Flat tire questions

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Larry N. said:
FET is Federal, sales tax is state...

How many other products do we have to pay Federal AND State taxes on?

So Why do we have to pay both on Tires?
 
RedandSilver said:
How many other products do we have to pay Federal AND State taxes on?

So Why do we have to pay both on Tires?

Gas and diesel have both federal and state taxes.

" What is FET?"

"FET is an acronym for federal excise tax. It refers to the tax imposed by the federal government on tires used on the road with a maximum load capacity greater then 3500 pounds. Generally this applies to medium truck tires and heavy duty trailer tires."

What is FET and why do I have to pay it?
 
NY_Dutch said:
Gas and diesel have both federal and state taxes.

" What is FET?"

"FET is an acronym for federal excise tax. It refers to the tax imposed by the federal government on tires used on the road with a maximum load capacity greater then 3500 pounds. Generally this applies to medium truck tires and heavy duty trailer tires."

What is FET and why do I have to pay it?

They may try and say it's for the roads because heavy vehicles cause more damage but.....

IT is NOT used for our roads - because they are in such bad shape anyone can tell they are not being taken care of even though
they are receiving FET money.  Sad    :(

 
RedandSilver said:
They may try and say it's for the roads because heavy vehicles cause more damage but.....

IT is NOT used for our roads - because they are in such bad shape anyone can tell they are not being taken care of even though
they are receiving FET money.  Sad    :(

Well, that's getting into a political area that I don't think is appropriate here, but the case could probably be made for whether the states are receiving enough federal money to maintain the roads, or whether they're effectively using the money they do receive. Either way, dropping the FET on tires would not help.
 
When I bought my coach it had a spare tire up in one of the pass thru compartments. I replaced the michelins odd size tires with Yohohamas in a different size. I have acquired a wheel and planed on buying another new tire for a spare, mounting it and carrying  it in the same place. It won't fit in the space mounted because the wheel sticks out another 3". I'm still going to buy another NEW tire to put back in there. I can't change it myself but at least I'll have it if needed. I'm also going to buy another sack of beads the dealer used when mounting my tires. I'm not going to chance it. I had a flat on my old Itasca with 16" tires many years ago. Limped it to a truck shop just outside of St Louis, Mo. They didn't have a tire nor did the other shop a mile from them. My spare was over 10 years old and they refused to put it on. I had to beg them, and it took quite a while to convince them to put it on for me. They made me sign a paper that they would NOT be held responsible for any damages what so ever pertaining that tire. I've traveled 3700 miles this summer without a spare but was very uneasy the hole time. I will be getting a spare tire for mine. 
 
The last time out was the first time I needed a tire..In 50 years of RVing..  Returning from a trip to northeast Oregon I turned left onto an on ramp for I84 southbound,, at which time a highway patrolman jumped out of his car and waved me to the shoulder,(WHAT NOW!!) (fortunately the shoulder was three lanes wide at that point). He said I had a tire problem on my toad,( 72 ACVW BAJA),, the left rear was GONE!! a thin rubber band still on each side of the wheel but no damage to the wheel (A hard to find collectable wheel).. Called Coach Net and gave them the location, tire specs.,..They checked stock and had the size in two choices,$190.00 or $104.00..
Bring me the 104 and I will deal with the problem when arriving home.. I had to buy the tire of course and the labor to install it,, everything else was on Coach Net. (Coach Net will pay only to install a mounted tire ).>>>Dan

In looking back I remember straddling a piece of sheet metal 15 miles back,, must have caught a corner...
 
I carry a mounted spare in the bed of my truck for my 5'er. If going on a long drive i throw another unmounted spare next to it. I have the road side assistance but i am more worried about being on some road in the middle of nowhere with no cell reception. What would you do then? Wait till some strange man drives by and hitch a ride to the nearest phone. Leaving your family on the side of the road. Sounds like the making of some horror film on Netflix. I am pretty sure i could change a 200lb tire if i had too. Have the spare and the proper equipment just in case.

skeeter

 
We used to fulltime in a 37' triple axle 5th wheel. We were parked in what South Dakato laughably referred to as a rest stop overnight in the dead of winter. It was a Sunday morning and I woke up to sub zero temperatures and a middle outside tire showing the steel belts. I don't know how I determined it but it seemed my middle axle was bent. I had a jack that would lift the trailer enough to get the tire off. Did not want to use spare on a bent axle. Unhitched, locked up and headed to pohunk town looking for a tire. Found a tire shop open and bought a same size cheap tire, had it mounted and I installed on trailer. Was just good enough to get me to the factory where the axle was replaced and a new tire installed....for free.

Fast forward a few years and we're traveling out west where one can easily forget how fast you are going. Blew a tire. Replaced with the spare. Blew another tire. Took it off and since it was a triple axle did not have to have a tire for the distance I was going to town. Tire shop replaced tire with trailer still hooked to truck. Didn't cost much. Later was refueling and had conversation with gentleman in a carhauler. Told him I was blowing tires. He asked my speed and I said about 75-80. He said slow down to 60-65 and you won't blow anymore tires. It worked.
 
Week before last we needed our spare . . . yep, had a spare on the holder on the back of the motorhome, tire looked good . . . would have been great if it had been the right size.  Needless to say we had not looked closely enough to verify that :-[  Even better, after we replaced the blown out tire, bought another rim and tire so we'd have an effective spare, the spare tire cover wouldn't fit and the tow bar wouldn't fold out of the way. 

So word of advice, verify the size of your spare.

Shelia
 
A  spare 22.5 tire and rim has been under our 1997 Allegro Bus M35 DP since new.  When its time for new tires the inside drivers side rear tire/rim goes under the coach to replace the spare and the old spare and remaining 5 rims get new rubber.  (so there's never been a 20 year old spare)
//and to answer the OP's question, there's never been a roadside flat on this rig since new.
 

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