Tires and Preparations

Over the last few weeks Pattie and I have been busy getting our house ready to sell and preparing The Bus for travel.  I finished installing the flat panel TV in the bedroom, a small wine rack in a front cabinet, and the AT&T Unite Pro WIFI hotspot.  We added a 10G plan to allow us to use cellular data as most campground WIFI service is poor quality.  I may add an amplified cellular antenna later if we have reception issues.

When we purchased the 2007 Allegro Bus in Sept 2014, the tires looked great and seemed to drive just fine.  However, when I researched tires on several RV forums I found that appearance alone is not an indicator of an RV tire's reliability.  Most people do not recommend continued use after seven (7) years from first service.  Michelin advises that the tires should be professionally inspected after 7 years regardless of appearance and must be replaced at 10 years of service.  So, how do you know when the tires went into service?  The DOT requires tires to have a date code stamped on the tires.  This will give the approximate age and is probably within 6-12 months of the initial use.  When I examined my tires, I found they were all manufactured in the 17th week of 2006 (code 1706).  Yeah me.

So, I began researching RV tire prices.  This will open your eyes pretty fast.  I love new tires on my cars, but not the price.  New Michelin replacement tires run about $650 each!  That is before mounting and balancing.  Fortunately, the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) offers its members the Michelin Buyers Advantage Program allowing members to buy at discounted prices.  It takes a bit of paperwork but it is all explained on the FMCA page.  I ordered the tires from a local dealer and took the coach in for the installation.  It took them about half a day and it was ready to roll with New Michelins with date codes of 0515.  The total cost mounted, balanced, etc was $4050.  I figure the FMCA discount saved me about $800.  Not bad and the FMCA membership gets me discounts across the nation.

We are now packing and provisioning The Bus for our first real trip.  I have business in Nashville, TN and Huntsville, AL.  We will drive The Bus with our beagle Sparky and cat Katy.  This will be our shake down cruise to learn about The Bus systems and determine what we need to carry and what we can do without.  So far, The Bus has swallowed all our gear.  I will say that I was quite happy today as it finally warmed up enough for me to de-winterize it and we only had one leak that turned out to be a loose fitting.
Thanks for following our adventure.  The next post should have some interesting travel stories and lessons learned.
Dave