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Old 08-01-2010, 08:40 PM   #1
markandanne
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Default This season's lessons

Hi all,

I wanted to write down some of this year's lessons so that maybe I could re-read them sometime in the future when I run into these situations again; hopefully some of you will find something useful in this, or at least amusing. We got a late-ish start to this season, and I am just now remembering some of the things we'd figured out in previous seasons.

1. Goodyear Marathon tires fall apart in your 3rd season. This wasn't a surprise to us, and shouldn't be to anyone who has been on the forums a while, but in our very first outing this summer, about 4 miles from home in the 25 mph zone on Main Street, a guy in a pickup truck rolls down the window to say "Did you know your trailer tire is flat?" Some quick phone calls showed that the local tire shop was open for another hour, so a quick 95 degree tire change (boy the parking lot asphalt was hot) and we make it over there in time, grimy and soaked with sweat. I'm not sure what Commadore tires are, but at least I'm not load range E and I don't have Marathons anymore. A 25 mph flat 4 miles from home is about as good as it gets - no problems with plumbing or the undercarriage at all; we were very lucky. I'd diligently kept the pressure up to 65psi throughout the life of the tires, but the tires had a 2005 or 2006 date code (I don't remember which) and I was going to pre-emptively change them next season anyhow. We also have 2 pairs a work gloves, some orange cleaner and rags in the tow vehicle now. They aren't much good in the TM.

2. If you are within an hour's drive from a campground, do some reconnaissance for the camp sites. When we made the reservation there were lots of open campsites to choose from, and we could have avoided this bit of entertainment for the neighbors:
The picture may not show it all, but the wheel on the tongue jack is dangling about 8" off the ground fully extended, the rear bumper is on the ground, and there is about 30" drop in the 16' between the leveler jacks, which is a around a 15% grade. They had a great tent pad up the hill; but if it wasn't for the lift kit and 3 bags of leveler blocks I don't think we would have been able to manage the site. I put the Expedition just below the tongue just in case so that we wouldn't wind up in the lake.

3. It's been a while since we've totally dry camped; sort out where you can fill with potable water, and be sparing with the lights at night even with solar panels. We only had the 10 or so gallons of water from testing the plumbing at home the first time out this season, and found we had to drive too far to get water after arriving late from the tire blow-out. We took the Yamaha 2400 to run the AC the first weekend, and that topped off the batteries pretty well, but we didn't run it this weekend and by Sat night we were grinding down the battery. The batteries are also on their 3rd season (twin 6V batteries with about 210 AH when they were new), and the solar panel was bringing it up to 13.4V during the day, but the lights flickering when the water pump kicked on was a warning sign, and it was down a volt by bed-time. I don't know how many more seasons we'll get out of these batteries.

4. Even with the refrig on propane, it struggles in the mid-day summer heat, so it's got to be on 5 with the fan on beginning early in the morning. On the other hand, the refrig (and water heater) use almost no propane compared to the furnace in winter.

5. Mid summer camping is hard to get the kids to sleep much between the long days and the heat, but Fall/Winter/Spring camping requires planning for amusing the kids after dinner because of the short days.

6. Cooking coffee cake the night before checking out still works pretty well for getting the kids breakfast while starting to pack down.

I'm sure there's more; maybe Anne will think of extra.
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Old 08-02-2010, 07:37 AM   #2
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We're still laughing - our hats are off to you to for being able to make a go of that particular campsite! (But did the people in the front berth get a nosebleed from the altitude?) - camp2canoe
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Old 08-02-2010, 08:36 AM   #3
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Very impressive leveling job. You should send the picture to the company that makes blocks for advertising. Quick question...were there metal or rubber stems on your tires? I ask because I am pretty well convinced (based on absolutely no concrete evidence!) that many of the problems reported on Marathon tires are actually caused by the defective and recalled rubber stems made in China. I would also be curious as to how tires with a 2005 or 2006 manufacturing date wound up on a 2008 TM. Our tires were much closer to the TM manufacture date.
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Old 08-02-2010, 05:25 PM   #4
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Consider us IMPRESSED!

Malinda

P.S. So neighbor, may I ask where on earth you were???
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Old 08-03-2010, 07:13 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OneMoBear View Post
So neighbor, may I ask where on earth you were???
I was wondering the same thing. I would have sworn that the picture shows your rig in one of the nicest sites in the campground in the Chiricahua National Monument in Arizona. We've stayed a number of times, and always had to do a blocking job not too different from your picture. But starting from Longmont, CO, I bet there are lots of sites like that within easy reach.

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Old 08-03-2010, 11:01 PM   #6
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I agree with Scott's assessment that your tire pressure issue was more likely related to the valve stem leaking (assuming you had not already had them replaced) and less so on your 15" Marathons. I too have an '08 3124 KB and ended up replacing the stems the second season. One tire went low tipping me off. I checked both tires by gently applying pressure lateraly on the valve stem and both leaked significantly. Have checked them each season in the same way after having the stems replaced and no leaks. All ties have maintained pressure since then.
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Old 08-13-2010, 10:30 PM   #7
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I'll let Mark reply about the tire questions but I can answer the "where were you camping?" questions.

We were at Carter Lake Reservoir in the North Pines Campground - only four sites and any of the other three would have been much more suitable for a trailer! I think we disappointed the tent campers in our neighboring site because I managed to direct Mark into this site and get him to position the TM where I wanted it without the walkie talkies we usually bring (forgot them on our first time out this year), without scraping either the TM or TV on any of the large rocks in the site, and without either of us raising our voices at all.

Mark forgot to mention that we ran out the next day and got a third set of leveling blocks to place under the tongue jack. Not sure the leveling block company would want to use the picture in an ad though: I had to laugh as we put pulling out the blocks to see the warning on the storage bag that said not to use them stacked taller than 5" - we didn't have a choice!

Oh, and no nosebleeds from the occupant of the front bed!

Anne
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Old 08-14-2010, 02:01 AM   #8
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Wink Just one wrong lesson "learned" (maybe).

Quote:
Originally Posted by markandanne View Post
I'd diligently kept the pressure up to 65psi throughout the life of the tires....
Your trailer is the heaviest of TM's single-axle models, so 65 PSI isn't as "insanely bad" as it would be with mine. And if you load the trailer really heavy, it might not even be that far off. But unless the tire is "loaded up" very close to it's maximum rated load, all the manufacturers of ST tires recommend that air pressure be reduced. Here's the table from Maxxis; my Goodyear "Marathon table" contains the exact saame pressure recommendations, even though the two brands don't offer all of each others' sizes:

ST225/75R15, maximum speed rating 65MPH

LOAD LIMIT ..... RECOMMENDED
(lbs per tire) ..... INFLATION (psi)

1430 .................. 25
1600 .................. 30
1760 .................. 35 (max for Load Range B )
1880 .................. 40
2020 .................. 45
2150 .................. 50 (max for Load Range C )
2270 .................. 55
2380 .................. 60
2540 .................. 65 (max for Load Range D )
2620 .................. 70
2720 .................. 75
2830 .................. 80 (max for Load Range E )

It's a bad idea to inflate to more than about 10 PSI above the listed pressure (cold PSI) for the load which you're putting on the tire -- bad the TM, because the contents get shaken; bad for the TorFlex, because it has to handle almost all of the road roughness by itself (with hardly any help from the tires); bad for handling, because the tires can't "flex" properly; and bad for the tires too (stead of bending as designed, they undergo unintended stresses-- perhaps creating more microscopic cracks in the process.)

If I ran my tires the way TM recommends, it would be like those old "Flintstones" cartoons. How Wilma's hair stayed perfect, while Fred kept hitting potholes with tires made of rocks, I just don't know.
TM says "65 PSI, the maximum on the sidewall." Goodyear and Maxxis say, for me, about (CORRECTED) 39-40 PSI minimum inflation-- and I that believe Goodyear knows more about this than TM does. I run at 48-50 PSI most of the time. My 2619 is a lot lighter than your 3124, but 65 PSI might be too much in your case too. Have you ever visited a truck scale, loaded up in your "normal" way?
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Old 08-14-2010, 03:23 PM   #9
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I am not trying to steal this thread but Rikst29's post above raises serious questions in my mind about my current towing practices. So, Moderator, if I am stepping on toes here, please feel free to move or delete.

I weighed my Elkmont at the public scale and the trailer axle weight set to tow with WDH hooked up, read 2680 (we tow dry and lite). Per the Goodyear website, inflation info., I should be inflating trailer tires to no more than 25 PSI. I have been towing at 65 PSI, per TM. Both possibilities make me very nervous. Any suggestions? I am seriously looking for help here as we are scheduled to leave on a 2500 mile trip next week. Thanks.
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Old 08-14-2010, 04:15 PM   #10
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You do tow light.
Our Elkmont axle weight weighed in at 3240# (including the WDH's 200#).
But I wonder about your scale. The manufacturer's listed dry weight for our trailer is 2940#, but that includes all options? Maybe you have zero options?

Anyway, yes, even if it was 2940#, that's ~ #1500 per tire and according to Marathon, that would be 30 psi up to 65 mph. And you might want to use this # to start as one wheel may have more weight than the other. But if you go over 65 mph, they say to add another 10 psi. So that's 40 psi.

I run 45psi on mine, but we're heavier. Still ... 2680# ????
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