richard5933

It was 34? Above zero? You mean spring has sprung in your area already?

That's specifically what I was looking for. Good to know and thanks for finding that nugget of data. I did look online but didn't see anything for sale at the time.

Not soon enough indeed. This is colder than we've had in many years, and up till this week the winter has actually been pretty mild. I went out to NAPA today for some fresh test strips just to confirm that the antifreeze was at the right ratio to protect the bus. Strips show somewhere between -34 and -60, so I'm guessing I'm good for now. Time for an adult beverage while we wait for the worst to be over.

Overnight temps of -24 predicted for Tuesday & Wednesday nights. When does spring start??

Our Subaru dealer sends out a similar message all the time. "We need good used cars - come in and see what we'll offer for yours" or some variant of that message. It was explained to me that car dealers make more money on used cars, especially if they can buy low and sell high. Interesting that they want your 2018 model - you'll take the hit on value since it's not new anymore and yet they'll be able to sell a nearly new coach for top dollar. Just my 2 cents worth.

If you're going to maintain your home in New Mexico then wouldn't that be your domicile? Seems like the easiest to do. I just read a survey of the cost to retire in various states, and New Mexico came in just a bit above the national average statewide. I've lived in a number of states, and it seems that you end up paying in one way or another. Some states have no income tax, but they have higher fees for things like vehicle registration to make up for it. States like Wisconsin have an income tax, but there is no personal property tax for individuals so my coach only has a $118 registration fee with no annual tax. It's hard for any of us to recommend on state over another without knowing all the details of your particular situation, especially how your income and taxes are set up. My hunch is that New Mexico isn't the only state that will see an increase in some taxes in the coming years. Wisconsin saw lots of tax reduction in recent years, but it looks like the bill is coming due for things like roads and schools and taxes will likely head up again. Probably the same in lots of places that were trimming budgets recently. It's all in the math, and eventually things have to be paid for.

Are you in a cold climate? Since you say it's worse in the morning I'm wondering if you have frost building up in the vent cap overnight.

That may be the case in some jurisdictions but not everywhere and not for all 240v outlets. I think it's important to avoid blanket statements like "still legal" when talking about things like this, especially since the rules vary so much from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Also because there is such a wide variety of ways to wire the many different types of 240v outlets. This all gets confusing quickly. It used to be common for 240v appliances like stoves and dryers to be connected with 3-prong outlets. These had two hot leads and a neutral. The metal casing of the appliance was grounded through the neutral. The neutral was needed to get 120v to run things like the clock on the range, etc. There are also straight 240v outlets with two hot leads and a ground. Then there are the 4-prong 240v outlets like are currently the NEC code for installation for dryers and stoves. And then there's the 50-amp RV outlet. Still going to stick by my earlier bottom line statement - never assume anything. Test the outlet before connecting anything to it so that the wiring inside can be confirmed. Even true when an "electrician" installs a new RV outlet for someone - have a knowledgeable and competent person verify that the outlet was installed correctly before plugging in the shore power cord. Too many stories online about these things being installed wrong and blowing all the circuits in someone' new rig.

Since my spare is so difficult to get to, I took the air pressure thing one step further. I ordered an additional TMPS sending unit from TireMinder and installed it on the spare. Now I can check the spare along with all the other tires. Our wheels are torqued to about 500 ft-lbs. No way I'm going to even get those to budge without pneumatic tools. It's cute that they issued tire changing tools with the bus from the factory, but I can't imagine them ever being all that useful. It came with a lug wrench, bottle jack, and run-up ramp.

Good suggestion. It would be better than the piece of flimsy rope I have on there now. I think the weight of the thing is only half the problem - the other half is that the spare is a 315 tire like all my others, but the compartment is sized for a 12R22.5 and doesn't have much room to spare. Once I get the proper tires on things should be at least a tad easier. To the original topic... If the OP is thinking about getting a wheel to mount the spare on, it doesn't need to be anything special. The dealer would of course be one option but will probably be top dollar. Any good tire dealer should be able to get an inexpensive plain steel rim with the proper size and specs to accommodate the tire.

I agree with you for a tire of this size. Makes no sense to carry an unmounted tire, and a mounted tire would probably be easier to attach to a vertical rack in this situation. However, there are some driving larger coaches & bus conversions that do carry unmounted spares. Usually it's because they don't have room to load a mounted spare, and sometimes it's because a mounted spare is much heavier and more difficult to get into the storage space. My mounted spare is almost 200 pounds and it's all I can do to get it in/out of its storage area behind the front bumper. The way it was explained to me is that it will be relatively easy to find a remote tire service shop anywhere even remotely near a highway. They'll be able to mount the tire in the field easily. What they won't be able to do as easily is bring a replacement tire, especially for a less common size tire. Even with a mounted spare, I'm going to be calling for assistance. No way I'll have the physical ability to safely change a tire on our rig - don't think I could even get the lug nuts loosened. My assumption is manufactures figure that since nearly no one is changing their own tires nowadays, it made no sense to take up space with a spare that could be used to provide more bells and whistles. After all, bells and whistles probably sell lots more rigs than things like spare tires.

One thing I've learned working on wiring in our house and helping a few friends around the area work on their electrical problems -- one never knows exactly what's behind the outlet cover plate until it's tested. Assumptions can't be made based on how old a building is or where it's located, although I'm always more cautious in farm buildings, workshops, and garage Mahals. Our local codes have required a neutral wire to be used in 240v outlets for quite some time, but they can still be found with just two hots and a ground in newer construction. Unfortunately many electricians are not following code, and there are far too many homeowners doing wiring themselves that don't even know there is a code to follow. I've uncovered some pretty scary things done by my friends and/or the previous owner of their buildings. We've had electricians here to give quotes on new work, and some made it clear that they were not planning to get a permit or have their work inspected. It was also clear that they were not planning to follow code so that they could lower the cost. They did not get the job. Sad (and scary) that there are still electricians willing to work in this way. Bottom line - never assume anything about wiring and always test before working or connecting to an unknown outlet.

Something like this might be an answer: http://www.roadmasterinc.com/products/spare_tire/index.html Allows you to carry a mounted spare and still have use of the hitch for other things (like towing). Also carries the spare higher and closer to the vehicle where it is less likely to get hit or cause problem when turning up a steep driveway. A simple metal rim wouldn't be that expensive, so if you went with a rack like this you could get that spare mounted.

There's the rub...no way to get under our coach without a pit or a way to lift the thing up. Only about 7" of clearance on a good day. Since my tires are 7-years old, I'm not sure there's a good reason for me not to just get the correct size tires and be done with this for another few years. I might try this if it was something I could do myself, but to pay a shop to do it is silly. Cost will probably pay for at least a tire or two.

That's what I thought, but apparently it's not that simple in practice. We have a Vickers systems, and according to the manual to do it properly the power steering system must be set to drop pressure with 3/8" clearance still showing between the steering knuckle and the stop screw. Adjusting the stop screw is the easy part - getting the pressure cut off point set properly is apparently more difficult in these things. I thought it was an easy adjustment, but when I chatted with other bus owners they tried to dissuade me from trying this unless there were no other options. Since the steering works perfectly and I have the option of just installing the proper tires, I'm going to go that route.

Thanks for the feedback and comments Roger. I've sent a PM with more specifics, but in general I did look into the adjustment to the front wheel turning limits. What I found was that it is possible, but due to the nature of the power steering system and the importance of getting these settings correct, I've decided that's not the best solution. Better is to get the proper tires on the bus. If the adjustment is made incorrectly, it is possible to blow the power steering system at full turns.

Best chicken fried steak I ever had was in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the stockyards 30 years ago. Wish I could get that up here.

True - all the tires listed in the operator's manual were bias ply tires, and the 12.0x22.5 tires ours came with was just one of the many sizes available. I've tried for months to find specs on the actual physical size of a 12.0x22.5 tire, but so far have struck out. The only hard piece of data I've been able to find is that the GM buses were all designed for tires which spun at 495 revolutions per mile. My assumption is that the overall diameter is similar to a 12R22.5 since the RPM for most are pretty close to the 495 number (ranging from 487-490 for the most part.) The car I learned to drive in, a 1974 Grand Safari wagon had first-generation Firestone 500 steel belted radials. Great tires till one exploded on an elevated section of Rt 22 heading into NYC from NJ. Thankfully, radials have gotten better since then.

Speedometer problems I can relate to. But we're already having that problem, far more than from a 5 rev/mi difference. Since we have a manual 4-speed transmission, my concern is more low-end performance.

I think I'm set that the proper size 12r22.5 is the way to go. There are a few options in this size, including the Firestone and the BF Goodrich. Also a Toyo in the running. Related question... Original spec for the coach was tires that spin at 495 revs per mile. Our current tires are running at 490. Many of the tires under consideration run at 487 revs. Am I correct that I will never be able to tell the difference between 495 and 487?

Many of these tires are rated to 75 mph. Not that I'm going to drive our coach at 75 on purpose, but I do like to have tires that have a bit of extra capacity so that I'm not running at the upper rated speed. I believe that the XRV is rated to 75.

Interesting read. Thanks.

The ST230 looks to be the BFGoodrich version of the FS561. Did you ever run 315s on your coach? One of my questions in switching from 315s to 12R22.5 tires is about handling & braking. The 12R tires have a narrower tread, which will of course mean less rubber on the road. I can see a potential for the handling & braking to suffer a bit. Of course, running too wide a tire can also affect things negatively, so I really have no idea what will happen since there's also a chance things could be the same or even slightly better. If it weren't for the cost, I'd be more willing to just take a chance and have the new tires installed so I could test them for a while. However, at about $3000 for a full set, this is not something I want to have to do again for a few years.

We're currently riding on L rated tires. We inflated according to the manufacturer's chart to 90psi, and the ride is actually quite nice. Better than on our previous coach which had H rated 11R22.5 tires. Those had to run at higher pressure (110psi) to carry the load. What I learned is that rating alone (H vs L) isn't what determines ride quality. Of course, I'm sure it's different with every tire and every brand, which is why it is great to find someone with the same setup to give a first-hand review.

We don't have a bogey or tag axle - just the steer and a single drive axle. The 315s we currently run and the Firestone FS561 would provide the same ride height. So, keeping the 315s on the rear wouldn't really provide any benefit to us. Both the 315 and the FS561 have a 19.8" loaded radius (hub center-to-road) measurement. Downside to mixing the 12r22.5 in the front and 315s in the rear would be that we'd have two different size tires (width, not diameter) on the coach. We could get by still with just spare, but only for short distances if we had to use the spare on the other axle. The only downside to the 12R22.5 is that they are H rated and not L rated. Really doesn't matter though, since even the H rating provides far more weight capacity than we'll ever carry on the coach. There was never a need to put the L rated tires on there. All that said, what you suggested might be a budget-friendly way to do the change. Put the new tires on the front this spring, and leave the 315s on the rear for another 6 months or so and then replace those later on.