Replacement of Tires / Batteries

[mweiner]

Recently someone advised me to change my tires every six years for safety.... tread looked OK, but, I changed them anyway....you don't want a blowout in a 10 foot tall Sprinter... 

Does anyone else follow this advice? 

Also, changed my vehicle starter battery and two house 6volts.. after the vehicle wouldn't start recently... Figured might as well so it doesn't fail on the road..   Had Centennial 224 deep cycle batteries installed....has anyone had positive experience with these?

[manholt]

MWeiner.  Welcome to the Forum!

The changing of tires is really based upon the condition of the sidewalls.  When you start seeing cracks or spider webs in your sidewalls, it's time to get new one's.   All depends on the care you give your tires....look under Tires on this forum and you will get all the information you need.

I have NAPA 6V AGM batteries (8 + 2 Engine batteries)!  Don't know anything about Centennial.

Carl

[mweiner]

Thanks. I've got a friend who has owned a Roadtrek ..and inspired us to get one..I agree with you that cracking sidewalls are a dead giveaway... but, rubber gets fatigued over time...  As for Centennial, here's what I got.. I understand that the 6 volt AGM batteries are superior.   They are located under the front hood. 

I plan on getting solar panels installed on the roof, two 160 watt units integrated into the charging system.  I have a great installer for this, but, realize that it's still roof penetrations...

https://battsys.com/centennial-battery-cb6-224-6-volt-224-amp-hour-sealed-lead-acid-agm-battery

[wildebill308]

23 minutes ago, MWeiner said:

Recently someone advised me to change my tires every six years for safety.... tread looked OK, but, I changed them anyway....you don't want a blowout in a 10 foot tall Sprinter... 

Does anyone else follow this advice? 

Also, changed my vehicle starter battery and two house 6volts.. after the vehicle wouldn't start recently... Figured might as well so it doesn't fail on the road..   Had Centennial 224 deep cycle batteries installed....has anyone had positive experience with these?

Welcome to the forum. Yes 6-7 years is the accepted time frame to change out tires. Look on the sidewall there is 4 digit code telling what week and year they were made. Most will never wear out a set of tires they age out first. I would look at the date codes on the new tires, I wouldn't accept anything over 6 months old.

Bill 

[mweiner]

Manholt- 6 AGM batteries + 2 engine batteries?   What size is your rig? 

I've got a 23 foot 2012 RS Adventurous..on the 2011 Mercedes Benz Sprinter 3500. 

[mweiner]

Sorry Carl, just noticed your name on the bottom of your last post...

Bill, thank you....I'm taking a cross country trip in September...some 7,000 plus miles..I didn't want to take the risk with tires 6 years old.. they dated back to April 2011.... Just me being cautious.

We just purchased this 2012 RS Adventurous from a local dealership.. original owners traded in for a Winnebago Navion..  With only 26,000 miles on the 2012 RS Adventurous, we felt like we got a fantastic deal.... sidestepping the depreciation on a brand new model.   We saved $70,000 over the price of a new vehicle. 

[wildebill308]

9 minutes ago, MWeiner said:

Just me being cautious.

That is never a bad thing.

Bill

[mweiner]

Yes,  even though I have AAA Premiere RV ... I'd rather not call unless it's an emergency.   I've taken that strategy with my cars and now might as well with the small RV... Bill, what size rig do you have?

[mweiner]

Here's a couple of  pictures of my rig...  Was in really nice condition when we looked at it.... Some people thought it was new... It has some imperfections, but, it drives like a brand new vehicle.

[desertdeals69]

10 hours ago, MWeiner said:

Recently someone advised me to change my tires every six years for safety.... tread looked OK, but, I changed them anyway....you don't want a blowout in a 10 foot tall Sprinter... 

Does anyone else follow this advice? 

Also, changed my vehicle starter battery and two house 6volts.. after the vehicle wouldn't start recently... Figured might as well so it doesn't fail on the road..   Had Centennial 224 deep cycle batteries installed....has anyone had positive experience with these?

Quote

we sell Centennial batteries at our shop.  In May I installed 6 Centennial 6 volt AGM, they are working good  I am in Mi until we go to Indy next week for the FMCA convention.  I installed 800 watts of solar panels with a MPPT charge controller, works great.

 

[wildebill308]

15 hours ago, MWeiner said:

Yes,  even though I have AAA Premiere RV ... I'd rather not call unless it's an emergency.   I've taken that strategy with my cars and now might as well with the small RV... Bill, what size rig do you have?

Nice coach. 

Apparently they have tweaked the forum again. It should be in my signature 38N Bounder. 

It is handy to add your coach and other info to your signature. If that feature is working all the time.

Bill

[manholt]

MWeiner.

LOL.  That's 8 house batteries and 2 engine batteries.  My coach is all electric.  2 Magnum,  2,800W PSW Inverters!

You have a good looking coach!  Times I wish I was a foot shorter, but at 6 foot 8 inches tall, I just don't fit in yours!

[rsbilledwards]

Carl, From what I see you barely fit in yours.  B

[mweiner]

Thanks Bill, we're the 2nd owners, picked this up from a dealership who took this coach in as a trade from a couple who wanted to "upgrade" their size unit to a Winnebago Navion.   I looked, test drove and considered a brand new Navion, BUT, the difference in price $79,000 for the Roadtrek and $119,000 for a brand new Navion made it seem like the Roadtrek was a better value.  The Roadtrek only had 26,000 miles and the Navion comes to our location with 2,000 to 2,200 miles ..SO, for the difference of 24,000 miles and the slight wear on the coach... The price was VERY significant.   The people who owned this before us must have plugged in a lot because there was LESS than 10 hours on the generator.   They lived here in Southern California and took the vehicle mainly to tour local wineries and other short hops.  They actually purchased it new in late 2011....so, they used it for about 5 1/2 years.  I knew by the date code on the tires that were just 6 years old... original to the vehicle.. and so were the batteries. I guess this is pretty standard in the RV industry, they get a vehicle from the previous year and it takes about 9 months to a year to do the conversion....  My wife and I even went down to the local Roadtrek dealership and looked at the 2017 Roadtrek models.. just to see what changes they made...it was a 2016 Mercedes Benz Sprinter with the 2017 conversion.... And 2,000 miles on the clock.. a few different features some I liked and some I didn't. However, the price difference was shocking.   AND, the depreciation in the first three to four years is really steep...  I know that the price and value of this will continue to go down, but, more slowly on a used model especially after five years..  

I kinda figured that if we kept it for five years and sold it, the difference between what we paid and the money we got back would be the equivalent of what it would have cost to rent one of these.... And ,  these Roadtrek units are really hard to find as rentals.... I looked....and what I discovered was they are insanely expensive to rent...SO, I decided just to buy one ...We have a small teardrop trailer and enjoy going out camping...the Roadtrek just makes camping more comfortable.... roughing it smoothly.  

Now that we're in our 60s, we figured that if we ever wanted to do this, it was "now or never".....you can't buy back years!   Might as well do this now while we still have the energy to do it. 

Yeah, size of rigs.... I'm envious of your 38 feet .. but, I wanted a little more mobility and a road vehicle we could travel in ... Our rig is averaging 18 to 19 MPG.. which is pretty standard for the size... 

Is your Bounder gas or Diesel?   I talked with many people and went back and forth on this... finally decided to go with Diesel.... better performance and fuel efficiency..hope that all works out. 

---Mark

 

 

[wildebill308]

My coach is diesel. I call it the "mobile condo" I park the condo and go exploring in my toad. Icould be envious of your milage. Mine is just like yours with out the "1" in front of the numbers but the toad gets 30 mpg.

Bill

[wildebill308]

Well just logged in with Edge and can see my signature. Must be a problem with compatibility with Chrome.

Mark, you can add your coach and other info to your signature. It helps when asking questions to get better answers.

Bill

[mweiner]

Bill, I'm going to get on my computer and try and add some of the stuff to my profile... will probably be easier than from my tablet which is what I'm using right now to respond to your last post.... tablets are great, portable devices, but, for heavier lifting, the computer always does it better.   I have Edge on my Windows 10 machine. I'll try that.

SO, your Bounder is a Diesel... good job..!  What year is your rig?

 Have you had good service from it and has the cost to maintain it been any higher or lower than what you would have expected with gasoline engines?  This is my first DIESEL...so far, I really like it. It's a 3 litre V6 turbo diesel engine and it seems powerful enough to go up hills even easier than my cars.  It's doesn't have a huge amount of horsepower, but, it has a lot of torque... something I have come to appreciate. 

Hmm, "mobile condo" ....I've been telling people that this new unit is my mobile "time share"....they laugh...it's all about how you use it..   

I used to tow and still have a teardrop trailer...I'm trying to sell it.... only 3 1/2 years old... really nice...I'm not real big on towing.. which is WHY we have the small RV now.   It is small enough to take anywhere, like a big SUV... that's why I like it. 

There's an advantage to having the trailer....home base and the mobility of the car, but, towing is a pain..  WOW... 8 to 9 MPG..  good thing you have the 30 MPG toad.

With that kind of fuel economy...how many miles do you actually put on your coach each year?

The last car I had that got the kind of mileage you're talking about was my 1957 Chevy Bel Air.... when I was in high school!  

You must have one of those huge Cummins Diesel engines, like a 6.9?   I'll bet you don't need DEF... ? 

What  vehicle are you towing?   My two other current vehicles cannot be towed with unless I were to put them on a dolly and I see no point in doing this.   Might as well just drive the RS Adventurous anywhere I need to go... sometimes it's a little hard to park, takes two spaces.. or I just park in the hinterlands..   The 38 footer... that's a different story.

---Mark

 

 

 

 

 

[wildebill308]

I have the not so huge 2003 5.9 Cummins, pre exhaust filters and def. Last year I did pretty good on mileage at just over 9 but this year all my trips have been West and had to fight the winds of west Texas, New Mexico and AZ. Right now I am at just over 7. Last year I put  12,235 on the couch. My toad is a 2014 CR-V. On the same trip I put more miles on the toad. 

Your coach is small enough to get in most areas. Well lets just say go try it, you can start towing something latter.

To stay on subject what tires did you buy and did you use one of the FMCA programs. I don't want to get put in time out for straying off subject.

Bill

 

[mweiner]

Bill, 

No, I didn't use the FMCA for any advice on the tires or batteries.. I purchased Michelin Defenders, had the Continental tires originally. I put on the recommended size for the vehicle, they ride very smoothly. Also put on a tire pressure monitoring system since there's dual wheels on the rear with valve extensions. 

Batteries were six years old.. had one occasion where I couldn't start, got it jumped and drove straight to Mercedes Benz for a complete replacement of all three batteries, might as well start with new tires and batteries at the same time.  Other things I've done to make it more user friendly was changed out the radio/navigation/cameras fore and aft.   Installed satellite radio and plan to install rear proximity sensors and solar panels. 

I just recently joined the FMCA the beginning of July. 

We'll see about towing.. probably won't happen.. although the vehicle is rated for 5,000 pounds.. one website says 7,000 pounds?? In any event, I'm not likely to do that, doesn't matter. 

When we purchased the vehicle, it had four bucket seats. The people who owned it had fortuitously purchased the optional armororie cabinets for the coach that can be installed directly behind the driver and passenger seats. Since there's only two of us, we decided not to put the seats back in and use the cabinets for extra storage and organization.  Works very well.

The Mercedes Benz Diesel is extremely quiet..I remember Diesel engines from the 70s.. sounded very loud and annoying. Is your Cummins 5.9 pretty quiet?   

Allison transmission?  How many speeds? The Mercedes Benz has a five speed heavy duty automatic and can be shifted up or down on demand. 

The folks who sold me the tires said that I'll be lucky to use up the tread before 5 years..  

So, 12,000 miles per year is pretty normal for you?  That's a lot of short or long haul trips?

Since we took delivery on May 3rd, we now have about 1,500 miles on the coach.. this fall we're taking it on a cross country trek across the USA, some 7,000 miles... 

Any little hickups are better before we leave Southern California....

---Mark

 

 

[wildebill308]

4 hours ago, MWeiner said:

The Mercedes Benz Diesel is extremely quiet..I remember Diesel engines from the 70s.. sounded very loud and annoying. Is your Cummins 5.9 pretty quiet?   

I have to watch the tack as it is 38' behind me.

4 hours ago, MWeiner said:

Allison transmission?  How many speeds? The Mercedes Benz has a five speed heavy duty automatic and can be shifted up or down on demand. 

6 speed Allison and it can be manually shifted and has a econ mode.

 

4 hours ago, MWeiner said:

The folks who sold me the tires said that I'll be lucky to use up the tread before 5 years..  

Look on the main website for the tire program. You can buy tires for your other cars through the program two. I bought 4 Michelin Defenders for my CR-V last fall. I am hoping Continental will start offering tires for other than big truck's. 

 

4 hours ago, MWeiner said:

So, 12,000 miles per year is pretty normal for you?  That's a lot of short or long haul trips?

We take both The longest last year was around 90 days the shortest 4days.

I think a good battery program would be a good project for FMCA to get for the membership.

Bill

[manholt]

X2

Bill.  Maybe a PM?  Sort of drifting of subject.