I had planned to leave Aguanga, CA on Tuesday, February 17, for a two- or three-week trip to Yuma and Tucson. However, when I checked the tire pressure, I discovered that the rear inner tire on the passenger side had no pressure. After filling the tire and stopping the compressor to check the pressure again, a lot of air was coming out of the valve. Then, when I moved the valve stem, it broke off. (I admit, I broke it off, even though something was wrong with it anyway.)
I have Coach-Net "Premier" roadside assistance, but this doesn't include tire repairs or tire replacements; it only includes changing the defective tire against my (old but never used) spare tire.
The question is, is it worth to have the tire changed, or can I drive with the defective inner tire about 15 miles to Temecula and have the tire at a tire shop repaired (or replaced if necessary)? Which of the big tire shop chains is recommendable? What about Costco's tire service; do they service RV's? What about Walmart? I've had great experiences with Walmart for my car tires for more than 20 years.
Thanks! Klaus
Klaus, I would replace that inner passenger tire with the spare before you go anywhere. If Coachnet will do the change for free do it. If Coachnet will charge you something I would still get it changed before you drive it. That inner passenger tire is the one closest to the tail pipe and heats up usually the most. That one failed on our 98~MB in Baja, we got off the highway in a safe place and waited for service about three hours.. The second the tire blew we heard it and stopped as fast as we could before the tire shredded and would have destroyed our wheel well. Also I do not think that Costco will install tires on RVs.
Karen~Liam
98 ~ MB
NinA
If you drive any distance (more than 50-100 feet) with a low dual, the other dual is overloaded and must be replaced. You won't see it, but there will be internal damage where belts will have fractured.
#1, you will most assuredly blow the remaining good tire on that end by driving on it overloaded if you try to drive 15 miles.
#2, you MUST replace both tires on that dual axle end if you have more than a relatively low mileage on the "good" tire. Overall diameters of tires on a dual end must be extremely close or you overload the newer tire because it will carry significantly more load.
Get both tires on that axle end replaced unless these are fairly new tires.
Thanks for your replies!
All 6 tires are 5 1/2 years old and have 25,000 miles on them. I guess I have to spill out some money and replace all tires, right?
I bought the Toyos for $140 each. I suppose there's no chance of finding acceptable 225/75R16 tires for anywhere close to that price now. Are there any tires under $200 that can be recommended?
The current tires are Toyo Open Country H/T II tires. They replaced Michelin tires that had not many miles on them but were about 7 years old. I liked the Toyos from the first mile much better than the Michelins; they had a very good straight line tracking.
My past experience on buying dual wheel rvs i had to replace tires...8 yrs old but only 10k miles, 2nd one 7yrs 11k miles. Both did not have brass valve stem extenders...so owners did not check air pressure often....the weight of these rigs can stress out and crumble sidewalls from inside when under inflated...add in the exhaust heat on one of the tires ...add age...recipe for a blow out.
Replace tires at 4 yrs to 5 max....keep brass valve extenders on them and keep aired up to specs for weight of class c.
I sell my old tires to folks...one construction guy was excited to get a set with no nails...said mine were safe compared to his which had no less than 5 nail hole plugs in each. The second guy needed a set that would hold air on a very old rig he was remodeling....got 250 for each set. I travel alone and want to be as safe as possible. I will have a set of TPMS on my next LD.
Good luck and safe travels..
Thanks, Franram.
Interesting idea to sell the old tires. Here's what I will do: I have the defective tire replaced with my spare tire, paid for by Coach-Net. Since the spare tire has no valve extender, I will make sure that it has 75 PSI. Then I will check out what tires to buy to replace all 6 tires.
My idea is to keep the rear driver side inside tire as the spare tire when I get the new tires. That tire had the least sun exposure and is hopefully good enough as spare tire. Does that make sense?
Usually I would leave the old tires at the tire shop. However, I could also sell or give away 4 of these tires. They all have - after 25,000 miles - very good threads and absolutely no cracks. I had them covered whenever I had the vehicle in storage over the winter (about 7 months). I would have to put them into the Lazy Daze if I wanted to give them away or sell them. If I do that, I have to be pretty sure to get rid of them.
How do I find someone in my area who is interested in such tires? I do not want to spend too much energy on this.
Thank you. Klaus
Our First blowout ever was in Baja about 150 miles south of San Felipe on our trip back . We had our Tires checked in Reno on our way to Baja, they were at that time about 3-4 years old with about 25K on them. Our spare was 5-7 years old with no miles on it. The guy at the Les Schwab shop had been to Baja and knew the roads and said he thought they were appropriate for the trip. I have a air-pump and check the tire pressure cold each day before we go. I check my tires often before We go. That day we traveled about 200 miles before the blowout and it was about 75 degrees temperature. The tire shop from San Felipe who drove the 150 miles to change our tires did not have the right size tire so we put the spare on the passenger inside and left the outside passenger tire where it was. Our 98~MB only drove about a couple thousand feet from the blowout point to where made the change off the road in a safe place. There are basically No sides or shoulders on most roads in Baja. Our blowout occurred on a newer bridge on rt 5 which is a newer road so there was a spot to get over about 6 ft. After I evaluated the situation we drove to a safe place further up the road at the end of the bridge. We drove to San Felipe that afternoon. We could not find any tire that would fit or we would want in that part of Baja so we decided to drive to the US the next day to change out at least all of the rear tires. That next day on our way to the shop about 250 miles drive the spare Failed near Salton sea. I was able to contact a truck wrecker with a correct tire and they came out and changed the tire on the spot off the road. The next day we got to Les Schwab and they replaced all of our tires, we also received a $100 credit per tire on all six so that made it easier. The new tire which the wrecker brought is now our spare.
My take away from all of this is that any questions you might have about a tire, you should replace it and most probably replace it in sets of 2, 4 or all of the tires. And the spare, check it often and only plan to drive it to a shop to replace that damaged tire.
Karen~Liam
98 ~ MB
SirenA
Usually I would leave the old tires at the tire shop. However, I could also sell or give away 4 of these tires. They all have - after 25,000 miles - very good threads and absolutely no cracks. I had them covered whenever I had the vehicle in storage over the winter (about 7 months). I would have to put them into the Lazy Daze if I wanted to give them away or sell them. If I do that, I have to be pretty sure to get rid of them.
How do I find someone in my area who is interested in such tires? I do not want to spend too much energy on this.
Try Facebook Marketplace. Lots of people look at it.
Larry
I bought the Toyos for $140 each. I suppose there's no chance of finding acceptable 225/75R16 tires for anywhere close to that price now. Are there any tires under $200 that can be recommended?
Klaus, if you are an Escapees member, they have a discounted tire benefit for Uniroyal, Michelin, and BF Goodrich tires. It might be worth joining, if not.
Tire Discounts | Escapees RV Club (https://www.escapees.com/benefits/rv-tire-discounts)
Klaus, if you are an Escapees member, they have a discounted tire benefit for Uniroyal, Michelin, and BF Goodrich tires. It might be worth joining, if not.
Tire Discounts | Escapees RV Club (https://www.escapees.com/benefits/rv-tire-discounts)
Don't waste your time, I just checked the Escapee's tire site. All the various tires available are for big Class As and DPs only; no 16" diameter tires are shown. That's a bit surprising.
Larry
Don't waste your time, I just checked the Escapee's tire site. All the various tires available are for big Class As and DPs only; no 16" diameter tires are shown. That's a bit surprising.
My apologies! I made that recommendation based on the tires for a Subaru Outback which I need to purchase soon. I did not check motorhome tires.
Don't waste your time, I just checked the Escapee's tire site. All the various tires available are for big Class As and DPs only; no 16" diameter tires are shown. That's a bit surprising.
LD's are fitted with "Light Truck", not "Motorhome" tires. Change the middle selector to "Light Truck" and you'll see the 16" tires
ETA - looks like a 30% discount off MSRP for Michelin CrossClimate2. They don't show load ranges on the LT tires, so you might need to research MPNs first.
My apologies! I made that recommendation based on the tires for a Subaru Outback which I need to purchase soon. I did not check motorhome tires.
My mistake, I was wrong and did not check "Light truck".
Not too sure about the discount, the Escapee's price for an Agilis 225/75-16 tire is $241, America's Tire price is $233.
Installation costs are not included in either quote.
Larry