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Old 07-28-2018, 03:14 PM   #1
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Warning! Indianapolis = pothole highways...

Just returned from a trip from the high plains via I80, then down thru Indianapolis via I74 and we had one of the worst experiences in our 24S. We were headed to I70E after a short stint on it's crappy outerbelt and dodging\hitting bone-rattling pottholes right in the middle of 3pm rush hr traffic...couldn't really dodge them actually. Have a brand new set of 6 Michelin Defenders(load range "E" thank goodness) and heard a kettle-drum noise erupt from the rear somewhere. Was just entering I70E at that point and luckily was in the slow lane and was able to safely maneuver to the "berm" with one ft. to spare on either side(roadway vs. guard rail). Jumped out...looked...both RR tires down like pancakes. We immediately called GEICO who "tried" to get a trooper out there for our safety(semi's were rocking us hard in passing) and also get a tow truck to us(how was he going to get us out of there? Lift the back, shut the 5-lane highway down to turn us around and out? No way). Trooper showed up(we called!), helped me put out a triangle and he shared a few flares then said he could not baby-sit us as they were short handed. He said Adios and blasted off with lights twinkling. Took him about an hr to get there, btw, and the wrecker another 1/2 hr...all the time we are watching traffic bear down on us from around the bend in the left outside mirror and just hoping nobody was in the middle of a text, or worse. The first wrecker thought we had a broken axle to which I explained to the insurance agent...nope...just flat tires. She could not get it straight. She said she was also having trouble getting any wrecker or tire company to come to our aid. We contacted my daughter in Dayton to help look up a reliable company as we were trying to do at the same time via Google and she quickly came up with a Pomp's Tire service who specialize in RV highway service. Now you mean to tell me GEICO could not do the same, and quicker? What the H!? We contacted Pomp's and they quickly dispatched a sharp young man within 35 minutes from across town, whereas the first wrecker took off and really didn't want to deal with this scary scenario. Thanks pal...
Meanwhile, my wife and I must have lost a few yrs. of life just sitting there scared out of our wits and just waiting to be clobbered by someone lurching down the lane. After setting up a buffer zone with his truck and triangles about a football-field length behind us, the kid from Pomp's got to work. He found that the valve extenders broke from the pothole hammering and flattened the tires. So, the tires were salvageable(yes!) and he was able to re-mounted them to make them driveable. Only thing, somebody who was behind us when all hell broke loose has a grill full of wheel simulator, braided extenders, and the wheel lip molding for added insult. After almost 6 hrs. on that highway we were underway again, thanks to the competency of Pomp's(4.5 star rating!), and NOT to GEICO(worthless), much less the Ind. highway patrol. Kudo's to my daughter though! Thnx kiddo!
SO...to underscore all this mess just PLEASE be aware of the crappy roads in the state and go slow and\or be ready to dodge them if possible. Drive way ahead of yourself, as they say. Better yet, take the longest detour you possibly can around the city, esp. during the rush hr, if you can. GAS is CHEAPER, and less scary, trust me. Sorry to unload on you all re this but just DON'T want any of you to experience this caper though I'm sure many of you have! Am not really trying to pick on Indy as I'm sure some other infrastructure cities are in the same...hole! Btw, Dayton has a brand-new highway system thru it and I guess we are spoiled? -PB
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Old 07-28-2018, 04:17 PM   #2
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We just got back from IN ourselves. As soon as we crossed the border from OH, I-80/90 went to h, e, double matchsticks. Just like you said, dodging potholes like an Olympic slalom course. It was BAD. Also found the same on I-69 near Lansing, MI. Violently rough road. At that point we made a decision to exit the interstates and take as many state/US highways as possible. MUCH better drive if a bit slower.
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Old 07-28-2018, 04:34 PM   #3
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Popele that live here should be going after their collective levels of government demanding repairs to the highway system. I live near, drive on and navigate the busiest highway in all of North America the 401. We do not have these issues or horror stories of potholes.
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Old 07-29-2018, 12:07 PM   #4
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Indy did us in too.

Those potholes on 465 south were the worst in 2500 mile trip. We nearly left our boat on the highway !! Guess those pothole are something Indy is proud of, as they pose a serious danger to unfamiliar travelers in that area. NO ACCUSE !!
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Old 07-29-2018, 01:18 PM   #5
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My wife and I left Houston to Lancaster then headed west to Alaska in May with our isata 3 ( with Michelin tire , yeah) also and after 2 trips thru out the mid east between those areas I must say that the Alcan highway even with its frost heaves from whitehorse to tok, is kept in better shape than those roads. I especially wasn't happy paying tolls on PA, Ohio ind and Illinois. How can these be interstates and toll roads at the same time? Try thru Chicago at rush hour because they "detoured us that way". Its going toake more than 1 year to fix that infastructure , especially at the speed of those DOT's.
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Old 07-29-2018, 01:55 PM   #6
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I'm from the Midwest

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pixelbum1 View Post
Just returned from a trip from the high plains via I80, then down thru Indianapolis via I74 and we had one of the worst experiences in our 24S. We were headed to I70E after a short stint on it's crappy outerbelt and dodging\hitting bone-rattling pottholes right in the middle of 3pm rush hr traffic...couldn't really dodge them actually. Have a brand new set of 6 Michelin Defenders(load range "E" thank goodness) and heard a kettle-drum noise erupt from the rear somewhere. Was just entering I70E at that point and luckily was in the slow lane and was able to safely maneuver to the "berm" with one ft. to spare on either side(roadway vs. guard rail). Jumped out...looked...both RR tires down like pancakes. We immediately called GEICO who "tried" to get a trooper out there for our safety(semi's were rocking us hard in passing) and also get a tow truck to us(how was he going to get us out of there? Lift the back, shut the 5-lane highway down to turn us around and out? No way). Trooper showed up(we called!), helped me put out a triangle and he shared a few flares then said he could not baby-sit us as they were short handed. He said Adios and blasted off with lights twinkling. Took him about an hr to get there, btw, and the wrecker another 1/2 hr...all the time we are watching traffic bear down on us from around the bend in the left outside mirror and just hoping nobody was in the middle of a text, or worse. The first wrecker thought we had a broken axle to which I explained to the insurance agent...nope...just flat tires. She could not get it straight. She said she was also having trouble getting any wrecker or tire company to come to our aid. We contacted my daughter in Dayton to help look up a reliable company as we were trying to do at the same time via Google and she quickly came up with a Pomp's Tire service who specialize in RV highway service. Now you mean to tell me GEICO could not do the same, and quicker? What the H!? We contacted Pomp's and they quickly dispatched a sharp young man within 35 minutes from across town, whereas the first wrecker took off and really didn't want to deal with this scary scenario. Thanks pal...
Meanwhile, my wife and I must have lost a few yrs. of life just sitting there scared out of our wits and just waiting to be clobbered by someone lurching down the lane. After setting up a buffer zone with his truck and triangles about a football-field length behind us, the kid from Pomp's got to work. He found that the valve extenders broke from the pothole hammering and flattened the tires. So, the tires were salvageable(yes!) and he was able to re-mounted them to make them driveable. Only thing, somebody who was behind us when all hell broke loose has a grill full of wheel simulator, braided extenders, and the wheel lip molding for added insult. After almost 6 hrs. on that highway we were underway again, thanks to the competency of Pomp's(4.5 star rating!), and NOT to GEICO(worthless), much less the Ind. highway patrol. Kudo's to my daughter though! Thnx kiddo!
SO...to underscore all this mess just PLEASE be aware of the crappy roads in the state and go slow and\or be ready to dodge them if possible. Drive way ahead of yourself, as they say. Better yet, take the longest detour you possibly can around the city, esp. during the rush hr, if you can. GAS is CHEAPER, and less scary, trust me. Sorry to unload on you all re this but just DON'T want any of you to experience this caper though I'm sure many of you have! Am not really trying to pick on Indy as I'm sure some other infrastructure cities are in the same...hole! Btw, Dayton has a brand-new highway system thru it and I guess we are spoiled? -PB
I'm from the Midwest. There's an old saying about the four seasons in Indiana: Fall, Winter, Spring, Road Repair

Obviously nothing's changed.

Larry
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Old 07-29-2018, 03:21 PM   #7
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Potholes and road repair

Indiana has begun rebuilding their roads around Indianapolis. As others have noted, some of the roads are pretty bad. If you are traveling through central Indiana, check with your preferred traffic websites. I-465 is under construction this year, last I heard the construction is in the Northwest quadrant. It is down to a single lane in each direction.

Family tells me the Southside roads are probably the worst. Of course they live on the Southside, Northside folks may feel the same way about their roads.
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Old 07-29-2018, 03:45 PM   #8
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I-90 in Indiana

On our trip out west this year we took I-90 through Indiana and that portion of I-90 was terrible. I've seen some bad potholes before but nothing like what I experienced on the Indiana I-90 interstate. I had just starting off on our first trip with our class C and I was worried about damage and ruining our vacation.

I would look into an alternate route if I were to head west again.
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Old 07-29-2018, 07:25 PM   #9
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We lived in Ft. Wayne between 10/73 and 7/77 and the roads (ALL of them) were the worst throughout the Midwest and I have to say Illinois has some VERY BAD roads. I was told back then that Indiana was the last state in the union to receive Federal highway funds and that Ft. Wayne was the last city in Indiana to receive highway funds! We have been back and forth from Florida to Wisconsin for the past 40 years and have changed our route to avoid the Interstates in Indiana taking the US highways instead. We still stop in Indiana to see friends but use the back roads to the NE lake areas. When traveling east/west we usually take US 30, going north/south we go to Ohio (I75) or Illinois (I57, I39).
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Old 07-29-2018, 08:14 PM   #10
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Michigan has underfunded roads for decades, only 19% of roads are in good condition.

The state is a natural wonder and well worth the trip, but expected to pay a few hundred dollars in "road tax" to fix a tire or windshield.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/loc...ads/400229002/
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Old 07-30-2018, 08:16 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by NoviBill View Post
Michigan has underfunded roads for decades, only 19% of roads are in good condition.

The state is a natural wonder and well worth the trip, but expected to pay a few hundred dollars in "road tax" to fix a tire or windshield.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/loc...ads/400229002/
Get away from The D and head North,,,
Roads are pretty good up there !!!

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Old 07-30-2018, 08:21 AM   #12
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Maybe IN builds Roads the same way they build everything else !!!
We went to KY a couple of years back,,,
worst part of our trip was I80 East,,, the freaking toll road
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Old 07-30-2018, 11:05 AM   #13
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you all are making me really nervous. We leave Wednesday going from NH to SD. My husbands route plan is 80 to 29 to 90. We have 4 brand new Good year tires and I really don't want to blow one out because of pot holes. I expect here in the North East, New England has the worst road but I have not experienced outside of here. I would love any advice in advance, thanks.
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Old 07-30-2018, 01:12 PM   #14
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Maybe it's time to quit spending so much of our tax $$$ on foreign aid and military (approved above what was requested) and start fixing our infrastructure. Our federal government seems to have enough money to talk about building a southern wall, offering $ 12 billion to farmers hit by an ill-conceived trade war, and giving the military more funding than even they had requested, so funding for road repair shouldn't be an issue.


These roads didn't get in this shape with just a year of neglect, so it's going to take more than a year to fix them. What really gripes me is miles of orange barrels reducing lanes with nothing taking place. Maybe part of the bid process should include a "lane-miles downtime" element. In some parts of the country you see road work taking place round-the-clock including weekends. Other parts of the country, I'm not sure when the road work takes place since you may see the orange barrels but no work taking place.
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Old 07-31-2018, 09:32 AM   #15
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you all are making me really nervous. We leave Wednesday going from NH to SD. My husbands route plan is 80 to 29 to 90. We have 4 brand new Good year tires and I really don't want to blow one out because of pot holes. I expect here in the North East, New England has the worst road but I have not experienced outside of here. I would love any advice in advance, thanks.
We took I 80 to I 29 in June,,, not too bad !!!
We came home on I 90,,, ok till we got to the toll roads around Chicago,,,
Over $20 to drive around Chicago !!! NEVER AGAIN !!!
Cram it Ill !!!


IN east of I 69 may be the worst part ???
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Old 07-31-2018, 01:11 PM   #16
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Depending on where you are coming from and going to, consider going across Canada. DW and I just returned from a cross county trip (MA-WA-MA) for a wedding. On the way back east we entered Canada at Sault St Marie and took PH17/PH417 across to Montreal then south to USA.


We did this to avoid I90/I80 east of the Mississippi. Canadian roads were pretty good (but do not under any circumstances go through Montreal).
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Old 08-04-2018, 05:49 AM   #17
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Good news: I-65 through Indianapolis and I-465 are now open.

The roads were closed while 7 bridges were being rebuilt. There are still potholes in some places, but traffic through the city will be easier.
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Old 08-04-2018, 09:35 AM   #18
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I hope they did not use workers from the RV plants to rebuild the bridges !!!
Mayb no so funny ???
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Old 08-04-2018, 10:09 AM   #19
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Pixelbum, I have not traveled the area but I can sure relate to your experience. We drove a 100 mile stretch of 2 lane highway through the foothills of the Canadian Rockies last week that used to be as smooth as a babies bum and now looks like a war zone or like one of the secondary roads in Eastern Europe in the 80's. Only thing I could do was turn on the 4 way flashers and slow down to a crawl in places.

One word of caution about valve extenders, they are notorious for leaking or vibrating off. Have longer valve stems installed instead when you have a chance, go with brass if you need to bend them - much safer.
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Old 08-04-2018, 11:00 AM   #20
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Pixelbum, I have not traveled the area but I can sure relate to your experience. We drove a 100 mile stretch of 2 lane highway through the foothills of the Canadian Rockies last week that used to be as smooth as a babies bum and now looks like a war zone or like one of the secondary roads in Eastern Europe in the 80's. Only thing I could do was turn on the 4 way flashers and slow down to a crawl in places.

One word of caution about valve extenders, they are notorious for leaking or vibrating off. Have longer valve stems installed instead when you have a chance, go with brass if you need to bend them - much safer.
I also used a very small amount of White Pipe Dope !!!
Maybe Lock Tight would help ???

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