Airstream RV Blog #73 – Tire Issues from Sean Michael on Vimeo.
In a little over a year of ownership, we’ve had three flat tires on our RV.
The first occurred in Myers Flat, California. We were camping in one of the prettiest private campgrounds in California’s redwood forests. Our tire died in the middle of the night. We woke up the next morning, and it was just…gone. It didn’t even leave a note. Thankfully, one nice feature of a towable trailer like an Airstream is that you can safely tow short distances even with one flat tire. There was a tire shop right outside our campground, and we were soon up and running.
The second flat tire was at least 98% my fault. After a long day of towing across the great American West, we exited the highway in Amarillo, Texas. But alas! In a memorable case of pilot error, my exit trajectory was sloppy. When making a sharp right turn, we clipped a curve. POOF! With a memorable bang, the new tire we’d purchased in Myers Flat met its sudden, sad demise. It was so young! We got the tire replaced, but the battered rim never forgave me.
Our third flat tire happened in Florida. We awoke one morning to discover that yet another tire had mysteriously expired. Apparently they tend to die of natural causes in the middle of the night. We towed our Airstream to a nearby tire shop and got it replaced.
So now, with our Good Sam’s Club card clutched tightly in hand, we are venturing back on the road. But not without a few fresh tire worries. We’re headed West with our spare rim back on the RV.
Our latest steel-belted drama involves a bizarre, uneven wear pattern. As you’ll see in the video, this tire is wearing out in a dangerous fashion. Naturally, it’s happening to the NEW tire we had mounted in Texas. Coincidence?
My suspicion is that clipping the curb last summer caused further damage to our Airstream than we realized. But I hope and pray that I’m wrong. Perhaps someone out there knows better.
And so, now I pose the $120 (mounted and balanced) question to you tire experts out there. What’s wrong with our tire? If you have any ideas, please let us know.
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