A Trip To The Plant

[Commanche]

In conjunction with our trip to Richmond Hill, GA (Savannah area) to spend Thanksgiving with our Daughter and Son-in-Law, we decided to drop off the trailer at the plant for some upgrades (stuff we should have gotten on the initial purchase).

As we were driving down I70 just west of Columbia, MO. a car passed us and the lady in the passenger seat was pointing back at the trailer. I could not see anything that was out of place, and there was a exit about 1/2 mile ahead, so we pulled over to have a look. Wow, were we in for a big surprise. The right front tire on the trailer was completely destroyed. The tread was separated from the sidewall all the way around the tire.

I got the spare on in short order and got another surprise, the spare is smaller then the other four. We continued on without any further problems. Dustin told us the size tires on the trailer will not fit in the spare cover.

On inspection of the tire, I found a small thin sliver of very sharp steel poking through the tire between the lugs. I expect the tire slowly leaked air till it overheated and came apart. This whole time I never felt the trailer pull any different, it tracked straight, and just felt normal. We may want to look into one of those remote air pressure systems, it probably would have saved the tire.

 

On our way back Monday, they had a few items to finish up, so we snooped around the plant, looking for ideas (always looking for ideas). I told Carol we were going to double check everything before we left, and we didn't, dang it. We got about half way home and stopped for a late lunch only to find we had no table top. Guess they took it out and forgot to put it back, plus somehow the frig was on DC and sucking all the juice out of the batteries.

We talked to Dustin this morning and they are going to ship the table top to us.

 

Other then that we had a very nice time with our Son and his family and Daughter and Son-in-Law with temps in the low 70's and sunshine. Of course good times always come to an end , as we drove through rain and holiday traffic most of the way home.

 

Time to start planning our next trip, probably Florida in Jan or Feb, never been there.

 

Stan

[ScubaRx]

Stan,

Sorry to hear of your poor luck but glad nothing more came of it. What did you do about replacement of the old tire? I have got to get back to Hohenwald to get some stuff done to the OO. We are leaving after the first of the year for a couple of months in the desert Southwest so I need to get these things done soon. I hear there some festive doings up that way during the first three weeks of December so that gives us something to do while there.

[SeaDawg]

Bummer about losing the tire. We discovered how valuable tire sensors are in one of our first trips with the Dodge 4 x 4, which has sensors. The sensor light came on, and Paul pulled of the road immediately. We found a huge bolt in our rear tire, but the local tire shop was able to repair it because we caught it early. Those big tires are pricey, and we were really happy. (Also lucky to find a tire shop where the owners spoke English.)

After that, we installed a tire sensor system on the trailer tires. I have a thread on here from years back. We've had great customer service from them over the years. We do carry one spare sensor in case one fails. The factory swaps it out, but you have to send yours in to get the replacement. (Free under warranty, I think about $20 or so after warranty.)

 

I also noticed that Northern Tool has their system on sale right now for only $99, but it has only two reviews. One five star, one 1 star... a real split there, and I've never seen it, so I can't recommend. At least Northern Tool has a good refund policy if it doesn't work out of the box. (And, if you buy something else for $1, there's a free $10 gift card on a $100 purchase.)

 

Sherry

[Commanche]

The guys at the plant took care of mounting the new tire and disposing of the old one. At that point I was not interested in hunting for a tire shop, and just wanted to get a match to the rest of the tires.

 

Stan

[topgun2]

SeaDawg,

 

Thanks for the heads up on the tire pressure sensors at Northern Tool. I ordered a set but since I don't get my Oliver until mid February I will not be able to test them, However, as soon as I get back from delivery I'll be sure to post my review here.

 

Bill

[JuniorBirdMan]

Six years ago I completely shredded a tire and damaged the wheel before I knew I had a flat on my Ollie. I then added a TPMS system and since then have had it warn me on two occasions that a tire was deflating. In both cases I was able to see the actual pressure and find a safe area to pull off the road before going completely flat. Additionally, I always know what my pressures are without having to check them with a gauge before leaving a campsite. The peace of mind is well worth the cost.

 

I would put a TPMS as #1 on my aftermarket wishlist for any trailer.