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Old 04-11-2019, 12:14 AM   #1
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Join Date: Apr 2019
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New Member, 1st post, tire advise lol

Hello Everyone!

I am new member and this is my first post. To put a smile on your face, I must tell you of our first experience with this our first RV. My wife and I purchased an old class C, a 1995 Itasca Spirit (but shows Winnebago on the papers).

We were so excited leaving out on our first trip. The destination was Myrtle Beach, SC. Passing through Columbia in heavy rain as we approached a large junction of interstate 26 to interstate 20, I too late realized the long curving string of tail lights through the rain were actually stopped vehicles. During the 100 foot slide with my brakes locked, I had visions of our RV being towed to a local junk yard. When we finally came to a complete stop, there may have been 6 or 7 inches between our bumpers, but from our seated position all we could see was part of their trunk and the rear window with two passengers partly turned around with what appeared in our headlights to be very large eyes. That’s OK, it proved our new brakes worked well and our headlights capable of illuminating facial features through rain and glass.

One hour later it got rather windy and gusty. I was going about 65 MPH on the interstate when we heard what sounded like an explosion. I thought maybe a tire had blown but everything seemed normal so we continued on. Hours later when we arrived at the campground, we found we had lost a 5 foot section of delaminated outside material from the front upper right side. That's OK, that's what a couple of commercial size black trash bags and a roll of duct tape are for. In 15 minutes we were prepared for more rain due that night.

At 1 AM we woke to roof rain water dipping on us in our bed. We also found rain water dripping from the overhead AC unit in Kitchen and multiple leaks around the front bunk cab overhang window, which then flowed onto the cushions. When we removed the wet cushions we found the whole overhead cab wood was rotted. That's OK. That's what buckets and towels are for. All that was needed now was to set our alarm for each hour to get up and empty buckets and wring out the towels. We found the sound of the drips into the buckets rather relaxing and soothed us back to sleep for another hours rest.

After a wonderful nights rest, ugh, I hooked up our RV to the provided outside water source. What is that hissing sound? Could it have something to do with that water flowing out from under the kitchen cabinet? Yes, a split/cracked metal faucet that must not have been winterized. That's OK. How blessed we were to already have towels and buckets out from the night adventure! Who needs inside pluming anyway? That's OK, that's what the campground bathrooms are for.

The forecast was calling for more rain so I decided to roll out the awning. What is that terrible ripping and flapping sound? Oh, that is the entire sun rotted awning material detaching from the RV and then flapping round and round the spring loaded end boom. The snapping sound? Oh that is the aluminum joints as the whole structure heads to the ground. That's OK, that's what rope is for, to lash all the rolled up material, boom, rails supports etc. into one big bundle and place on top of the roof for the return trip home.

So ended our weekend get away and off we went back home. Within a few minutes the cruise control died. That's OK, that's why you have two feet, rest one, use one, then switch. At that point I was just so thankful I had checked the air pressures on the beautiful Michelin tires that had almost perfect tread. Who knew they were 14 years old? The interstate road knew! Boom bang bang bang bang as the right rear inside dually tire morphed into a rubber and steel thrashing machine, beating the tire well to shreds. That's OK, that's what a spare tire is for. Oh, but wait, "that is the original spare from 1995" said the man sent from Good Sam’s roadside assistance. I will not put that tire on your RV, I will sell you a used tire. That's OK, that's what Visa debit cards are for. As we pulled into our home driveway, I felt my wife's hand slip over mine as she said "I still love my RV" (she does)……."We were just making memories" (we did).



OK, so let me hear from all you experienced class C owners. I have 7 tires to replace. Let me tap into your tire brand experience of reliability, millage, handling etc. I have heard Michelin are tops on and off road but not sure they are worth the premium price and have been told most RV tires age out before they wear out (Unless you are like our RV's previous owners with 14 year old tires). Especially interested if anyone has first hand knowledge or experience with the LT22575R16 Hercules Terra Trac HTS. Thanks!
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Old 04-11-2019, 12:53 AM   #2
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This just might be one of the most entertaining posts I have ever read! It sounds like a real-life version of the movie "RV," with Robin Williams, but only much worse.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, I do like Discount Tire. They have a great web site where you can read reviews and ratings of all sorts of tires:
https://www.discounttire.com/
Good luck with all of the repairs.
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Old 04-11-2019, 01:25 AM   #3
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... one more thing ...
Remember that with Discount Tires, if ever you are not satisfied with one of their tires, you can always bring it back.
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