People are getting excited, vacation plans are being made now for the summer. Making sure your vehicle is prepared for the trip is a major issue for camper and motor-home travelers. What can be worse than to spend a few days at somewhere strange having an upgraded rebuilt transmission put in your travel vehicle? The worse thing that could happen in that situation is not being familiar with GotTransmissions.com. 1-877-268-0664
There is one thing we should cover that has the potential to be worse. Perhaps more dangerous. However it is not discussed as much as it should be and is the epitome of importance to your safety.
We want to make sure you understand that tires go bad and need to be replaced too. It does not matter how many miles are on them or how much tread is left. I mention this because I preach about motor-homes, regular transmission maintenance, cooling system maintenance and being diligent about evaluating every part of your vehicle before a trip.
People who travel regularly, know exactly what I mean. I think part of the fun for regular travelers is keeping your ride in tip top shape. My take on motor-home owners is they enjoy going through the maintenance procedures necessary to have a successful and uneventful trip, mechanically speaking.
Lets talk more about tires. My neighbors and best friends are motor-home people, they are retired (no pun intended) and go away for 5 months a year. They just bought a pristine used 2004 house on wheels (literally) and it has the General Motors engine and drive-line with a real truck chassis. I don’t know if he likes preparing it for a vacation or actually going on vacation more. He really does his home work and will not buy a Ford chassis motor-home due to the engine problems and, in particular the abundance of 4R100 transmission problems he repeatedly sees angry Ford motor-home folks discussing on the internet forums.
We (H and me) were talking about tires the other day. He is putting new tires on this big beauty. I asked why and he said very clearly that once a tire reaches an age of 5 to 7 years old, the sidewalls start to weaken due to dry rot. Which is the aging of the rubber and other materials sensitive to heat and sunlight. The problem with dry rot is that it is not necessarily visible to the eye. If you think about it these rolling houses on wheels, they literally may have 10 tons or more riding on the tires, crushing the life out of them. Couple that with age and deterioration and you have recipe for a dangerous situation if a tire blows out.
The front tires (and brakes) take the most beating, add that to the fact that you only have two front tires, it makes sense to have them checked by a professional every 5-7 years. Even if the tread is good. It beats the heck out of blowing a front tire and the possibilities that can occur. The preponderance of motor-homes at least use dual rear wheels, and for those who don’t know, a rear flat beats a front flat any day. Why, the front tires do the steering, loss of steering is not too cool.
The lesson is don’t assume anything is good until proven so. Use our GotTransmissions.com blog as a resourse of proven tips, or scour the internet. Be smart like a BoyScout… Be Prepared.
