Eventful trip to Moab

[ItalGerBrit]

Originally Posted by buck58

Are you guys telling me that there is a tire that will go on our coach with a thicker side wall that would drastically reduce the chance of blowouts? I’ll take the rougher ride trade off without a doubt, what such tire?

Not sure about drastic but a tire shop told me that when replacing the trailer tires with stiff side wall truck type tires. Was just thinking out loud about maybe using truck steer tires on the front of the RV. Steer tires are supporting a lot more weight on a Semi truck so they surely are more blow out resistant. RV tires have relatively soft sidewalls for a smoother and more comfortable ride. My truck is not nearly as smooth as the DP was. But, it does not bounce and wallow like a drunk whale on undulating rough overpasses. Ever driven through Shreveport or on I 40 around Lafayette? Sounds like I love my TC and I do but the DP was much smoother and more comfortable. The stiff steer tires might compromise the ride quality.

[ItalGerBrit]

Originally Posted by garysfb

Here's a couple of pics of the damage.

Looks like a fairly easy repair.

[Gary.Jones]

Buck

On your previous question. I live in Louisiana and travel north to escape the heat. I stay in the south in the winter to avoid the Norths cold temps. However, on my cars and on the coach, I have noted for decades that my tire pressures are lower once fall hits in the south (temps drop) and in both my car and my coach, I generally need to add a little pressure. This is noticeable in the cars much more than in the coach. Again, in the spring, as the weather moves from colder to warmer, I check the tires and usually need a let a few pounds out of the car and truck tires, but not usually the coach tires.

I run about the same pressures in my tires as you do.... I am a little heavier but I have bigger tires than most Entegra coaches. I also run 85 all around in the rears.... the tables says I could run 75 but I run 85. All the tires will heat up from 10-15 psi when underway and the front tires maybe 15-20 or more psi when under way. That is normal.

If you Google the title "ENTEGRA: Some things I have learned about my 2019 Cornerstone Gary Jones" In the search box at the top of the page, you will find my series of posts on my tire pressure problems and adjustments/baselines after I picked up my new coach and my final choice of baseline pressures for the Valor system. I did this in consult with Don Rigby the Valor TPMS consult guy. He is very good. We came up with the baselines and I bought my own programmer and put them into my system, and now in about 25,000 additional miles, I have had no false alarms, and no baseline problems in either summer or winter driving and no need to make small changes in my coach tire pressures. Read those threads and then give him a call..... I think that you will find you can set your pressures and baselines and largely forget them....

Gary

[Diesel-Lover]

For tire pressure max allowed etc, check your tire manufacturers web site. They have the min and max some will even detail various load levels and pressure table.



Here is a vid of a fast car having a blowout. Yea you can watch the whole video too. Totally awesome, yes I have watched RV drivers drive similarly in their rigs generally after football games and the after race crowd too!


https://youtu.be/vys7fI8qnYs?t=601

[ItalGerBrit]

What part of the Swamp do you live in Gary?

[Diesel-Lover]

Originally Posted by ItalGerBrit

What part of the Swamp do you live in Gary?

LA is Louisiana and it ain't swamp its Bayou.... Nothing like café du monde late in the day or is it early in the morning after the bar hoppin and all that jazz!



I spent 2.5 years in Louisiana during my highly nomadic life period. Great place to party or chill.


Just funnin ya, its a wonder more people don't overwinter there.

[ItalGerBrit]

Originally Posted by Diesel-Lover

LA is Louisiana and it ain't swamp its Bayou.... Nothing like café du monde late in the day or is it early in the morning after the bar hoppin and all that jazz!



I spent 2.5 years in Louisiana during my highly nomadic life period. Great place to party or chill.


Just funnin ya, its a wonder more people don't overwinter there.

So Diesel Lover is a Gary as well. I was asking Gary Jones where he lives in Louisiana. It is known as bayou country and I do literally live in a reclaimed swamp and Bayou Lafourche is three miles to the east. So yes, my location is in the Swamp. The OP, Ace Blowout artist, is a Gary as well. He too lives on the banks of a bayou but it is a Mississippi bayou.

Yes, no better place on Earth to get drunk than the French Qtr.

[Ann n Gene]

Originally Posted by ItalGerBrit

Not sure about drastic but a tire shop told me that when replacing the trailer tires with stiff side wall truck type tires. Was just thinking out loud about maybe using truck steer tires on the front of the RV. Steer tires are supporting a lot more weight on a Semi truck so they surely are more blow out resistant. RV tires have relatively soft sidewalls for a smoother and more comfortable ride. My truck is not nearly as smooth as the DP was. But, it does not bounce and wallow like a drunk whale on undulating rough overpasses. Ever driven through Shreveport or on I 40 around Lafayette? Sounds like I love my TC and I do but the DP was much smoother and more comfortable. The stiff steer tires might compromise the ride quality.

Sorry, you are incorrect about semis carrying more weight on the steer axle. Motorhomes carry far more weight in the front axle. Federal law limits steer axles on commercial vehicular to 12000 lbs. Many diesel pushers will weigh over 19000 on the steer. My 2016 Entegra Cornerstone weighed 19,200 on the steer. A big difference is most over the road trucks have 265/275-60R22.5 whereas my Cornerstone had 365-80R22,5 a much bigger, wider base tire and rim. It is also true that they have stiffer sidewalls than motorhome tires. They might resist a blowout better, I don’t know but it is hard to compare because of the difference in size and weight hauled. I even have 315-70R22,5 on my 35’ motorhome that weighs 14000 on the steer axle. All JMHO

[buck58]

I have 315 80R 22.5... on my aspire & I’m 15,620 lbs front axle... 120psi in them.... I hope that’s good lol

[Gary.Jones]

The Sticks and Bricks is located just a little bit North of Shreveport.

"Bayou living" we have.... swamps are a little further south. Had a sailboat on Lake Pontchartrain for 20 or 25 years on the south shore of the Lake and the coast Gulf of Mexico so I was VERY knowledgeable about food and drink in New Orleans.... one of the most unique cities in the U.S.

Gary

[garysfb]

Originally Posted by ItalGerBrit

You did good controlling the RV. I had a blow out on the right front on a narrow two lane road with ditch on right side. Grabbed the wheel with both arms and braced with my leg against the dash to keep it from diving into the ditch. Blew my entire front wheel panel off. Picked up the pieces and repaired it myself.

That was years ago and now have a Freightliner twin screw Truck Conversion with Detroit 60 series engine. 650HP. Reason for mentioning this is to answer another's question on how a blow out would affect a big truck as opposed to the Diesel pusher. Not as much I think as truck tires have very stiff sidewalls so are not as likely to blow up. The tread peals off before they blow? I feel much safer in the big truck as opposed to the wallowing RV. Noisey and ride is not as smooth but the truck handles sort of like a race car RV with crisper steering and stiffer suspension. Tremendous torque and 10 speed so pulling 15K trailer in Mtns is easy. Truck has less glitz and more grunt. A MANLY RV.

Racing. I distinctly remember crashes at No Problem Raceway, Road Atlanta, and Daytona. Oh, and a borrowed trailer tire jumping a fence a little North of Sebring. Sound familiar.

Back to blowouts. I figure on two per trip on my heavy trailer every trip to Durango and Moab and they all seem to happen near Amarillo due to the heat and long runs on the road across Texas. Does West Texas have to be so big and empty? It must be misplaced and should be in Saudi Arabia? Back to blow outs, I now think that heat is the biggest factor in blow outs. Never had a blow out heading East and North. Always heading West through Texas. Now carry 4 spares and switched all tires to G ratings. Wonder if switching to stiff side wall truck tires would work on your steer tires? Ride might no be as smooth but maybe less likely to blow out.

Moab. Hire Dan Mick and have him take you on a tour of Slick Rock. Will be there late Sept for wheelin in Hummer.

Guess who. Sorta hijacked your post to say Hello but maybe passed on a little helpful info.

I had you nailed at MANLY RV! And the trailer tire went rouge on I-95 a few miles after leaving Daytona. But I digress Dr. Phil.

I don't have any personal experience driving a truck type hauler but stuff can happen to anybody in any vehicle. Our very good mutual friend was driving a truck trailer hauler with three race cars in the stacker driving in the left lane with concrete barriers in the middle. He had a left front blowout and even with his strength could not keep it out of the barrier. Totaled the truck and some damage to the trailer and most important he and his wife AND the race cars were unharmed.

In the stories I've read on this thread and heard over the years, other than experience, a lot has to do with where you are in relationship to your environment, cars and road conditions. BTW if you're blowing trailer tires so frequently maybe you should upgrade your axles in the stacker. I did that on mine and practically eliminated blowouts.

[tommar]

Just chiming in here! Garysfb, thank God you survived that harrowing experience with grace and no loss of limb or life! Wanted to mention "cheap" tires for a second. In various threads on this forum, there have been lots of discussion about Michelin RV tires. The threads say that Michelns have gone way down in quality, and one poster on this thread correctly pointed out that Michelin now builds tires in China and not just for Chinese consumption either. So when it came time for me to buy six new tires for my rig, I opted for "cheap" Chinese tires, in this case, Samson which are used by many truckers in the U.S. That purchase was better than three years ago, and so far, so good with the Samson's. I'm assuming you're already in Dallas, but I just wanted to post my 2 cents. I'm running 110 pounds pressure all the way around...

[buck58]

110? What’s the weight of your steer axle?

[ItalGerBrit]

Originally Posted by Ann n Gene

Sorry, you are incorrect about semis carrying more weight on the steer axle. Motorhomes carry far more weight in the front axle. Federal law limits steer axles on commercial vehicular to 12000 lbs. Many diesel pushers will weigh over 19000 on the steer. My 2016 Entegra Cornerstone weighed 19,200 on the steer. A big difference is most over the road trucks have 265/275-60R22.5 whereas my Cornerstone had 365-80R22,5 a much bigger, wider base tire and rim. It is also true that they have stiffer sidewalls than motorhome tires. They might resist a blowout better, I don’t know but it is hard to compare because of the difference in size and weight hauled. I even have 315-70R22,5 on my 35’ motorhome that weighs 14000 on the steer axle. All JMHO

Thanks for the correction. Surprised to hear that there is that much weight on RV steer tires. Just assumed that the TCs had more weight up front because of the engines being up front.