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Old 02-22-2015, 04:50 PM   #1
rschad
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Smile Are people over thinking things on the forum?

I read the forum often and have appreciated the tips and help people offer.

I do wonder sometimes if people over think things like tire stuff. I have had an old air stream, a 20' vanguard, a 22' itasca, a couple tent trailers and now a 29rls vantage and I have never had the long list of problems described about trailer tires, never even had a flat on the road-had a leaking valve stem once but that is it. The repeated concern that tires are done in five years just boggles my mind, but then I am not a techie. Just wonder if other people have similar experiences and feelings?

Or maybe I am just the luckiest rv owner in the world
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Old 02-22-2015, 05:12 PM   #2
chuckster57
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I'm not so sure it's overthinking as much as information overload.

When I started pulling 5ers back in '89 the internet, social media and such wasn't as prolific as it is now. A person had to learn as they went and it was "trial by fire".

With all the forums and such these days, it's hard not to see numerous repeated posts with the same information. Is it a good thing? I'm still debating that with myself
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Old 02-22-2015, 05:23 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by rschad View Post
I read the forum often and have appreciated the tips and help people offer.

I do wonder sometimes if people over think things like tire stuff. I have had an old air stream, a 20' vanguard, a 22' itasca, a couple tent trailers and now a 29rls vantage and I have never had the long list of problems described about trailer tires, never even had a flat on the road-had a leaking valve stem once but that is it. The repeated concern that tires are done in five years just boggles my mind, but then I am not a techie. Just wonder if other people have similar experiences and feelings?

Or maybe I am just the luckiest rv owner in the world
Over thinking, no

Over reacting, possibly

As trailers get heavier and TV get stronger there will be trouble with tires and many other things on, in and around our trailers. I started towing boats, pop-ups and loading cab-over campers on the back of pickups all the way back to the mid 60's and many things are different from then to now especially the size and weight of the trailers.. not to mention the speed that we tow them... that alone will contribute to a mess of tire failures that we wouldn't have seen back in the day of 50-60 mph.
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Old 02-22-2015, 05:31 PM   #4
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I have had very similar experience, even had a set of US made Marathons for 11 years (over 25,000 mi.) and never thought twice about it. When I bought my Cougar in '07 I insisted on Marathon tires. Little did I know that they were now made in China .... after less than three years they were showing signs of tread separation and had to be replaced. (less than 5,000 mi.) It seems in the past ten years there has been an influx of cheap, poor quality trailer tires with a higher than normal failure rate. There are good tires out there you just have to do your homework, pay a little more and be sure to maintain them correctly. JM2˘, Hank
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Old 02-22-2015, 05:39 PM   #5
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Personal opinion:

Tires have gotten better and crappier at the same time.

I have some DelNat's on an old Airstream that I took off and put on a utility trailer that we have on the place. They are close to 15 years old, still viable made in Mexico. I have had some Chinese brand Hi-Sun? blow out while sitting still. that were less than a year old. Another major issue is the manufacturer putting tires on trailers with NO spare capacity. Tire capacity reduces with age, under inflation and speed. I prefer to have a brand new tire loaded to no more than 75% of rated capacity. Most trailers I have seen are coming with tires that have less than 5% spare capacity when the trailer is at max GVW. That leaves absolutely no room for error.

Trailers have gotten heavier, manufacturers have gotten cheaper in search of maximum profit margin.

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Caveat Emptor.

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Old 02-23-2015, 08:06 AM   #6
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wahoonc, I think the capacity issue is the biggest problem. Anytime you take anything to its max performance, or close to it, it will not last as long and failure should be expected at anytime.
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Old 02-23-2015, 10:05 AM   #7
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I don't think folks are over thinking. As a previous post noted tires are getting better and crappier at the same time. With the advent of forums for discussion of these issues we get to learn a lot that we would otherwise have to learn the hard way. We are given warnings about issues that we aren't aware of and know to look for them. Technology is changing so fast with tires, trucks, RVs etc. that it would be impossible for an individual to try to keep up with everything....and then it wouldn't be from the vantage point of a person that has actually experienced it.

Is there too much info? Too many posts? To me, no. Lots of duplication but I don't mind hearing everyone's thoughts; then I analyze and filter them to come to my own conclusion. Anyway, I find it all rather enlightening and sometimes entertaining..........
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Old 02-23-2015, 11:15 AM   #8
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Overthinking is commonplace everywhere. I, for one, am grateful for all the good and bad data that this forum accumulates. When I bought the SRX last near I took advantage of the data, filtering out what seemed to be the bad, and applied what worked for me. Thanks to everyone here, our lengthy trip out of state to retreive the SRX was uneventful, as was the two-month, post retirement, Christmas trip in snowbird country to visit family and friends.

I still don't know what I don't know, but I know a lot more of how to do it right thanks to the expertise, overthinking and the learning curve of others on this forum. This forum has potentially and realistically saved me a lot of grief. For that, I thank you all.
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Old 02-23-2015, 11:38 AM   #9
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x2 desert185
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Old 02-23-2015, 12:12 PM   #10
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In my opinion the answer is yeas and no. For some people not overthink or preparing for anything that can happen causes stress. I will admit I am one of those people that needs to have everything just so or by the book to feel compfortable.

My best friend who camps with me is the exact opposite, push the envelope or just not care. If he gets in and the wheels move he is good to go. Often ask him don't you worry about this and that, best answer ever, " I do not need to worry! You do enough of that for the both of us!" I laughed and he is right! I like having things perfect, for me the tow is part of the experiance and having all this money tied up in something I really enjoy, I need to do what I do to take advantage of the entire trip. Do I over analysis, YES! Should everyone, only if it makes them happy.
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Old 02-23-2015, 01:15 PM   #11
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Tires overloaded or just Information overload?

This and many other forums are wonderful sources of information. What we all have to remember is 95% of the questions asked are about people with problems, and who are technically capable of using a computer and putting in their $.02 worth.

As the RSCHAD started out, personally, as best I remember, I can only think of 3 or 4 times in my life where I've seen a RV sitting at the side of the road because of a tire issue, and interestingly enough, the last one was a guy I saw a short time later at the campsite, who said he just replaced the tires in the last month.

With all the RV's on the road, your going to fine many people who have experienced some problems and many more people who haven't, and because they haven't, they don't write or post about those issues. From my personal experience, I know I found and got involved with the Keystone.org forum because of problems I encountered when we got our new Cougar. I asked others about the situation and heard some great advice, suggestions, and appreciated that input. I've also heard some other tales of catastrophes and problems, and also heard some questionable advice. We all have to agree, we probably don't hear very much from people who don't know about this forum, or use computers, or didn't have a problem, even though there are some areas not related to problems or issues.

Putting it in perspective, we are overloaded with negatives about RVs. Personally, I know I'm more aware of tire problems, and I ended up getting a Tire Pressure Monitoring System. Too bad there isn't a leak detection warning system, or refrigerator monitoring system, etc., but then like X96MNN said, there are people out there worrying about that stuff for us.

Safety is not something to ignore however.
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Old 02-23-2015, 05:56 PM   #12
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Overthinking is commonplace everywhere. I, for one, am grateful for all the good and bad data that this forum accumulates. When I bought the SRX last near I took advantage of the data, filtering out what seemed to be the bad, and applied what worked for me. Thanks to everyone here, our lengthy trip out of state to retreive the SRX was uneventful, as was the two-month, post retirement, Christmas trip in snowbird country to visit family and friends.

I still don't know what I don't know, but I know a lot more of how to do it right thanks to the expertise, overthinking and the learning curve of others on this forum. This forum has potentially and realistically saved me a lot of grief. For that, I thank you all.
Well said...... X2 for me also
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Old 02-24-2015, 04:27 AM   #13
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Information is neither good or bad, the application of knowledge will determine the outcome
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Old 02-27-2015, 05:29 AM   #14
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Admittedly reading this forum causes me a bit of anxiety. Every time I read about someone with water damage, a failed converter, delamination, or a blown tire. I question whether this whole thing is really for me, it can just seem overwhelming.

To mitigate, I am religious about cleaning the roof after every trip and checking / touching up the roof dicor every quarter. The tires sit on pavers when the unit is in storage and are covered. Aside from that I just keep my camper washed and waxed ( wash after every trip, wax every 6 months) and immediately address any identifiable issues ( in the 8 months I have this unit I've removed and re-sealed one window and replaced the butyl under the shore power, speakers, and water connections.
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Old 03-02-2015, 01:46 PM   #15
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To me it is all about knowledge. Sharing information and learning how to look at tires or what ever part you name and know if that item maybe is going to fail, break etc. At 58, with 9 RVs and way to many cars and trucks to count, driven at work or owned. Most people just do not have knowledge of how and why tires fail. I learned but am not a expert. If you spend years working on the highways you would see many tires fail. Here while working I had a fireman die in a firetruck crash due to a rotten tire. A retired police officers M/C blew the rear rotten tire killing him. A friend phoned me to get him as his rotten rear tire on his M/C blew without causing a wreck. Last year I posted about watching a left tire blow out of a MH at front of me at freeway speed the MH almost flipped since the driver braked . I saw 2 tires blow out on a boat trailer several years ago. Last month a guy I followed back from the coast got 15 miles and I saw the smoke as a tire blew on the trailer as I passed it looked like the other tire was also flat on same side. Why do tires fail? I will state here mostly because people over look them. They do not know when they need replaced, run then under pressure, run them overloaded and run over/into curbs, run over road debris, have wrong or failing valve stems, use tires not that are not made for what they are using them for, some tires just are not that good to start with. I have had high speed (one at XXX miles per hour) that blew on patrol vehicles, it happens. I want to travel as safe as I can so, I learn all I can about these things.
Just for something to do, next trip, count how many road gators (blow tire debris) you see along the roadway. Those are mostly comm. truck tires but not all. If you look you might be surprised how many tires fail on the roadways.
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Old 03-02-2015, 07:56 PM   #16
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Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for the assistance on this forum as well. I have installed a tire monitoring system as a result. It is just that sometimes it is like reading a list of everything that could possibly go wrong and starting to think that all of those things will go wrong on every trailer, especially mine and that is a bad head space to get into.

And I must admit that I am one of those people who probably have said things like thats good enough or don't worry it will hold and just have gone on my merry way. Reading the forum is sometimes like reading all the possible causes of all sicknesses and do the computation that with all those issues everyone must have at least 5 of them.
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Old 03-03-2015, 10:21 AM   #17
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I agree, there is a line between being obsessive and I do not care. I print to much information at times. From where I come from I feel that I have seen and done many things that most would not and point out what some say never happens does happen. My last post, I wrote of what I seen myself with rotten tires. What 5 incidents in 30 years, how many thousands of vehicles drove by me during that same time and nothing bad happened to them. Here's to a happy camping season, lets get out there and enjoy it.
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