| [GMCnet] Info from FMCA [message #128564] |
Sat, 04 June 2011 00:16  |
Gerald Work
Messages: 102
Registered: June 2010
Karma:
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Senior Member |
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Hi all,
We are at the FMCA regional rally in Albany, OR. Today a very knowledgeable tire gave one of the more informative tire seminars I have heard for some time. When asked about the five year "rule" he traced that backwards. Seems several years ago the tire companies were finding that while RVs represented only .3% of their large tire business they accounted for nearly 25% of their warrantee issues in these sizes. They formed an industry task force to try to determine what to do. Two major findings. The vast majority of issues were on inside duals blowing out from under inflation(usually because the stem extension started leaking air at the seal) and the issues occurred mostly from six years and out (measured from date of service, not date of manufacture). They concluded the best course of action was to recommend replacement at five service years in RV use. The root cause they found was tire deterioration from lack of use and owners not tightening the stem extensions perio
dically. Same tires used on trucks that were used consistently had vastly lower rates of failure.
His conclusion was change at five years independent of tread if you drive less than 10,000 miles per year and replace based on tread wear/depth if you drive more no matter what the age. He said they found no evidence that tires deteriorate on the shelf so service age not manufacture date is the key. His facility in Junction City, OR sees nearly 2000 motor homes a year for everything from new tires, replacements for tire damage, rotations to pressure monitors. They also service an even greater number of trucks of all sizes.
The second thing of interest for our coaches was his take on the several kinds of balancing beads. From his experience they work well as long as the air in the tire is dry and they cause all kinds of issues if the air is not dry. They will only use the beads if the owner insists and then they tell them of the potential problems. Based on their experience they now charge more to mount tires with customer supplied beads than they do for conventional balancing and they no longer sell any form of balancing beads. The issue comes from airing up in places where they do not properly service the air tanks, dryers and lines. At his facility they service everything every day and have instruments to measure how dry the air is all throughout the day but he said many truck stops and service stations do not and those are the ones where water can be introduced inside the tire.
On nitrogen the answer was no, it is promoted within the industry primarily as a way to increase margins for the tire store.
Jerry Work
78 Royale rear lounge
Sent from my iPad
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