[Peter]

I made it to New Orleans and had the bad tire replaced with the spare tire. Mechanic said the belts must have shifted and there was a bubble on the inside of the tire. He also checked brake system and everything seemed normal…wear was even and the tires spun ok. He noticed I had one new caliper replaced recently. No flat spots on the tire. Also, first bad tire was on passenger rear, this one was on driver rear. Hence, I’m assuming that I should stick to only Made in USA or brand name tires and never use imports and the tires are the culprit.

My tire guy in Buffalo will get to see what he sold to me and what happened twice in the past few weeks with tires that were just over a year old. Hopefully, he’ll do the right thing.

I’m driving to Jeff’s on Monday and will not hook up the braking system on the toad. I still plan to find a qualified AF-1 person to check the system…I’m hoping Jeff is that guy.

Tom…By the way, the tire mechanic could not get the Pressure Pro sensor off the bad tire. He checked the air in all the tires and all sensors came off easy but one. He was afraid to twist it off with extreme force and break it. He knows how expensive they are.

Again, many thanks to all that chimed in. I’m usually just a stalker reading the forum daily and learning a few things and shaking my head when the mechanical jargon is way past my comprehension. But this time, the help was overwhelming and I thank you all and the PC forum for being here.

[Jimmy]

Jimmy,

I would suggest you use a pair of channel locks and gently grip the very bottom of the sensor just below the line that separates the top from the bottom and try to remove. That line is where the two pieces of the sensor are assembled. Hopefully it will come off without damage.

[Jimmy]

and this has been sort of confirmed, already.

A friend of mine bought a new to him RV, recently, and since he was going on a 6 weeks trip, he decided to replace all the 6 tires just to be safe.

This decision was influenced in part by the really great deal he was offered by a tire dealer. In Largo, FL.

Before the trip was over, he had blow outs on 4 of the 6 tires!!!

Fortunately, other than having to buy new tires, there was no damage to his RV.

He bought the replacement tires at Camping World and they confirmed that he had been sold bad tires.

Needless to say, the tires he got in Largo were made in China and now the dealer does refuse to accept any responsibility.

Now, he regrets having been sucked in by the great deal he thought he was getting and volunteered to say that he knows now that you often times “get what you pay for”.

Ronald

[Dawn]

Ronald…Exactly. The spare that was just put on my car yesterday was a Michelin. When I went to get new tires last year I requested Michelin and my tire guy who I’ve been with for years swayed me to whatever crap he sold me. Again, not being a mechanic type I tend to trust people too much. We will certainly be having a talk when I return home and show him the bad bubbled tire.

I still want to get the Air Force One and tow bar checked out to make sure the toad is being dragged correctly.

[Archived]

I doubt the AF-1 was ever an issue in your problems, but having it checked out can’t hurt. The installation instructions for the AF-1 are very complete and the tech support is good as well. I am sure Jeff can figure out if it was installed correctly.

When you said you had no flat spots, I knew it was the tires. I have had that problem too.

[Per]

A bubble on the inside sidewall of the tire was definately caused by a shifting or broken cord. Specifically, the cords (which are steel or fabric) are bonded to the rubber with adhesive during the vulcanization process. I’d guess that cheap tire manufacturers don’t use the greatest adhesive or don’t do a great job of preventing contamination. You then end up with a higher liklihood of developing these bubbles when encountering a pot hole.

Heat can aggrivate the problem as well, but if the brakes aren’t dragging with the AF1 hooked up, that’s not the problem.