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Topic: 2 votes for Good Sam roadside assistance (Read 225 times) previous topic - next topic
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2 votes for Good Sam roadside assistance
In a period of 10 months I had two tire tread separation events.  Both times, I called Good Sam roadside assistance.  The first time, a service truck was there 70 minutes after making the initial call.  The second time it took 80 minutes.  Both events happened on interstate highways on weekday afternoons.  Both service people were competent, helpful, and equipped with everything needed to change a tire.

This is much better than my previous experiences with Coach-Net.  The one problem I had with Good Sam, on the first call, was that the agent couldn't find my location ("shows you're in China").  This gave me an opportunity to explain east and west longitude.

I now have 6 new Michelin Defender LTX M/S tires, where new means date codes in the range 4518 to 4918.

The first tread separation was the right rear inner when it was about 6 years old by date code, and about 5 1/2 years after installation.  The second tread separation was the left rear inner when it was about 6 1/2 years old by date code, and about 6 years after installation.  Neither had ever been rotated.

The second tread separation occurred the day before I already had an appointment to get the six new tires installed.  If the tire had lasted 25 more miles, there never would have been a problem.

The tread separations I experienced were very undramatic.  In both, I was on an interstate, in the right lane, at 55 MPH.  In the first event, there was a loud buzzing sound that stopped after 1-2 seconds.  The motorhome didn't pull left or right, and the tire pressure monitoring system didn't alarm.  I slowed down, took the next exit, stopped, and only then figured out what had happened.  The TPMS showed the pressure in the failed tire had dropped about 10 PSI.

In the second event, the tread didn't come off cleanly, so there was continuous noise as a piece of tread hit against something repeatedly, but again there was no pulling to either side and no TPMS alarm.

I'm now thinking I'll get the new tires rotated once when they're about 2 1/2 years old, and replace them after about 5 years.  The inners have long valve stems, but I don't just want to swap the left and right inner positions.
Re: 2 votes for Good Sam roadside assistance
Reply #1 –
What was the brand and age of the tires that had tread separation?
2003 TK has a new home
Re: 2 votes for Good Sam roadside assistance
Reply #5 –
"Both times, I called Good Sam roadside assistance."

I used to subscribe to Good Sam roadside assistance... I now am with Coach-Net!

The incident that made me switch occurred while I was spending the weekend at an RV Park just south of Lone Pine on Hwy 395. Come checkout time on Monday morning the engine would crank but not run. Turned out to be a bad fuel pump.

I called Good Sam and was told that they would send a technician out from somewhere in L.A., it would take him 7 hours to reach me. Upon inquiry they said he may not be able to fix my problem. A trip to the C.G. Office revealed that there was a service facility not more than two miles away and they would be glad to get me back on the road. I had to spend one night on their outdoor lift while the fuel pump was shipped down from Reno but I was under motion again by 2pm next day. I guess it depends on what cards you have in your hand!
Steve S.
Lazy Bones & Cedar
2004 30'IB (Island Bed)
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery
Live for the day!
Re: 2 votes for Good Sam roadside assistance
Reply #6 –
Coincidentally, I just had MICHELIN LTX M/S tires installed on my ‘17 Outback this morning, replacing the original Bridgestone Dueller tires after 38k miles. Could of gone a bit longer but we have a few trips to San Diego and over to the coast scheduled in September so didn’t want to tempt fate.

Of course, these are not subject to the recall noted. I’m hoping the MICHELIN’s will provide better winter traction than the Bridgestone’s did. This is my first time ever buying MICHELIN, that I can recall. Purchased them through Tire Rack, whom I’m very happy with. The one negative is that the tires they shipped were dated the 47th and 48th weeks of 2018, so a little dated. This would not be acceptable to me if I were ordering RV tires.

I wonder if there is anyway to specify “fresher” tires when ordering from Tire Rack?
Greg & Victoria
2017 Mid-Bath  “Nocona” towing a manual 2015 Forester
Previously a 1985 TK
SKP #61264
 
Re: 2 votes for Good Sam roadside assistance
Reply #7 –
Quote from: HiLola  - 

I wonder if there is anyway to specify “fresher” tires when ordering from Tire Rack?

I don't know about Tire Rack but when I was having my rig weighed, the men doing the weighing (Escapees SmartWeigh) told me that FMCA members who order tires through the club will get tires that are 2-3 weeks old. They seem to have some kind of deal with Michelin.

I am an FMCA member and did not know about the freshness and bought my tires from Discount Tire. I did have them send back 4 of the 7 tires because the DOT was way too old. The tires I ended up with were in the 6-7-month-old timeframe.
My wheels:
2003 MB
2012 Jeep Liberty