10,000 mile service

[David M]

Originally Posted by MILATV

They do, that's the 45 mile away dealer.

I have to pull out Friday for SHOT Show in Vegas and was trying to figure out how big a priority this service needed to be.

Maybe could get done in Vegas while I'm there three days.

Hi MILATV,
If you have an extra ticket for Shot, I'd love to meet you in Vegas
David

[K9CarCrate]

I am also wondering about the tire rotation question. Personally, I have mostly been disappointed with the quality of tire rotations with the rims taking a beating. I am also assuming that it costs at least $100 to move six tires around. I am also assuming that the from two tires bear much of the wear. Would it be reasonable to keep the tires where they are and just replace the front two more often? I would appreciate any opinions. I al run my tires at the cold air pressure of 78lbs. I have found the handling at 61lbs. very sloppy. I have always run my trucks and cars just below cold psi recommendations with success. I am intending to upgrade the suspension and considering the Koni upgrade. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Lily&Me]

Many tire dealerships will rotate those tires for free, which is what we do whenever possible.

We try to rotate at home, where we buy the tires (Firestone), but have had other Firestone dealers elsewhere in the country do these same, free rotations for us when needed.

We are on our third set.

Maggie

[robert claus]

Regarding tire rotation, what I do is move them when I do a summer/winter swap. I have a separate set of tires on wheels for winter (Nokians). Each set gets about 6 months of usage, and the winter tires make all the difference in slippery conditions. When I install them, I put the two showing the most wear on the front - the rears wear more quickly, especially when towing. Without winter tires and weight in the back, my Sprinter won't go in the snow.

[herrick51]

Originally Posted by K9CarCrate

I am also wondering about the tire rotation question. Personally, I have mostly been disappointed with the quality of tire rotations with the rims taking a beating. I am also assuming that it costs at least $100 to move six tires around. I am also assuming that the from two tires bear much of the wear. Would it be reasonable to keep the tires where they are and just replace the front two more often? I would appreciate any opinions. I al run my tires at the cold air pressure of 78lbs. I have found the handling at 61lbs. very sloppy. I have always run my trucks and cars just below cold psi recommendations with success. I am intending to upgrade the suspension and considering the Koni upgrade. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Hello,
Depending on tire brand,the reliability of the tire is the durability of valve stem. The freight liner tech. Was of the opinion that the rubber valve stems on continental tires shouldn't exceed 65 psi. Please double check your valve stem capacities and of course there were different rubber valve stems, but that's why I follow recommendations on door,until I replace valve stems with higher rated metal ones.
Pete

[aa9zz]

I am getting ready to replace tires. What extended valve stems would be best for the rear duals?

[c21]

I use the Borg Dually Valves which you can order from YOURTIRESHOPSUPPLY.COM. The ones you want are part no: DL1SPAL. I have used these on two rvs with no issues and they will easily support a tire monitor transmitter. Cost is ~ $120 + shipping for all 4 duals. Great product.

[nesoutlook]

As a newbie with my first rv with currently 5000 miles on the odometer and this set of tires, I am looking for tire rotation and balancing advice. At present I have no plans to travel in the snow and swapping out my tires for snow tires. Since this is my first set of tires, free rotation and balancing at a tire shop is out. Because of the weight of this vehicle, I am afraid to trusting the local tire shop. Would Protag please weigh in. Rotation schedule? Should tires be balanced at each rotation? What about alignment?

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by nesoutlook

I am looking for tire rotation and balancing advice.

According to the Mercedes Benz Sprinter Maintenance Manual, page 5:

If your vehicle's tire configuration allows for tire rotation, tire rotation should be performed in accordance with the recommended intervals.

Now here's the kicker. Our Interstates have three different rims: Front, outer rear, and inner rear/spare. Strictly speaking, the configuration does not allow for tire rotation. But also look at page 11 of the same manual, which calls for tires to be removed and remounted at every Oil Service Plus (odd-numbered multiples of 10,000 miles) as well as Maintenance Service (even-numbered intervals of 10,000 miles). One would presume that remounting includes re-balancing.

So, every 10,000 miles, the tires must be removed from the rims and remounted. They can be rotated at the same time, by remounting the left front on outer left rear and vice versa, same on the right, and then inner rears swap with each other. The spare is not part of the rotation.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by nesoutlook

What about alignment?

Almost forgot this part of your question. The Sprinter Maintenance Manual is surprisingly silent on the subject of front-end alignment. From a practical standpoint it makes sense to check and if necessary adjust front-end alignment the same time you rotate tires, or every 10,000 miles.

About the only regularly-required service that will NOT happen at intervals of 10,000 miles is adding DEF, which you will do when the dashboard display tells you to, no sooner and no later.

[K9CarCrate]

Thanks everyone for input. I understand what the manual says. I also realize that some manufacturer maintenance requirements are overkill and money makers. I really hate getting my rims scratched by tire rotation/changes so I'll have to look at the tire wear more closely and evaluate against my driving usage.

[UKDUDE]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Our Interstates have three different rims: Front, outer rear, and inner rear/spare.

OMG - I had assumed the rims were all the same! That explains why Advanced RV has opted for no spare at all - it doesn't make too much sense when you can use one of the duals at the front in an emergency.
That would make it expensive to do a proper rotation.
Peter

[c21]

I had always assumed that the Assyst system simply counted down to 10,000 miles then alerted you to have the vehicle serviced. A previous post on this thread seemed to indicate that the alert could come at more or less than 10,000 miles depending on vehicle useage. Does anyone know the straight skinny on this?
Thanks

[73shark]

I believe the front wheels and the outer rear wheels are the same wheel, just finished on one side, which is what necessitates unmounting and remounting the tires when you switch ends on the RV.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by c21bill

I had always assumed that the Assyst system simply counted down to 10,000 miles then alerted you to have the vehicle serviced. A previous post on this thread seemed to indicate that the alert could come at more or less than 10,000 miles depending on vehicle useage. Does anyone know the straight skinny on this?
Thanks

For normal preventive maintenance, it's mostly mileage-based. A few items are based on years or mileage, whichever comes first, such as engine oil (2 years or 10,000 miles), grease in the differential (10 years or 60,000 miles), and coolant (15 years or 60,000 miles). Other items are based solely on years, such as brake fluid (2 years).

However, you can get alerts at any mileage if you're low on one fluid or another, such as DEF or brake fluid. Or if there's a malfunction in some system that has sensors, such as emissions control.

You can scroll through the ASSYST system displays until you see a message "Service due in XXXX miles." Note, however, that after the first service, the interval will no longer be every 10,000 miles. It will be 10,000 miles after the previous service, not quite the same thing. In my case, I had the "Schedule A" service done around 9,880 miles, so my "Schedule B" service will be due around 19,880 miles. When service is performed, one of the items of work is resetting the ASSYST system so the miles remaining to the next service starts counting down from 10,000 again from the current point.

At least that's how the Sprinter service tech explained it to me when I had the 10,000-mile service done.

[c21]

Thanks Protag, I apprctiate the explaination.

[nesoutlook]

Why is it bad to add DEF before the computer prompts you?

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by nesoutlook

Why is it bad to add DEF before the computer prompts you?

It's not. But let me turn the question around… Why is it good to add DEF before you're reminded to? The tank holds a total of 4.9 gallons, and the first ASSYST nag screen comes on when 1.5 gallons are left.

When the ASSYST nag screen pops up, you're supposed to add at least 2 gallons to shut the nag screen off. I buy in 2½-gallon containers, so when I add DEF, it brings me up to 4.0 gallons. No danger of overfilling, but I'm still adding plenty.

If you want to add DEF more often, how do you determine how much to add, and how often? There's no dipstick or gauge to tell you the level at any given time.

I suppose if you buy direct from Mercedes Benz— they sell by the liter, but charge a bloody fortune for it since they import it from Germany— it's easy to add small amounts more often, once you have enough experience to know how often to add said smaller amount.

But waiting for the nag screen to remind you does no harm, and is easier all around, so that's what I'll keep doing.

[weirdstuff]

For some reason, I just burst out laughing while reading this thread. Once again, a bunch of us dazed and confused Interstate owners seeking answers!!

This is reminding me of the thread I started where I asked about the power systems. Remember what happened there? One of our awesome members ended up making a flow chart for us! That was cool.

I'm thinking we might need another flow chart to plot out service stuff, including the tire rotation. Anyone want to do this? Anyone? Bueller...Bueller??

[toskeysam]

@weirdstuff.....made me bust out laughing sitting here in airport. Glad I am not the only "dazed and confused" owner out here. My wife asked to me to create a few flow charts for her....the third week into reading the manual(s). I had to start one for myself😀. Being of German extraction and an engineer myself I can understand how/why they did a lot of what they did 😃😃, but dang it.....it all reads like an old IBM manual.