Hi from MervM -Kudos to Vendors

[MervM]

Hi from new members Merv and Lola
We just returned from "Hands across the Border" rally in Helena Mt. After leaving the rally we continued on for a short trip.I would like to mention a number of places that treated us Royally. 1) Jake's Automotive & Tire in West Yellowstone 2) A-Z Tire in Billings Mt 3) Tour America RV Center (A/S Dealer). Kudos to all three , they all helped to make a bad scene bearable.
Merv & Lola 3229
Region 10 Unit 120

[Aage]

Hello and welcome to airforums.com, Merv & Lola! I'm sorry to hear that you had such a "bad scene" on your trip, and congratulations to the retailers that helped you out with it.

If you're up to it, perhaps you could share some of the details?

[MervM]

Hi Aage
Before leaving on our trip, I had our local tire shop here check the amount of tread
wear left on our Lt 265 R75 17" load range "C"tires. He found an average of 40 %
wear remaining. We had the tires inflated to 50 PSI. Our tow vehicle is a 2003 F150
Lariat F X 4 Supercrew. Since we were only going to be going approx 4000 kms ( 2400 Miles ) I felt the tires were still safe to be used,total kms on vehicle were approx 95,000 kms (58,000 miles).
We had to go on a fair stretch of construction, at a stop on this road, we noticed a gash in the sidewall of the tire. We took it easy going into West Yellowstone,and arrived with no problem. At West Yellowstone we had our spare installed,the shop was full but the front counter man worked in the rain to do this,the price charged for this was very fair. We then continued on to Billings Mt where we had an appointment with the A/S dealer for a bearing repack,which was done very promptly and reasonable. I felt very uneasy about our tire situation,and asked the
A/S dealer for the name of a reputable tire shop I was directed to A-Z Tire . I had all but decided to install a new set of tires,however I wanted 10 ply tires Load range " E " in a 17 " Lt245.When we got to the tire shop I had them try to find the tires mentioned ,after much searching they found us a set of 5 tires.When they removed the tires with the 40 % tread left ( all 5 ) we found that 2 of the five tires had badly broken beads . The tire tech told me that the wide tire allowed for a large amount of tire squirm.The truck was also loaded to capacity, when i think of the roads around Yellowstone in the mountains,I shudder to think of possible consequences. To find that very hard to find tire spec.was indeed a stroke of luck all at a very decent price.
MervM

[Aage]

Wow, Merv, you WERE lucky! :: phew ::

Those sound like pretty big and hefty tires. I guess that's what the newer trailers can handle. I just put the regular 225/70R15 ones on mine for our trip to Georgia and Florida of 6,500 km last fall.

Well, I look forward to seeing more from you on here!

Aage

[bolerama]

Hi Merv and Lola,

Just saw this message. We went to W. Yellowstone after the rally too. If we had known you were heading there too, we could have travelled together. So sad to hear about your tire mishap.

Are you coming to the Rosthern Rally on the May long weekend? Looking forward to seeing you two again.

[MervM]

Hi Paul and Lisa
Good to see your post. What a coincidence we just got a phone call from Ted Dumont about the rally in Rosthern.With great regret we will not be able to attend due to health reasons, Ted can tell you more details. Also looks like we will not be able to attend HATB in AB. Lola's son is getting married that weekend in Prince George BC.

[bolerama]

Hi Merv and Lola,
We'll miss you next weekend, but health comes first. Take care of yourselves so that we'll see you down the road some time. Have a safe trip to Prince George.