Need blowout advice - '98, 3023

Apparently I've joined the blowout club! The tire blew into the sink cabinet. My insurance is "comping" the damage, but I need to take it to a non-TM rv place for assessment. I'm in need of advice!

Some questions I have:
Any potential problems I should alert the non-TM folks to be aware of? I'm thinking the water heater and fridge need inspected and the cabinet needs rebuilt at the wheel well.

Should I upgrade to 15" tires? If so, what about the funky wheel covering over the tire and will the bigger tires fit in the wheel well.

Could the blowout have caused some shell adjustment issues? We had a hard time getting the front shell to latch in square pegs and the door was a challenge to keep adjusted correctly after the blowout.

We've owned the camper for two years. We use a w/d hitch, tow vehicle is Toyota Sequoia - loaded with three teasing kids and two dogs. This blowout happened after driving 680 miles, and just 35 miles from home!

Thanks for any tips!

the first thing I would do is insist on a TM dealership. They are the only ones you can count on to find hidden damage to the TM specific shell/lifter mechanism. They also have suppliers for replacement parts that may not be readily available to other RV shops.

As to the upgrade to 15 this is the best time, but again a TM dealer is preferred as they probably did it before. It is not high tech so a regular RV dealer should be ok.

A TM dealer is certainly preferred. If you have no choice, at a min I would insist on being there and setting it up and putting it down as well as insuring it is not moved around while up. The fridge and water heater are not TM specific and should be able to be checked by most any competent dealer, frame and shells are very unique and I would not trust to someone without experience.

[Wavery]

You may want to read your policy. See if they have the right to assign a repair shop. I know that in California it used to be illegal for an insurance company to insist on their own designated repair shops (I think it still is). They can give you a list of "Preferred" shops but where you have the work done is your choice unless otherwise specified in your policy.

If you take it to a TM dealer, the insurance company should have to honor their estimate because it is a TM product. If you take it to a (non-TM) repair shop of your choice, they may try to argue that repair shop is over-priced because they aren't familiar with the product. It's pretty hard to make that argument with an authorized dealer.

The one disadvantage that you may have is the age of the trailer (same age as mine).

As for installing 15" tires, absolutely.....you will hate yourself if you don't . It's just a matter of installing a couple frame spacers to lift the frame. I lifted mine 2.5"......I'm a little sorry that I didn't go 3" or even 3.5".

It sure is nice having that extra clearance when dumping the holding tank too.....

[Reldma]

I just installed the lift kit this morning and now we are in the market for tires. Now that I have the wheel clearance I want to purchase 15", but that is the easy part. I am so confused on what to get. Discount Tire says to go with Carlisle, because they only make tires for camper. Had thought about Kumho, but they said not to. Read on forum that they seem excessive Marathons. Your thoughts on Carlisle or any other tire will be appreciated. Does anyone know the going price on the 15" rims are.

I just put Maxxis 8008 tires on my trailer this spring. Got them from Discount Tire at about the same price they wanted for Marathons. They also pushed the Carlisles but I'd heard just a little too much about their dubious history - and the price wasn't that much different anyway.

[Keith Wire]

Reldma,

I recently purchased and had installed three Maraton 15" ST225/75R15 D which are listed here. These 15" have a rating of 2450@65#. We have had one trip, on the 4th of July when it was over 90 degrees outside temperature. I ran them at 60psi (cold) to give a little softer ride. They performed very well.


They are the same ones our Moderator, Bill has on his 2720SL.

I haven't seen any problems reported with the 15" Marathons, just the 14" ones. Also make sure you have metal stems installed and the tires balanced.

HTH, Keith

I echo what Keith wrote. We installed our 15" Marathons about a year ago and have had no problems. An extra benefit to the 15" mod is the peace of mind you get knowing you no longer have 14"! Have no idea if it translates to a safer tire, but I sure feel better about it. And I always felt the tire issue was more about stems than tires anyhow.

Bill
I don't recall if this board has a survey option, but it would be interesting to compare the blow-out statistics between those using WDH and those who do not.

Rumbleweed:
Go to the top of this page and click on FAQ then in the search box type in "Polls". It will then tell the procedure to follow.
Hope this helps.
Jerry