[whatsnewell]

I'll continue a thread that I started on the other site. We are now in Raymond, WA, 27 miles south of Aberdeen, at Raymond RV Park smack dab on the shores of the Willapa River for $20/night full hookups.....had to drop my trailer because site #1 was taken......we were here 2.5 years ago in that site, and that site is the longest. No problem, though...we will be here parts of 3 days, so a minor issue having to drop the trailer.

Was doing a walk around the coach and trailer yesterday before we stopped for the day and noticed the right rear tire on my trailer had a very bad wear pattern which usually means the tread is separating, and it was! So glad I caught it before it blew. Was able to get it replaced with a like kind and quality tire (10 ply, load range E) at West End Motors for $123. The other three look great with no signs of separation, and the tread is good for another 8,000 miles at least.

Same thing happened on a bike ride in Port Townsend 10 days ago.....Elaine was in a bookstore looking at used books, and I was looking over the tandem and noticed that there was a bad spot on the rear tire where we had worn down through the cords a few more miles and we would have flated.....we were right next door to a bike store that had the right tire! Mr. Murphy is trying hard to get me, but I'm wise to his schemes.

Was able to steam clean my radiator at my friend's home in Coupeville, WA. He has a commercial pressure washer with heater (up to 250*). Dropped my operating temp 5 degrees!

There is a nice Prevost in the park three spaces over.....looks to be a late model. Several other big rigs here.

Well, it's happy hour and Elaine is beckoning me outside to watch the sun go down.

[whatsnewell]

Took a 24 mile bike ride Sunday around the Raymond, South Bend area and here is what we saw....

[whatsnewell]

Forgot to mention that when we were in Forks, WA a few days ago we had parked the coach and trailer across the street from the RV park we had planned to stay at if they had space. I did my usual walk around and noticed the right rear tire on the trailer was exhibiting an odd wear pattern. Upon close inspection I determined that the tread was separating (a diagnoses later confirmed by the tire place we were referred to). The owner of the RV park gave me a referral to the only tire store in town, so after parking the coach in the assigned spot in the RV park (Forks 101 RV Park) I removed the defective tire and took it down to the tire store (West End Motors) where they replaced it with a like kind and quality tire (10 ply, load range E) in 5 minutes. So grateful I caught that bad tire before it failed....I do carry a spare, but better to change the tire when you decide to, than in an emergency situation.

When we stop at rest stops each day we are traveling I walk around with an infrared temp gun and check the temp of each tire.....a high temp on one tire can be a warning sign of pending problems.

By the way, yesterday, July 30th, was our six month anniversary of fulltiming on the road!

[folivier]

I check my tire temps also but also check the hub temp. figuring I might get an indication of a brake hanging up especially on my towed.

[prairieschooner]

Clarke,
How old are those tires?
I am posting some thoughts under Tires

[Bill and Sonja]

Enjoying and appreciating these posts men! I have been in the habit of touching each tire and hub on the rig and toad at all opportunities when travelling. Also gives me the opportunity look things over as I make my way around. There are variations which have to be taken into account, like the sunny side of the coach is warmer but in most cases I think it works pretty good. On one occasion on a previous coach a slightly warmer tag tire tipped me off to a de-lamination starting and I had to look very closely at the tire to confirm a real problem. Straight to the tire shop and saved a real nuisance and possible damage. Low tech, but has worked ok.

[whatsnewell]

Steve:

The tires on the trailer are about 4 years old. The drive tires on the coach will be 4 years old in October, and the steerer tires are around 4.5 years old.

Clarke,
How old are those tires?
I am posting some thoughts under Tires

[folivier]

Better get some overtime at Amazon, getting close.

[tuga]

Clarke,

How many years do you run the front tires?

How many years do you run the rear tires?

I run my front tires 3 years and rear tire 5 years. This is what Newell recommends. I think they say 3 years on the front because of the extra weight of the slide.


Tuga

[whatsnewell]

Tuga, this is my first go around, however, my coach only weighs 29,000 lbs. so I'm not dealing with the same weight issues of newer coach owners who have slides, and 9 extra feet of length. The tread, and sidewalls on all 6 tires look excellent. There are no unusual wear patterns, cracking, checking, etc. I check them on a daily basis when traveling. I'll have them inspected just after the first of the year and make a decision then on what, if anything, to replace then.