WHEEL COVER QUESTION March 19, 2015, 04:12:10 pm Yahoo Message Number: 151622I attended the Escapees Boot Camp & stayed for the Escapade in Tuscon from 3/4-3/11. Saw a red & white Classic on I-25 northbound/north of Las Cruces on Thursday 3/4, & two new model LDs at the Escapde (met Sharon (24' tan & white) from Alaska, but only saw the other teal & white from afar). Learned lots--and that I now have even more questions, which Time--Time--Time will take care of.Saw the "rapid deflation" (AKA blowout) video. It seems counterintuitive to me, & I also didn't understand the many examples of people driving for X miles without knowing they had a flat until stopping/seeing smoke/being flagged down by another motorist... Started back to north MO Thursday evening, & about ten miles east of Tuscon on I-10 I felt a big kerwhumpf & heard a God-awful noise (even with the wind/road noise that causes my hearing aids to damp down)--how can you miss it? I'd lost the inside left dualie, but managed to turn around & limp back into Tuscon, where I'd seen a Discount Tire earlier in the week--I got in about fifteen minutes before closing time, but they had new (0615) Michelins I could put on the front & rotate the others around, & get back on the road.The next day I stopped for gas in NM, & doing a tour around the rig, noticed the wheel cover/simulator on the right rear was missing. I remembered seeing it on the shop floor when they were rotating tires, but foolishly didn't check when they rolled it out of the bay & handed me the keys. I called the shop in Tuscon, where nothing was found laying around the shop & the tech claimed it had been re-installed. I told them the thing had travelled thousands of miles & doesn't just come off on its own; they advised me to stop at the nearest Discount Tire (which turned out to be Amarillo), that shop took pictures & the wizards conferred. Because it was Saturday they couldn't reach anyone at the Mothership, so more conversations were to follow.Upshot: Today I received a call from the Discount Tire in Tuscon, & they had talked with the Mothership, who will not accept credit cards/purchase order, but will take a Discount Tire check coming through the mail. The choices are: A) Discount Tire orders & sends a check to the Mothership, which sends a matching cover (with the K II emblem in the center) to Discount Tire in Tuscon, which then sends it on to me in north MO or B) Discount Tire orders four new covers from Pacific Rim & Tire which are *supposedly* the same, except there is no center K II emblem, which would be sent directly to me.I am in no great time crunch, where I must immediately have the replacement. I have no reason to doubt the quality of Pacific Rim & Tire products--I asked if this was the LD supplier & was told "they are all aluminum & the only difference is the emblem in the center"--but it does seem odd to me that they would offer me four new ones or one that matches what I've got, & perhaps the four are of a lighter weight/thinner material....Anyway, I'd appreciate any thoughts y'all might have. Thanks.Lynne LDy Lulubelle ('05 30' TB) Lilly (the black & white noise maker)
Re: WHEEL COVER QUESTION Reply #1 – March 19, 2015, 04:29:50 pm Yahoo Message Number: 151623"I asked if this was the LD supplier & was told 'they are all aluminum & the only difference is the emblem in the center'."For what it's worth, mine--including a replacement that I purchased from Lazy Daze last year--are all stainless steel."I also didn't understand the many examples of people driving for X miles without knowing they had a flat until stopping/seeing smoke/being flagged down by another motorist."There are plenty of documented cases. Not all tire failures are as noisy as yours was.Andy Baird
Re: WHEEL COVER QUESTION Reply #2 – March 19, 2015, 04:49:10 pm Yahoo Message Number: 151625Thx, Andy--also for the YMMV about my noisy kerwhumpf.
Re: WHEEL COVER QUESTION Reply #3 – March 20, 2015, 03:21:23 pm Yahoo Message Number: 151662I'd skip the Pacific Rim & Tire covers. I looked at them for my SOB and they are nowhere near as good as the K-II's that were on my 2005 LD. I think that you should call Vince, or someone else at LD, and see if they would ship the new cover directly to you when the receive the check from Discount Tire. It should not cost more or take any more work than shipping the cover to Discount Tire. I don't know how familiar you are with the LD wheel covers. At the risk of providing too many details, I would like to offer a couple of two suggestions based on experience with my 2005 LD. (I knew the K-II's well as I removed them every time that I took the coach to the alignment shop, Discount tire, or the Ford dealer.) ØIf you lost a K-II from your 2005 LD it means that the two "dummy lug nuts" that hold the wheel cover in place on the wheel managed to disappear. Either the tire shop did not put them on or they put them on very loosely and they fell off. (I doubt that it was the latter.) In any case, you will need these dummy lug nuts and I doubt that you have them. If this is true, make sure that they are coming with the new cover. ØThe dummy lug nuts fit onto two "threaded cylinders" that are screwed onto the ends of two wheel studs. As I recall, these cylinders are about 3/4 inch in diameter and 1 & 1/2 inches long. They have threads on the outside. Also a hole through the center and it also has threads. These two cylinders screw onto two of the eight wheel studs. The wheel cover slides on over these cylinders and then the dummy lug nuts screw onto the end of the cylinders that stick out through the covers. ØHowever, there is a catch. The two threaded cylinders must be installed on the proper pair of wheel studs. They must be installed so that the tire valve stem comes through the hole in the wheel cover. You can quickly determine the proper pair of studs by holding the wheel cover against the wheel so that the cover is properly positioned for the valve stem. As I recall one of the proper studs on my LD was the first stud in a counterclockwise direction from the valve stem. Obviously the other stud was the one directly across the wheel. In 2005, LD coaches came with a pair of wrenches for removing/installing the K-II's: ØOne wrench is a "socket" wrench with a "T-shaped" handle about 10-inches long. It fits the dummy lug nuts. When installing these nuts, they should be firmly in place, but not super tight. It you tighten them too much they will come apart. ØThe other wrench is an "L-shaped" Alan wrench or hex key about 6-inches long. It is used to remove and install the threaded cylinders. The outer end of each cylinder has a "socket" that accepts the hex shaped Alan wrench. Then installing the threaded cylinders on the wheel studs, they should be tightened down good. If you have the threaded cylinders, they are still probably on the wheel of your coach. If not, you should make sure that a pair are coming with the new wheel cover. It is obvious that the guys at Discount Tire did not properly re-install your wheel cover and there are a number of ways in which they might have errored. That is the reason I always removed my K-II's before taking the coach to any service shop that might need to remove the covers.Doug Baker
Re: WHEEL COVER QUESTION Reply #4 – March 20, 2015, 10:40:51 pm Yahoo Message Number: 151672This was pretty informative. I don't have a LD yet but I'm learning everything I can about them. This is very good to know. Thank you Doug. Jo
Re: WHEEL COVER QUESTION Reply #5 – March 21, 2015, 05:18:14 am Yahoo Message Number: 151675Jo, The wheel covers on new LD'S are different. I don't know exactly what they are using. I do know that sometime after 2005 (maybe 2008?) Ford changed the way in which the rims mount to the vehicle wheel itself. The rims are just a bit different. The wheel studs are a bit shorter and they use a different type of lug nut than was on the 2005. The result is that there hardly room to screw a "threaded cylinder" onto a stud; thus the old style K-II's don't work. I have seen wheel covers that will fit late model Ford E-450 wheels (mine is a 2013). A couple of them are similar to the old K-II's but use 4 dummy lug nuts. Another type has "spring clips" around the outside edge that snap into the rim just like many hubcaps.Doug Baker
Re: WHEEL COVER QUESTION Reply #6 – March 22, 2015, 01:25:51 am Yahoo Message Number: 151684Hi, Doug--Thx for the detailed response. Todd answered the phone when I called the Mothership, remembered the conversation with the guy from Discount Tire, & cleared some confusion (the DT guy in Tuscon had priced a right front cover with Todd, not the right rear that was missing...would have caused a greater defugilty than already exists to have gotten the wrong one shipped to MO). Also, Todd confirmed that he could, indeed, ship directly to me in MO, which the DT guy in Tuscon agreed to do when I followed up after the discussion with Todd.I learned about the two "dummy lug nuts" when the DT guy in Amarillo was checking/taking pix to send to the guy in Tuscon, but I didn't know about the threaded cylinders. I went out to check the rig for the threaded cylinders, & there was nada, so another call to Tuscon, where I was told everything I needed would come with the K-II from the Mothership, which a call to Todd confirmed--began to get a bit dizzy with the round-robin of phone calls...Thx, also, for the detailed description of the installation process. Re: the "T-shaped handle" & the alan wrench/hex key...should I look for these in a particular place? My minivan jack is tucked into an enclosed compartment in the back hatch, & part of the jack for my F250 farm truck is under the hood...I've not seen the tools you mentioned in LDy Lulubelle, but hadn't had a previous need to locate them...if not, I'll just try my dad's ginormous sockets 'til I find the right size & make sure I snug up all four covers when I install the new one/before I drive anywhere else.Finally, thx, for the pointer about removing the K-IIs yourself before servicing...depending on others to dot i's & cross t's got me into this mess, so some personal responsibility in the future will leave one less thing to follow up on when I have work done.Thx again, to all, for the info & discussion.Lynne Ldy Lulubelle (teal '05 30' TB) Lilly (black & white noise maker)
Topic: WHEEL COVER QUESTION (Read 26 times)
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Topic: WHEEL COVER QUESTION (Read 26 times)
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