Hi All, We were on vacation last week in the Ozarks, and on Sunday morning were preparing to leave, and I noticed my drivers side outside dual tire appeared low. Upon further inspection, the inside tire was off the bead, completely flat, and the outside tire was bearing all of the load. I have ERS coming today to repair or replace the flat, and wondering if I need to have both tires replaced, or go with the recommendation of the tech that does the service call on what needs to be replaced? Also, my fridge is running, do I need to be concerned about having the motorhome jacked up and causing any unleveling of the fridge? I am doing this all remotely, as I had to return to my home base for work this week. Thanks!
Jeff and Kim
2009 Bounder 35H (Gas Workhorse chassis)
2012 Ford Escape Limited Toad
You won't need to worry about the fridge unless it will remain unlevel for more than a day. If you are not there, you will have to rely on the tech's advice, I would think.
Do you know how old the tires are? If six or more years, you might need to replace since conventional wisdom reveals they generally fail at around that age. Now, I know many folks get more years out of some tires, and some say urban legend, but I along with a lot of other people having blowouts around that time have become believers. After having two blowouts in a month, I got all new tires.
Don't worry about your fridge unless you're listing about 10 or more degrees. Newer fridges can take some off-level for a while.
2002 Keystone Cougar 286, 8,400lbs loaded, pulled with a 2004 F150 Supercrew, 5.4, 3.73 gears. Retired and enjoying life
The problem is that since the flat was off of the rim, the tire did not go flat while it was just sitting there.
For that reason you have no idea how long it was flat and how long you drove with the single dual absorbing all of the weight. That tire was obviously overloaded and probably overheated, especially with the current weather conditions. At the very least, I would change the flat tire at the campsite and then ASAP go to a tire center that deals with RV/truck tires and have the "good" dual taken off of the rim and have it thoroughly inspected. With all of the unknowns, I would probably just replace both tires, but that is up to you and your wallet.
If it was me, I'd replace the one I needed to replace under my emergency service, then take it to a reputable tire shop to have them take a look at the rest of your tires as soon as you could.
Also - just as a point of interest: From what I hear, the inside dual is usually the one that goes bad first; mainly because it bears all the load if you drive alot on narrow roads--when you're on a narrow road and the outer tire leaves the pavement and is suspended. Seems to make sense to me but...
As to the refrigerator, I'd probably turn it off if the motorhome is that unlevel. I think a day is too long to be too unlevel. JMHO
I'm betting that if you have valve extentions, the one to the inside duel has leaked. It happened to me while sitting for a while. And no don't worry about the fridge. Macktee
If it were me I would put my spare on, go home and check for prices. Would consider moving the two front tires to the bad rear side and putting two new tires on the front. Then I would get a TPMS and install it. Maybe get the TPMS installed before I get back on the road.
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Thats still pretty new tires to be having that much trouble. Do you check your Tire Pressure everyday that you move your RV?.
I'm not trying to talk you into a "Tire Monitoring System". Thats a chice everyone has to make for themselfs. But had you had one, you would have been aware of the conditons of these tires, instead of finding out the hard way.
By any chance, did you have your Jacks Down, if aso, it probably took a lot of the weight off the low pressure tire, so you may or may not have to replace both tires.
We have made it a habit of checking our tire pressure everyday, moving the RV or not. It does make it a lot easier with a "Tire Monitoring System". But I still do a visual check of all of our tires daily while on the road, as you just never know what a tire might pick up on the road.
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