A getaway on new shoes!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

First, a little backstory.

When we returned from San Antonio, I noticed the off-door-side front tire on the Mammoth was starting to look a little "dried out" and possibly cracking at the seam of the tread and sidewall. I figured we'd need new tires before our next big trip this winter anyway, as we were getting close to the wear bars on the tread.

Well, I forgot to lol closely when we got home, and we immediately put her into our storage lot. A few weeks went by and we'd decided to escape for Labor Day weekend. We check on Mammoth usually once a week, just to make sure she's ok. Well, I went to look at the tire, and low-and-behold, there were chunks missing from the tread, and part of a nylon thread was sticking out!



Notice the white bit in center? That's the tip of a nylon cord coming out of the tread.

The overall wear on the tire looks pretty good, but the tread separation is starting (see white thread?)

Here, I could see a slight "crowning" as if the inner cords are breaking and the tire is starting to bulge slightly. It's so subtle, not easily noticeable, but I can feel it, as well.

So, we realized we'd need to get new tires much sooner than we'd planned. Our spare had been patched a while back but we were told it was not to be trusted for full time use, so really we had two "unworthy" tires.

We left and came back another day with tools for changing the tire. We had no issues raising the side of the coach with our Ground Control, and made good time getting it changed to the spare, so that we could safely tow to a tire store.

As we were changing the tire, a pop-up storm cloud was heading our way. We could hear thunder and smell the rain, but we got the tire changed just fine. As we headed back to Terrell, we could tell we were headed right into the rain. Sure enough, on. The edge of town it started to sprinkle, and we saw a beautiful rainbow pointing to our house!



Rainbow over Terrell, as seen from Griffith Rd out by Hwy 205.

It rained hard for about 10 minutes, but that's ok, we needed it.

Anyway, after researching tires again, we decided to go back with Maxxis. They really have held up well, for probably 25k miles. We ordered the tires from Discount Tire, and set up an appointment to have them installed.

Once at Discount, I told them we had a leveling system which would aid in the tire change. Unfortunately that didn't listen, and we had to stop them from using jacks on the axels. We then used the Ground Control to lift the off door side.

Unfortunately we had to stand and watch the process, and it was close to 100 degrees. Toasty!

Once that side was done, we went to raise the other side... Only to find the back ground control jack would not extend!! So after trying about 10 min, we went to plan B... Using our two 12-ton bottle jacks to lift the frame.


Hovering above the pavement, (two bottle jacks assisting), waiting for new tires.

They finished up the remaining tires and the spare, and gave us a pro-rated discount on the one tire that was deemed a "tread separation," by the manager.

Home and set up in the driveway for loading

Pretty new shoes!

We pulled her home and parked in the driveway. We were going to be heading out in 4 days, so we hooked up AC. Tony worked on the leg that wasn't working. He took it off, hoping to find a problem, but he could not. We did all the trouble-shooting in the manual, and decided I'd call the supplier to see what to do next.

The supplier had the manufacturer call, and he walked me through how to un-bind the leg. Tony was finally able to get it unstuck. Yay! He reattached the leg and we added tape to indicate a stop point on the leg, to keep from possibly sticking again in the future.

Wednesday after school was out and after-school duties were done, we hitched up and pulled out about 7pm. I drove my car as well, so we would I would have a vehicle while Tony was at work. The kitties rode with me, and didn't say a word!

We got to Bluebird RV Park, south of Wills Point, about 7:40, and of course the office was closed. The instructions said to pick a spot in the center pull-throughs, so we did. For some reason we had issues getting it in the right position... It took about 3 tries to finally get set. I think we were both tired, and it showed. It started getting dark and we didn't get some things done -- we flat forgot or just gave up. Oh well, we are here!!

After the usual set up inside, we collapsed and the kitties settled in for a nap.

About 10 Tony headed to bed and I soon followed. He has to go to work the next two days, but luckily it's only about 30 min more in travel time. I'll be doing my usual work from "home"!

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