Standard Newb Intro

[GumbyN28]

hello.
new guy to this forum. now "middle aged" guy who's wife wanted us to get a camper. bought the camper slightly used in 2016. would go camping with her parents (her dad had an older Tiffen Allegro Bay, then traded it for a newer Allegro Bay - then he passed away the next year). it was nice to camp with other people you could spend time with. wife and I are fairly laid back, we don't go camping to raise hell and have the rangers called on us at 1am... she quilts/sews, i do outside work (fires, cook, clean, etc), and ride my bike and read books. relaxing stuff.

setup:
2014 Jayco Eagle 33.5 RKTS 5th wheel
2012 F250 diesel

haven't really taken it on looooong distances as we have had horrible luck with tires. the original "china bombs" blew up our 2nd season with it over labor day weekend on 3 different occasions. twice on the way to our site, first was outside Emporia, KS. waited for it to be fixed, then drove about 13 more miles and the one next to it blew as well. now we were further in the middle of nowhere with coyotes and no cell service... got that one fixed and slowly rolled into our campsite at midnight. after that weekend was over and we were headed back home, had 1 last blowout just east of Topeka. 3 in 1 weekend.

last end of summer, just headed down the highway about an hour, have our Goodyears on now, 2 yrs old, and one popped when we went over a bridge on hwy 70 just north of Lawrence (i think it was the metal pieces in the road where it goes from highway to the bridge - cuz that's right when it happened)... ripped off the fender skirting. limped off the bridge and waited.
so, 4 total blowouts. 3 china bombs, one "goodyear" 10 ply. i don't speed, i check air pressure before every trip.

so, we have only camped within about a 3-4 hour drive away. i just don't trust the tires, and i have rotten luck. came here to ask about slide out issues, i have a post down in that area if anyone wants to point and laugh

i really love the layout of the 33.5 RKTS. most other campers are just a slightly altered version of the others. glad we lucked into it.

haven't had many issues, aside from tires, and now the slide issue (i think it's due to a dealership in southern KC that we didn't have a good experience with that did our slide out adjustment/service while fixing the skirting after the last blowout). the end cap is faded, like everyone elses 2014s.

yep... so, here i am, my intro.

[Marcm157]

Sorry for your troubles - Welcome to the group!

[TaftCoach]

Welcome from Texas!

[GumbyN28]

thx

[RogerR]

Welcome, a few years back I did not know that tires came with a speed rating and blew 2 on the way from Illinois to Disney and one on the way back. I also did not know about aging out and not to buy old tires that have on the shelf for to many years. (the one on the way back was new to me but well out of date.

Running Goodyear Endurance now and very happy. Not sure it they make your size but lots of posts on other ones. TPMS, sun shields when stored, pre-trip inspections all will help.

PS Quilter??, consider Shipshewanna, IN. Tons of Quilt shops, Amish shops and factory tours of rv builders in the area.

[GumbyN28]

Originally Posted by RogerR

Running Goodyear Endurance now and very happy. Not sure it they make your size but lots of posts on other ones. TPMS, sun shields when stored, pre-trip inspections all will help.

PS Quilter??, consider Shipshewanna, IN. Tons of Quilt shops, Amish shops and factory tours of rv builders in the area.

yep, that's what we ended up buying after the 3 china bombs blew up on us in 1 weekend.

then had one of the Goodyears, only 2 yrs old, properly inflated, going 65 or less, popped on us when we hit the metal separator strip in the highway going over a bridge.

a few of my buddies continue to tell me to up my game to 14 ply tires. one is a full time trucker, the other has a very large Grand Design Solitude he takes all over the country.

granted, i'm not a "tire guy"... that's what "tire guys" are for, is to be "tire guys", so i had no idea that the tires i had were Chinese and had already had the tread separating.

as far as the quilting goes, if i had any faith in my tires, i'd gladly drive out that way to check on the RV manufacturing plants while my wife goes shopping. i'm normally a pack mule for her anyway.

[RoadrunnerII]

So givin you have blown 3 tires...
Your trailer is similar design to ours...
Couple things to look at
On drivers side you have that big kitchen slide
Have you looked above tires on the slide bottom. Any scuff marks?
Have you weighed the trailer loaded go?

Found our rear spring flattened out... Lippert warranty replaced all 4 springs.
Ours had 4 leaf 3k rated springs.
Trailer runs about 10k on the axles but..... The kitchen slide side is 10% heavier than door side
Lippert states their springs should not be loaded more than 80% of rated capacity. I was over 90%.
I paid the price difference to go up to 3500 lb springs. Trailer is maybe an inch taller. 3500 lb springs are 6 leaf.
I run Michelin Rib tires on our trailer They are all position truck or trailer tires
Slightly less load capacity per tire but beefier tire in my humble opinion. They where bought in 2016. No issues so far.
Just my 1/2 cent but I would be looking for scuffs and get that side weighed. That big slide has a lot of weight in it. Our trailer also has the furnace, water heater, pantry, pot and pans, dishes all stored in the cabinets on that side
Add the fridge, range, microwave, electric fireplace and 50 inch TV....

RoadrunnerII

[GumbyN28]

ah, good insight on that aspect.

we have the couch, kitchen, L shaped counter, fridge, water heater, furnace, bedroom slide all on that side of the camper.

but, i know that we don't have any scuff marks under the slide from the tires bottoming out (due to the leaf springs). the only damage we had was when the tire blew (on that side - 3 of the 4 have been on that side), and the Goodyear tread was flopping around until i could limp across the bridge to the shoulder.

haven't had the camper weighed when loaded up, we barely load it up with much, still would be nice to find out.

i think my 10 ply tires are only rated for 3500 lbs each. i knew when i was researching them.

been wanting to upgrade to 14 ply, but that's more money i don't want to have to throw down on tires this year.

[RoadrunnerII]

If it's handy for you find a grain elevator and weigh it off. Our local elevator will do it free. Weigh truck front axle Then move up get truck rear... Then move whole rig. Then just back one side of trailer on scale. Then unhook and weigh just truck separate front then rear. Do a little math and you Know what weights you have. Then the tire decision is clear. Pick a time when they are quiet. Or spend a few bucks at a truck stop scales.
By design you could be heavy on those tires. Are the tires wearing evenly? Are the axles same spacing between the tires each side? If not axles could be mounted out of alignment or bent.

Trailer and truck are a big investment. Need to look after it or it just isn't fun!

RoadrunnerII

[sturgissteele]

Welcome from SW Michigan!