tireman9

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.

Rich & Lois and others, Yes it is true that a good portion of the "rubber" in tires is really synthetic which means the raw material is petroleum based. Today's passenger tires have very little if any natural rubber but as you move up in size there is an increasing % of natural rubber. Some 22.5 size tires have Natural rubber as a component but without access to the secret formulas I can't address the % which could range from 0% to maybe as much as 25% or more . There is also the special high strength brass plates steel to consider along with numerous other materials such as titanium oxide, From Whikipedia we see Natural rubber, or polyisoprene is the basic elastomer used in tire making Styrene-butadiene co-polymer (SBR) is a synthetic rubber which is often substituted in part for natural rubber based on the comparative raw materials cost Polybutadiene is used in combination with other rubbers because of its low heat-buildup properties Halobutyl rubber is used for the tubeless inner liner compounds, because of its low air permeability. The halogen atoms provide a bond with the carcass compounds which are mainly natural rubber. Bromobutyl is superior to chlorobutyl, but is more expensive Carbon Black, forms a high percentage of the rubber compound. This gives reinforcement and abrasion resistance Silica, used together with carbon black in high performance tires, as a low heat build up reinforcement Sulphur crosslinks the rubber molecules in the vulcanization process Vulcanizing Accelerators are complex organic compounds that speed up the vulcanization Activators assist the vulcanization. The main one is zinc oxide Antioxidants and antiozonants prevent sidewall cracking due to the action of sunlight and ozone Textile fabric reinforces the carcass of the tire Here is a good article on the topic. What hasn't been addressed is the research, manufacturing and transportation costs. With the ever increasing pressure for improved fuel economy, smooth and quite ride as well as, long wear and all season performance the R&D efforts are continually increasing. I think it is important to remember that oil price at the pump is a poor reflection of the real cost of the commodity especially when most of the materials are bought based of future delivery so current day to day variations have little affect of the price of oil someone is willing to commit to 5 months or a year in the future. One thing to look as is the profit margin of the tire companies over a multi-year basis. For example I believe Goodyear profit in 2013 was about 3% of sales income. If you want the nitti gritty check this web site and you will see the Return on Assets ranges from negative 6% tp plus 5% Now please remember I may be a tire engineer and I even play one at FMCA Conventions but I am not a financial advisor and as we all know past performance is no guarantee of future performance.

"I will check pressure this week" From that comment are we to assume you 1. Didn't confirm the proper pressure when the tires were first installed? and 2. You do not have a TPMS You should do #1 ASAP and if you don't have a TPMS, get one soon as it would be awful to turn a new tire into scrap due to an unidentified nail puncture or valve leak.

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Tanks are empty & flushed. so no surprises for me. Gary Bunzer said "you’ll see that clamp (and sealant) whenever the holding tank is made out of HDPE; high-density polyethylene. You cannot cement, bond or weld dissimilar thermoplastics. The outlet of a PE tank is tapered a little and some factories could not understand that the tighter you tightened the clamp, the more it tried to squeeze the ABS pipe out of the hole. It was necessary to cut the ABS outlet pipe to just the right length so that it wouldn’t slip out and yet would not protrude too far into the outlet, trapping debris under the outer circumference of the pipe. It wasn’t necessarily a great design but when coupled in tandem to the other tank outlet via the whole termination assembly, it sufficed. Today you’ll mostly see spun-on or welded fittings to make the connection. " I do see what appears to be a separate piece of pipe inside the neck of the tank. Apparently the tank is not ABS, (else why the clamp and inner pipe?) even though Coachmen tried to solvent glue an ABS pipe union onto the neck of the tank. They did not try and attach the inner tube to the ABS pipe or fittings. That may be why they also applied some type of sealant on the outside of the tank neck to pipe union joint. Really abysmal design, engineering and workmanship in my opinion.

As cold weather hits Ohio the job of re-plumbing the dump valves and fixing the screw-ups in the lines as installed by Coachmen is going slower than hoped. But I am making progress. Have new replacement valves, new ABS pipe and appropriate rubber hose connectors. Am removing the old solvent joint on the black tank which is a slow job but Coachmen knew they would not have to cover the cost of repair under warranty so I understand why they did the half-a$$ job. They probably saved at least $1.50. Oh well that's the real quality seen from our RV assemblers. I note in Nov FMCA mag on pg 22 "House Calls" a picture that looks similar to my tank exits. I see the hose clamp around the ABS pipe. What purpose does a hose clamp serve on solid ABS pipe?

My dump lines were improperly installed by Coachmen when they assembled the RV. They decided to angle the shut-off valves down which makes the effort to open or close the valves higher than necessary. This placement also has resulted in the valve from the black tank being broken by road debris being thrown at the plastic valve by the rear tires. Since I have to now do my second valve replacement, I want to try and re-locate the valve in a more horizontal position to make actuating easier and also to move the valve up away from the trajectory of road debris. What I need to know and confirm before I complete the disassembley is what the hose clamps are clamping? Is there a piece of large rubber hose that I can replace with new and relocate the hard ABS lines? The area near the clamp feels hard as if it is actually plastic and not rubber. If it was a piece of hose I would think it would need to be clamped around the tank exit and another clamp around the ABS pipe but there is only one clamp. This shows the bad location of dump valves You can see the mud flap I added in an attempt to protect the valve but it wasn't enough. You can see the broken handle but not the cracked valve body. Here is the Black Tank Clamp. I have started the valve removal Here is Gray tank clamp

General comment: Have to wonder why the RV industry seems incapable of developing and using a reliable level sensor for holding tanks. Maybe they are just not interested in building a "quality" product. Running a hose into my RV every few days to pressure wash the black tank was never pointed out as normal task when the dealer wanted me to buy a new RV. Maybe if I ever buy a new RV I will simply take the unit back after every camping trip and ask for warranty service.

If you run a +10% on inflation over the minimum needed to carry the load you will have a few advantages. 1. You will not have to chase the +/- couple of psi you can expect to see due to changes in Ambient temperature. 2. If you monitor your inflation with a TPMS and see a slow drop of say 1% or 2% a month (which is NOT abnormal) you will have advance warning of the need for a few psi. If you need to add say 3 psi you can do this when the tires are warm if you do the following. A. Measure the tires when cold. B Record the number of psi needed for each tire. Will probably be slightly different for each tire. C When you get to a truck stop that has air, simply measure the hot pressure and add the number of psi needed in "B" above plus 1 or 2 psi. D Next morning when the tires are again cool you check with your hand gauge and you should find you are at the cold inflation you need or maybe + 1 or 2 psi which you can easily let out. This approach avoids the need for carrying a compressor around. I think you will be better served by having accurate digital pressure gauge and TPMS than a compressor.

Definately go with "Steer" or "All Position" tires. If you go with "Drive" tires on the rears it will mean you can not rotate the rears to the front or to place the two fronts on one side of the rear if there is a need at some point in the future to move the tires around.

My first thought is Alignment with Camber being the most likely culprit. Toe is more likely to cause uneven wear of both front tires but just getting the alignment checked and set to spec will cover both. One thing to ask fo is a printout of both the Before & After measurements.

Here is a post with the math. Simple answer is 2% pressure for each 10F

Tom, For me one of the biggest problems is the improper use of the word "Blowout". This really is a hold over from our parents day of tube type tires. Tubeless tires can have a suddden loss of air but in my experience this is always preceeded by one of two things happening. 1. A slow leak of air which turns into a "Run Low Flex" failure. Here is a report I did on one such failure. TPM will provide warning in this case. 2. Impact sidewall cut or less frequently and harder to cause, a large cut to the tread area. Here is a report of a "Blowout" that hadn't happened yet that happened on my personal car. Obviously the tire had not lost any air so the TPM will not provide any warning but with a few more miles the sidewall rubber would let go and in just a few revolutions once the crack grew and the tire would have lost all its air almost instantaniously. This would also be a "blowout" to the average user.