Gotta love my TPMS...

[Joan617]

Yesterday for the second time, our TST TPMS alarmend. The first time, some month or two ago, it was a slow leak that allowed us to limp in to the next stop. This time, while not catastrophic, by the time I picked up the monitor, pressure was down from 80 psi and quickly dropping through the 50's. We were on a remote stretch of I-10 in TX within sight of the Mexican border. Joan was driving (she always seems to get the drama) and was able to navigate to an exit ramp and nearly level ground. We found a gash in the sidewall with steel belt shreds sticking out.


So I'm jacking up the rig and a U-Hual truck pulls up in front of us, not to help, but apparently waiting for two other cars that pulled up, out of view of the highway. So this is great, I'm looking over my shoulder at the Mexican border with a breaker bar in my hands and we are in the middle of an episode of "Breaking Bad". At least I did not see any guns.


We did get to Van Horn safely. There is no tire store in this little town that even heard of tire of our size and said that the nearest place that had our tire is in Denver. Luckily our next stop is Midland at the end of the week and the Discount Tire there can have a new Endurance E tire for us by the time we get there. They clearly knew what I was talking about and now I understand why people here think highly of them.


So it looks like our story will have a happy ending and the moral of the story is, if you don't have a TPMS, GET ONE!!!


Oh, and after tiring our fingers and wrists spinning on lug nuts, Joan immediately authorized the purchase of a cordless impact driver!!
Angus

[norty1]

I'm assuming that was a road hazard damage and not a tire failure?

[Joan617]

Originally Posted by norty1

I'm assuming that was a road hazard damage and not a tire failure?

We think so. The local tire guy thought it was a defect, but that's the same guy who did not believe me on the phone when I told him of the tire specifications. The guy at Discount Tire in Midland seemed very knowledgeable so I will get his opinion at the end of the week.


While winding through downtown El Paso on I-10, with more twists and turns than a roller coaster, our RV door flew open with the MoRyde stairs ready to fold out. (Did I mention that Joan gets all the drama?). Joan successfully and skillfully pulled over to a wide exit apron where I could safely exit and fix the door. There was a lot of debris on that highway shoulder, so we might have suffered damage there.

Angus

[PaulB12]

Looks like a high power bullet hole to me(hehe)!!!!
PaulB12

[Marko]

Joan617

Sorry to hear all that you went through. I read your post to my wife and she asked what kind of cordless impact gun are you getting? I am hoping she'll buy one for my birthday. Lol.

BTW I also have a TPMS. Good purchase.

Thanks for your post.

Marko

[Joan617]

Originally Posted by Marko

Joan617

Sorry to hear all that you went through. I read your post to my wife and she asked what kind of cordless impact gun are you getting? I am hoping she'll buy one for my birthday. Lol.

BTW I also have a TPMS. Good purchase.

Thanks for your post.

Marko

I'll go to Lowes and look at Dewalt since I have one of their Drills and 18v battery, or Craftsman since I have their nail gun. I went looking for a Porter Cable nailer but they stopped carrying it. Then I noticed that the Craftsman was in fact the Porter Cable gun simply molded in red and rebranded.

Angus

[AKRUEBBE]

Originally Posted by Joan617

We think so. The local tire guy thought it was a defect, but that's the same guy who did not believe me on the phone when I told him of the tire specifications. The guy at Discount Tire in Midland seemed very knowledgeable so I will get his opinion at the end of the week.


While winding through downtown El Paso on I-10, with more twists and turns than a roller coaster, our RV door flew open with the MoRyde stairs ready to fold out. (Did I mention that Joan gets all the drama?). Joan successfully and skillfully pulled over to a wide exit apron where I could safely exit and fix the door. There was a lot of debris on that highway shoulder, so we might have suffered damage there.

Angus

Angus, apparently your grab bar that folds against the door did not stop it from opening! I was always under the impression that it would. Safer travels!

[Joan617]

Originally Posted by AKRUEBBE

Angus, apparently your grab bar that folds against the door did not stop it from opening! I was always under the impression that it would. Safer travels!

Further investigation indicated that the MoRyde steps were banging on the inside of the door and even scratching it and that was making it more difficult to operate the deadbolt lock, so Joan just used the primary latch, thinking that locking it would be secure. What we have done now is fashion a scrap board across the door frame inside to physically block the stairs away from the door. Then with some lubricant and door no longer pressing outward, the deadbolt works smoothly and will be engaged every time in the furure.


It's a bit of a "Minute to Win It" moment, but we learned that the right road bump could jump the handrail out of it's bracket. It's less likely now that the door is better secured.
Angus

[Daniel Barbee]

Originally Posted by Marko

Joan617

Sorry to hear all that you went through. I read your post to my wife and she asked what kind of cordless impact gun are you getting? I am hoping she'll buy one for my birthday. Lol.

Marko

I travel with a DeWalt 20v 1/2” drive cordless impact that I bought from Lowe’s. They have medium torque (around 300 ft/lbs) and a high torque model. (around 700 ft/lbs)

I use it in my shop too and haven’t had to pull out my pneumatic impact in years. I still have the 18v version I bought previously and it works just as good but the 20v version isn’t as bulky.

I store the impact in a canvas bag along with a set of reversible lug sockets in various sizes that fit the trailer and all of our vehicles that I can throw in the baggage compartment before a trip. (Also bought a floor jack to keep in there all the time)

Highly recommended!

[Lake Huron]

I guess now we know why they are called Endurance tires,... they can endure a lot without coming apart. Lol! Sounds like you had a good ending there. No trailer damage is always good.

YEARS ago starting life in my own nest, I decided to buy some toys, jetski's. I had an issue with one and let the dealer repair it. That was the end of that. I decided if I'm having this stuff, I'm wrenching on it. I'm not paying someone an arm and a leg to do a job that I know I can do. That's when I decided i need tools. We HAD, past tense, a Sears around here that had a good size tool department. Paycheck was every other week, and I took my overtime money, and sometimes straight time money, and went on shopping sprees. Fast forward, today I have 1 triple stack toolbox and 1 double stack toolbox packed with just about every tool Craftsman made along with air compressors and air tools and a drill press. 6 or 7 years ago I discovered I needed a battery powered impact gun. I bought a impact and brushless drill combo. The impact is still going strong but the drill, very little use, crapped the farm. Good luck getting parts for it. I'm finding Sears and the Craftsman name are fading away. Our local sears store closed up about 3 years ago. I ended up replacing the drill with a Dewalt combo set from my local Lowes. It seems like their tool department is growing on a monthly basis. While on a road trip I needed a couple of tools and Lowes had exactly what I needed. I now have a nice on the road set of tools that I can fix just about anything.

Long and short of it, I'd stay away from the Craftsman stuff. It's getting harder to find out there and I think the quality is going downhill. I have yet to break anything Dewalt and i use their stuff at work every day and it's used hard. The Lowes Kobalt stuff seems pretty heavy duty and if it breaks, you take it to any Lowes, and theres a lot of them out there, and they give you a brand new one.

[RedHorse1]

I broke my 1/2” Craftsman ratchet a couple years back. I just turned 70 and figure I bought it in my late 20’s. Went to the local Sears hardware for hopefully a repair and discovered they couldn’t get parts for one that old. They’d give me a new one (made in China) but I’d have to give them my old one. Just couldn’t give it up, thanked them, left and started thinking about “plan B”.
eBay to the rescue, found the parts and for about $12 I had my old one back.
That store and the big Sears are gone now and I miss em.

[Joan617]

Discount Tire had no idea what happened to my tire; said it could be any one of a thousand things. They did remark that they had never seen a tire that size - its a ST255/ 85R16 on a Pinnacle and it was the 255 (width in mm) that surprised them. So if you need such a tire, call ahead as it will likely need to be ordered.

Strange, when I went to jack up the rig, I could not get the tire off the ground without running out of stroke on my bottle jack, even though I used more blocks. It was easy on the roadside, so I winder if having been hooked to the truck makes a difference in weight distribution? I used the same jack point on the frame.

I called Good Sam and they had a guy there in 20 minutes and he had the job done in 6 minutes with his pneumatic Jack and impact driver. But I winced when he put the jack under the axle. But it did get the wheel up enough with only a few inches of travel and the leveling jacks never left the ground.


Angus

[DrSmart]

We had Good Sam send a truck to replace a blown tire. When I saw him putting the jack under the axle, I told him to put it under the axle U-bolts.


Lots of people say they check tire pressure before they pull out, but once those wheels start turning, there's potential to go over a nail or screw let alone other road hazards. Your slow leak is a great example of advance warning and as said it prervented damage to the RV.

[Peoples16127]

I have a set of Ridgid battery operated power tools purchased from Home Depot, I like Ridgid because the tools, batteries and chargers have a lifetime service agreement. So far they have replaced two chargers, four batteries and repaired two tools for me at no charge. This was over a five year period and I use the tools several times a week.

[Armycamper24]

Originally Posted by Joan617

Yesterday for the second time, our TST TPMS alarmend. The first time, some month or two ago, it was a slow leak that allowed us to limp in to the next stop. This time, while not catastrophic, by the time I picked up the monitor, pressure was down from 80 psi and quickly dropping through the 50's. We were on a remote stretch of I-10 in TX within sight of the Mexican border. Joan was driving (she always seems to get the drama) and was able to navigate to an exit ramp and nearly level ground. We found a gash in the sidewall with steel belt shreds sticking out.


So I'm jacking up the rig and a U-Hual truck pulls up in front of us, not to help, but apparently waiting for two other cars that pulled up, out of view of the highway. So this is great, I'm looking over my shoulder at the Mexican border with a breaker bar in my hands and we are in the middle of an episode of "Breaking Bad". At least I did not see any guns.


We did get to Van Horn safely. There is no tire store in this little town that even heard of tire of our size and said that the nearest place that had our tire is in Denver. Luckily our next stop is Midland at the end of the week and the Discount Tire there can have a new Endurance E tire for us by the time we get there. They clearly knew what I was talking about and now I understand why people here think highly of them.


So it looks like our story will have a happy ending and the moral of the story is, if you don't have a TPMS, GET ONE!!!


Oh, and after tiring our fingers and wrists spinning on lug nuts, Joan immediately authorized the purchase of a cordless impact driver!!
Angus

After having a TST , I would leave home with out it. After the Teconsha brake control, the best money spent

[MarkV]

I lived through a couple of ordeals like that with some very good friends of mine. Fortunately we were able to help them pull through it. So now it has me searching for an aftermarket spare tire carrier and spare tire.

Question what TPMS system are you using

Mark

And you're lucky Joan drives. The missus duped me into buying a Class C because she said the front looks like a van and she could drive it. It's been 3 years and she has yet to even sit in the driver's seat

[Blackey]

In my experience traveling in that area and I’ve crossed that stretch of Highway over forty times I would expect say I use to have to travel between Alamogorodo and San Antonio for medical appointments every three or four weeks for 6 to 9 months or longer s and I use to toe back East every summer plus an half a docent toys to the gulf coast.

I never travel without an firearm at hand, a cell phone ( learned that on a trip to sa when the heaters squirrel cage went haywire in a Ford Aerostar van and it sounded like the engine was coming apart,). Water and a heavy jacket and bedroll are all good things to have in case you break down out in the middle of nowhere and have to hunker down unti
L a trooper comes by. I like discount tire fore everything besides the super c which uses truck tires.

[Joan617]

Originally Posted by MarkV

I lived through a couple of ordeals like that with some very good friends of mine. Fortunately we were able to help them pull through it. So now it has me searching for an aftermarket spare tire carrier and spare tire.

Question what TPMS system are you using

Mark

And you're lucky Joan drives. The missus duped me into buying a Class C because she said the front looks like a van and she could drive it. It's been 3 years and she has yet to even sit in the driver's seat

The TPMS system we have is TST and we bought it from TechnoRV.com. My only complaint about it is that while the color display of the monitor is easy on the eyes, it can be hard to read under certain lighting conditions. Ironically, the most important alarm messages are in red against the black screen and is hard to read under certain lighting. But when it is screaming its fool head off, whoever is riding shotgun can quickly grab the screen and hold it in the proper angle to read it and asses the situation.


I also like TST because when I have called them two times with routine tech support questions, they answer the phone promptly, introduce themselves by name, are very friendly and are never condescending if it turns out you ask a stupid question.


Joan is a great sport when driving. We take random turns for driving and she gets the hard trips, by chance. The next thing she wants to learn is backing in to a spot with a blind turn. Years ago I had open heart surgery for a congenital heart defect and I could not drive for four weeks because the doctors did not want my chest near an air bag. We both know that any mishap could sideline one of us, so we both need to know all the tasks for travel days.
-Angus

[Poppyof5]

What brand TPMS do you use i need a new one

[JohnAZ]

Recommend Tireminder and Milwaukee M18 Fuel Impact wrench 2767.

Have used Tireminder 5 years, adding sensors as rigs changed. Original 4 still work! Saved our bacon several times catching a low tire before it blew. Will handle 20 something sensors.

The 2767-22 comes with case, 2 5 ah batteries and charger. 1000 ftlb on (CW) and 1400 ftlb off (CCW)