When we tried to apply the tire pressure monitoring system we discovered it. We'd been cheated! Lied to!
We have 6 tires on the rig, and one spare tire.
We'd asked for the best one of the bunch to be made into the spare, and paid for mounting/balancing of 7 tires. When Lance was installing the tire pressure monitoring system he noticed the "new" tires we'd bought were actually a year and a half old already (we're supposed to replace RV tires when they're 5 years old), and the original spare remains untouched. Irritating.
Two phone calls later, and the spare tire project was back on the schedule (the tire shop's response: "we forgot, sorry, we'll pull the best one off the pile now, come on back in", 3 hours of waiting room later and we have the best old tire as a spare now), and a conversation with Michelin "the shelf life for a tire at the factory is 3 years and still considered new, hold onto the receipt so the first year and half of the life of the tire doesn't count against you". Rrrrgggh.
This is not a good beginning to our maintenance relationship with the RV.
But I feel better knowing that the tires are handled. I suppose it's no different from any other automobile or home repair - gotta find the right repair guys and hammer it into submission one project at a time.
On the upside, after the spare was handled, I drove on to visit a client in the neighborhood. He owns a successful business which he built himself, and in a home near the beach which he doesn't get to visit as often as he'd like. He too got a wistful look in his eye when he saw the RV and heard our dream of cruising across the open land to see new vistas. I see that look a lot nowadays when I paint my picture of adventure, as I've chosen to explain it to each of my clients one at a time. Maybe it's just that my clients are mostly entrepreneurs so they're already brave adventurers at heart, but I don't think that's entirely the story. I suppose as we go along and I mingle more with the general public we'll see if I notice that same far-off look from the rest of the population too.
Two phone calls later, and the spare tire project was back on the schedule (the tire shop's response: "we forgot, sorry, we'll pull the best one off the pile now, come on back in", 3 hours of waiting room later and we have the best old tire as a spare now), and a conversation with Michelin "the shelf life for a tire at the factory is 3 years and still considered new, hold onto the receipt so the first year and half of the life of the tire doesn't count against you". Rrrrgggh.
This is not a good beginning to our maintenance relationship with the RV.
But I feel better knowing that the tires are handled. I suppose it's no different from any other automobile or home repair - gotta find the right repair guys and hammer it into submission one project at a time.
On the upside, after the spare was handled, I drove on to visit a client in the neighborhood. He owns a successful business which he built himself, and in a home near the beach which he doesn't get to visit as often as he'd like. He too got a wistful look in his eye when he saw the RV and heard our dream of cruising across the open land to see new vistas. I see that look a lot nowadays when I paint my picture of adventure, as I've chosen to explain it to each of my clients one at a time. Maybe it's just that my clients are mostly entrepreneurs so they're already brave adventurers at heart, but I don't think that's entirely the story. I suppose as we go along and I mingle more with the general public we'll see if I notice that same far-off look from the rest of the population too.
5 years? I believe aging out of tires begins more like 7 years unless they've really been abused and developed cracks, etc. I'm all for safety too and we've budgeted for new tires every 7 years - 5 is just too soon.
ReplyDeleteAs for the look - yep, you'll get it when you explain your circumstances. As soon as we mention we're full timers we see the wistful, wishful look in their eyes.
Thanks Dennis, that's a relief. The ones that were on there last week ranged from 9,10, and 12 years old, and some showed significant cracking so they definitely needed attention. Glad we don't have to budget this again for a while - wallet is still whimpering.
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