Yesterday, I went back to the RV dealer to further inspect our new coach and check on the tire installation. I arrived just as the tire guys were beginning their work. They had a medium-duty box truck outfitted with a powerful compressor and large tire machine. Handling large commercial duty tires is hard work. The tires I ordered weigh 120 lbs (54kg) each, plus the weight of the wheel.

I looked at the tires they brought to make sure they were the tires I specified and also checked the date codes. Date codes are branded into all tires sold in the USA, indicating the calendar week and year the tire was made . This is a Department of Transportation (DOT) regulation. For RVs, it’s especially important to know when the tire was manufactured. Most RVs are only driven 4,000-5,000 miles per year. In our case we may put on 8,000 miles per year. RVs don’t drive enough miles to wear the tires out (large commercial truck tires can easily last 250,000 miles when used in the trucking industry). On RVs, the tires usually age to the point of no longer being safe. Over time, UV exposure, ozone and other factors cause the tire carcass to dry out and crack. If we drive 8,000 miles per year, in seven years we will have put 56,000 miles on our tires. They’ll still have plenty of tread, but seven years is a reasonable life span for tires that are well-maintained.

When I looked at the tires, they were 295/75R22.5 size Toyo M154 with load range “H” rating, just as I specified. Toyo is a Japanese tire company with a reputation for making excellent commercial tires. I wanted tires that were made no more than six months ago. Tires age in storage, especially if they are kept in an area with electric motors running (creating ozone) or exposed to sunlight. Most tire warehouses are aware of this and avoid exposure, but there’s no guarantee of that. The date code on the tire was 3713, indicating the tire was made calendar week 37 of 2013. That would mean the tire was made in September of 2013, four months ago.

I hung around while they removed the wheels and mounted the new tires. This gave me the opportunity to inspect all four brake calipers and discs, suspension components, hubs, shocks and whatnot.

The Peak chassis is equipped with four-wheel hydraulically actuated, ABS-controlled disc brakes. This is somewhat unusual – most large diesel motorhomes have air-actuated drum brakes. The air brakes are a carryover from the trucking industry. By using air instead of hydraulic fluid, semi-tractor/trailer rigs can quickly and easily disconnect and reconnect trailer brakes. Hydraulic actuation would complicate this task. Some RVers believe that air brakes are inherently superior since that’s what large trucks use. I’m not buying into that line of thinking. It’s a matter of convenience, not performance. If air-actuated drum brakes were somehow superior, we would see them in use on aircraft and Formula 1 race cars. Both of those high-tech, demanding applications use hydraulically actuated disc brakes.

I was happy to see the brakes were in excellent condition with plenty of friction material on the brakes pads. The huge, 15″ (380mm) ventilated discs looked good. The shocks didn’t show any signs of leakage. The front hubs were filled to the proper level with gear oil. The air ride suspension bags looked good with no signs of cracking. All of the brake lines and air hoses looked good. The trailing arms and suspension links looked fine. The more I inspect this rig, the more I’m impressed.

Massive left front brake assembly

Left rear axle showing brake assembly, trailing arm, shock absorber and air spring suspension bag

When I returned home, I found a large cardboard box at the door. FedEx had dropped off the Werner multi-ladder I ordered through Amazon.com. Turns out, I ordered the wrong ladder. The MT-13 isn’t a 13-foot extension ladder as claimed on the website. It’s only 10′ 4″. I went online and set up a return in exchange for a MT-17, which is a 14-foot extension ladder. Confusing nomenclature, right? The return process through Amazon’s website is easy though – they’ve already ordered a FedEx pickup. I just have to print the authorization they sent me and re-tape the box with the authorization inside. My new ladder should be here Monday. I changed the link in yesterday’s post to the proper item.

Last night, I e-mailed the information on the new motorhome to our insurance agent in South Dakota. She will set up a binder for full coverage effective today. I also contacted Terri Lund at Mydakotaaddress.com to start the title and registration process. It can be a little complicated to complete an out-of-state transfer, but Terri is a pro and makes it easy for us.

Donna is continuing to burn the candle at both ends. She has much work to accomplish to meet her deadlines. At the same time, she’s attending yoga sessions and working out in preparation for a duathlon in March. Last night we took a break and watched four episodes from season two of Breaking Bad. We’ll continue with season three tonight.

Today, I’ll move things from the basement of our coach into our cargo trailer so we won’t have to transfer them to the new coach when we pick it up. This afternoon, I’ll make the final walkthrough, which I expect to take close to three hours. Then I’ll hand over the check for payment. Barring any unforeseen problems, we’ll have our new coach tomorrow. Yippee!