tireman9

Does anyone have experience needing RA with a Class-C? Since I am not much smaller than a large Dually pick-up I would think I should be towed if the repair on the road was not possible. As my chassis is a Chevy 4500 all the running gear should be serviceable at any GM dealership. I am pretty mechanically inclined but don't travel with my big main tool-chest so I may need a mechanic at some point in the future.

Actual "Defects" i.e. manufacturing mistakes usually occur relatively early in life. One recall I initiated was based on multiple tires failing in the first hundred miles as I recall (in 2000). Any chance you have pictures of the failed tire? Info for all . It is sometimes possible to provide a possible reason for failure if we can get 3 - 5 pictures of the failure. Close enough to capture no more than 1/2 the tire. Good lighting i.e full Sunlight. Some times we can rule some causes out and sometimes we can get down to a couple of possibles. You can post a general picture but you can always email me the high quqlity pictures so I can zoom in. Not running a TPMS doesn't help but you know that now. Did you check air pressure the morning of the failure? If so how many miles did you travel after the inflation check? There is a distinct possibility that whenever you checked the pressure a leak was started and being an inner dual there was almost no chance of you noticing the loss with the outer tire supporting the load. Can you identify how much air in in the dual in the right shot? The left shot of the same tire in the picture below? This is a slide from my FMCA tire seminar.

First off I would not be concerned about a 20 psi (or 20%) increase in your 22.5 tires. Bet they are LR-G or LR-H 2nd yes air from a compressor can introduce some moisture that you will not get from the gas out of a cylinder. It isn't the N2 that is dry as all gas purchased from a "Air Supply" or welding shop in cylinders are going to be almost 0% moisture. While I haven't seen and test data, the N2 from local Nitrogen generators may have some low %moisture as they probably use better dryers than found at most tire shops. 3rd If you are running new tires they will run a bit hotter than older worn tires. The 2% pressure for each 10F is close enough. Details and math can be seen HERE You can always make and use your own "dryer" as seen HERE and if you support your tire with a jack you could let 50% out and re-inflate when you are in a dry weather day and dry location. Just be sure your dryer is rated for the pressure you will be using. Be sure you have access to a good supply of high pressure air before you bleed off any air. A quick check to see if this is even worth the effort would be to bleed off 5 psi and see if water drops or "fog" comes out of the tires. If not you don't have a lot of moisture in the tire to start with.

I'm not sure that something like Tyeron or Rettroband would have a negative impact on the ability of a tire to be repaired. It is this ability that is the driver behind the prohibition of the use of "Stuff" inside a tire. The bands would only come in contact with the tire if there had been a loss of air, probably due to a cut or un-repaired puncture.

Another item on matching Duals. The pair should always be same size, Load Range, Brand and design. Minimum Dual spacing is published in the tire company data sheets to help you compare. You can read-up on Duals and their special needs on my RV Tire blog

Some tire companies "start the warranty clock" on the date the tires are made, others on the date the ties are mounted. Some when the RV is first sold. My Class-C RV has a 2015 Chevy chassis but the RV is classified as a 2016. I did receive a "Delayed Warranty" document that started the GM Warranty in 2016 when I made the purchse.

I would stick with what is printed in the tire company literature for an approved rim for that companies tires.rather than a phone call.

Sorry but the tire changes shape when loaded and the air pressure basically doesn't change, while measurable with sufficiently sensitive gauges (laboratory 0.01 psi reading) I would not consider anything less than a 1 psi change meaningful even if you could measure it.

Basically you will find that for identical size, Load range and wheel rim width all brande are identical except for maybe a handful of Michelin tires being different by about 5 psi. This resulted from a tire that was already in production in Europe (designed completely Metric) then later made available in the US. The Metric to SI units conversion needed rounding which resulted is some tires being different a few psi I have a list of links to tire Load & Inflation tables on my blog that I try and keep up to date.

As I understand how Centermatic system works you must be at some speed (more than 10 to 20 mph ?) for the rings to come into balance.

With a weight 13,820# I suggest you assume a 47/53% load split as a perfect 50/50 is very unlikely So 53% gives 7,325# which gives 115 psi according to the tables. ( You always go up in inflation) I also suggest a +10% on inflation but not exceed tire sidewall number so that means 120 psi cold. You will not find a "4 corner" scale except at FMCA Int'l conventions and some other large RV events. You can also contact RVSEF to check their schedule. You can also check with local sand & gravel companies, Concrete companies and some building supply companies. Here is the work sheet you will need to calculate your own 4 corner weights

Need to jump in here. Starting in 1972 I worked on a number of different "Advance Tire" projects Some were looking at an "aftermarket" device that could be placed inside a tire to offer some "Run-Flat" capability. Foam Aluminum and foam Urithane were used. These worked but were too heavy and expensive for general use by the trucking industry and they were not willing to pay the penalty of the original cost and the loss of load capacity for the truck. Visually they would resemble the Rettroband. Here is a picture of a similar device. Having watched the Rettroband video it appears they have a unique method of "attaching" the ring which was one of the areas we did not finalize. I was also the project leader on the original "Run-flat" tires applied to the people mover train at the then-new DFW airport. This approach involved filling the air chamber with a rubber foam material (not urethane but flexible rubber) I believe that this is the approach used on some military vehicles today. This is not some secret "magic" stuff that is being kept from public use by the military as some have suggested and it is not some "Area 51" SiFi material. Just rubber with a blowing agent. If you were willing to spend maybe $500 - $1,000 a tire, limit speed to an average speed of 25 - 30 mph and do a complete redesign of your front suspension to handle the 150 to 200-pound increase in tire assy weight, I believe you can have this on your vehicle. Oh, you also would need to be willing to scrap the wheels when your tire wears out and you can not dismount a foam-filled tire. Other "run-flat" military systems use a flat base multi-piece wheel with an internal ring along the lines seen here. Note how the flat base multipiece wheels are assembled. Other approaches involved going from 22.5 wheels to 26.5 diameter wheel while retaining the same OD, width and load capacity as the original 11-22.5. We even had about 600 special wheels manufactured and we applied these wheels and tires to hundreds of HD trucks. I posted info on my tire blog about these tires. The problem with these tires is they needed new wheels. While these tires provided significant improvements in vehicle control with a sudden loss of air on the front. the trucking industry did not feel the improved safety outweighed the increased cost of new wheels. The Tyron system does not appear to offer any support of the tire tread or feature to limit the "drop" which IMO is an important feature of limiting the degradation or loss of vehicle control due to "blowout" but is intended as I understand it to prevent the flat tire from being dislodged from the wheel. Regarding the questions of lost air volume. No observable change in vehicle ride was noted with the change from 22.5 to 26.5 wheel diameter due to the lower air volume. If you are wondering about the effect of load on air volume you can do a simple test yourself. Inflate a large tire to a specific level and with the tire off the ground with floor jacks record the inflation with your TPMS. Then lower the floor jack and record the inflation when loaded. You can then post the results of your test on this thread for us all to see,

Probably the extra cost which is how the RV industry works IMO.

Based on the work I did on placing devices inside tires I am not aware of any problems as long as the normal operation deflection does not result in the interior of the tire contacting the device. While I do not have the data it appears that the clearance is in the- 3" range. Normal tire deflection when a tire is properly inflated for the load is in the 1" - 2" range. I did watch a video on a tire being mounted and while there are some steps that need to be followed I don't see why damage would occur if the instructions were followed.

I don't see where the actual fully loaded "4 corner" weight. Some input from a Michelin contact I have is suggesting the possibility if incorrect inflation for the actual load. Could you post your 4 corner weights and your cold inflation numbers.

I am running a direct comparison of two different TPM systems (Tire Traker & TST) Early results have been posted on my blog. I am not aware of any other direct real-life comparison. (If anyone knows of such I would appreciate hearing about it. I also, in my working life as a tire engineer, started working with TPMS in 2002 In general, it appears that most systems being offered today (in FMCA magazine and at FMCA Conventions) are similar in design and function. I might suggest that you consider the warranty and the information provided on the company website and if they have a phone number.

I purchased Tire Tracker for my first RV back in 2009. I like the long battery life (days) of the monitor, user-replaceable batteries and the Lifetime Warranty of their current system. Also the ease of programming and the "early Warning" pressure levels. Lower cost is nice too.

Having a US Patent on directional tread design, in my professional opinion if it was "directional;" it would certainly "look" directional. Another item is that at 22,000 miles if there was some directionality to the pattern initially it appears to have been worn off. I also note that Michelin does not list Directional design as either a feature or benefit so very unlikely.

I saw the Rettroband at Minot. Not the same as Tyron. Tyron "fills" the well of the wheel to try and prevent the tire from coming off the wheel. Appears to be smaller in OD than the wheel. Rettroband is larger OD than the wheel and decreases the amount the tire "drops" and appears to allow better control after the tire loses air. Back in the '70's I worked a bit on something like Rettro in concept but slightly different design and mounting. I have not personally tested the Tyron or Rettroband so above is based on observations only.

The driver front has one side of the tire toward the center line of the RV and the other side of the tire is facing the road. If you change the direction of rotation of that tire by dismounting the tire from the wheel then re=mounting it on the wheel that will change the direction of rotation as Brett mentioned.

If uniform 360° around I would say not a belt separation but the tire design is sensitive to alignment. I am checking with a contact at Michelin. RE rotation. After alignment is checked and adjusted you could swap by changing tire inside to outside assuming the wear is only on one side to the one tire. Sorry for slow reply was in NY Letchworth St Pk last week not poor cell reception No reception, no bars on two different phones.

In general tire companies do not want any "stuff" on the inside of tires as some "Balance Beads, sand or powder" as some call it, may abrade the interior. It is also important that you change the tire valve as the material placed in the tire can clog the valve core or even disable a TPM sensor. The "bean bags" break-up and the lose "beans" spread out inside the tire. I expanded my post about "stuff" on the inside of tires as some materials are in liquid form and that would be sealants and possibly even some balance "stuff". These materials can coat the interior of a tire and make applying a tire patch (nail hole repair) difficult or impossible to reliably stick to the tire so if you put some materials on the inside of a tire and later on pick up a nail and need a patch you may be disappointed to be told the tire store is not willing to attempt a tire repair.

Before you use anything on the inside of your tires, be sure you confirm that it doesn't void your warranty. Sealants can make a tire un-repairable as the sealant material can prevent proper adhesion of the patch to the inside of the tire.

Sounds good to me.

One thing we need to know is the actual load on your tires. Load capacity is IMO more important than just tire age. Before you decide what tires to buy you need to load the RV to the heaviest you ever expect to be (Fuel, water, food clothes tools books i.e. everything. Then get "4 corner" weights. HERE is a worksheet that can help you with the math. After you learn the weight on the heavy end of each axle feel free to contact me directly or post the numbers here. We can then work through the options. You might also check out my RV Tire Safety blog for general info on the "care and feeding" of your tires.