Well I took everyones advice and got a 1997 Southwind 35W Ford F53. A nice clean lightly used, well equiped unit with all the sevrice records with only 39000 miles. Everything worked as it should, even the ice maker. I wanted a 38 foot American Eagle, DW said NO. So I set about going over the coach with a fine tooth comb, finding every little thing that could cause a problem.We took two short trips to local RV parks to make sure all systems were go for our first long outing. Everthing went great, no problem at all. Had all tires checked, paper worksaid all six were installed in 2013. We were going to leave at 6:00 am, the Southwind didn't start, generator didn't start, all batteries showing 12.8 volts. Found loose ground wire to the frame, on the road a 8:00 am.75 mile later on I-59 coach start wander in lane very hard to control. We stopped and checked all the tires, found nothing wrong. Then 70 mile later, right rear outside went bang.We tried to get to a Cracker Barrel parking lot, but ended up on a dead end street with no turn around pulling a tow dolly. So unload the PT Cruiser, unhook the dolly and turn everyting around.The nice folks at Guardian Credit Union found a tire service to come with a new tire and get us out of their parking lot. Finally back on the road for 85 more miles then BOOM right rear insidetire blew. 12 miles to exit 4:30 in the afternoon and I'm starting to re-think this whole thing. We made it to Interstate Tire Sevice in Greenville, AL. It cost $1220 for six new tires, plus $215for the first tire that replaced the flat spare. On the bright side it drives a lot better, the lane wander and bumping is gone. Lesson learned, just because the tires are only three years olddoesn't mean they are good.The stay in Gulf Shores was great, the trip home uneventful---------We just might do this again.

welcome to rv,ing and you had a easy time with your tires, just think you could have been 300 miles from no where.

There is always some issue. It could have been a lot worse. Welcome to RVing. Good luck!

Excellent point on the tires. Thanks for sharing the tires issue and that your problem is solved. Expensive but minor compared to something else that could've happened. Good feedback for everyone.

wantobefree wrote:...Had all tires checked, paper worksaid all six were installed in 2013....check ALL of your other tires. just because they were mounted in 2013 doesn't mean that they're just 3-years old. look for the date code on the sidewall. it will be 4-numbers inside of an oval and in the format of WWYY. lets say the number is 4512. that means the tire was made in the 45th week of 2012. just because the tires look good doesn't mean they are. rule of thumb that I use is to replace tires after 7-years regardless of their appearance. some folks do it sooner, some later. if your MH had been sitting unused for 3-years I would've replaced all of the tires. good luck and be safe.

In my opinion it is always necessary to replace the tires on any used coach, regardless of how old they are. You have no way of telling the abuse the tires received from the previous owner due to pot holes, curbs, under-inflation, and so on. Better safe than sorry and just figure the cost of new tires in your offer.

Dang! What a Trip | Good Sam Community

Goldencrazy
Explorer
Jun 20, 2016
We all want safe vehicles on the road not just for the enjoyment and safety of the occupants but for others on the road. Have friends who full-time and are very careful to have their coach well maintained. IKnew they needed new tires because of age but we're waiting until they got to a location later in the year to spend the cash. One front blowout and into the ditch and a lot of damage and of course nearly 6 months of repairs. Luckily no one hurt. I had a brake job on our toad and they didn't replace calipers on an older Jeep GC. Caliber were sticking and over heated and lost tire. Lucky the lost tire was the only issue. We got new calipers and are repairing the wheel well. Happy no injuries or nothing worse. I thought I was careful. I always check tires every two hours. Once it got hot it went fast. It was early morning and dark so I didn't see the problem in the camera. Can see toad but not enough to see what had to be smoke. I was amazed how many drivers must have seen something and did nothing until one signaled me that I had a problem just about the same time I became aware. I had removed my pressure monitor because of too many false alarms from loss of signal. Getting a better one.
wallynm
Explorer
Jun 18, 2016
Just a standard day of RVing
rgatijnet1
Explorer III
Jun 18, 2016
jplante4 wrote:
I have nothing against being cautious and buying new tires just in case. It's your statement about adjusting the offered price for replacing what may be perfectly good tires. But if a buyer wants me to take $2500 off my price because he doesn't like my 2 year old tires with 7000 miles on them, I'd tell him to take a flying leap. If he wants to throw his money away fine, but don't expect me to pay for his foolishness.

That is why it is called a negotiation. Do you really think I would tell you why I am offering less than your asking price. I offer, you either accept or I walk. No harm done.
Only a fool would pay someone's full asking price. The last used coach that I bought cost the owner $9000 more than I gave him that he had to pay to clear his loan.
You saw how well it worked for the OP with the three year old tires.
jplante4
Explorer II
Jun 18, 2016
I have nothing against being cautious and buying new tires just in case. It's your statement about adjusting the offered price for replacing what may be perfectly good tires. But if a buyer wants me to take $2500 off my price because he doesn't like my 2 year old tires with 7000 miles on them, I'd tell him to take a flying leap. If he wants to throw his money away fine, but don't expect me to pay for his foolishness.
wantobefree
Explorer
Jun 18, 2016
The tires were Kelly, DOT date 4212, install date april 2013. Then it sat parked for three years. We had no issues with the tires on the two short check out trips. I checked and inflated all tires to 82 psi cold. The temperture on the day of the tire failure was 92 degrees. The tire store in Greenville, AL said it was belt separtion caused by them sitting for three years and the high temperture of the road surface. I will not make that mistake again, I could have saved $400 by having new tires installed before we left.
rgatijnet1
Explorer III
Jun 18, 2016
jplante4 wrote:
J-Rooster wrote:
rgatijnet1 wrote:
In my opinion it is always necessary to replace the tires on any used coach, regardless of how old they are. You have no way of telling the abuse the tires received from the previous owner due to pot holes, curbs, under-inflation, and so on. Better safe than sorry and just figure the cost of new tires in your offer.
X-2, this is a very good policy to follow!

You guys must own tire shops. By that logic, we should also replace the motor because who knows how much the previous owner abused it. Imagine the look on a seller's face when you say 'Yeah, I need you to knock $20k off the price so I can replace the engine'.

And the mattress because, eww, someone else slept on that. Toilet seat as well.

WOW, you really don't know how to read do you? Don't post about things I never mentioned. First off I said it was my OPINION and I stick by it. If the tires look decent, I am sure that you can also get a credit from the tire shops. I know I always get a credit for my old tires when I buy new ones.
If YOU like to drive on tires with an unknown history, with your family, go for it. We all have our own safety standards when it comes to our loved ones. Mine just happens to be very high.
jplante4
Explorer II
Jun 18, 2016
J-Rooster wrote:
rgatijnet1 wrote:
In my opinion it is always necessary to replace the tires on any used coach, regardless of how old they are. You have no way of telling the abuse the tires received from the previous owner due to pot holes, curbs, under-inflation, and so on. Better safe than sorry and just figure the cost of new tires in your offer.
X-2, this is a very good policy to follow!

You guys must own tire shops. By that logic, we should also replace the motor because who knows how much the previous owner abused it. Imagine the look on a seller's face when you say 'Yeah, I need you to knock $20k off the price so I can replace the engine'.

And the mattress because, eww, someone else slept on that. Toilet seat as well.
J-Rooster
Explorer
Jun 17, 2016
rgatijnet1 wrote:
In my opinion it is always necessary to replace the tires on any used coach, regardless of how old they are. You have no way of telling the abuse the tires received from the previous owner due to pot holes, curbs, under-inflation, and so on. Better safe than sorry and just figure the cost of new tires in your offer.
X-2, this is a very good policy to follow!
RLS7201
Explorer II
Jun 17, 2016
Ford delivered your F53 chassis with 235/85R16 Michelin XPS all steel cord radials. Most expensive 16" tire on the market. Ford knew those 16" tires would be run at their maximum capacity so the chassis was delivered with the best tires available at the time. Install rags and they will fail at an early age.
Your 35W (36' long) is almost overloaded with 2 passengers aboard. Load carefully. You do not have weight capacity for much stuff.
Also that chassis was a little fussy about the brakes. The calipers need to be removed and the slide pins cleaned and re-liberated every two years. Along with changing the brake fluid. Follow the maintenance procedure and set down by Ford and that chassis will serve you well.

Richard
95 Bounder F53
is_it_friday_ye
Explorer
Jun 17, 2016
Tell her it wouldn't have happened had you bought the American Eagle.

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