Our first tire failure

[Karenys]

Had an very enjoyable trip from Central California to Mt. Rushmore.  On the way home on US 80, hubby heard an ominous noise and said "I think we have a flat"...(there was also cussing involved so this isn't a direct quote)..Inside tire on a set of duals (Class C) so there was no way we could change it. We were 4 miles east of Lovelock, NV - When I called Good Sam tow card he wanted to send someone from Wells which is 40 miles away, so we drove our tow car to Lovelock to see if someone there knew of a tire place.  We were referred to Jim's Tire Factory and placed a call to them.  We were quoted $168 for the tire change but also were informed that THEY were a Good Sam repair provider and wondered why they weren't chosen over someone 40 miles away.  It all worked out eventually, Good Sam dispatched Jim's Tire Factory after I told the dispatcher that I was in my tow car standing in front of an approved repair shop less than 4 miles from the breakdown.  Keith was prompt, friendly, and despite the shop being closed on Saturday opened the shop and we were able to purchase a new tire (ours had shredded).  Good Sam covered the original tire change and we paid for the new tire.  So if you are on Hwy 80 near Lovelock and need reliable service please consider Jim's Tire Factory!  Great experience from them.  After we were back on the road I told my husband that I had been thinking of the RV'er who said "if you haven't had a flat in your RV yet, you will"  or something to that effect.  We have had our first flat, survived it and are back home safely doing laundry and mucking out the rig planning for our next trip.  Safe driving to you all! Karen & Jim Scruggs, Columbia CA

 

[Coach_Frank]

Hi Jim and Karen,

Glad to hear your tire failure didn't cause too much damage and that you didn't have a white knuckle experience and that all ended with a positive experience at the tire shop.  Happy traveling!

 

[jamarynn1]

We had three flats in the first week of our trip (two on the same day).  What a way to start six months on the road.  Ended up buying five new tires and hopefully we've used up all our bad mojo.  They were the tires that were on the fiver when we bought it new in January 2010 - put about 6,000 miles on them last year.  Certainly thought they'd last longer than that!

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

New trailers are notorious for cheap tires and tires that are barely adequate in carrying capacity for the load weight of the trailer. If you run something at its max limits continuously, it should not be surprising that it fails early in life.  If you replaced the OEM tires with the identical size and load capacity, you may find yourself in the same boat next year.

 

[jamarynn1]

New trailers are notorious for cheap tires and tires that are barely adequate in carrying capacity for the load weight of the trailer. If you run something at its max limits continuously, it should not be surprising that it fails early in life.  If you replaced the OEM tires with the identical size and load capacity, you may find yourself in the same boat next year.

The tires were rated for way more weight than we are carrying.  Don't know what the problem is but we replaced them with much better tires.  We're supposed to be getting some credit for the old tires, but haven't seen it yet.