Not one of our better days.... - Montana Owners Club

Glenn and Lorraine · 05-18-2009, 03:36 PM

The day started out just fine. Our first stop was the Flying J on I-95 North Carolina exit number 106. Fuel price 2.25. Also had a great buffet.
Pulled out at about 9AM heading north. Got into Virginia and stopped at the Welcome Center. Double check the rig and everything appeared fie. We again set of north bound. Got to a Rest Area and decided to stop as the next rest area was 73 miles away.
Used the facilities and when I got back out to the rig I find my left front tire low on air. Not flat just low. I limped to the next exit and found a garage. They couldn't repair the Chinese tire as it had tread seperation so I just had them put the spare on. Which BTW the spare was the only Mission I had left.
I ran north about 25 miles and found a Merchants Tire.
To make a long story short, I now have 4 Carlisle, MADE IN THE USA, tires. I did have the best(?) of the Chinese junk put up as a spare.
The whole affair cost me about 3 1/2 to 4 hours travel time and over 500 bucks. Having been in the tire shop for many years I do know a reputable shop from one run by an idiot manager. Merchants Tire is owned by Tire Kingdom, the same company I have bought all my Michelins from. The same shop that installed 4 new shocks and aligned the front end of my TV. The same company I will always deal with I just won't deal with the one in Petersburg VA.
I was so late the Keystone RV Park I was headed for closed at 6PM. I got there at 7:30. Unbelievably the park was locked up with no way of getting in and so I find myself checking into Artilery Ridge in Gettysburg at 8:45PM. It is a PPA and I did save 23 bucks but all in all I am not a happy camper.
Only good part is I now have 8 brand new American Made tires on the ground.

Mrs. CountryGuy · 05-18-2009, 03:44 PM

Not sure if I should say, I am sorry, or I am glad.

whew, days like that are NOT fun.

congrats on the new shoes for the rig tho.

SlickWillie · 05-18-2009, 03:47 PM

Glenn, were those the tires that Tireco is replacing the Missions with? Perhaps Carlisle has seen the light. I know the reviews on their Chinese tires haven't been very good. Good luck.

Glenn and Lorraine · 05-18-2009, 03:57 PM

Will, no they were not. I never bothered with Tireco as when it happened to me Tireco wasn't being much help at all. I had 2 tires fail in Iowa in Sept 07 and just put on what the dealer had in stock. 3 weeks later in Kentucky the other 2 failed and I did the same thing about replacing those 2.
To be honest I couldn't even tell you the names but I do know they were made in China.

Emmel · 05-19-2009, 03:18 AM

Glenn, it pays to keep an eye on the rig like you did. Thank goodness you caught it before you had a real problem on the highway!

ChuckandKathy · 05-19-2009, 04:07 AM

We purchsed our Montana Big Sky in Oct 2008 and moved into it in March of this year. We will be leaving Az for Washington state on June 6th and before we leave we are putting all new tires on the Monty. Reading all of the posts about the tires scared us and we did not want to have any problems because of tires! This forum has a lot of useful information.

boylanag · 05-19-2009, 04:48 AM

Glenn, sorry that you had the problems but very glad that you are back on your "feet" now.

H. John Kohl · 05-19-2009, 05:31 AM

Like wise, sorry about the problem but glad it was not a blow out and lots of damage.
See you in a week.

Bill-N-Donna · 05-19-2009, 07:08 AM

Good catch Glenn!
It’s never convenient when something happens but that is what all of our MOC discussions are about, sharing our experiences and remaining one step ahead. Even though you had some minor inconvenience and aggravation, you’re experience and knowledge paid off well for you.

stiles watson · 05-19-2009, 09:59 AM

I understand the consternation about lost time and delays, but maybe, just maybe you had a good day. No blowout causing damage. Now you feel more secure with good rubber on the ground. Not the day you had planned, but maybe still a good day.

racerjoe · 05-19-2009, 01:01 PM

maybe we have been lucky, on our 05 Montana, it came with Tacoma radials, made in the usa. So far they seem to be holding up real well,but we also do not have the miles you and others travel every year. They seem to be a good tire,so far so good...

Glenn and Lorraine · 05-19-2009, 01:36 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by racerjoe

maybe we have been lucky, on our 05 Montana, it came with Tacoma radials, made in the usa. So far they seem to be holding up real well,but we also do not have the miles you and others travel every year. They seem to be a good tire,so far so good...

I had Tacoma's on my 04 and only once did I have a problem and it was not the tires fault. Somewhere I managed to pick up a nail. Again, I saw the low tire in a rest stop and was able to get off at the next exit and get it patched. Other than that those Tacoma's gave me excellent service. Have no idea why Montana changed brands when they already had a great tire.

The bad day saga continues...
Coming up I-83 around Harrisburg, PA, possibly the worst stretch of hiway in Penna, I had a driver pull up along side motioning me to pull over. Well guess what was going thru my mind? OH NO not another one. Well it wasn't another tire problem. Seems my tailgate dropped down and I was littering the hiway with a 75 foot garden hose w/nozzle, 2- steel jack stands, 3- 12" 4X4s and the big plastic milk crate the stuff was stored in. Fortunately there was not damage to the undercarriage of the trailer or to any other vehicles on the road.

We are now at my daughters and my grandson looks great but that is for another post.

Jay Bird · 05-19-2009, 01:56 PM

Good to see that all was well in the end. We will be spending the night at Artillery Ridge on out way to Byron. We have stayed there several times.

bigmurf · 05-19-2009, 02:16 PM

Quote: The bad day saga continues...
Coming up I-83 around Harrisburg, PA, possibly the worst stretch of hiway in Penna, I had a driver pull up along side motioning me to pull over. Well guess what was going thru my mind? OH NO not another one. Well it wasn't another tire problem. Seems my tailgate dropped down and I was littering the hiway with a 75 foot garden hose w/nozzle, 2- steel jack stands, 3- 12" 4X4s and the big plastic milk crate the stuff was stored in. Fortunately there was not damage to the undercarriage of the trailer or to any other vehicles on the road. end quote

That will teach you to talk about Louvered Tailgates.gg

Waynem · 05-20-2009, 04:16 AM

Glenn,
You have made a very good point of why we should do a walk-around whenever we stop for rest, fuel, food, or whatever reason. It only takes a minute. Whatever will happen after it is checked and your are on the road, well, will just happen.

Do you know why your tailgate would open? Bad latch? Not double checked to see if it was latched? etc.?

Edited: My minds reasoning is that I have had tailgates where after a length of time the mechanism starts sticking. this will cause the tailgate to be hard to open, or the little tabs not to go all the way into the catches at the end. A mechanic showed me how to pop off the plastic trim around the handle and spray WD-40 in and around all the areas, then do the same on the ends where the latches are. What a difference that made in the integrity of the closing of the tailgate.

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