Tires, tires and more tires…

RVers trust our lives to our tires. That’s one of the things that was drilled into my head when I was researching a RV and deciding to RV full time. Good RV tires, check the tires every morning and whenever you stop. Consider getting a tire monitoring system (TPMS.)

My first year I kept the tires that were on the RV when I bought it and had no trouble. The second year as I was getting ready to leave my daughters, we all looked at the tires on the front and agreed they needed to be replaced.

Three months later, along the 10 freeway in Palm Springs, the front passenger side tire blew out. I had one of my grandsons with me and thankfully we had just gotten back on the freeway so were not going very fast and in addition there was a wide spot to pull over onto. I immediately called AAA but they informed me that I didn’t have RV coverage, oops! Then I called Good Sams and they started calling for tow trucks. Thankfully I had a full tank of gas plus solar as it was ten hours later when a Highway Patrol Officer pulled up and called for a tow truck that showed up thirty minutes later. This was Palm Springs in the middle of the day, 115-degree heat! Good Sams was excellent in that they did reimburse me for the cost of the tow truck which was more expensive since they were called by Highway Patrol!

Waiting to get tires replaced

I didn’t want a repeat of this incident so had my back four tires replaced at this time also. I wanted to make sure all these tires were RV rated and good quality plus had road hazard. I knew that I was going to be leaving on a cross country trip and I didn’t want to have any issue while I was traveling. I knew that my weight was good as I had checked it earlier, so I knew that wasn’t as issue with the tires. While I was at my son’s and close to my storage unit, I unloaded more items that I knew I really didn’t need and asked that he put them in storage. Then I was off again.

My niece helping to repair my tire.

I headed up through Nevada, Utah, into Wyoming. Then as I was almost to my nieces in Gillette one of my back tires blows out! I was in shock, thinking there is no way that one of these new tires just blew, but yup it sure did! Of course, it was after five on a Friday night so working with AAA (yup I had included RV coverage) and Good Sams couldn’t get anyone to come out to fix the tire. My niece’s boyfriend finally got in touch with Tire O Rama, and they were able to send someone out to replace the tire. It took almost three hours before he finished. It was crazy as we were on a residential street with cars driving by and at times it seemed like we were directing traffic just to make sure it was safe. We had some of those big flashlights and let me tell you, they sure came in handy! A big shout out to my niece Jennifer and her boyfriend Ben as they were a great help and made sure the tire change got accomplished quickly and safely! Next morning, I was on my way again, confident that my tires were good, but I just needed to continue checking on them.

South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas. I noticed that the tire that was replaced in Wyoming started getting low while I was in Texas. I stopped in at the tire company where I had originally bought the back tires and had them check it out. They filled it with air and said they couldn’t find anything wrong with it. I followed up with them about the original tire that blew out and they covered the cost of the new tire. The new tire started getting low again about the time I left El Paseo and headed into New Mexico so I figured it must be a slow leak. I filled it up again hoping it would be okay until I made it to my son’s. I would keep a close eye on it.

Cattlerest RV Park & Saloon, well the Bath house but it was really nice!

Cattlerest RV Park & Saloon in Willcox, Arizona. I’m 155 miles from my son’s house and as I’m turning into the park driveway, I hear a thud. When I get out, I check the tires and notice the one next to the low air has blown! I call Good Sams and AAA. There is nothing that they can do right then as it is after five on a Saturday and they need to order the tire and it will be two days before it gets in.  Wow! You would think that a town off the 10 freeway in southern Arizona, which is a haven for snowbirds, would carry RV tires! I guess not. In the meantime, everyone here at Cattlerest have been great, I even got my low tire aired up, not once but twice! This allowed me to drive to the tire place and not have the tire place come out to the RV park. There was also one night when we all got together and shared stories about what a great place Willcox is and how wonderful the people are. From my experience it was all true as everyone was helpful and tried to get me back on the road as quickly as possible.

The gang at Cattlerest.

I am investing in a good TPMS system as it will hopefully tell me before a tire blows out and if a tire is getting low. It should eliminate most of these problems that I’ve been having. I’m not sure what the heck is up with the tires that I bought but I should not be having this much trouble with them.

Ouch!

Another thing I realized is to make sure you know exactly what kind of coverage you have with Good Sams. I thought I had tow and tire coverage and so did the person I was working with on the phone as they were giving me the instructions on how to get my tire reimbursed. Come to find out I didn’t have that coverage plus they charged me a huge upcharge on the price of the tire. I contested the charge, and they did reimburse me, it was a hassle but worth it in the end.

“The mistakes of the world are warning message for you.” Amit Kalantri