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Wheels 315 Vs 365 Tires ?
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Admitted thread creep from original post …
I set the cruise at 62 to 65 if traffic allows. Slower if traffic is heavy or slower. I’ve discovered that it doesn’t help me to be always 5mph slower than everyone else … unless everyone else is going much faster than I am (i.e. more than 67 to 70). I prefer to move with traffic until I get to 62 to 65. On a four lane divided highway if traffic is heavy and I’m going substantially slower than everyone else the traffic just wads up behind the coach as two lanes of traffic going faster than me jockeys into position to pass me in that single lane and I often end up with cars and trucks cutting close in front of me.
I agree with another poster that going south on 441 from Jeff’s is an interesting trip … especially when 441 goes from four lanes to two lanes without much shoulder!
We picked up our freshly paid for and freshly zero’d out new to us coach at Jeff’s in May of 2014. We missed the turn at McDonalds and finally a few miles down the road turned right … to get to the Interstate. Not too long after getting on that two lane road it lost its shoulders on both sides. I couldn’t see any “reasonable” place to turn around so we forged on as the road became more winding and hilly. I didn’t say anything to Cathie … but I said a continuous silent prayer that blacktop would not end and we’d be on gravel or sand. We finally came out on real road and soon we were on the Interstate headed north. Thjere is very interesting country to see when you get off the main and secondary roads!
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Dick ,
I had a similar experience on the way to Jeffs to drop off My Coach. We followed GPS from HWY 40 , Future Son in Law Co-Pilot and Iphone GPS Navigation. 8-10 Miles maybe thru several Red lights and it was 4 lane with a turn lane in Middle . Not too Bad. Then We cross a Bridge under construction. And Shortly after , It tellls us to Turn Right. It was a 2 Lane Rural Rd. Not much Curb to speak of and a few Curves. Well GSP says turn in just a few Miles so I Proceed Hoping for Better Conditions ? Well The next Turn , Bad turns to Worse, The road goes down to Rural Farm , Chip and Seal type Road , No Lines. Would have been Tight if I had met a Car ? About a Half a Mile , Next Turn was on to Axley Chappel Road I think it was called. That road is literally about 9-10′ Wide With A few Very Sharp Curves and a Pretty steep Hill or Two. The point of NO RETURN ? Where You are More likely to meet a Tractor than a Vehicle ! One of My Drive tires dropped off the edge in one of the Curves it was so narrow and Sharp. Seems like 3-4 miles of that , If I had met A Vehicle I would have had to stop and Hope that they had the courtesy to back up to a Few and far Betwen Farm Pull off or something. But Luckily I did not meet any Vehicles. Finally after what seemed like an Eternity We come out to a Little wider road , Then it Got a little Better and Actually Had Lines on it. I am Asking Cody Several Times By Now , Are You sure You put in the Right address ? Thinking to Myself that He Scrooby Doooed Me ? He say s Yes , It says just a few more Miles. I am saying to Him , Probably with a very Hateful Voice By this Point . Are You Sure ??? We come out to the Big Road , Turned Right , And It was only about a Mile Maybe to ETLC. Man , What a Releif it was to get there ! My Wife was in transit to Come and pick us up. We had told Her what exit to get off of Hwy 40. Then Put in the address and follow The Maps APP. When She arrived , She Said , ” You Would NOT BELIEVE Where this thing has Taken Me ” We all Laughed , Oh Honey , Yes We Would !!!
Trust Me on this one Folks , If You follow Your GPS to Jeff’s Carefully Preview the directions it gives You if You are driving Your Coach. If You see Axley Chappell Road , STOP ! Get an Alternative Route ! But Now , We know the Shortest way back to Hwy 40 ! -
I’m guessing here, but I bet the two previous posts were written by folks that are not from Tennessee.
The standard for road construction here in the Volunteer state is to insure that the largest roads are sufficiently wide. That means in a Prevost conversion your passenger side wheels are on the white line marking the edge of the pavement, beyond which is a drop off sufficiently steep to over turn an Indy race car.
The driver’s side wheels will be on the double yellow line. When meeting an oncoming car it is fun to see the driver cringe, than his look turns to true fear because he does not believe you will both fit. When approached by a school bus or a dump truck, both large vehicles come to a near complete stop so they can do the mirror wiggle insuring the mirrors will avoid hitting one another before the vehicles resume their space in the lane.
I know those are the largest roads because they have lines.
Despite the abundant width of the wide TN roads they are usually supplied with curves of sufficient small radius so no matter how careful the driver is, one end of the bus or the other is going to be as much as 4 feet into the other lane. Oncoming traffic on the curves often backs up, although two macho drivers of large vehicles usually engage in a short pissing contest because backing up, like the use of turn signals is a sign of weakness here in TN. The general rule is to never use turn signals unless the turn has been completed, and when in curves the larger vehicle does not have to back up, unless the other vehicle’s driver has a crappier and older vehicle and considers scrapes a sign of valor.
We have no use for 75 MPH rated tires. We do look for bullet resistant tires however because some of our roads lead to pot farms and those farmers are not as melow as they want you to believe.
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Jon
You need to move to Florida where people use their turn signals…sometimes 20-30 miles at a time.
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Triple F, regarding turn signals are you revealing something about yourself and the other folks in the Piolk City area?
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Jon, your Z06 should have “Run Flats” so no spare is needed. Maybe that’s what we need on our Buses, Run Flats!
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No turn signals in use here in Sarasota county………..not even the cops! Drives me nuts!
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Hwy 411 from Maryville,TN running by Jeff’s place and on into the state of Georgia was a major north/south route for many years long before I-75 was built. I grew up in Vonore watching the hundreds of tractor-trailer trucks, Greyhound and Trailways busses along with the Yankee tourists from up north go speeding by on their way to vacation in Florida. It was a two lane black-top road and presented no problem for the semis and busses of that era. So it’s hard for me to imagine anyone being apprehensive about driving a modern Prevost on the modern and vastly improved condition of Highway 411 today.
Here’s a great book about the area around Jeff’s place, it’s titled “Vonore, Today and Yesterday“. Available on Amazon.
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Jerry,
My car indeed has “run flat” tires and I know I am supposed to be able to drive on one if it gets a flat.
But here is a little bit of the reality. I came into the garage one morning to find a flat. I backed it out to get a little room to pull the tire and it left two very black marks defining its width. After that I decided the claims I could drive on a flat meant I could opt to drive and destroy a tire or I could get it flat bedded to a tire place or I could somehow bring the wheel and tire for repair.
Then like the Prevost I’d be shocked if the tire required replacement after driving on it if a tire dealer actually had one in stock.
The flat was caused by a cracked plastic TPMS valve stem.
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Agree with you Chuck, 411 is a great highway, I only lived 8 miles from it on the GA side and traveled 411 a lot over the years, many trips with a bus or motorhome. The only downside is I used to just pass through Vonore, but now it seems my wallet gets siphoned every time I get near the place.
Word of caution for those traveling 411 between GA and theTN line, when you get near Benton, TN, maintain the local speed limit of 40 before and after town, tickets are a big source of income in Benton.
The only downside to 411 is the TN side that is mostly 4 lane and sometimes 5 lanes, with crazy low speed limits of 40 and 45. Just enjoy the ride and take your time. If you’re in a hurry, get on I-75.
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Sort of makes you pucker to know that a car capable of 180+ MPH (which is connected to the ground with pneumatic tires) uses a TPMS valve made of crack prone plastic.
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The 1st thing replaced (1300mi to get cars from Wi to Fl) on 5 succssive Vettes were the run flats. Geo.
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Dan, Believe it or not when I brought the wheel and tire to the Chevy dealer he had the balls to try to charge me for the replacement TPMS valve and the labor.
The car was new and he insisted it was not a warranty issue because I must have broken it checking the air or filling the tires.
And the claim is 195, but the nut behind the wheel is nowhere near as good as the car.
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Jon, I would have paid money to be a fly on the wall during that conversation!
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It was a short conversation Dan because I told him I knew how to check my tires and fill them with air and asked him if he was calling me incompetent. He did an immediate 180 and told me no charge.
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