How did you find your used Trailmanor?

Originally Posted by mtnguy

Maybe Bobby (wmtire) will chime in here to explain how the sun damages tires.......all I know is, that you should keep them covered while in storage.

Chap

Chap, here is a good an explanation in easy to understand terms. Although some things have changed in the industry (which I emboldened) since the article was published, it still holds true for the most part

Tire Tech Facts

The sidewalls of tires which are parked for extended periods, dry check and eventually crack and split. Annually, tire "dry-rot" is a multimillion dollar problem for RVers, trailer boaters and owners of classic cars. This engineering memorandum is a scientific examination of the whys of this process.

Tire manufacturers blend into the tire polymer certain chemical ingredients which inhibit damage from ozone and ultraviolet light, the main environmental degradants of tires and all other types of synthetic and natural rubbers. Ozone is an odorless gas, but is commonly thought of as the "electric train smell". Though more severe in cities and manufacturing centers, ozone is part of the air we breathe everywhere on earth. Hastened by the hazardous effects of UV light, ozone eventually causes rubber to dry and become brittle no matter the locale.

Ultraviolet Light
The need to protect rubber against UV damage is why tires are black. For this purpose, a common type of UV stabilizer called a "competitive absorber" is used. Competitive absorbers work by capturing and absorbing harmful UV light wave energy (instead of the adjacent molecule of tire polymer..that's why it's called "competitive"). Competitive absorbers have the added ability to convert harmful UV light wave energy into heat so it can dissipate harmlessly. All tire manufacturers use the same competitive absorber, carbon black...an extremely inexpensive compound. All other UV stabilizers are prohibitvley expensive. This is why tires are black and why tires are not available in designer colors. All UV stabilizers are sacrificial, meaning they are gradually "used up" to where they can no longer protect against UV damage. As carbon black loses the ability to do its job, it turns gray. This is why rubber grays as it ages.

Ozone
Tire manufacturers use waxes to protect against ozone. When tires are in use (regularly running up and down the road for example) they flex. Flexing causes the protective waxes to migrate to the surface where they form a physical barrier between the air (ozone and oxygen) and the tire polymer. This process...the waxes migrating to the surface of the tire during flexing..is called "blooming". When tires are not regularly used ( a parked RV, boat trailer, or classic car, etc), blooming does not occur. Ozone begins eating away the protective wax and before long reaches the tire polymer. Often by this time, the surface carbon black has lost its ability to protect against UV. With UV light and ozone working in concert, degradation starts. The tire dries, checks, and will eventually crack.

Other Degradants
Petrochemicals and silicone oils can remove the protective waxes and increase the rate of degradation. Common automotive "protectants" and "tire dressings" are typically devoid of UV stabilizers of any type and contain petrochemicals and/or silicone oils which dissolve away the protective waxes and can actually aggress the sidewall. In the event of warranty sidewall failure, one of the first things tire manufacturers look for is evidence of the use of these types of products. When found, this is often cause for not warranting the sidewall failure.

This is why I have preached in other forums, not to use Armor-All on your tire sidewalls.

Linda,

This is why I referred your tire/sun question on to Bobby. In case you haven't seen any of his posts yet, he is our resident tire expert. He has been a great asset to this forum, and I PMd him numerous times when I was thinking about my tire conversion.

If he ever threatens to leave this forum, I imagine we can scrape up enough money to pay his suscription cost.

Chap

Originally Posted by mtnguy

If he ever threatens to leave this forum, I imagine we can scrape up enough money to pay his suscription cost.

Chap

ROFL Thanks Chap

Thanks mtnguy and wmtire for all of your great advice! Wmtire - your explanation was very well written - even a woman could understand - ha-ha! I know my husband will not be leaving on our first trip without all the necessary tools in case of a flat, will bring portable air compressor, tire guage, etc., etc., but if you have any other tips that you think we might not know to bring, please feel free to mention them. I know he will be as prepared as he can like the boy scout motto - LOL. We have an 07 GMC Sierra Supercab that came w/a free 1-year OnStar service that does a complete vehicle diagnostic check, including monitoring the tires, telling you the psi in each of them on a regular basis. It's pretty neat - hands-free telephone, lock-out service, etc. It will be kind of another insurance to have when we are ready to take longer trips. Thanks again for all your help! Have a great day! Linda

BTW, this forum is GREAT EXERCISE for my BRAIN!!!

I agree on ArmourAll. That stuff drys out plastic and makes it crack.

Everybody should have a compressor and a pressure guage. Tire plugs aren't a bad backup to a spare. Get stuck in the sand and you can air down to half pressure or less and drive right out and air back up for the pavement. Since I 4wheel a lot I often rotate the air in the tires HAHA. I have a 3/4 hp compressor permanently mounted to my truck.
http://www.larsdennert.com/4runner/compressor
You need a long hose to reach the TM. Portable compressors take longer to fill but they work. You have to figure out how to power it far from the truck. Some have clips to connect directly to the battery. There are little compressors in some of those power packs too.

Wow! Larsdennert - you just went way over my head but I'll be sure to show this setup to my husband tonight! Thanks for sharing all of that. Linda

[SCBillandJane]

Well, we started this post, and we are excited to tell you that we followed all the advice and found a 2003 3124 KS in Tampa, Florida. That sucker just latched on to our 2007 Tundra and followed us home last night on a 600 mile trip. It is sitting in the driveway, and we can still hardly believe that it is ours. Thanks to everyone for your advice. You made the difference.
I do have some advice to prospective buyers of a used Trailmanor. The previous owner's brother had been in the RV repair business for 14 years. His explanation of the hook up of a weight distributing hitch kept me from a dangerous situation by showing me how to take the weight off the bars before hitching and unhitching. I knew that it was good to have one, but nothing else. Advice number one: know how to use one before you go. I was lucky.
I had 3 new Denman 225 ST 15 225 R75 2640 load capacity tires installed at a Tire Kingdom. Be ready for poor service and a lack of knowledge. I had read on this forum (I think) not to jack the trailer by the axle which is exactly what they were going to do. My wife whipped out the owner's manual, and they brought out a portable jack and used the frame behind the tire well. They installer gave me funny looks and said the spare hasn't been on the ground, and the tires on the trailer were in new condition. They were new in 2002 when the trailer was built, and due to the owner's illness, had probably had only a few thousand miles or less on them. I could tell they thought I had money to burn. They coudn't remove the wheel fenders. I had the square head screw driver thanks to the forum again. I had to remove the spare because they didn't know how. The installer jammed the air gun against the wheel chipping the paint on the wheel. After installing the tires I asked the man to use a torque wrench to 95 pounds (thanks forum). He refused twice holding up the air gun saying that it was enough. I had talked with the manager about putting in 65 psi which is what the sidewall called for. Thank goodness we went only a short low speed distance for the night. The next morning there was only 50 psi in the tires. We had to go to four gas station air pumps before we found one that would pump the tires to 65 psi. We did keep the spare as a an extra spare because we want to go to Alaska.
Be prepared. Thanks wmtire, Bill, and many others! There were no surprises. It pulled with no sway on I95 when surrounded by trucks. Even my dear wife fought me for the right to drive. Towing was no problem.
Thanks again to all who helped us. We can't wait to take our TM on our maiden voyage (soon!) and start making memeories and meeting other TM owners!

Bill and Jane

Bill & Jane,

Congratulations on your new purchase and successful trip home.

And about the tire replacement: I had a trailer shop attempt to jack my TM up by the axle to check my brakes and bearings....I am glad that I was watching to prevent this. That is a good excuse with the TM when you tell them "I have to raise it so you can pull the wheels", then you can keep an eye on things. And you didn't have the option, but I took my wheels in to have tires mounted, and the reinstalled everything myself, so that I wouldn't get the wheels scratched up, and to torque properly.

I have almost been tempted to drive all of the way to a tire shop in northern Louisana that I know about just to get things done right. (huh, Bobby??)

Chap

We bought used through the forum and got a good deal. As far as preping it? We towed it about 2000 miles and used it immediately. Over the years, we made a few improvements but nothing worth mentioning. Everything worked when we bought it and still does today even though it is 8 years old.