| [GMCnet] Jaunt to Alaska - the first 600 miles [message #300248] |
Sat, 07 May 2016 10:45  |
glwgmc
Messages: 1014
Registered: June 2004
Karma:
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Senior Member |
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After a fun sorority reunion for Sharon in Portland, OR, we are now in Spokane, WA, visiting for a few days before heading for Jasper, AB, and then north to AK. The Royale is loaded to the gunnels and ran like a champ, except for not liking winter gas going up hill in warm to hot weather. A few vapor lock symptoms that the electric fuel pump fixed. The last big outing in the Royale took place in Feb so the fuel in the tank when we left was winter blend fuel. It took a couple of 250 mile fill ups to dilute that with summer blend so I don't expect much issue from here.
Before we left I did my normal every two year replacement of two tires, all 16" load range E BFG Commercial TAs. About 50 miles out from Spokane we could feel a bit of a vibration that was speed related. I stopped and ran my hands over all six tires. None were hotter than the others and all six felt the same with no apparent bumps or bulges so I thought maybe we had tossed a wheel weight. Nope. A loud bang followed by lots of flailing against the side of the coach shortly after exiting off the freeway let us know in no uncertain way that a tire had blown. When we got safely to the side of the road and surveyed the damage we found bad news and good news.
The good news was the Alcoa rim still appeared to be undamaged. The bad news was the whole tread had separated, zipping almost all the way off like an old retread. What was left of the tread strip knocked the step off, beat up the paint, picked out both bogie greasers, tore the T skirt loose and didn't help the plastic chrome trim around the wheel openings on the T skirt. Nothing that will hamper our continuing adventure, but enough to require some time in dock to effect repairs.
An interesting side note. We choose the BFG tires because they are available nearly everywhere. Well they are available here but the well known western tire company that came out to do the wheel change doesn't carry them and now claims the price for that one tire will be $100 more than we paid our local gas station in rural So. OR! But, they were Johnny on the spot and got to us within a few minutes of our call so I guess I can't complain too much in the grand scheme of things.
The tire that blew had a 2011 date code, had lots of tread left, and had been rotated every 5000 to 6000 miles. It was the forward PS bogie. That is the only spot where we have ever had tire issues on either of the coaches. That is the same spot where we lost a tire on this coach in the middle of no where Iowa on our way to the Maritime Provinces in 2010. Interesting as that wheel measures frame parallel, the tread showed no unusual wear and that tire was the same temp as all the others.
Hopefully, that will be the only unwanted adventure on this journey!
Jerry
Jerry Work
The Dovetail Joint
Fine furniture designed & hand crafted
in the 1907 former Masonic Temple building
in historic Kerby, OR
http://jerrywork.com
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Jerry & Sharon Work
78 Royale
Kerby, OR
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