GAWR which may be the limiting factor.

If you are having problems with Kissing I have to wonder about the wheel offset or if oversize tires were put on the RV to allow the RV assembler to meet regulatory requirements. Wheels should have a part number and if you contact the wheel mfg you should be able to learn the "Dual Spacing" spec for the wheels. This MUST be at least as much as specified for the tires according to the published numbers from your tire company. You may have to do some research to learn what Ford? originally put on that model cut-away van and what size tires they originally specified.

RE virus protection. You should have the ability to add an "Exception" to the virus program. PM me or send me direct email and I will put you in contact with someone that might be able to help.

Nope "06-5093701" is not the DOT serial.. Look for the letters DOT followed by about 11 letters & numbers. You can review THIS blog post to learn more about decoding the tire "birth date. RE weights You are heavy in the rear by 1,110#. Also you don't know if all that extra weight is on one side or not. Few RVs are balanced 50/50% side to side. I suggest you might be closer to 45/55% so knowing you are overweight makes it very important to reduce the load as much as possible and to learn the actual "corner" tire loads ASAP. The golf cart may be adding 200# to the rear but it depends on weight and balance of the small trailer and distance from hitch ball to rear axle. THIS page from Michelin shows how to do the math. This page has similar worksheet from Bridgestone. You will see that both tire companies provide almost identical advice on the importance of knowing actual tire loading. This post shows me checking my weights before the Redmond Convention. Note the comments about Washington, Idaho and Florida. Other states may have similar policies. Now a "4 down" will not add any meaningful weight to the rear tire load because the load on the tow ball is very light. We will be interested in learning your actual 4 corner loads.

It would help if you could provide a bit more information. What is the DOT serial data on your tires? I assume they are not original. What size and Load Range tires and inflation is specified on the placard? Do you have actual scale weigh slips taken when the RV was fully loaded? Ideally you have the individual corner weights. RE "RV" vs "Truck" tires. I am not aware of any industry or government standardized tests that are RV specific. Some companies do market to the RV user and make claims about their tires but I have not seen data making a direct comparison between tires from different manufacturers that try and simulate RV use so I tend to consider "RV" tires to be primarily more of a marketing designation than a technical one so I try and stay away from making brand specific recommendations. Here is a post from my blog on "Best Tire" More info once I get the answers to the above questions.

Depending on the size of your tires i.e. 16" for Class-C like mine or 19.5 or 22.5 as on most Class-A you will probably be within the nominal tolerance when you add the TPM Sensor. My non flow thru sensors from TireTrakker weigh 0.45 oz so this would be less than a 1/3 oz weigh at the rim flange location where weights are placed. Flow through sensors are a bit heavier (don't have exact numbers but I think about 0.75 oz). Here is a blog post on tire balance. The vehicle sensitivity chart is especially informative and shows that simply "balancing" the tire & wheel may not solve a ride problem. Remember we can "balance" a cinder block but I think you will agree that it would not ride well.

Quick answer to this question is I bring this up for a couple of reasons. One is that I just read a RV forum post from someone that was stuck in mud and tried "spinning" their tires to get out. (it didn't work) The other reason is that with Canada and portions of the US that normally never get real cold in a deep freeze, there will be some vehicle owners experiencing frozen ground conditions and they may never have had that experience before. The reason the practice of spinning your tires is dangerous is that very few RVs have limited slip differentials so when they rev the engine and spin their tires in a effort to get going they may UN-wittingly be spinning their tires at speeds high enough to cause a tire failure and explosion. When you spin your tires the spinning tire is going TWICE the speed indicated on your speedometer. This picture shows what can happen to a passenger size tire. As you can see in this failure, not just the tread comes off and the sidewalls blow-out but the Hi-Tensile bead wire fractures in multiple locations which allows the complete tire to become a missile. When this happens with a small passenger car tire it may only "remove" one corner of the car. Sometimes a "free spin" tire failure ends up almost a mile away! Now for a moment think what a LT or TBR tire might do if it were to fail in a similar manner. If you are stuck, the best way to get out is to either use sand or gravel or to get some towing assistance. But please never simply spin your tires. The above post will be published on my blog next week but I thought this safety warning was time critical so FMCA gets an early look.

I see no meaningful advantage to switching from duals to singles. I do see many downsides. BUT if you like the looks and the cost isn't a consideration I have no technical problem with people modifying their RV with this change as long as the load capacity of the vehicle are covered. Have you considered getting your wheels gold plated? Sure would be distinctive. Just be sure you understand all the consequences.

What did the dealer say when this mistake was pointed out? An argument could be made that the dealer should be held responsible for not providing the proper tires or at least for not providing a new tire placard for this "dealer installed option".

The vertical mount with the water connection on the bottom is what I intend to go with. This will make emptying for winterizing easier. This project is taking a back seat to my repair & redesign of the holding tank dump valves. Coachmen didn't properly orient the slide valves so two have been damaged from road debris. Have the new parts and was about 85% done with removal of old connections when Winter set in here in Ohio so it will be March before I can finish that wonderful job. After that I will re-visit the water surge tank.

Drive tires do wear because they are "pushing" all the time. If you have a TAG axle then the tires are also being dragged or pushed around each turn or corner. Here are the details. If you think about it, a car has all 4 tires rotating around a centerline that is "pointing" to the center of the turn radius. Many years ago car manufacturers discovered how to design front suspension geometry to include something called "Ackerman". Here is definition that explaines what it is. Ackerman addresses the front end and solid axle rear ends basically have the centerline of the axle pointing at the center of the turning circle If you add a 2nd rear axle or "TAG" and project the centerline of that axle, clearly it can't be pointing to the same center of the turn as the drive axle is. This is one of the reasons multi axle RV trailers have such short tire lives. Now large 22.5 TBR tires don't flex like smaller 15" or 16" trailer tires so the large tires are forced to slip (wear) If you want to learn more about Ackerman there are some videos on YouTube. or here

Haven't used this protectant but you might check it out. Also found THIS review and more info on a car performance forum

Bright-White is a harsh cleaner. It appears to partially dissolve the surface rubber. To see for yourself spray it on a scrap White Sidewall and watch the white flow off. This is rubber being removed from the tire sidewall. I understand the desire to have your tires "look" a certain way but I stick by the soft cloth and soft soap recommendation for minimal damage to your tires.

Hi all. Hope you all had Happy Holidays. Sorry but I do not have any specific data on different versions of 303 so can't answer the question of "Aerospace" vs "Marine". It may just be marketing and packaging difference. RE the use of any protectant: 1. NEVER use anything that contains Petroleum Distillate as those chemicals can attack the rubber molecular structure 2. I have seen tires damaged from excessive use of products advertised as "tire protectants" 3. No spray on chemical can do as good a job as a White tire cover can when it comes to keeping the tire cooler when in direct sunlight. Remember HEAT is a #1 killer of tires. Quickly through the melting of tire components or slowly through degradation of the molecular bonds. I use white tire covers to protect my tires from heat from the Sun. I have occasionally used spray on but no wipe-on preparations. If you have to wipe something on, you are probably also removing some of the tire's chemicals that are there to protect your tires in the first place. I have found that "No-Touch" brand seems to work well and since it does wash off after a couple of weeks if there is heavy rain I know it is not a petroleum product. When cleaning your tires the best guidance I can provide is to use the same car wash soap and soft cloth you would use on your expensive paint job. High pressure equipment can damage tires and stiff bristle brushes can leave microscopic scratches which can accelerate the attack of Ozone. Hope this helps.