Not quite hell. So I'm gonna say Heck.
I think the gliders would go with Hell though.

Moved camp yesterday. What should have taken three hours took 12.
Two blowouts. Took out the trim on the right side of the rig. Of course only one spare. Sitting on the side of the road so much trying to keep the AC going ran my diesel supply down...and out of fuel. Had to hitchhike to get more.**

GPS lost signal just as I am entering the exit area...
Took the wrong exit. Ended up with the whole rig nosed into a dead end. Had to take the whole thing apart, turn it around, and put it back together. (I want to see Volvo come out with a computerized backing system for a triple tow. Now please.)

All the straps on Bunny's trailer had broken at some point and the resultant damage of the 1500lb OHV rolling back and forth on the trailer is going to have to be welded. :-( Anyone here do welding?

Lost the sewer hoses, one cheap wooden tool box and a tub of toilet media--and all the toilet paper. !!!!
(My apologies to the Arizona DOT. If someone needs to take an emergency poop by the side of HWY 93; there may be a happy little miracle waiting for you. Don't thank me--just pay it forward.)

Once inside...
Well...the cage stayed up anyway.
RICE everywhere--50lb bag went over--and INTO the heating vents! Also into the sliding door track to the garage. Cant seem to get it all out--it's eternal. Making rice flour every time I open and close the door.
Dog food everywhere--somehow the big steel bowl of dog food must have had something fall on it and launch it into the air because...there's just dog food in places it can't have gotten to on it's own. :-(

Perhaps a supernatural event--for some reason I secured the cage extra well for this trip. It was the only thing left standing.

Entire supply of Yogi's melted into a brick in the fwd compartment. :-(

(My kids don't really know what a yogi looks like--by the time they get them they have always had to be hammered into shards.)

And of course the poor kids are freaking out. CRAB CRAB CRAB!! Little Athena actually lunged and bit me!
Once the others realized it was safe to come out they ran out of the pouch and started zooming around the room. Everyone was happy for a big fresh bowl of food...too. Daddy Tree got many kisses.
But all through the night I know mama was stuffing up on dog food. :-(

Anyway...we made it...in almost one piece. Going to get Bianca out check out the town!

(The Post Office in this little berg has PAINT on the outside of it. That's a good sign.)

First... I had to quit reading...

I can so relate!!! And by the way... I am laughing with you not at you!

PLEASE PLEASE! Get rid of those China "Will pop" tires on your RV. We went to 10ply rated truck tires. You can drive faster than 60mph AND they don't have to be replaced every 3 years (yes trailer tires expire!). They have a date code...

OK I'm gonna go back and read your story through the happy laughing tears...

So, not a good time to ask how the gold mining gig is coming I take it?

At least the furballs are all okay. I'll second Dawn tire suggestion, I replaced the trailer tires on my 27' with truck tires & never had a problem.

And I have to second Hutch's comment about the furfalls. Glad they are OK.

So I let Hubby read your post and he looked at me like I was crazy for laughing... I think you hit my funny bone...

I am really glad you made it and I hope the damage isn't too costly.

We traveled about 900 miles and blew all 4 tires in about 36 hours, one at a time. The tires were only 18 months into their life. Of course that was our second trip with that many blowouts. When we crept home, he ordered 16" take-offs from ebay, took them down to the tire shop and put 4 - 10ply on all at once. That was 2.5 years ago and 6k miles.

Well this is the time to do it. I am down three (just found another flat SITTING HERE. :-(

Painful though. 6 tires...not cheap-o tires either.

Since I don't have to move the rig for a while, I think I will buy the six, and then take the wheels off two and a time and have the tires mounted. That way I don't have to buy extra rims too.
Thanks for the positive vibes guys. The sugar-kids have been exceptionally active and affectionate tonight.

OW....ambush...

The gold mining isn't going well, no. Been in AZ four months now and only had two days of productive mining. And I sent that little bit of gold off to my niece for Xmas.
Her dad got her an i-pad. I wonder which one she is playing with right now.

Fortunately I managed to sell some things off, so the financial heat is off for the moment. Running out of tricks though. And there are more repairs to do.

This new camp is good though--very excited. I'm eight miles from my main target (San Domingo Wash). And I no longer have to drive 40 miles to get to civilization.

The Gold Basin was not as great a spot as I had hoped. This new place will be much better.

Ironically...a GPAA metal detecting club group went over our site two days ago. They found a 4oz nugget, a two oz nugget and two 1 oz. That's about 10k

If things get too rough, I could get...a j o b again I suppose. Don't want to have to get that crazy though. ;-)

This new camp is a lot more draconian than the last place--in regards to dogs. Time to deploy my back-porch potty station idea. Going to build some kind of tray with astro-turf in it to put out on the back porch. Astro turf and a plastic fire hydrant. Then maybe I can get one of those dog door inserts for the back doors. Tiny back yard.

Sigh...tires...time to punish amazon again...for giving me that free shipping. Going to pick up one extra rim too, so I can have two ready spares.

Aria is eating the couch...we can't have nice things :-(

Hang in there, consider the club's finds a sign of things to come

Try looking at Goodyear LHS. They're meant for commercial rigs & are re-treadable as needed (if you are planning on miles). Might be a little pricey, I think the four for my flatbed ran me $1000 in a 30" size. That was 7 years ago.

There are other brands that make commercial long-haul too, might be cheaper, maybe.

Yikes I dunno if I can afford anything that pricey...is that a trailer rated or truck rated tire?

NOT having another double blow out though, so I will step up to the pump if needed.

The tires are 235/80 R16s When I search on that size about all I get is trailer tires. But you are saying I want to be putting truck tires on this baby eh?

(I'm a noob. Working on cars was always something I was FORCED to do as a kid. As a result, I grew up hating it and have never developed my auto repair skills up to a useful level. Learned a lot in the last few years, but I'm still ignorant and way behind in skills.)

Hutch yeah, regarding the gold. I have learned to not get emotional about other people's finds. Also about not freaking out about someone finding XYZ item before I do. It just ruins the experience and there's no point worrying about it. They were probably 100 feet from my hole--that may as well be another planet when you are talking "pro-creation" level gold mining. (oooohhh....double ententre'!) It's just good to see there is still lots of good gold out here to find.

Aria is missing this morning. Everyone else made it back into the cage. I'm sure she's sleeping up in upper storage--in my backpack. (It's where she goes for her alone-time.) :-)
Athena was out and about last night, working on her climbing skills. She didn't want to leave the cage, but she could come to the door and leeeeean out. She's quite a crabber when she doesn't get what she wants--and when she winds up, she gets everyone else going!

Today...clean, organize...settle in. Then I will see if I can get Bunny out to the site and take a look.

Happy Glider-ing all!

We are running 225/75R16. It was the closest we could get when we went from a 15" rim to 16". Our rig might sit 1/2" taller than it did before.

10ply rated tires are actually only 8ply tires. They have extra thick sidewalls too.

We had to change tire size in order to put a truck/ utility van tire on.

A bit on measuring for a different tire size:
Your tire size: "235" is tire height. "/80"is the tire height to width ratio. "R" means Radial. "16" is the rim size.

Have I confused you yet?

On FB RV Tips and Helpful Hints has many veteran RVers who have made the switch...

It cost us about $600- 700 for 4 tires.

Dave, yes, forget trailer tires & step up to a truck tire. They're made to last whereas trailer tires are made to wear. If you can't go commercial-grade, then at least look for a standard highway tire for a truck. From reading your other post (about RV life), I think I may have over-estimated how mobile you were being, so commercial would be overkill anyways. Was for me, but I thought I'd use it more than I did.

Dawn, you were close. In Dave's numbers, 235 would be the width in millimetres from sideway to sideway. The 80 is the percent of the width of the sidewall to that of the tire's width, called aspect ratio. The rest was spot-on.

How does this help you, Dave? Your tire is roughtly 9.25" wide by about 31" high.
- 235mm x80% = 188mm or 7.4"
- 7.4" x2 (for each sidewall) +16" (wheel/rim) = 30.8"

Why the heck does all that math matter? Look for a tire that is roughly 30-32" high and 8.5-10" wide for a 16" wheel... it will fit. I would stick to LT rated tires in that range for durability. A quick search on Tire Rack (I usually order mine through them) found 9 LT All-Weather Highway tires ranging from $85-$162 each, just for example.

My last truck (before I lifted it a bit) took 235/75R16, so right width & about an inch shorter. 245/75R16 should also work (apprx. an half an inch wider but around 30.5" height)

(& yes, I'm a bit of a gear-head.)

TwoDog!



Sorry to hear about the troubles with the move. I was laughing as well, because I have had most of the same things happen to me, but never on one trip! It looks like you have gotten them all out of the way and can now expect years of trouble free R.V.ing.



I recommend putting bulk food in plastic containers with locking lids. My favorite is the Action Packer line by Rubbermaid. I also use them for transporting spare oil and chemicals that you do not want leaking on the carpet under any circumstances. We feed the dog out of a food storage container (Lock & Lock brand or similar) with a locking lid. Makes it easy to put away so other creatures can’t eat it. (Grandkids, gliders, drinking buddies, et al.)



I did a little research when I replaced the tires on my brand new trailer. LT (light truck) and ST (special trailer) tires are both approved for trailer use. ST tires have a max speed mating of 65 MPH with a few exceptions. ST tires are rated up their maximum weight capacity, and that’s it. LT tires have a reserve capacity built in (20% IIRC). I had to up two sizes to get the load capacity I wanted, this caused clearance issues with the wheel wells so lift blocks had to be added. I was okay with bigger tires and blocks as it increased my ground clearance by 3” which makes it easier to get back to the campsites I like. I found some interesting tire research on the web, check out http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26032114/print/true/single/true.cfm
Sometimes nearly new tires can be found at shops that sell custom wheels, or lift kits and big tires. I found ATV tires this way.

I’m enjoying the tales, keep them coming. Give the puppies some love for me too. Yeah, I know they’re senior citizens, but they’re still puppies to me.

Growman

Jerry!
Good to hear from you man! After my last email everything I tried to send to your q.com mail bounced.
You should get a gmail account...or just lurk on this site. :-)
If you see Terry and Sarah, ask Terry how the Sex Robots are treating him. Do so in front of Sarah if you can.

Any new neighbors yet? The police haven't been...digging in the back yard at all have they? Just...wondering...no reason.
Hey do you need a portable AC? Sarah and Terry are holding my old one. And that stinking fish tank... sigh...If I can't sell it soon I will donate it to a school or something.

Anyway...great to hear from you. You need to get some Gliders man! ;-) Then you will have even more reason to lurk here.

How are the wife and kids? You can send PMs on this site too...

Hutch the only thing I know about my truck tires is that I have to buy 6 at a time.

As I said, bit of a gear-head (Amongst many other hobbies). I use to off-road in my daily driver truck a bunch. I was the main rescue rig/driver for my group. I also used it as a real truck quite frequently, from loading down with remodelling supplies to towing that 27' trailer with a plane on top from Maine to Mississippi, and the number of people I helped move! All in a 2004 Mazda B4000, hehe.

I miss that truck.

I doubt it misses me unless it is masochistic

I really don't want to change sizes. There's not much space between the tires on the three axles. I'm afraid if I go up, I will end up with them touching. Everything is closed out here today.

Lately my truck has seen more sugar gliders than horses. You should have seen the truck when we went to TX for the SGGA 4 years ago. The tuxedo cover bulged, then when we broke down they took us to Walmart while they fixed it, not good. The shopping cart was piled 3 feet over the top of the cart with fleece.

Good thing it was fleece we could put it in the holes. LOL

I think we had something like 60 sugar gliders in the hotel room.

The 225 series is a smaller/ shorter size. You can "shop" at any tire shop, ask questions about size, and have them show you the two side by side. When tire is on rim and aired up will be smaller than it looks off rim. But they can show you the difference. Once you learn from them go online to find it maybe cheaper. Ask their price if it includes mount, balance, valve stems and disposal fee. When you buy tires online, and take them in to have mounted there is a charge of the above.

Like Hutch, I am a gear head and so is hubby I was in tire retail years ago.

Honestly, you shouldn't have a problem sticking with the 235 width you currently have mounted. If you're worried about the diameter (height), then go with a lower aspect ratio (75-65, but not much lower). The 235/75R16 is a pretty common LT size for compact trucks & mid-sized SUVs.

I hope all of this helps you.

TireRack.com is a pretty cool site.
Can't seem to find anything with and E or greater load rating--unless I go UP to an 85
Then there's loads of Light truck tires with an E rating...
My worry is that these will be too big...not much room between then at the moment...

hmm...gravitating toward this...
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=All-Terrain+T%2FA+KO2&partnum=385SR6KO2RWL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

Yeah!
Charlie just took his first poop on the new dog potty!
This is gonna rock...no more getting up in the middle of the night to let them out.

I just realized...If I change the size at all, I can't even use the old tires as spares. So if I want to have two hot spares I am going ot need to buy...omg 8 of these...and a rim

Hrmph....restless now. Hate to spend all that money...Almost out of glider food too...
When the sun goes down some I'm gonna prep Bunny for an early morning mission. I have nugget-envy.

Yep, that's what hubby said! Lots to choose from and not a big difference in size. Apparently we almoat went with that size. He said he thought that website would give you a size chart to compare physical size of each tire. Or maybe discount tires website. I am dictating as he speaks. Since I talked him into buying truck tires, I let him do the research. He would be willing to talk to you if it would help. I have your number.

BFG is at Sam's club. He said they may argue with you, but will mount them.

When you puke up that kinda money, it hurts.

So do you plan on staying there for a bit? Or are you gonna hold that thought until you see if things "pan out" first?

If you ever get to Arkansas, they have a diamond mine.( near Murphysboro ) It's dusty and dirty, we tried it out, no luck though... I might stick to gold...

At this point...it looks like I will be staying here until I get the money to move.

So at least a couple months. Gotta be mobile again for the end of the summer though. (Burning Man and Sturgis)

Diamond Mine is on the list! Thank you, Dawn!

96 degrees yesterday and the ship wasn't sweating--only pulled 18 amps on one AC. Let's hope she does so well at 106. Had the awnings out yesterday....seemed to really help with the heat.

OK....6x badass Yokohamas incoming.
$1230 OWWW...more than half of everything I got...er..had. Went with a 245/75 R 16
Easy come easy go I guess. That was my Burning Man money. :-(

Now I really need to find some gold. But...

Got a 75 dollar used roll top desk from a guy on craigslist. (Pretty much completes my living room remodel.) Now all I need to do is drop the TV down 3 inches and I will have room to expand the kitchen counter and really give a boost to the kitchen. (blah blah)

Unfortunately I took a fall trying to get the desk off the truck. It landed on my leg. I won't bore you with the details but....ow...this might slow me down a couple days. Been on my back all day. Didn't clean the cage. Gliders are grumpy...

Congrats on the tires!

Wow I never thought of a rolltop. That will help keep your little explorers/ sabatagers out of trouble maybe.

Oh jeez,on the fall... Hope you didn't break anything, take it easy for a few days. That will probably be a nasty bruise...

The grumps will be grumps.

Dawn hey! Thanks. Even with limited funds I decided this was the time. Get it done right. Literally...everything I have is riding on them.

The desk. It's cool they come in several sizes too.
We will see if it keeps the kids out of anything...hehe.
I have my doubts. The desk broke into a couple pieces...so I have to put it back together to really see.

They have been exploring it enthusiastically. I'm pretty jazzed too....some drawers will really help me clean this place up.

I will locate the site and take Bunny out there...just to scout it. Don't care to start working without my boots.

Other than that, it's a lazy day for me.

We are RE-potty training the dogs to use the new PORCH POTTY! WOOO! It's a battle but it's working.
Border Collies--litter box trained. What can these dogs not do?
How lazy can I be? Reaching for a new low. ;-)

"Charlie...no...bad dog. This is a 3/8th inch. I said 7/16ths!"

Ok time to get on it...
Happy Glider-ing all!

Ouch! I hope that you and the desk are both feeling better soon!

With your luck, who needs enemies

Get well, desk.






Oh, you too Dave.

Hahah!
Thanks Hutch. Actually the desk is pretty much better. A little hammering and wood glue love and you can hardly tell.