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Old 08-31-2018, 02:02 AM   #1
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Fear of a flat tire, what to do next

I can't think of a worse ending to a nice day on the road than a flat tire. My question is this: What have you done as far as calling someone, who do you call? How have you handled this in the pass.
Sweating the load and don't want to wait till it happens!!

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Old 08-31-2018, 02:06 AM   #2
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Well haven't had a flat, but I do know where the road service phone # is.

We did discover, in the middle of a 2000 mile trip, that our tires were severely rotted and decided not to continue the trip until all 6 tires were replaced. Thankfully the tires got us as far as they did w/o incident. In addition, the campground we were at provided us with the name of a nearby reputable tire shop that helped us out in a pinch.
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Old 08-31-2018, 02:09 AM   #3
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I remember that Jamie! Most big truck stops have 24/7 road service and truck stops are eveeywhere. That's the 1st people to call unless you have some other club service. Our insurance covers roadside assistance.
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Old 08-31-2018, 02:11 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by The Gritz Carlton View Post
I remember that Jamie! Most big truck stops have 24/7 road service and truck stops are eveeywhere. That's the 1st people to call unless you have some other club service. Our insurance covers roadside assistance.
I called a local truck stop with our tire issue and they said they had only 1 tire guy for that day(Sunday) and he was several hours behind. So we just waited until Monday for the tire shop to open.
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Old 08-31-2018, 02:28 AM   #5
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We had a front tire blowout on our Challenger last Dec on I-65 near Bowling Green, KY. We have Good Sam Roadside Assistance and our AARP The Hartford has road side assistance. We called both. After a few calls, Good Sam had a tire out to us and onto our coach in about 2 hours. The blowout cut a brake line and the tire service guys, pinched off the brake line and added brake fluid. That enabled us to get off the road and into a nearby campground. I wrote up the experience here : http://www.thorforums.com/forums/f8/...els-10539.html.

It is manageable - just gotta go with it.
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Old 08-31-2018, 10:34 AM   #6
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Thats what roadside assitance is for. If you do not have yet I would get it before you do much more travel. I have Good Sam and have had good luck with it, others have not. Check around to find one that fits your needs.
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Old 08-31-2018, 07:28 PM   #7
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Be fearless!

When the age of the tires on my previous coach was getting to be a concern, I bought road service. On our next trip, the front left tire blew. No damage and no control problem (without safety steer). Road service brought a matching tire and we were on the road in 4 hours.

Hoping to get a little more out of the remaining 5 tires, we set out on our next trip. About a thousand miles from home, the left inside rear blew. Again, no damage. Had a new matching tire from road service in 4 hours. At our destination I had the other 4 tires replaced. The cost per tire was the same from all three shops.

When those tires were nearing their expected lifespan, it was time to trade the coach away.

When it is time to replace the tires on the Vegas, I'll be glad they are smaller and cheaper!
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Old 08-31-2018, 09:55 PM   #8
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I'm relying on keeping a pretty close eye on the condition of the tires ...

...And keeping the Good Sam's Roadside Assistance number on top of the Dog-House...
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Old 09-01-2018, 02:57 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by Bob Denman View Post
I'm relying on keeping a pretty close eye on the condition of the tires ...

...And keeping the Good Sam's Roadside Assistance number on top of the Dog-House...
I also have the Good Sam's Roadside Assistance, God I hope I never have to use it! I just needed to see where people would reach out to. Thanks Ya'll
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Old 09-01-2018, 03:03 AM   #10
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Good Sams roadside assistance.
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Old 09-01-2018, 10:27 AM   #11
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Blow Out or Flat from nail, screw etc. Blowout Call Road Service!!
Wakeup @ campground, pull in rest area etc. with flat tire... Plug Tire yourself. Tire stays on vehicle while plugging 10 min job and permanent. Plug kits are $10.00. Plugging tires on my DIY 1-10 scale is a 3. Satisfaction of being back on the road in 20 min will be a 10!
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Old 09-01-2018, 11:36 AM   #12
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another road service guy here.
I have a mounted spare that I had negotiated the dealer to through in. Ford chassis,so I'm still covered by their 5 year free roadside assistance (which is a contract through coachnet).
I have a the spare because of a 'fear' of getting stuck on a Sunday in podunk grossly over paying for a tire.
Having the spare helped me when I had the blowout on our RV. Coachnet was able to send out a tire service guy that didn't have a tire the right size. I have a felling that my wait for service would have been significantly longer without the spare.

If I had it to do over again I'd probably just have a spare, not mounted on the rim to save a little weight, but having the rim may be useful someday so I'm glad I have it.

I also carry a small compressor and a plug kit. (but I would never consider a plug in my RV's tire anything more than a temporary emergency repair)
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Old 09-01-2018, 11:42 AM   #13
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little side story about plugging tires.
I was a teeneager driving my little Chevy Luv pickup on some dirt roads. When I got out on the smooth pavement road I realized that the dirt road wasn't as bumpy as I thought...

there was a short piece of a 2x4, maybe 6 inches long or so, nailed to my tire.... thump thump thump...
slow or leak so tire still full of air...
but how am I going to get to the tire shop? Should I put the spare on?

I had an idea....
grabbed my hammer. As fast as I could I pulled the board off my tire, backed the nail out of the board, and drove the nail back into the hole.
Got to the tire shop with almost no air lost!
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Old 09-01-2018, 12:57 PM   #14
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Having roadside assistance is one thing, getting someone to respond in the middle of nowhere is a different story. The best medicine is keeping tire properly and evenly inflated. If you don't check them every time you leave a campground you will eventually have an issue. There's a reason DOT requirea a daily walk around inspection for commercial drivers before you get in the truck.
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Old 09-01-2018, 12:59 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blw2 View Post
little side story about plugging tires.
I was a teeneager driving my little Chevy Luv pickup on some dirt roads. When I got out on the smooth pavement road I realized that the dirt road wasn't as bumpy as I thought...

there was a short piece of a 2x4, maybe 6 inches long or so, nailed to my tire.... thump thump thump...
slow or leak so tire still full of air...
but how am I going to get to the tire shop? Should I put the spare on?

I had an idea....
grabbed my hammer. As fast as I could I pulled the board off my tire, backed the nail out of the board, and drove the nail back into the hole.
Got to the tire shop with almost no air lost!
That right there is funny!
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Old 09-01-2018, 02:07 PM   #16
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Be sure you have the correct Good Sam Road Side assistance. The basic coverage doesn’t cover motor coaches... which is what our Camping World in MA sold us. But they left out that small tid-bit of info. When it came time to renew and I brought that to their attention. They said they can only sell the basic and you have to call GS Club to upgrade to premium for an additional $60. Our salesman didn’t disclose that to us. So that’s $125/yr? But my Progressive Ins includes that in my coverage. And don’t forget about the Ford Roadside Asst for 5 yrs 60k miles if you have the F53 chassis.
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Old 09-01-2018, 02:51 PM   #17
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A few years ago we blew the left front. The hole was about the size of a quarter. I had been reading about blow outs on RV's just a few weeks before. I watched a short video that said as soon as the tire blows to give it a little acceleration and then decelerate until stopped. The acceleration helps keep it from pulling severely to the side.


We had AAA plus RV at the time, so I called to see if they could send a mobile tire service. They said there wasn't one in the area so they sent a tow truck. Towed us about 20 miles to the nearest tire store, but they only had a 2 ton jack. Towed us to another one a few blocks away that a guy got in his mobile tire service truck, then drove across his parking lot to change the tire. I had an unmounted spare that I had bought a couple of weeks before. He changed right there and only charged us $50. Took a total of about 4 hours.


Six months later we blew a rear inner. I had added a mounted spare after the first flat. I was able to limp to a rest area and called a T/A service center. They sent a mobile truck to change the tire. They charged $250 but we were back on the road in an hour. Since then I change from AAA to Good Sam. I hope I never need to use it.


I have an unmounted one in the Challenger since the 22.5 inch is so heavy and I have it in the basement. Getting older and it was hard enough to wrestle it around. I will never travel without a spare since a lot of tire stores don't stock rv tires.
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Old 09-01-2018, 06:05 PM   #18
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Originally Posted by Yvonnemarc View Post
Be sure you have the correct Good Sam Road Side assistance. The basic coverage doesn’t cover motor coaches... which is what our Camping World in MA sold us. But they left out that small tid-bit of info. When it came time to renew and I brought that to their attention. They said they can only sell the basic and you have to call GS Club to upgrade to premium for an additional $60. Our salesman didn’t disclose that to us. So that’s $125/yr? But my Progressive Ins includes that in my coverage. And don’t forget about the Ford Roadside Asst for 5 yrs 60k miles if you have the F53 chassis.
Thanks a bunch for mentioning this info. We traded our 5ver for our new ACE 29.4 5 months ago and had Good Sam Standard coverage. I updated info on webpage but neglected to notice the note about it not covering motorized RVs. After reading your post I called Good Sam and got it resolved. I actually was covered by Good Sam through my purchase at Camping World for a year, but I got the new coverage and my existing Good Sam Membership and Roadside Assistance merged. This is a great forum, I'm learning a lot. God Bless and safe travels all.
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Old 09-01-2018, 06:30 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by revjeffrey View Post
Blow Out or Flat from nail, screw etc. Blowout Call Road Service!!
Wakeup @ campground, pull in rest area etc. with flat tire... Plug Tire yourself. Tire stays on vehicle while plugging 10 min job and permanent. Plug kits are $10.00. Plugging tires on my DIY 1-10 scale is a 3. Satisfaction of being back on the road in 20 min will be a 10!
I'm surprised that a tire plug can say in place under the load and air pressures that a motorhome will subject them to...
But I'm glad to know that they work!
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Old 09-01-2018, 08:42 PM   #20
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Originally Posted by Bob Denman View Post
I'm surprised that a tire plug can say in place under the load and air pressures that a motorhome will subject them to...

But I'm glad to know that they work!


Never used one on a motor home but they work great on a motorcycle. They are sort of mushroom shaped when installed so the tire pressure just holds them tighter. Still should be considered a temporary repair even though it probably would hold for a very long time.
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