Last week I had my first blowout on my 2004 2720 TM on the way from Stuart, FL to Memphis, TN.
It was time to take a serious trip with my new TV (2006 Jeep Liberty Diesel) and I had promised to take daughter to Graceland. We had quite an adventure.
We left Stuart FL about 10:30 Friday night June 20th expecting to drive through the night.
I hit something on the road that I didn’t see about 11:50 PM on the Florida turnpike in the middle of the Everglades. Gator? Armadillo? Board? I checked the tires and didn’t see any damage. About 10 miles later the right side tire blew out.
I got about 2 seconds warning. The jeep down shifted and the pieces flew. I had no handling problems just lots of vibration.
It shredded the fender skirt, drove a large hole in the aluminum under side and a tore up the plastic wheel well liner. The mosquitoes had a feast. The “Road Ranger” showed up about 15 minutes into the fun and helped a lot.
He said; “It’s a good thing this happened this week they are laying me off next week and canceling night time service.”
I now know that you have to open the TM to install the new tire.
As we traveled on down the road, I thought at least it wasn't the left side. It would have damaged the plumbing.
We stopped in Orlando and stayed across from Leisure Time RV (closest TM dealer). We had expected to travel about 500 miles but only made 150. The dealer did not have the fender skirt or liner and the tire dealer they use did not have a tire. As we had breakfast I phoned around town and found a Goodyear dealer with 1 tire. I put foam in the holes and we were back on the road about Noon time Saturday, planning to travel only during the day.
About 6 PM Saturday afternoon the left tire blew (I don’t know why) in the middle of Georgia and I was correct; it took out the drain lines, ripped the toilet flange loose and tore the drain pipe loose from the gray water tank. I changed the tire and tied down what was left of the plumbing with bungi cords. It was too late to find a tire so we continued on with no spare. That night we stayed in a motel because I really needed a shower. We arrived safe and sound in Memphis late Sunday afternoon, about a day late.
We stayed in the Graceland RV Park. Great park, they put us next to the showers. If you go to Graceland, stay behind the Heartbreak Hotel.
I found one more tire on Monday. I put the new tire on the road and returned the spare to its carrier. Then I spent the afternoon stabilizing the toilet drain line with foam so there was no hole in the floor.
We had planned a side trip to the TM factory but the tires used up my time.
We are back home in Florida. The return trip was uneventful.
My next upgrade Steel Valve stems and remote pressore monitor.