Sorry to hear that. You just changed the wheels didn't you? What brand tire blew?

Happy New Year

Yep, I just had 4 Alcoas installed, but the tire was on the inner steel wheel. Tire is a Bridgestone, installed 3/18/09, 55K miles. Failure was at the belt-sidewall seam.

I took advantage of the heat wave (yesterday 28 degrees, today 20 degrees!) to mount the new steer tires on 86Barth. Haven't been in the 20's for several weeks, -15 two nights ago, -10 predicted for tomorrow and Tues.

The Bridgestone 8xR19.5 on the left, Goodyear 245/70xR19.5 on the right. I always felt the standard steer tires were rather narrow for a vehicle of this size. (It looks like my brakes are still good, too.)



I rotated the year old Bridgestones to the tag axle. Next summer I'll get new drive axle tires to complete the swap.
You don't have to be crazy to work on things this time of year but it helps!

You must have one h---ofa impact wrench.

Nope... I just use a 3 foot bar and and a 1" socket. Torque should be 140 ft/lb, not too hard with a 3 foot bar. (I sometimes have to stand on the bar to break em loose!)

Those 400 ft/lb ones are another story...

Hub-piloted wheels like on the P30 chasses require significantly less torque (~100-150 lb.ft.) than stud-piloted wheels on DPs (400+ lb.ft.)

The new tires went on Thursday - that side seems to be cursed, as the tires removed had replaced a pair in which one had a stone cut that had damaged the belt.

Well, Leon (6/25) was last week, so gifts for StaRV II were in order...:

1. Replaced house remote 12v cutout relay
2. Replaced series-bridge cable for the 6V house batteries
3. New holddown for the house batts (Now I can check electrolyte level without removing the holddown).
4. New I/O thermometer
5. New articulated translucent sun visor (Like Foretravel's)
6. New LEDs for the rear clearance lights
7. Swapped the spare alternator for a new one - no sense in the warranty ticking away while it's in a box
8. Repaired microwave door
9. New windshield wiper arms and blades (7/3/14)