Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 02-27-2021, 06:59 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
Sagecoachdriver's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Southern California
Posts: 2,087
Taking MH out of mothballs

Our last trip in the Forester was Nov 2019. I put in Stabil when I filled the tank after the trip. It has sat in our driveway since with 2 or 3 trips around our valley for about 20 miles each. I have run the generator religiously every month for 30-45 minutes every month or so with either the A/C on or the heat pump for a good load. Since the DW and I have just received our second dose of vaccine, we are planning trips and I want to get the MH back in shape. Last week, I cleaned the inside top to bottom, gave the tanks a good flushing and washed and waxed the outside. I have done some maintenance things like tire pressure, air bags, checked the air filter. I have oil and filter ready for the change. While washing and waxing, I checked the roof and it's good, as I applied Eternabond tape around the entire roof. I also reacquainted myself with all the components including slide outs, levelers, TV, Satellite and tested them for functionality and good working order.
Have I missed anything? What so I do about the gas in the tank being 15 months old, just use it up? I have a month until we head out.
__________________
2004 Winnebago Minnie 22e(went to a nice family Oct 3, 2015)
2016 Forester 2701DS (Aug 31, 2015)
2017 Camping 12 trips 38 nights
2018 Camping 10 trips 38 nights
2019 Camping 6 trips 19 nights
2020 Camping 0 trips Cancellations 6
Sagecoachdriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2021, 07:05 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
SeaDog's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: x
Posts: 12,423
I would drive around a little to burn it down and top it off with fresh gas.
__________________
Retired Navy
Jake my sidekick (yellow Lab) 10/04 - 05/20
2017 RAM 2500 CC 4X4 Cummins Diesel
2016 Flagstaff 26 FKWS
AF&AM & El Korah Shrine of Idaho
SeaDog is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2021, 07:05 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 4,330
It’s great that you’re able to get back out and use your RV.

If your house batteries require monitoring of electrolyte level, did you check them?

Opinions will vary about the old gasoline. I would just drive off and use it up. I have never had gasoline that wouldn’t burn.
__________________
2020 Sunseeker 2440DS on 2019 Ford E-450, Trekker cap, Topaz paint
BehindBars is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2021, 07:09 PM   #4
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: Champion, PA.
Posts: 49
I would just put some Sea Foam in the fuel tank, start it up and use it. Depending on how full your tank is, fill it the rest of the way up with premium fuel and enjoy!
__________________
2019 Forest River Berkshire XL40D
Dave6716 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2021, 07:29 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
Sagecoachdriver's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Southern California
Posts: 2,087
Quote:
Originally Posted by BehindBars View Post
It’s great that you’re able to get back out and use your RV.

If your house batteries require monitoring of electrolyte level, did you check them?

Opinions will vary about the old gasoline. I would just drive off and use it up. I have never had gasoline that wouldn’t burn.
I have BB lithium batteries, solar and just installed a 2000 watt inverter. Eager to get out there.
__________________
2004 Winnebago Minnie 22e(went to a nice family Oct 3, 2015)
2016 Forester 2701DS (Aug 31, 2015)
2017 Camping 12 trips 38 nights
2018 Camping 10 trips 38 nights
2019 Camping 6 trips 19 nights
2020 Camping 0 trips Cancellations 6
Sagecoachdriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2021, 07:37 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Sagecoachdriver's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Southern California
Posts: 2,087
Just looked at my tires with 14,000 miles on them. Michelins that are coming up on 6 years old. Look almost new and don't have the ozone cracks like those on the 03 Winnebago. Had to replace them every 30K at 4-5 years old. I know they recommend replacing RV tires after 6 years. Going to try to replace them end of the year maybe. At $2200, it's not an easy thing to do when they look like new.
__________________
2004 Winnebago Minnie 22e(went to a nice family Oct 3, 2015)
2016 Forester 2701DS (Aug 31, 2015)
2017 Camping 12 trips 38 nights
2018 Camping 10 trips 38 nights
2019 Camping 6 trips 19 nights
2020 Camping 0 trips Cancellations 6
Sagecoachdriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2021, 08:21 AM   #7
Kanadian Kamper
 
kenandterry's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Southern Ontario
Posts: 8,129
Sounds like my story and......

Everything sounds great......but the age of your tires is a topic of discussion, after all, you brought it up to start.

I know exactly where you come from trying to justify NOT changing them out just given their mileage and appearance. I had the same situation 5 years ago when I knew my tires were going to start their 7th year back in Canada, just as soon as I got home from wintering in Florida. Well......one tire, thankfully an outside rear, blew on the second day heading home. Roadside assistance did their work and we only lost 2 hours total.

Got home and immediately replaced all SIX with matching new RV specific tires.

Couldn’t even give the replacement tire away with only 1500 miles on it.
__________________

Ken and Terry
2018 Sunseeker 2430S-CD, nicely modified and carried by a 2017 Ford E450 Sport
Former Georgetown 330TS owner for 10 years with more mods than I can count, pushed by our 2017 GMC Terrain
kenandterry is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2021, 09:30 AM   #8
Senior Member
 
Sagecoachdriver's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Southern California
Posts: 2,087
Quote:
Originally Posted by kenandterry View Post
Everything sounds great......but the age of your tires is a topic of discussion, after all, you brought it up to start.

I know exactly where you come from trying to justify NOT changing them out just given their mileage and appearance. I had the same situation 5 years ago when I knew my tires were going to start their 7th year back in Canada, just as soon as I got home from wintering in Florida. Well......one tire, thankfully an outside rear, blew on the second day heading home. Roadside assistance did their work and we only lost 2 hours total.

Got home and immediately replaced all SIX with matching new RV specific tires.

Couldn’t even give the replacement tire away with only 1500 miles on it.
I know, I will check the mfg dates this morning. I told a few a friend about 10 years ago that his 7 year old tires were not safe and they recommend replacing even with only 12K on them. He disagreed and 2 trips later on the way from LA to Yosemite on hwy 99 the inner right rear blew. His wife was following him with her car and phoned him, he felt it and thought it was just the rough road torn up by semi's. He called for road side service and the driver said he won't work on it on the hwy, So he drove off the hwy off ramp. He jacked the MH up took off the tire and was going to mount the spare which wasn't in the best of shape either. Turns out the spare's rim wasn't for the Ford chassis but Chevy and lug holes didn't line up. So he called for a tire to be delivered which took over an 1 1/2 hours it being on a Sunday. Then the new tire was mounted on the correct rim and the old spare put back under the MH. By the time they got on the road again they had lost almost 6 hours. They didn't get to their campsite until well after dark. He sold the MH a few months later.
So the purpose of this rant, was to convince myself to get new tires, ASAP depending on the date of course.
__________________
2004 Winnebago Minnie 22e(went to a nice family Oct 3, 2015)
2016 Forester 2701DS (Aug 31, 2015)
2017 Camping 12 trips 38 nights
2018 Camping 10 trips 38 nights
2019 Camping 6 trips 19 nights
2020 Camping 0 trips Cancellations 6
Sagecoachdriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2021, 09:59 AM   #9
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 4,330
If a tire “blows”, do we just assume it is from age? Do we know the pressure was correct on the day the tire failed? Do we know for sure there was no physical damage? I’m one of those guys that has many times run tires that were up to 14 years old, carefully monitored and successfully. The last time I had a tire blow was a long, long time ago on an old tire on a 1967 pop-up. From my experiences, I just have a lot trouble buying in to the tire age thing when they are just a few years old. Maybe a difference is that I store all vehicles indoors.

I apologize for continuing the tire topic, since it isn’t the main focus of this thread.
__________________
2020 Sunseeker 2440DS on 2019 Ford E-450, Trekker cap, Topaz paint
BehindBars is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2021, 10:10 AM   #10
Senior Member
 
Sagecoachdriver's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Southern California
Posts: 2,087
Behindbars, not a problem. I just checked and can't find the Michelin LTX M/S2 in 16" anymore. They don't show it on the Michelin site I checked, Tiure rack or America's tire. Am I looking in the wrong places? Going to give America's tire store a few blocks away a call this morning. May have to go with Goodyear. I see Hankook tires on Ford vans but never on a MH. Plus they don't have a good reputation here .
__________________
2004 Winnebago Minnie 22e(went to a nice family Oct 3, 2015)
2016 Forester 2701DS (Aug 31, 2015)
2017 Camping 12 trips 38 nights
2018 Camping 10 trips 38 nights
2019 Camping 6 trips 19 nights
2020 Camping 0 trips Cancellations 6
Sagecoachdriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2021, 10:16 AM   #11
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 4,330
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sagecoachdriver View Post
Behindbars, not a problem. I just checked and can't find the Michelin LTX M/S2 in 16" anymore. They don't show it on the Michelin site I checked, Tiure rack or America's tire. Am I looking in the wrong places? Going to give America's tire store a few blocks away a call this morning. May have to go with Goodyear. I see Hankook tires on Ford vans but never on a MH. Plus they don't have a good reputation here .
Hankook tires are the OEM tires on my 2019 chassis E-450 motorhome. They have been working well. I have also run the Dextero LT tires Walmart sold with total success. The only motorhome tire I ever had trouble with was a Michelin on my old MH. It got all twisted up and wore very unevenly.
__________________
2020 Sunseeker 2440DS on 2019 Ford E-450, Trekker cap, Topaz paint
BehindBars is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2021, 12:10 PM   #12
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: N California mountains
Posts: 294
Michelin has replaced the LTX with the Agilis Crossclimate. The Agilis comes in two versions, load range E and C-metric. Specs for the load range E is identical to the LTX and the tread pattern looks the same. The C-metric is very different in that the tread is directional and the load range is 20% greater.


I purchased the C-metirc version because my 2861DS rear axle runs at 9600 lbs loaded for travel. The load range E max is 9880 lbs at 80 psi, while the C-metric is 11900 lbs at 80 psi. The C-metric gives me much more margin especially since I know the axle weight is not balanced side to side, the left is more than half and likely exceeds the load range E max.


The other advantage is that I can run the tires at lower pressure for my axle weights, instead of 80 rear/75 front, I now run 70 rear/65 front. I am just completing a 2000 mile trip that I take each winter and I can say that I have noticed that the road surface roughness is softened, still there but not as hard feeling. My wife just shrugs, but she is not tuned to the driving performance of the RV. I also feel that the steering is more centered possibly due to lower pressure and wider tread. I am very happy with this tire.



Some may be concerned that you can't rotate the directional tread tires, but I have never rotated my class C tires because they time out before wearing out.



This link shows the load/inflation differences for the two versions.
https://www.rvsafety.com/images/pdf/...ionrvtruck.pdf
__________________
2017 Forester 2861DS
towing 2015 Jeep Rubicon
fobagbob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2021, 12:26 PM   #13
Certified Curmudgeon
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Here
Posts: 3,999
Alternative Maybe

No direct experience or reviews on this option. Just throwing it out there:
https://youtu.be/GRv0IIAv6j8
__________________
Mike Dropped
Duckogram is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2021, 12:37 PM   #14
Senior Member
 
Sagecoachdriver's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Southern California
Posts: 2,087
My spare has never been touched and is an off brand tire not a Michelin. So I will probably use one tire that I replaced in Feb of 2018 and make it my spare and have a new tire put on the spare rim. Hope the spare rim is same as the 6 others. Look what happened to my friend on the earlier post #8.
__________________
2004 Winnebago Minnie 22e(went to a nice family Oct 3, 2015)
2016 Forester 2701DS (Aug 31, 2015)
2017 Camping 12 trips 38 nights
2018 Camping 10 trips 38 nights
2019 Camping 6 trips 19 nights
2020 Camping 0 trips Cancellations 6
Sagecoachdriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2021, 12:40 PM   #15
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: N California mountains
Posts: 294
Quote:
Originally Posted by Duckogram View Post
No direct experience or reviews on this option. Just throwing it out there:
https://youtu.be/GRv0IIAv6j8

Yes, another example of the C-metric (commercial) option. He does a good job explaining the difference and confirming what you can find in the load inflation tables.
__________________
2017 Forester 2861DS
towing 2015 Jeep Rubicon
fobagbob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2021, 02:49 PM   #16
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 9,458
10 years

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sagecoachdriver View Post
Just looked at my tires with 14,000 miles on them. Michelins that are coming up on 6 years old. Look almost new and don't have the ozone cracks like those on the 03 Winnebago. Had to replace them every 30K at 4-5 years old. I know they recommend replacing RV tires after 6 years. Going to try to replace them end of the year maybe. At $2200, it's not an easy thing to do when they look like new.
Per other reports on this forum, Michelin claims their tires are good for ten years.
__________________
Larry
"Everybody's RV is not like your RV."
"Always take pictures with the button on the right."
"Always bypass the water heater before opening the low-point drains."
Sticks and Bricks: Raleigh, NC
2008 Cherokee 38P: at Ivor, VA permanently
Larry-NC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2021, 03:20 PM   #17
Senior Member
 
Sagecoachdriver's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Southern California
Posts: 2,087
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry-NC View Post
Per other reports on this forum, Michelin claims their tires are good for ten years.
That's what I read. But I have recently found ozone cracks starting. Tire dealers say 6 years. Of course they would.
__________________
2004 Winnebago Minnie 22e(went to a nice family Oct 3, 2015)
2016 Forester 2701DS (Aug 31, 2015)
2017 Camping 12 trips 38 nights
2018 Camping 10 trips 38 nights
2019 Camping 6 trips 19 nights
2020 Camping 0 trips Cancellations 6
Sagecoachdriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2021, 07:01 PM   #18
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Mono, ON Canada
Posts: 104
My Forester came with Hankook tires on it and I have had no complaints to date. The spare tire is some no-name China bomb that I am planning to replace with a Hankook. One item that caught my attention was in Post #8 about the spare tire rim having a different bolt pattern than the wheels on the motorhome. I guess if I have a new spare installed, that will be a good time to check the bolt pattern on the rim.
__________________
2020 F.R. Forester 3011DS (2018 E-450 Chassis) (32')
Toad:2018 Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited
2011 Keystone Montana 3455SA (38') with F350 diesel
2004 ALFA Leisure Gold Diesel Pusher (41')
1990 Elite (27' C Class, not on rental fleet)
1984 Elite (25' C Class on GO Vacations rental fleet)
HYDROG is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2021, 07:38 PM   #19
Senior Member
 
Sagecoachdriver's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Southern California
Posts: 2,087
Hydrog and KenandTerry, I see you both are around Toronto. The DW and I went on a Princess Cruise back in the fall of 2019 with a land tour starting in Toronto, over to Niagara for the day then 7 day bus tour all the way up to Quebec to meet the cruise ship. Then another 10 days onboard. I must say you have a beautiful country with very nice people. We especially like a boat cruise thru the Thousand Islands. We hope to one day take the MH up there once the border opens up.
Hydrog, I heard complaints about the Hankook tires and then Ford started putting them on the vans and trucks. I think most of the complaints were about trailer tires.
They are $60 less each than Michelins. That's over $360 plus tax.
__________________
2004 Winnebago Minnie 22e(went to a nice family Oct 3, 2015)
2016 Forester 2701DS (Aug 31, 2015)
2017 Camping 12 trips 38 nights
2018 Camping 10 trips 38 nights
2019 Camping 6 trips 19 nights
2020 Camping 0 trips Cancellations 6
Sagecoachdriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2021, 07:47 PM   #20
Kanadian Kamper
 
kenandterry's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Southern Ontario
Posts: 8,129
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sagecoachdriver View Post
Hydrog and KenandTerry, I see you both are around Toronto. The DW and I went on a Princess Cruise back in the fall of 2019 with a land tour starting in Toronto, over to Niagara for the day then 7 day bus tour all the way up to Quebec to meet the cruise ship. Then another 10 days onboard. I must say you have a beautiful country with very nice people. We especially like a boat cruise thru the Thousand Islands. We hope to one day take the MH up there once the border opens up.
Glad you enjoyed your trip, and if things improve for all, and I mean all of us, we’d love to have you up this way again. We’ve camped in the Niagara region several times, so we know the area well.

My wife Terry and I hosted the largest Canadian FROG Rallies in 2017 and 2018 with boat tours around the Thousand Islands as one of the events during our rally. Both years, we had a large attendance by a number of American FROGS from a number of states joining up for 4 days of fun with our Canadian FROGS.
If I say so myself......I’m pretty sure a good time was had by all.

We’ve attended a number of other FROG rallies ourselves, obviously a number of them in the states. We’ve always had great times. With FROGS, there are no boundaries.

When COVID allows, we have a guest spot for you up here.

FROG ON!
__________________

Ken and Terry
2018 Sunseeker 2430S-CD, nicely modified and carried by a 2017 Ford E450 Sport
Former Georgetown 330TS owner for 10 years with more mods than I can count, pushed by our 2017 GMC Terrain
kenandterry is online now   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:37 PM.