Parking on I-81

[ken&ellen]

On the return leg of a Savannah, GA to Saratoga Springs, NY trip we experienced a problem with our driver side steer tire at the 137 mile post of I-81 North of Harrisburg, PA. I was not sure of the damage I eased the coach to the shoulder of the heavily travelled corridor. Due to the very high volume of truck traffic it was almost impossible to do a walk around to pinpoint the problem, but we could see that all tires were inflated:confused: I crawled under the front bumper and was shocked at what I saw:eek:
We called our road side service and they were having a difficult time locating anyone that could deal with our size coach and we were in an impossible spot to change a tire....if they could obtain one! We took the bull by the horns and contacted the Pennsylvannia State Police. They came out and followed us, lights flashing, at 5 MPH to an abandoned weight station 3 1/2 miles down the interstate. We are finally in a safe location, but no tires until the next morning....Welcome to Camp Interstate 81.
The next day we contacted, tired of waiting for Coach-Net, Mc Carthy Tire ( regional chain VA, PA, NJ, & WV) they came immediately and changed both front tires and we continued on our way. No one from FMCA or Good Sams stopped to offer assistance...yet campers, motorhomes, and yes...Prevosts blew by us.....probably Prevost Prouds...cause I know POG members would stop to help.......RIGHT.

[phorner]

Wow, that sounds pretty scary. Any idea what caused the problem?

Paul

[truk4u]

K and Ellen,

Glad your safe and sound, by the looks of the tire, you should be able to get some relief from the tire mfg. Looks like a defect of some kind. What brand are they and how old?

I always stop to help someone if at all possible, can't believe people just don't care anymore. Your bus is to old to get assistance from PP.:D So much for the road side assistance from Coach-Net, guess you were suppose to spend a few days beside the road until they got to you. :mad:

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Ken & Ellen, glad everything turned out OK for you. In your three week hiatus you missed some tire discourse. Add your piece with such info as your old tire brand and age. What brand did you put on. Did you have any choice of brand for the roadside install. If you use such product as equal was it installed with roadside service or do you have to make another service stop to get it?

Where did you stay in Saratoga Springs? I like the area but never thought it was very accessible or navigable for a bus. (old narrow winding roads with lots of traffic) The same for up and around Lake George, did you go there?

[ken&ellen]

Truk, The tires are 2003 always kept indoors and we monitor air pressure. Our Liberty is a plain jane without OTR air and all the fancy belt tensioners or door closers....not a lot of extra weight. Had a front alignment prior to the trip. Ken

[ken&ellen]

Jim, Naw....easy. Plenty of RV locations. Deer Run, Saratoga RV, Lake George RV, Alpine Lake RV Resort, and Ledgeview RV. Most are accessible off I-87. We took our Road King and had a blast. Ken

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Regardless of tire size it is possible to get fairly quick replacement tires for the steers or tags.

It may involve some juggling, but on all our coaches the tires and the wheels from the tag can go on the steers and a more readily available smaller size can go on the tag. I have done this twice, once with a sidewall cut and once with tread area damage. I moved the proper sized tires from tag to the steer and replaced the tag with a new tire such as an 11 X 22.5 or some other readily available size. A word of caution is that the new tire needs to have a similar rolling diameter to insure the ABS does not act up.

[merle&louise]

Ken,

Glad you and Ellen are safe, and your problem is solved.

I noticed that my front tires are wearing similar to yours so I have ordered 2 new fronts that will be put on Monday morning.

I always run my hand over the tires before a day on the road. Next step is to check the air pressure in each tire. The obvious advantage of "feeling" the tire is to determine any abnormal wear. The rears are just as important as the front tires.

I have always been curious how good the Coach-Net (and other similar services) were in a real break down situation. I have always relied on my Trucker's Friend Directory for break downs. I just never had any faith in the road side service companies. They are only as good as their employees; and we all know how that can be hit and miss.

Well, thanks for the post and we're glad your problem is behind you.:D

[VegasDogMan]

For the past six days we've been camping on grass in the Zumbrota MN Covered Bridge City Park Campground about 20 miles north of Rochester MN. It has been raining continuously for past 48 hours and at 11:00PM last nite the CG Host came to our coach and said "river's rising - everyone must evacuate campground"!

I looked at my wheels and saw my tires were already 1/3rd embedded in the soft turf. I knew I couldn't get out. Called Coach-Net and they had tow truck on site within the hour.

Tow truck backed up towards me, attached cable to tow eyes on coach, turned on his winch and proceeded to bury his wheels in the mud. He then called in another tow truck to get his truck unstuck. After that, they moved tow truck to solid ground and winched me out with incident.

It took an hour to get the truck to me, and 2 hrs to get me to dry ground. Coach-Net footed the entire bill.... best $89.00/yr deal I've found as yet.

[garylstevens]

Gald to hear Lee, that you are back on Dry Ground, and you had a Positive Coach-Net Experience. I am sure you had other things to worry about, but, did you get any pictures of the happy ending incident?

Gary S

[ken&ellen]

Lee & Barb, Coach-Net did foot the bill for the service, but they were less than effective at finding replacement tires. Our two short hair mini-dachies were safe and sound. Ken & Ellen

[VegasDogMan]

No pictures - was pouring rain - 17" in 3 days.

We're at a KOA in St. Paul and it's still raining.

[bill&jody]

oh man . . . ken & ellen, glad it all worked out. i think we were coming up on where you were on our way from OH to CT. if we had only known . . . .
jody