dougrainer wrote:
parkmanaa wrote:
"40 years in the tire industry; seen it all and done most of it"
Tell us where you find a "qualified" Tire Technician? ...AND, knowing how RV'ers are loath to spend any money for this type thing, what rv'er would take the time and money to do such a thing every year after that 5 years? Doug
I was amused to see what you had to say, and then see your name is Doug. When I flew light aircraft (3000+ hours in the air, 20 years an aircraft owner) my A&P was a guy named Doug, and he said the same thing about airplane owners. But he had a question he asked me every time I balked at spending big maintenance money...
"
WTF is your life worth?"
I never take the word of people on the internet, even if they agree with me. I don't know if anyone has ever asked them,
that question. Far too many self-proclaimed experts on this stuff, and by golly they'll be more than happy to tell you all about it.
So before you go cheap on those tires, batteries (
why did someone think it'd be a good idea to name a battery company after a prophylactic company? People are weird) and other time-limited parts, ask yourself my A&P's question. Might save your life.
I'm retired, and I might just call the time manufacturers and ask them for a list of truly qualified tire technicians, and just the name of a tire retailer is NOT acceptable. See what I come up with.
The stuff about heat, the desert southwest in particular, is very relevant. For weekend warriors, some of these issues are more time-related than wear-related. When I see a rig with 20,000 miles, 20 years old and the same times, I know new tires better be in the acquisition budget, because I'll never trust tires with unknown time or very low mileage numbers, given the age of the tire.
It's the same with aircraft engines. The FAA has an "hours accumulated" specification, but the also have a spec for "years since new/overhauled" and it that engine has been sitting for 15 years, with zero run time, you have to tear it down all over again and at least put it through a lot of metallurgical testing (magnaflux or x-rays on steel, dye-P and maybe x-rays on aluminum) before you can put it back into service. CS propellers, too.
Inside an engine like that, corrosion will be a huge issue, just like rubber deterioration is a huge issue with old, low-mileage tires. So as my Doug asks...