Spare tires
I come to my Grayhawk 31DS after a couple fifthwheelers. On each fifth wheel I suffered blowouts at inopportune times (is there ever a good time for a blow out?). I was very happy to see my Grayhawk with a set of Michelin tires, surely they will last longer than the fifth wheel off brands. besides I have two years of Coach Net to help me if needed.
As the time for a trip of 2000 miles approached I became paranoid about the fact that I don't have a spare. I looked around for a used rim and found nothing in my area, I re-read the Coach Net contract and found that they will fix my tire and charge me for a new tire if the tire requires replacement. I then wondered how all this would work and how long would it take to find my exact tire and get it to me on the side of some highway. The day before I left on the trip I went to a local tire store that had my size Michelin and bought it and put in the bed of my TOAD under the tonneau cover, no rim, just the bare tire.
Just like I had a crystal ball, I was 1000 miles from home and packing up for the trip home the next day when I noticed a low tire, checked and it was 40 lbs. My wife called Coach Net and they took all the info (tons of info) and then promised help with in an hour. good as gold the guy showed up one hour and five minutes later. He removed the tire, checked for leaks, took the tire off the rim to check the inside, finally determined that a valve extension that I put on several days before was the cause of the problem. Total charge for the service call and more than an hours time by the tech who also checked all my tire pressures was ZERO dollars.
I asked him what would have happened if I needed a new tire? He said that he had brought one with him and it would have cost me $25 less than the one I brought from home. BUT, it was not a Michelin, it was a Goodyear. I'm certain that the Goodyear is a good tire, but I want a matched set so even though we didn't need to replace the tire, I was happy knowing that I had an exact copy of what was on my rig if needed.
I imagine that there are others that have wondered what they can expect with a break down like this, maybe my story will give some idea. I actually feel lucky that this happened as it did on a no pressure day in a campground rather than along side a busy interstate at rush hour.
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