Tire Care And To Clarify

Hi, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving day yesterday.

I was solo, but still wanted to follow tradition, so cooked a small turkey, stuffing, gravy, peas, a yam & cranberry sauce. I wanted to keep it relatively simple since I was to be alone. Once done, I really wasn't hungry anymore, so I just made a small plate for myself.

Cleaned the turkey off the bone, put all that in the fridge.

The bones are still in the slowcooker for the dogs. Once they get really soft & mash well, it's nutritious to pour a little bit over their food. So they will have a good Thanksgiving for the next few days too!

I had a leg for lunch today. Was going to make a sandwich, but that even seemed like cooking, so I grabbed a leg instead!
 

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OK, now to clarify. I was pretty down on my last post. I'm still grieving for Bravo & my father-in-law, so anything that isn't all that bad (as in it is totally fixable) seemed to be the end of everything in my head.

 

The overhead issues: They are covered by the place that did the rebuild. All I have to do is take the RV back to them & get insistent that they get it right this time & fix new issues that have arose from their work. There are no leaks. I did take the glazing bead off & can't get it back on. Which should not be my job anyhow as it's covered by them. So I taped plastic over the window for protection & will get the motorhome into them soon.

 

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The tires:

 

It's not as bad as it appeared the other day. I was stricken with grief. I was getting the RV road ready to go to the funeral, which was in Corpus Christi. 200 miles south. When I discovered that I had a flat tire & that the spare has a nail in it, that put me over the edge. I could not do the trip. It tore at my heart strings terribly that I could not be there for the family. In actuality, it may have been better that I could not make it because the drive would have been long & I was devastated. Driving under those conditions would not have been a good thing. I had two sick dogs that I feared leaving in anyone else's hands, so leaving them would only have added more stress to me.

 

I am human.

 

And I'm very emotional right now.

 

But I've gotten a grip & decided this morning that it's really probably not good for the RV to be sitting on one inflated & one deflated dually on the drivers side of the rig as they both need to support the weight of the rig.

 

So I grabbed my tire inflator & went to work.

 

I love this tire inflator. It's a 12 volt inflator, which means it plugs into the cig lighter. It is capable of airing my tires up as my tires PSI is 80 pounds. I keep them around 75 pounds each. It's a better quality inflator than the cheap types that you will find at retail outlets, but the cheap ones really won't hold out for RV usage. This one is a Bonaire model.

 

 

 

 

 

I have extensions on my dual tires. After a couple of years of frustration of trying to fill those tires without them, I finally gave in & got them! I was told they leak, they are awful, blah, blah, blah...well, I love them & I must be able to fill my tires on my own! You can see how tiny the holes on my wheels are. It's very hard to get your hands in there to find the tire stems, then try getting an inflator connection to that stem was yet another frustration! Even tire professionals had a difficult time with my tires.

My RV also didn't come with pretty hubcaps. However, I've never had a tire person complain about that!

 

Soooo, here was my problem...

 

You see the stem pin? Well it was loose & leaking! So it wasn't the tire after all, but the stem pin that was the issue.

 

The resolution:

A 4 way tool!! These are very inexpensive. It cost me under $5.00 at an auto part store. See the tip that I have standing? It fits over the stem pin & you just tighten that pin back down!!

Thanks to another fellow dog show RVer, in 2010 when in Kentucky for the Saluki Nationals, I was filling my tires. He noticed me doing so, so came over to see if I needed any help. Air came streaming out of that tire when I took the metal cap off the extension! He took off to see if he had his tool with him, which he didn't, but I had a pair of thin nosed pliers, so he kind of tightened it till I could get that tool. I got one & I gotta tell ya, it's magic!

 

So I'm happy to say that the tire itself is ok, it was the pin on the extension's stem that was just loose!

 

Whew.

 

And just like that day in Ky, I had a helper..I had helpers today too.

 

This guy came out to supervise:

 

This guy came over for moral support...or maybe to play with my stem caps in the possibility of losing them! Alas though, he didn't like the sound of the inflator & any running engine will get him running off in another direction -- which is a good thing.

 

So back to the inflator:

It has a nice functional accurate gauge on it. When using it, it's best to start the engine while it's plugged into your cig lighter as that keeps your engine battery strong. Plus since the RV sits so much, it also gives the engine a bit of a work out too. As you can see, the tire I was inflating was inflated to around 75 PSI.

 

Any woman can do this.

 

Really.

 

We need to be able to take care of ourselves, even if you travel with a partner, it's still a good idea to know how to do these things. For a solo RVer, this is a MUST in maintenance! You always want to be traveling on safely inflated tires.

 

Always.

 

 

I also keep my tires covered, so once done, I put the covers back on them. The covers are supposed to help protect the tires from sun damages. I used to use a tire spray on them as well that was supposed to help keep them somewhat moisturised & protect them from the sun as well. But I'm not sure it's a good idea as I've also read that it doesn't allow the rubber to breathe. It's one of those controversies I guess.

 

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I'll get into my overhead cab issues in another post once the RV goes back for repairs. Again. Sigh.

But all in all, there are no leaks.

 

Still, it should have been done correctly in the first place...

The overhead cab with plastic sheeting taped to it. The window is still sealed down, but since the glazing bead is off, I don't want to take any chances.

Note the tape over the edge of the corner of the drivers side cab sidewall though...yep, one of the problem areas. It is becoming unglued!! So that will be addressed as well.

The passenger side of the overhead cab. Yep, it settled like they told me it would, although I didn't believe them at the time! I still don't like the crazy seam strip there, but at least the cab is functional & usable again. And no leaks!

 

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~