tireman9

Tire size comparison. Nothing basically wrong with web site tire size calculations but for "Dual" (rear side by side on many Motorhomes) "Minimum Dual spacing is a critical dimension that you will probably only find in the tire company data sheets. Most can be found on-line. I have a post I try and keep up to date with links to many different tire company Load / Inflation and specification information. (Let me know if you find a broken link)

Maybe but I have said it is possible to balance a cinder-block. Finished it this weekend. Will be posting on my blog shortly but here is a picture of the block and my bubble balance machine.

RayIN Good memory on my post from Nov 2011. HERE is a link

While I try and keep my seminars and posts "brand neutral" I will suggest that one thing to consider when selecting new tires is availability. You might save $100 by getting "Mud-Wumper 3's" from Billy Jo Bob's Cheap tire and bait Emporium, but go ol' Billy Jo will only provide service in a 10 mile radius of his single outlet store. Go on-line and see if the tire company you are considering has a "find-a-dealer" feature on the company web site and confirm you can get service wherever you expect to be traveling. You can get a sidewall cut in any of the 49 states and Canada but can you easily get a replacement tire without having to Fed-Ex a tire to your location ow wait a couple weeks?

I have a Class-C (2016) which has 17583 mi which replaced a similar Class-C (2008) at 42,567 mi. The 2008 had Firestone Transforce HT LT225/75R16 LR-E tires. Made the trip to Redmond OR from Ohio Plus Perry, GA and Madison, WI with no issues. The 2016 has General Grabber HTS as OE, also LT225/75R16 LR-E tires. Been to Gillett,WY, Perry and Maine coast with no issues.

Dismounting and inspecting interior and the exterior is about all the consumer can do. using X-ray or Sherography or Holographic might cost an additional $50 to $200 per tire. That's the level of inspection of the tire structure before I would stick my neck out and claim there were "no separation issues" on a set of tires with undocumented history. But that's just my opinion.😃

What Brett said

As seen above there are a number of affordable aftermarket systems. Check the warranty and I would suggest a company that focuses on RV market not eBay or Amazon where they just sell items and can't answer questions specific to RV use. I bought and use TireTraker as I like their lifetime warranty. While hight temp can be of concern the temp will rise AFTER you have started to lose air. You can lose enough air to consider the tire flat and to damage it if you drive on it in just a few minutes so just gas and rest stops are not frequent enough. IR guns only measure the surface which is many times 25 to 50F cooler than the critical structure. Do you always shoot the identical spot on each tire? if not you can't do an accurate comparison. Also do you collect all your temperatures within the first minute of stopping? More than that and the tire has started to cool down. When I was taking temperature on Andretti or Unser Indy cars my target was 1 minute max for all 4 tires with a goal of 45 seconds.

If you "shave" or "true" a tire to make it more round you might need to re-balance depending on how much rubber was removed.

Michelin and other tire companies say that no matter what a tire looks like it should be replaced at 10 years of age. Not sure if you are using X-ray or Sherography or Holographic inspections to confirm there are no internal structural issues. Re storage and use play a part in when you should replace tires. That is why some replace starting at 5 years. Others at 7 or 8 or 9. BUT I would be inclined to follow the guidelines from Michelin.

OK FYI the "BM11588" is a mold number for the curing bladder but is of no value if there were a recall on the tires. Everyone should get the DOT serial number for all their tires and have that info with the other important numbers. Glad you never had a low pressure situation but a TPMS can warn you when driving down the road BEFORE a tire comes apart because of an air leak.

When shopping for tires you can start by checking out the brand on the fronts of the Heavy Trucks. That would give you a little info on what the professional drivers use in the most important position on your RV.

I have a post on my blog that might work out for you and spreads out the pain in the wallet. Kind of "Flatten the Curve" of tire replacement expense. It involves getting two new tires each year so in 3 years you will have replaced all your tires. You keep the newest tires on the front and you get to shop aroud for the best deal on your brand of choice.

Wondering if your "dealers" are independent shops that sell tires or if any are a "company store or part of a large dealer network? Yes they can't order by DOT date but you can advise the dealer you will not accept anything older than 6 months. When does the tire warranty of the brand you are looking at start? DOT date or date sold? 5 years is when you should start to have the tired completely inspected but is not a "scrap the tires" date.

Yes I agree that it appears the tires have a belt detachment. What is the full DOT serial? What is your scale weight reading on that axle? What inflation have you been running? Do you run a TPMS? What is the low pressure warning alarm level? Still looking for the axle weight numbers that were requested previously.

I would not worry about a wood or rubber "barrier" under the tires if you are on limestone gravel.. Just be sure the gravel is never under water i.e. tires sits in or on a wet surfact for days at a time.. To decrease tendancy for developing a "Flat Spot" on the tire tread. you can either go out for a drive or at least inflate ti tire sidewall pressure.

Yes, Some assume that this type of valve is appropriate for use with TPMS but I have a picture of one of these that failed due to the weight of the external sensor (planned for a future blog post). For any motor vehicle application other than standard automotive I recommend a bolt in metal valve. Since 2002 motor vehicles with GVWR less than 10,000 # are suppose to have a Low Pressure warning system. Most of these are "Direct" systems that measure the tire pressure. The "valve" is usually part of that system so the old type of standard "Snap-In" Like TR413 as seen in THIS blog post are becoming a thing of the past. This leaves some 3/4 ton and 1 ton pickups as the main market for these "high pressure" TR600HP valves as the low cost substitute.

Ray you are correct. I even have a picture of rusted steel belt in my Advanced Tire Seminar.

Ray, Next weeks post on my blog is specifically on "Moisture" and why it is bad for today's Steel Belted Radials. Manholt, I have seen moisture damage to a tire steel belt/rubber matrix in as little as 3 months in some circumstances. May be extreme example but it can happen.

If you carry your monitor arouund to each tire you will probably always get the warning as the signal from the sensor is usually strong enough to travel a few feet. However if your monitor is up front in your large Class-A with various levels of wood and metal between the sensor and the monitor, I can't guarantee that the warning of air loss signal will always get to the monitor. Hope that is clear enough. 😁

Quick YouTube on tire valves since you didn't hear from me in Tuscon. OOPS First post had the wrong link

Great. That's what I was looking for along with the statements that as long as you meet the requirements from the license issuing state.

Yes that can work as long as you never get a drepped signal at the driver seat.

We all have a little extra time so here is a suggestion. I posted this on my Blog last week but I know that not all of you read the blog so here is the info. Testing your TPMS. I bet almost none of you have tested your TPMS. This should be done at least once a year. Some nice afternoon when you have nice weather with your traveling companion in the driver seat. AND when you have access to air of high enough pressure to top-off your tires. Go to each tire and unscrew the external sensor and have the person in the driver seat let you know that they can see and hear the warning for each tire position. you don't even have to completely remove the sensor. You might even jot down the pressure level for each tire to confirm it is where you think it should be. Just unscrew the sensor enough to hear air leaking out. As soon as the monitor in the cab sounds you can screw the sensor back in to stop the air leak. Once you know that every sensor works you then need to go around and add back in the 5 psi or so that leaked out. Doing this will also confirm you have your low pressure warning level set properly as the warning should go off as soon as you lose about 5 psi. I cover how I suggest you set your warning levels in THIS post. Some have suggested that since they get pressure and temperature numbers on the monitor that means the TPMS is forking. Well, if you think about it there must be three different circuits in the sensor. One for Pressure, one for Temperature and one to compare or even calculate a pressure loss. Just getting readings of current Pressure or Temperature does not mean the pressure loss system is working or that the low pressure warning level is where you may think it is. Also when done adding air give each connection a spritz of Wiindex or soapy water or similar to confirm no air leaks. "Hey, Lets be Careful Out There"

Has anyone seen an all state inclusive list of driver license requirements for driving or towing an RV or even just a heavy trailer or truck? I have heard that one or more states have a requirement for driving an RV with GVWR greater than 10,000 Lbs. Am wondering if that would be different or covered if we were talking about towing a trailer with some specified limit. Obviously someone driving or towing as part of their job would have some special requirements but what about the rest of us driving ot towing our personal equipment. It would be nice to have that list available to all FMCA members here on the forum. Just a suggestion.