Flat Inner Dual Tire :-(

[Rich_Panganiban]

Quick question for you all...I recently discovered that the inner rear dual tire is flat on my coach. The tire doesn't have any visible damage although it does look as it is off the bead. My questions are:

*Any idea what may have caused the "flat"?
*Can I take it to my local Discount Tire-type please for repair?

The tire is a 19.5" tire on a Chevy Kodiak chassis.

Thanks!

[CA_Traveler]

There are a number of TPMS threads and Pressure Pro is popular. Mine is SmartTire with sensors inside the tire but after being sold to Bendix they no longer make the controller so I can't recommend it.

[Rich_Panganiban]

Any suggestions on a good TPMS setup?

[CA_Traveler]

And if you have valve stem extensions and/or rubber stems get rid if them and replace them with steel dual valve kit. Easy to check tire pressure. I also use the small flow through extender so no cap to deal with.

[CA_Traveler]

Maybe a TPMS is in your future?

[Rich_Panganiban]

Latest update.

So based on all your rcommendations, I did get the RV to a "commercial" truck tire shop...which was a great call. They used a pneumatic jack to lift the RV and removed the right rear duals. Unfortunately, it wasn't a nail that caused the flat, I'm not sure what did but there was a huge gash on the inside sidewall. So unfortunately, they couldn't repair it.

Looks like now would be a good time to replace all of the tires!

Thanks for the help!

[pnichols]

The flat I mentioned above (way across the U.S. from where we live) where I had to drive for about 5 miles on one tire was the outside driver's side tire ... a failed rubber valve stem. Now all my RV's valve stems are metal.

So .... I've had a passenger side inner tire failure (nail) and a driver side outer dual failure (valve stem). This doesn't yet indicate an inside passenger side tire failure trend due to driving along the edge of roadways.

[noteven]

edited - same time post same info as We Cant Wait...

Toast butter side down... flats always on inside dual ... etc

[We_Cant_Wait]

Rich, if you have an air compressor, pull the units outside tire up onto a couple of 2x6's, this will take the pressure off the inner tire, then let it set for a while. The tires are stiff enough that they'll usually reset to the rim so that you can air the inner tire up if it doesn't have a massive leak. When you air the tire up remove the valve to allow more air flow to help reset the tire. If it'll hold air this will allow you to drive the unit to the nearest truck tire repair service.

[M_GO_BLUE1]

Tire truck shop only...

[pnichols]

It was indeed the right side inner dual - had a nail in it - so the flat did not come from excessive load carrying.

I run with 80 lbs. in the rears all the time to make sure that they are always at their maximum loading carrying capacity, just in case. I have driven very slowly along the edge of a highway once on just one tire (the other was flat) of a rear dual set for around 5 miles. That drastically overloaded tire (Michelin) went on to give me several years of service.

[Canadian_Rainbi]

Just out of curiosity, was it the right side inner dual? A tire tech told our motorhome group that that is the most common tire failure with duals. Why? Driving off the edge of the paved road puts full load on the single tire. Eventually it had been over stressed enough.

Over the last 20 years we have had two flats, (one a blow out, one discovered when checking pressure before the trip) both were right side inner dual.

[pnichols]

Rich,

FWIW, it's AAA that told me that their policy was not to service dual set inner tire flats ... so they said it was up to the technician they sent out whether or not it would be taken care of ... when our motorhome was sitting right in our own back yard! The technician arrived and agreed to try and service the inner flat. I helped the technician and we did get the inner tire changed.

I dropped AAA after that, as dual set inner rear tires represent one third of our motorhome's tires and I thought that a policy of not servicing them was unacceptable for a motorhome owner. What if this had happened out in the middle of nowhere and the AAA technician had refused to change the inner flat?

[Rich_Panganiban]

Thanks for the responses.

Yes, the tire is as old as the coach. We're due for fresh tires.
We have both Good Sam and AAA for ERS. Since the RV is at home, I wonder if they would jack the RV, remove the tire, let me take it to get fixed, then come back and reinstall it. What do you think?

I'll keep you all updated on the repairs!

[darsben]

Is it as old as the coach?