Tire Vigilance
~Monday, July 13, 2020~
Day 29
We managed to get a lot accomplished today. We were not able to see Hannah and Devin since Hannah had a lot to do and Devin had a long work day. I spent the day working on updating our RV supply purchase list so we can track exactly what we’ve spent on equipment for the trailer and the truck. We think we’re nearly done with spending money on this thing. Unfortunately, we’re spending it all at once because we don’t want to be missing anything that we may need on this year long trip, especially in boony land. Most of the things we’ve purchased were necessary for peace of mind and safety, with very few “wants”.
Jeff worked on the TPS (tire pressure monitoring system), and the Level Mate Pro. And I learned how to operate our new compressor. The tire pressure monitor is really cool. Basically while we’re driving it will tell us the temperature and tire pressure of each tire (it takes about 6 seconds to cycle the reading of each tire). So we did a test and purposely released air slowly out of one tire to see if it was reading the decrease, and it was. When the tire pressure gets below 60 or above 78, an alarm will sound. If the tires heat up over 158 degrees, it will also sound off the alarm. RV tires are notorious for having blow-outs which can cause a lot of damage to the underside of your trailer. The reasons:
1. people keep their tires too long. Apparently, theh max you should hold on to RV tires is 4 years, even if they appear decent.
2. drive with low tire pressure
3. tires overheat, especially on hot days. If the reading is too high, then you either have to slow down or pull over until they cool off.
4. people simply don’t take care of them, especially when parked. UV rays wreak havoc on trailer tires, so covering them is important
5. not rotating. Apparently, the max you should hold on to tires is 4 years, even if they appear decent.
They are THE most important part of owning a rig. After we deflated the tire, then came time to get it back up to a 65 reading. Instructor Jeff guided me through the steps. It takes about 7 minutes to set it all up. We had to do it twice because the reading on the compressor was higher than the reading on the TPS by a few degrees (which we did read AFTER we dismantled the compressor-go figure). But it was good practice for me to set it up again.
Where did the day go? After our evening walk, we had very little light to play some Cornhole, so we only managed to get to a score of Jeff-14, me 5. The one great thing about hot days, is beautiful evenings.