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More tire trouble

Once again RV tires result in a scare and a delay

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After experiencing southern California, we moved on to Yuma, Arizona. There were lots of things to do and places to go. It was only a half hour or so to Mexico and we managed to make several trips there during our stay in Yuma. Gail and I got new glasses and I picked up two genuine Rolex watches for only $15 each. To my surprise they are still running after several months. Gail and John had several snowbird friends they wanted to visit, so they stayed in Yuma a few days longer while we headed for Mesa.

The Mesa RV park was everything we remembered from the last year and we had a great time. It was the first time we had spent Christmas in a summer climate. It was neat to see all the RVs and park models decorated in Christmas lights. I could go on and on about our time there, but this story is about RV travel.

By mid-April it was time to come back to Canada. About three hours into our trip we were sailing down the highway listening to 50s and 60s tunes when there was a loud bang and I saw in my mirror a large slab of rubber tumbling down the highway beside me. The left outside dual had blown. It damaged my jack as well as part of the wheel well. Of course we were in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately we were still in a good cell coverage area and called our friends at AMA. Within a few hours our motorhome was on a flatbed truck heading back to Goodyear, Arizona.

The RV shop they took us to told me my great looking tires were five years old and would remain a risk for us. They said we were lucky as they get many like this and in most cases there are thousands of dollars in damage caused by the shredded rubber coming off the tire. The RV shop did the needed repairs to the coach and directed us to a tire shop that had the tires. We decided we did not want to have any further tire problems and opted for new tires all the way around.

Within a few days we were back home reminiscing about our winter adventure. That was the second time old tires had caused serious problems for me and I have concluded I will never go on another trip with old RV tires.

The new tires helped to sell the motorhome and it was time to shop for a new one.

But that is my next story.

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