Tires, Brakes, Suspension & TPMS: Don’t Let What’s Under Your RV Take You Down

SPEAKER_04 0:04

Tires, brakes, suspension, and RV life. What's under your RV matters a lot more than you think. Welcome to Learn to RV the podcast. Today's a really special episode. Tasha and I are joined by an extra co-host tonight. And so this is Rick Steelman. You've met him by a picture previously. But tonight he's here in real life. All right. So let me ask you something. When's the last time either one of you thought about what was under your RV?

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Under my RV? I don't think, well, we are in a wildlife area, so then yeah, I do think about that. Otherwise, no, not really. So play tell Jen. Please tell me why I should think about what's under my RV.

SPEAKER_04 0:46

Well, we're going to talk about tires and brakes and suspensions and a little thing known as TPMS. And if you don't know yet what that means, that's a tire pressure monitoring system, and they're super important. And I know this isn't like the fun side of RV life. It's not sunsets, campfires, or even the critters that are following up following you around under your RV. If you're Tasha, you might be Cinderella, and you know, no, she doesn't feed them. Anyway, but it is the side that gets us to the destination safely and gets you home. So, you know, we're going to talk about things like blowouts. Do they happen out of nowhere? Or is there some telltale signs that we can find in terms of that? Is it poor suspension? Do you know what poor suspension might even look like? And so this episode is great if you've ever said, oh, I'll look at that later. And so let's let's look at that today. So we got Rick Steelman joining us as a guest co-host tonight. He works closely with one of the leading TPMS solutions in the RV space. So he's going to bring some real insight to this conversation tonight. We're going to talk a little bit more about that. If you've never heard of TPMS, stay tuned. We're going to catch that a little later in the episode. But TPMS is such an integral part of making sure your RV is roadworthy. And then we're going to get some expert perspective from Tommy Henderson over at Henderson's lineup. We're going to cut away for that interview. It's a very short interview. He has a Beyond the Brand series launching on Wednesday. So just two days from the day that this aired, you'll be able to see that spot too. So you'll get to learn all about Henderson's lineup and what they bring to the RV space. All right, so let's dive in because this is one of those conversations that can help people prevent a whole lot of problems down the road. So what what is on the bottom of your V R V does tend to matter a lot more than people actually realize. So I have four questions, and I'm going to have you kind of flip-flop two takes these. Why do you think RV tires are so important?

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Well, obviously it's the only thing between you and life and the road, realistically. So um uh and and you know when they blow out or when you know things happen, yeah, you can check it beforehand, but you can't check it during. That's obviously where a TPMS you know comes into play. Uh and again, we'll talk about what that means a little a little later. But you know, it's so important to check your tires on a regular basis, specifically before you start your trip, um, checking the the tread, checking make sure you have enough pressure. Uh but really uh the the thing that uh people have a hard time checking is really the temperature issue. And uh I know I've had blowouts uh prior to having a TPMS. In you know, in Texas, hot day, hot road, and all of a sudden it blew out, and I didn't even know what happened. We didn't find out for about uh 20 miles. People passed us didn't tell us until finally someone told us about it.

SPEAKER_03 3:47

What? Are you serious?

SPEAKER_01 3:49

I'm totally serious.

SPEAKER_03 3:51

How does that even happen?

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Well, it was on the second, yeah, we it was when we had the travel trailer. It was on the back axle, not the f not the front axle, and we heard something, but I didn't feel it at all when I was driving. And um, you know, that's one of the benefits of having you know dual axle. Uh it was uh but man, the damage it caused was uh it was a lot of damage.

SPEAKER_04 4:15

Oh, all right.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

You know, it's funny, I just did a seminar a couple of weeks ago, and I started off with videos of sadly of blowouts. And you know, it was to warn people or kind of just to tell people, getting the i them in the frame of mind, that you could be driving, and again, you know, all of a sudden this happens. But there was another time actually on the other side, about a year later, and I did feel at that time, thankfully it was no problem, but I was in a construction zone and I couldn't get off for 10 miles.

SPEAKER_04 4:48

Gosh. Well, Antasha, you just bought a brand new rig to you, brand new to you rig. But one of the one thing the inspector did point out very quickly was that it needed how many new tires?

SPEAKER_05 5:01

All of them, all the new tires, all I had to replace all of the tires on our RV. Um, because the RV is a 2018 and it had all of the original tires from the manufacturer on the rig. They had never been changed. Wow. Yes, yep. So, and we actually just got our we took all of the tires that discount tire had in our size, and they did not have enough to get our spare. So we just took our spare and got it done at a different discount tire. So we are now full up all new tires. That's fantastic.

SPEAKER_04 5:45

You know, but a lot of people don't even think about that. And the inspector called it like as soon as he saw it, he said, you shouldn't drive a mile on these. And I happen to know the inspector. And so, you know, tires are one thing, and tires, like, we're gonna get all into TPMS systems and why they're so important. But how often should RV brakes be inspected? What do you guys think? This is just a guess. I have all of this lined out later, but I just want to see what your thoughts. I do. I do.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Okay, so I would say six months. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 6:14

Yeah, I would what do you think? That's what I would think too. That would be my guess.

SPEAKER_04 6:19

What about the suspension? Like, that's another problem that most people don't even think about until after they have a hanger laying on, you know, in their or their leaf spring is upside down and it's not smiling anymore. How often should you check your suspension or upgrade your suspension?

SPEAKER_01 6:36

Well, it depends upon what your suspension is, but if if you have just the leaf spring and you have a fifth wheel or you know, even a travel trailer, um, you know, there's that old expression of every time, you know, you guys know it's an earthquake, right? Every time we we move. And you know, you hear about these these frame flex and these other things, but realistically, the suspension to me was is the culprit. Because obviously we all know the roads are not the greatest in the world, and when we're driving and we have no control over that. But uh, you know, our our new brinkley, and and not to give a plug for that, came with a really great suspension. And uh we have minimal uh problems, you know, if when we open it up and after parking, we have we don't see a whole lot of things moved. And uh I think it's because of that reason. They've got the the shocks, you know, the dual shocks on both sides and the uh and the leaf spring.

SPEAKER_04 7:35

And so there's an out-of-sight, out of mind attitude a lot of times when it comes to all the things on the bottom of your RV, you know, and like things like, you know, do you plug a tire? The answer in real life is should be no, but you should have a good spare on hand in those situations because even most shops won't plug a tire on an RV tire. So there's lots of consequences that come with it. You talked about, you know, body damage and stuff like that. I still can't believe that you didn't feel it. I'm just saying. Um, so and and you knew better. So what would you say you overlooked in that situation?

SPEAKER_01 8:10

Well, it was it was several years ago, and uh I didn't even think, you know, we checked the tires and we didn't really think that it would blow. I I have a mechanic that regularly, you know, at the time inspected tires and my tires, and the tires were fine, but I just didn't think about blowout issues. And the blowout again is there's so many factors. There's you know, there's the road, there's the temperature, there's the humidity, there's the altitude. You know, and if you think about it, if you're you're going, let's say, even like in West Virginia, you're going up a mountain, you're going down a mountain, you're going up and out and you're going down a mountain. Well, yeah, but you're also hitting altitudes high and low, same thing off the west coast, whatever it is, and your tires are you know getting hot and then they're getting cold and and they're flexing, and and they're supposed to. And you're supposed to, it's it's you you have a gap, uh basically, or uh or a free range from where the cold average is on the tire, but it um but anything after a while is going to will absolutely so the number one failure point on an RV is actually the tires.

SPEAKER_04 9:18

It actually is, it is. So uh we we load ratings uh versus actual weight that we're carrying, the tire age, like in Tasha's situation. Pete, like you just said, is a huge enemy, but so is also underinflation. Um what about a china? What about a china bomb myth? How many of you have heard it of a china bomb?

SPEAKER_01 9:38

No, I just heard it. I do not remember what a china bomb is. I think I had it at a restaurant a few a few weeks ago.

SPEAKER_04 9:44

So actually, a China bomb is actually a certain type.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Maybe that's what it was.

SPEAKER_04 9:50

It's it's a certain type of tire that uh they were saying they were if you Salem tires was the brand that was known to be the China bomb. But I have had people that I know personally that have run those China bombs to test them. And if you run them at the exact load they're supposed to be at, they will last the 40,000 miles, which is interesting. But one of the things that is the biggest thing that nobody talks about is the fact that your tires are rated for a certain speed limit.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

And a certain weight.

SPEAKER_04 10:24

And a certain weight. But how fast do you think your tires are rated for in most cases?

SPEAKER_01 10:29

Well, mine I I I Is that how fast you go? I don't go more. I mean, occasionally I go up to 70, but that's not my thing. It's I set the cruise control at 65. The other reason is I'm also a cheap and I get the best gas mileage of 65.

SPEAKER_04 10:46

Well, that's true for all of us.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

That's okay.

SPEAKER_04 10:48

No, but I mean that's true for all of us. We all get the best gas mileage when we're going 65. And so, but how many times have you been on the highway and you just got passed like you were sitting still by a motorhome or a fifth wheel?

SPEAKER_01 11:00

The time they're always faster than us. Complains about that because it's the only thing that really gets me upset is when I get past and I'm going the speed limit. She just I just I just can't take it. So, yes, that happens a lot. And I think to myself, you know, what kind of gas mileage are you getting? It just it just doesn't it just doesn't make any sense. I mean, you're you're really you're you're you're pushing the limits, period, if somebody comes in front of you, because you know, you got you got thousands of pounds behind you, or if you're a a a motorhome. Um, and you know, stopping is no going is easy. So stopping is the hard part.

SPEAKER_04 11:44

Yeah. So I have four tire questions for you. So these are these are in situations where there's something wrong with the tire. So there are cracking sidewalls, drywatt, rotten, dry watt. I can't even talk anymore. Dry rot. It must be the day, I swear. Dry rot. Should you run on tires that have dry rot?

SPEAKER_01 12:03

Of course not.

SPEAKER_05 12:04

No. That just doesn't even sound like a good time, even if you don't know what it is. I mean, no.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Well, dry rot is your tires, the rubber itself is is uh it it's not it it doesn't have its moisture anymore, and it's literally rotting from that and it's peeling apart. Um, and and that's that's what dry rod is. And so in fact, you know, one of the things that we always recommend to people is you know, some people put the the the covers on the tires, but but there's arguments about whether or not they breathe, but you want to make sure on a regular basis that you put armor all or something like it to keep them moisturized.

SPEAKER_04 12:43

Yep. All right, so what about a tire date code? Did you know your tires actually have an expiration date?

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Yes, I do.

SPEAKER_04 12:50

And so if you find it out, if you go to the last four digit digits of that, it'll tell you the week and the year that that tire was made and manufactured. And so you should be mindful of that. UV exposure could also make your tires degrade faster. So if you're in the hot sun in Arizona in the summertime, or if you're in Montana even in the summer, because the UV is much higher up there. And if you're in the mountains, people don't think about that. What about mismatch tires? Say I blow a tire on my left driver's side. What should I do?

SPEAKER_01 13:20

Well, obviously, changing grading out the options. Or get Frank to change it because I don't know if you're going to change it. So, but my rule of thumb has always been that if you if you do one, you do you should really do the other and and and look because you and that's also important is that you get the same type of tire, the same, generally the same brand and the same rating to make sure that they wear evenly.

SPEAKER_04 13:43

The real question is, do you have a TPMS on your on your system? Well, yes, I do. And Tasha, do you have one? We do.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Because now I could tell you where you can get one.

SPEAKER_04 13:56

So let's start with Tasha. Tasha, what brand of TPMS do you have?

SPEAKER_05 14:00

We actually have the brand that Rick is gonna talk to us about today. Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 14:07

Me too. Yes, it is number one, it is a gold standard.

SPEAKER_05 14:12

Yeah, and that's why we got it. Before we went on the road, I did a lot of research. I wanted to make sure that we didn't know what we were doing, so I needed something that knew what it was doing before we hit the road. So that's that's what we got. And it has it has saved our butts quite a few times.

SPEAKER_04 14:31

I mean, just last year alone, our TF TPMS saved us three times. So three separate times. And while I have an anxiety attack every time the stupid thing starts beeping at me, when the whole car goes into straight up panic mode. I can tell you last year when we were going to Asheville, we were leaving Asheville, North Carolina, and we were going down the mountain and um it starts beeping. And we were coming, we were coming across, and Frank like immediately sprung into action. Like he's like Marine Corps on, you know, so everybody out of the car, blah, blah, blah. We heard this whistle.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

Possibly he stopped first.

SPEAKER_04 15:06

He did stop. And so, but before before the whole tire had drained, because it was literally like a leak. Leak.

unknown 15:14

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 15:14

And it was on the front, it was a leak on the front passenger side tire on the on the truck. And so it wasn't on the RV, but it was on the truck. And we still had, I don't know, 150 miles to go that day. But he quickly jumped into gear and had it off and elevated high enough so that by the time it lost all its air, it could still have the other tire put back on. And so, like, that's what TPMS, one of the things TPMS can do. But the real difference in the brands is how soon it tells you those things. So, can we talk a little bit about specifically which brand of TPMS the three of us have? And let's talk about how much closer that monitoring system is than we're not going to name any other brands, but some other brands don't have the same type of accuracy. And so I'd like to dive into both of those things.

SPEAKER_01 16:05

Okay, so again, we are that distributor for that brand. Can I name that? Should I name that brand? Absolutely. Okay, so it's TST. That is considered again the gold standard in in uh TPMS or tire pressure management system. What makes it, I think, so so much better. Number one, they were one of the first ones out there for this. The company that they are part of is focused on the commercial side of it in transportation. So a lot of our competitors are more of sales organizations. We're really an engineering company, or they are an engineering company. We uh is is I tell people that we have more engineers and customer service than other people have employees from our competitors. Uh we're on hundreds of thousands of tires. We've been road tested since 2009. Um and uh everything about it, technology is constantly reviewed because the big fleets use it, you know, UPS, FedEx, etc., they depend on TST. Um it it is uh I mean I did uh the quartzite show with TST and was in their booth and uh actually I was getting trained at the time, and it was amazing how many people just came by. I don't even know why we were even there, because they were doing the selling for us. I mean, so many of these people, I've had it for 12 years, I've had it for 10 years, never had a problem. Or if they did have a problem, you know, we were right out there helping them, um, giving them free batteries to, you know, in case in case that was was there. They have a US-based customer service, you know, not a third party in a different country. Uh it is everything about it, and and I've I've worked with them closely. Um I am just so impressed. And I'm not just saying it because I sell them. I I'm I'm saying I'm I'm happy and I'm excited they'll selling because I've been so impressed with how well uh they they care and how well they listen and and how well they take care of the customer. Which is one of the reasons why they they brought me on, because I do all these rallies and they wanted to get as close to the customer as possible. I'm kind of their market research, realistically.

SPEAKER_04 18:18

Well, and I think what's really neat about TST is how close in accuracy it is. Like it's it's like less than two percent, right? Like in terms of like the gauges and the readings, like I think it's in one degree, it's in one degree. So you know, let's talk about that a little bit because most other brands are at least 10 degrees when you're talking temperature settings.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

Right. It gets down to the radio, it gets down to how they talk from their sensors to whatever. So some of them use Bluetooth, and Bluetooth is just not a very it's it's fine for you know your your stereo your phone to your to your uh stereo, but it's not really as good for that, so it's not as fast. They use a a particular frequency that that that they have, and then you know, some of their things are from their monitor to their sensors, have been tested up to two miles in terms of range without a repeater. In fact, when we were at uh we did a uh rally, uh actually, Chris DeSilva, who's a rep from uh TST and I, and somebody brought in their their uh sensor to get checked, and then went back about a mile down, and we still had it we still got the alarm on the sensor on the display at our booth from that one sensor. We couldn't believe how you know how accurate it was. But you use a repeater because not because the the two aren't in sync, but because you get other noise along the way from systems that aren't as fine-tuned. And so this basically keeps on repeating it to make sure that it works. And we haven't had anybody yet, at any of the things that we've done, that we haven't been able to fix a problem fix a problem where something has gone. And generally we need the repeater or something in the system that was overriding or getting in the way of the signal.

SPEAKER_04 20:12

Yep. Yeah, so I'm I mean, so TPMS, like if you don't have a TPMS system, one, what are you waiting for? Honestly. Um, there are lots of brands out there, but they're not all created equal. And as a vendor in the space, I mean, I would tell you that for me, I love our TST. It has saved us more times than I'd like to count, probably at least three in the last 12 months. And so just that alone, having it go off and knowing that it stopped us from catastrophic failure. Uh, we were actually in Vernal, Utah, going up to Rock Springs, um, Wyoming for the next rally, and we took the gorge drive. And we knew, like, we knew we should not have done it. We know how hard it is on our tires, but it's such a pretty drive, and it's literally the only way to go there without going 300 miles out of the way. And so, like we, you know, took that risk. But when our TPMS went off, we pulled over to the side of the road. Our tires actually got dangerously hot, um, well over the recommended temperatures. And we had to sit there. Yeah, which we were 182 at one point. Wow. And so, and it didn't blow, but we could see it, like we were over on the side of the road as soon as it started, as soon as there was a pull-off. But the reality was we waited like an hour, you know, with our fire extinguishers on hand just in case, because at that temperature, like you could have a fire, but our TPMS monitored that the whole time. We could sit there and watch it cool down. Would tell you that if you're riding out there with any type of vehicle, having a TPMS system on your four tires, as well as your tow vehicle or your motorhome and your toad, because I know enough people that have actually had their toad catch on fire. And just like Rick with the blowout on the tire, they didn't feel the toad. Catch on fire. They saw it on the camera and you know had to disconnect.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

You know, it's also recommended you put it on your uh so let's say you're a fifth wheel or a uh travel trailer. Um I yeah, I like my truck has you know the the built-in and I can see the the pressure for my wheels on my truck, but what it doesn't do, and a lot of people don't realize this, it doesn't give you temperature. It just gives you pressure. And that's the one difference that our TPMS will give you both. And again, you what you're gonna get is is more on the blowout side is gonna be because of the temperature issue, not because of the anything else. So that it's so important that you change all of them. And and TST, for example, can handle, I think is it 105 tires and five different trailers? Yeah, it's a crazy number. I mean, yeah, well, because again, it's commercial grade. Uh adding to that story that you said, um, so we just did a rally in Myrtle Beach, and across from us, someone, this particular company gave had had a different brand that they gave away with their new units. But a lot of people were very unhappy with them, and we were quite busy, busier than we thought we were gonna be. And he came back the next day after getting them and after installing them, he found after changing them that one of his stems had a leak. And he wouldn't have known that without putting EST on. And he had he had something else, and then it never told him.

SPEAKER_04 23:27

All right, so let's shift gears a little bit. We're gonna still talk about all the suspension and stuff that's coming up, but let's talk brakes. You know, weight dramatically will increase your stopping distance. So when you're towing a fifth wheel or a motorhome, you know, you need to have a solid, good braking system. You should have a brake fade on long descents. Tasha, what's the scariest brake issue you guys have ever seen?

SPEAKER_05 23:49

Gosh, the scariest brake issue we've ever seen. I I don't know, Jennifer.

SPEAKER_01 23:55

You never went through a light or something when he hit the brake and it didn't stop in time?

SPEAKER_05 24:02

I mean, all my scariest brake issues have nothing to do with RVing, but like people just not breaking. I think, you know, I one of the things that I think is frightening is uh we went up to what was the name of what's the name of that mountain in California that Matt and I were talking about going to go stay at the thousand trails up there. And you and Frank Idol Wild. Yes, you guys were like, no, no, no, no. Not not that it's not beautiful, but we were very early.

SPEAKER_03 24:39

But it's 7,000 feet.

SPEAKER_05 24:41

Yes. And you guys were like, have you ever done that before? And we were like, no, why what do we need to know? And then you explained it to us, and we were like, Oh, we're not ready for that. But we didn't know.

SPEAKER_04 24:51

So, Rick, what you what you probably need to understand is that Idle Wild is at 7,000 feet, and in January, it has snow. And in the state of California, you have to have chains to go do that. And so Tasha had no idea. We did because it's California, it's sunny in California year-round.

SPEAKER_05 25:09

So we we did though take a day and go up to see the town and and experience it, and coming back down from Idle Wild was idle and beautiful, breathtaking, captivating. It was it was idle and wild. You know, you there were many people who did take hampers up, and um that was just a heart pounding experience coming down, just us in our truck with nothing on the back of it. Um just that I mean you just had to ride the brakes the whole way down. There was no letting off.

SPEAKER_04 25:57

Which means your tires probably got hot too.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

That is that is where like a diesel does make it does make a difference because you can put on the the the uh engine brake. And I noticed myself that's been good. The other thing that you um want to watch for, and it seems to be that a lot of the the newer RVs, at least the more expensive ones, are coming through, is that they're putting disc brakes in instead of the drum brakes. You you can upgrade if you if you have a drum brake system. There are upgrades for it, I believe, nowadays, and I know a lot of uh the the mobile techs are putting those in, and people are just swearing that it's so much better in terms of braking. They feel so much more comfortable breaking. I know I've got discs on this, and I've never had a problem yet breaking in this.

SPEAKER_05 26:40

I've got another story. Do you now? I do okay. We're in Florida, it's my birthday. We go and I swim with manatees, and it's beautiful, and it's wonderful, and everything's so exquisite. And then we're leaving, we get in the truck, and we're driving, and we come up to the stop sign, and the brakes there are no brakes. We are just going on through. We are going through that stop sign, and they are this this truck is not stopping. And we eventually Matt pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant that we were going to and uh just kind of drove around until the truck naturally slowed to a stop, and we left the truck there and and we ended up getting a um like an Uber back to the campground. But when we had pulled into the campground and I was backing up, the lines, the brake lines had like popped, and all of the brake had come out on the ground, and we didn't know what was going on, and that was that was frightening and very expensive. And we got it put in the garage there, and then we went down the road a little while, and then it still wasn't fixed correctly, and so it went in the garage there, and then we went down the road a little while, and I don't know how many. I I'm hoping Matt is listening enough that he can tell me how many stops it took, but it took a very long time before our brakes were like a hundred percent like we felt like they were ready to go. But yeah, that was terrifying. Manatees were great.

SPEAKER_01 28:24

That's one that's one of the horrors of being on the road full time is trying to find a good mechanic that you can trust.

SPEAKER_05 28:30

Oh, and I mean, do you do you know it was because the brakes on the trailer were bad and they affected the brakes on the truck. Yes, and Jennifer knows this because Jen and Frank were two hours away and they drove to us to help us because what you don't know about that rescue mission was that Frank just loves Matt because it was at Crystal River.

SPEAKER_04 28:54

And Crystal River is loaded. Well, there's there's Crystal River is loaded in gnoseums. Like noceum, but they bite their vampire gnats. And so Frank is super allergic to noceums. And he found out the first time and only time that we've stayed at Crystal River at the campground that they were at. And so as we pull up, he's in a sweatshirt and jeans and socks, and he's got everything tucked in like there's ticks involved. And he's like got his sweatshirt like, I don't know, it's like way down around his face, like this. And and like he crawls underneath there and he's like, Man, I really love you guys because I wouldn't do this for anybody else, except maybe Rick.

SPEAKER_03 29:34

But you know, I mean, the reality is is we would do that for tons of people.

SPEAKER_04 29:38

But yeah, but do you know how long it takes an RV to stop than a passenger vehicle with good brakes?

SPEAKER_01 29:44

I think like just give me a number.

SPEAKER_04 29:48

I do.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

Well, isn't it depends on how are you talking about?

SPEAKER_04 29:51

Well, yes, but typically if you were both if you were going the same same speed as let's just say, let's just say that we were all going 35 miles an hour, how much longer would it take me to stop with my fifth wheel than it would take Tasha to stop with just her truck?

SPEAKER_01 30:08

Maybe I'm saying I'll say I'll guess 40%. 40% longer.

SPEAKER_04 30:12

What about you, Tasha?

SPEAKER_05 30:13

I'm gonna say 65% longer.

SPEAKER_04 30:17

So actually Rick's real close. It's actually somewhere between 30 and 50 percent. And so 40% is probably right in that mid-range. Yeah, but I mean that's assuming that you're going the same speed limit. It's not dependent on the we weight. And so, like if if we're pulling a 42 foot yes, and the road conditions, a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_01 30:34

Road conditions are really important.

SPEAKER_04 30:36

And did you know, this is a good question, that brake controllers for towables must be properly calibrated. And Tasha, I'm feeling like you would know this because you just moved out of a travel trailer.

SPEAKER_05 30:47

You know, uh all I can think of is the long, long trailer. And I feel like I know this not because of having a towable trailer.

SPEAKER_01 30:58

They didn't have a trailer, they didn't really have that automatic trailer break.

SPEAKER_05 31:01

No, but I just remember they had that crate thing and it had to be like calibrated. I I feel like that's where I learned that information is from Lucy and Ricky.

SPEAKER_01 31:14

You're supposed to pinch the the your your button. Actually, you're supposed to go like very slowly, and then you're supposed to squeeze the actuator on your trailer brake, you know, the the electric one, and make sure, and then that's supposed to stop you. And if it doesn't stop you in, you know, almost instantaneously, you need to change the I don't know what to call it, the gain. I'm not sure I I never never but the number next the number needs to go up until you until it's uh set.

SPEAKER_04 31:42

So on that note, this is a great time for a story. So our first year on the road, we had a 30-foot travel trailer with no slides, six kids, and a big E350 van. And Tasha, I think you've heard this story, but I don't know if we've told it on air. And so we had gone to Yosemite our first couple weeks on the road, and we were going to the other side of Yosemite, you know, where it's 10,000 feet as opposed to six. And so we're driving across Yosemite, and we did so well. It's 2013. Back then, you could actually just go in and catch a sight in Yosemite. Well, we did that, and the ranger was like, nobody ever shows up. You're the first one in line for all of these spots. Just hang out till two o'clock and we'll get you settled. I'm sure somebody will cancel. Somebody always cancels. So we went, we filled our propane, we filled our fuel tanks, both of them because we had the generator on board, and we filled all of the freshwater because they were not full hookup sites. And so we were loaded and at 10,000 feet, and everybody came in to claim their campsite that day. And we got to leave. And so we left the backside of Yosemite, and I have never seen Tyoga Pass since then. If I ever see it again, it will be too soon. But we're coming out of Tyoga Pass and we passed the 10,000 feet sign, and I'm like, that's gonna be exciting. I had no idea how exciting that was about to get. So we're driving down Tyoga Pass, and I'm so thankful for Frank's military experience because he drove like five tons and all sorts of things that he had to shift down gears. But we're driving down Tyoga Pass, and I turn around and I said to the kids, because the camper's literally pushing us, because we had 120 fresh gallons of fresh water. And I look back behind me and I said, Hey, everybody, fasten your seatbelts. And Frank looks over at me and he goes, We're loaded in fuel and water. So as we go over the side of this cliff, everybody will have their seatbelts on as we go down in a raging ball of fire. And at that moment, I knew we were in trouble because my husband doesn't react like that when we're in the middle of that stuff. And so, you know, he's gripping the thing and he did stop us. However, it would be days until we could see our brakes. And when I say days, I mean like we went to another campground for two days and nobody had any parts. And so we drove all the way past car to Carson City, Nevada. And as Frank took the brakes off of the van, they literally were dust in his hands. Wow. Do not do that.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

Did they did they smell did you did you smell the smoke too?

SPEAKER_04 34:12

Oh, 100%. You know, there was just nothing we when we got to where we were going, you know, this was the height of that fuel like boost in 2013. Gas was over$7 a gallon in Bridgeport, California, which is the next town we could go to. And then as we're driving from Bridgeport to Carson City, I look over and I'm like, we have to pass the devil's past. Are you kidding me right now? Because that can't be good. All right. So keep in mind, you know, you're gonna want to keep in mind burning smell on downhill grades is not a good sign. Dust as brake dust on the inside of your tires is not a good sign. When your brakes feel soft or spongy, if your foot is hitting the floor and nothing's happening, not a good sign. Squealing, grinding, delayed stopping. Or if your trailer's being pushed by your tow vehicle, probably not a good sign. Check your brakes regularly. Please don't forget. All right, suspension and ride quality. We're going to talk about this very briefly because we've actually got Tommy coming on for a segment on this one. But stock suspension is typically a minimal. There are some brands that do better. Brinkley is doing better. Um they're giving you upgraded, you know, suspension systems. Upgrades help reduce sway. They protect your RV long term and they help with driver fatigue. How would you say suspension affects tire wear? What do you think?

SPEAKER_01 35:33

Obviously, suspension is helping you with your with the shakes in some respects, both left, right, up and down. And uh that's going to affect you the how how well your your tires are hitting the pavement and and how much weight is on on the tires itself. Too much or mm you know, that's gonna uh cause a big problem.

SPEAKER_04 35:55

Absolutely. What do you think of of uh Tasha? What do you think? How does uh your suspension like help in a crosswind situation or when you're getting passed by trucks?

SPEAKER_05 36:05

Um why do I think it helps when I mean pass by truck? Huh. It's a trick.

SPEAKER_01 36:13

Well, usually you have an air suck that happens.

SPEAKER_05 36:15

I know I'm trying to think about how the suspension would help with the air tunnel that it creates. But I mean, to Rick's point, like if they're helping with the back and forth and the up and down and and then you know, getting passed by a big rig creates that kind of friction with the air, then that that would help level that and would help minimize that kind of bumpiness in your trip.

SPEAKER_01 36:42

You know what I think about is when I think about suspension and how important it is, I equate it to like the old baby buggies. You remember and and how easy they were that you could back and forth and up and down. I mean, maybe as a parent you're happy because maybe you put the kid to sleep, but uh you don't want that to be your RV going back and forth and up and down with the way those things do. I I really have to applaud some of these these companies, manufacturers, who finally understand that you know part of the reason these things break so often and come apart is because of the suspension.

SPEAKER_04 37:17

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 37:18

A smoother ride is definitely going to make them last longer.

SPEAKER_04 37:22

Let's take a minute and cut away to one of the experts, Tommy Henderson from Henderson's lineup, is gonna give us some tips. So tonight we're sitting here and we have Tommy from Henderson's lineup, and he is kind of a specialist in all things the bottom of your rig. And so Henderson's lineup specializes in suspensions. But that being said, we're doing this episode on tires and you know, all of the things that go into it. Why do you need to look at your suspension in those situations?

SPEAKER_00 37:52

Well, the yeah, the chassis, the bottom of your rig is an area that maybe is not as often checked on as it should be. You know, you're paying more attention to the parts that you're interacting with on a day-to-day basis, all the house side of things, your your water, your fridge, all of that. But uh the chassis is really the foundation that is carrying you down the road. So we always use the example of you know, if your house has foundation issues, then your whole house has issues. That's that's a major problem. And yes, your tires are part of your suspension, and they are something that you can't just neglect. You know, you gotta make sure that they're properly aired up, you're running the correct pressure, also that you're keeping on top of maintaining them in terms of their age. A lot of people don't realize that tires do age out. Generally, in RD application, they're gonna age out before they wear out. So you want to make sure five years recommendations on how long you can run them. But uh five deceptions is kind of that that range. So you want to know where to get code. Sometimes that's found on the inside of the tires, it's kind of hard to hard to get to, but you want to know how old your tires are, what shape they're in, are you running the correct pressure in them? Also, just looking at their wear patterns, do you think that that can indicate if you've got an alignment issue too? If you're getting atmole wear, you know, run your hand across it. If you feel more resistance in one direction than the other, or if you're not getting even wear across the surface of the tire, that can indicate an alignment issue. And uh, why is that a problem? Well, one, remember what I said about using out your tires before you wear them out. That may not be the case if you've got a major alignment issue. You may actually wear them out first, so you're cutting a lot of lifespan off of the tires. Also, just more rolling resistance going down the road. If you're running too much tow, that's just hurting your fuel panty, more resistance, and it it could hurt your stability too. You know, if you're if you're towed out a lot, that can make it tend to wander more. So many different reasons not to forget your tires and not to forget your whole suspension system.

SPEAKER_04 40:06

And what would you say is the thing that like makes you like realize that you might have a potential suspension system failure or challenge, even? You know, what are some of those telltale signs?

SPEAKER_00 40:18

Yeah, I mean if if your coach all of a sudden starts sitting lower or coach for trailer fifth wheel, you know, that could indicate, especially we see this on trailers, fifth wheels, the weak springs can break. Uh if you're yeah, if you're seeing some abnormal tire wear, if you feel just unstable going down the road, uh that that could be a sign of a suspension issue. Could be could be some other things at play as well. You know, sometimes just the way you're saying if you got a travel trailer, it's like it's loaded, you have enough tongue weight, do you not, that can affect the stability. Lots of different factors at play there. But yeah, if you're if you're not feeling in control going down the road, you've seen a sudden change in the way it pulls or the way it drives, sudden change in ride height, loud banging noise at some point, you know, uh as you're as you're telling it or driving it. Um a lot of times too, like uh with uh on a trailer, we uh we have our time making corners, so if you were to hit a curb or something, a lot of times that can throw your trailer out of alignment. There's there's not a lot of not a lot of strength laterally in those times, so it doesn't take too much to get a knocked out of alignment. So that's something a lot of people don't think about, too, is just making sure that their trailer or their fifth wheel is properly aligned.

SPEAKER_04 41:38

Very true. And a lot of people don't even realize that hitting a pothole can affect a much bigger portion of their rig as they're driving down the highway, depending on how fast they're going. So how does speed play into that?

SPEAKER_00 41:50

Well, yeah, I mean, if you're if you're going over a very rough, bumpy road, it's certainly better to better slow down, not not be uh pushing it too much. Um issues also will reveal themselves more at different speeds, like a lot of times a vibration issue, there may be a certain speed where it kind of comes in at. So that that's something to take attention to as well. If you're like at this certain speed, I feel this problem when I don't feel it elsewhere. That could be a balance issue on tire, drive line, something along those lines.

SPEAKER_04 42:26

And then if anyone had a question for you about their suspension specifically, what kind of rigs do you work on?

SPEAKER_00 42:32

Sure. So in our shop, we work on all manner of RVs, so primarily motorhomes, but we do work on travel trailers, fifth wheels as well. We do align them here in the shop. And on fifth wheels, we do a lot of the Moraide IS suspension installs, but also maintenance on those as well. Motorhomes, yeah, all manner of motorhomes, anywhere from small gas bands all the way up to diesel pushers. If you can't make it to our shop, you can contact our uh our supersterior outside parts sales side. Not just to buy parts, but also just to provide helpful ones, but we really do pride ourselves on trying to give people information and help them solve problems. And uh a lot of times we'll we'll tell somebody, if if they tell us, you know, uh my my motorhome's really unstable in the wind, uh, or it rides really rough. One of the first things we'll say is I've used a baby coach, uh, that you're running the higher pressure the weight you're carrying, and just know that weight distribution is ideal. A lot of a lot of times people don't know that say if uh they're too light on the front axle of their coach, that can make it less stable in or getting passed by trucks. You know, think of like a like a pickup truck with a full load of firewood or drop off that stream gets awful coochy and light. Concept with motorhomes.

SPEAKER_04 43:51

That's very cool. So if people had questions, how would they find you?

SPEAKER_00 43:54

Sure. So they can contact us by phone eight eight eight eight nine eight three two eight. Our website is super steerparts.com and you can email us sales at S A L E S at Super Steerparts.com.

SPEAKER_03 44:11

Awesome.

SPEAKER_04 44:12

All right. So do you think that R V owners are running heavier than they realize?

SPEAKER_01 44:17

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, it uh Dawn keeps on telling us, my DY, that we're not running heavy, and I kind of I kind of think that we are. But it's kind of these things like I'm not gonna check, but I really but I need to. We we're next time we go to a rally, we're gonna have ourselves weighed and and find out. But uh yeah, it's it's so easy to because really if if you look at what the manufacturer gives you compared to, you know, for like 2,000 pounds, you don't you think it's a lot, but really it's not. It really is not.

SPEAKER_05 44:48

Yeah. Yeah. We well think about it this way. Go ahead. I was just gonna say we were really surprised whenever we were at Bash a couple three years ago and got weighed there and we found out that we were over. We were assuming that they were going to come back and say, Oh, you're real close. You've got, you know, a hundred pounds left or something. We were waiting to find out how much weight we had left so that we could determine what to do with solar. And it was like, we can't do anything with solar because we need to figure out how to immediately relieve the rig of weight. It was dramatically, it was a big number. It was a big number.

SPEAKER_04 45:29

And how overweight were you? Because you didn't know.

SPEAKER_05 45:32

It was a lot, it was a lot, Jennifer. Matt just told me no. Matt said no.

SPEAKER_04 45:37

Well, I think you'd be real surprised to find out that there's a lot of people that run overweight, very much like that, especially full timers. And so many RVs are actually leaving the factory with very little cargo capacity already. So that's where one of the things that, you know, so G V W R gross combined vehicle weight ratio. There's a whole mathematical equation that you need to know. And, you know, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure it out, but it is a little bit trickier. And most people don't realize things like the people in the co cab of the truck matter in that situation. You know, all your cargo matters. Your roof. Yes. Your roof matters, meaning that, you know, if you're using a different company, you know, some roofs are much more heavier than others. Excess heat and tires can create what almost is an illusion of extra weight. Suspension stress causes premature failure. And so many of us aren't carrying in the right spot either. So, like so many people will carry all their heavy stuff at the very back of the trailer. Natasha, do you know why you don't want to do that?

SPEAKER_05 46:42

Because that's not where you do that at, Jen.

SPEAKER_04 46:45

But why?

SPEAKER_05 46:46

Because no, room hiding and you called on her. Because I know this, but I don't know this because I've learned this, but I can't recall it. It's because it has to do with where the like where you want it to sit on the axles and where you want it to set near where the actual weight distribution happens down at the down at the bottom, and then you want it on the bottom. You don't want it up high, and you want it near the front, not near the back, because the place where you're joined with your truck is where it's stronger. Back at the back, is there's nothing back there helping that. And up at the top, there's nothing up there helping that. It has to be it's physics, Jennifer. It's physics. It is physics.

SPEAKER_01 47:35

They say a fifth wheel is better than the bumper pool because you're putting it actually, you're putting weight on the hitch and you're not doing that. There's I have somebody who I know is like uh considered an expert, and he was telling me that, you know, when I had the imagined that that was probably the most I could get for a bumper pool, and that anything more heavy than that uh would not be would not be uh a good thing. It would uh actually you know hurt the truck and hurt the the trailer.

SPEAKER_04 48:00

Yeah. Well, I think that people don't realize like they I say it all the time. You don't know what you don't know until you have to know it. And so unfortunately, a lot of people find out they're overweight when they get into a air a car accident and the accident wasn't their fault, but it's their fault because they're overweight, you know, and they're dropped by insurance. Or if you're in a diesel pusher, maybe you don't have the same concerns about weight that maybe somebody in a fifth wheel or a travel trailer has. But if you're in a gasser, you might also still have those problems. So knowing all of that information is super, super important.

SPEAKER_01 48:33

I'm just surprised they don't they haven't invented Monjaro for the RV yet.

SPEAKER_04 48:37

Yeah, right. Um all right, so let's talk about perfect tires, great brakes. We've got that, right? But how many of you have changed your bearings on the side of the highway?

SPEAKER_01 48:46

Well well I wouldn't change them if they if they were on fire, so let's put it that way. Uh but I am getting them changed because we've we've uh had this for about seven months and we've been back and forth to California and we're getting them changed actually next uh next week.

SPEAKER_04 49:02

Awesome. Yeah. So I mean if you've not thought about this, most people don't even think about it until it's too late and there's white smoke pouring off the side of your tire.

SPEAKER_03 49:10

And so your wheel bearings, but just uh oh, don't do that. They're not that hard. Oh, we've done that multiple times.

SPEAKER_04 49:17

Yeah, we've done that multiple times. So back when we had a chase vehicle, it was much easier to change your wheel, your bearings.

SPEAKER_01 49:22

You just need to get them repaired.

SPEAKER_04 49:24

Well, we do that too. I mean, we still do there's a thing.

SPEAKER_03 49:27

Packing's easy.

SPEAKER_04 49:28

Yep. Um, and you know, I actually had a minute to talk to Ashley at a performance trailer breaking. Okay, so we're here with Ashley at Performance Trailer Braking. And so I've known Ashley for probably three or four years now. You're at all the rallies. Let's start with just what is performance trailer braking.

SPEAKER_02 49:45

Uh performance trailer braking, we are a part supplier for aftermarket upgrades in terms of disc brake conversions, suspensions, axles, and getting yearly service work done on your bearings and existing brakes if you happen to have uh drum still or if you've already upgraded the disc.

SPEAKER_04 50:05

Awesome. And so, like, do you do conversions like that at rallies like this?

SPEAKER_02 50:09

Absolutely. I I know you can't hear too much in the background, but we actually have a team out there doing a job right now as we're talking.

SPEAKER_04 50:16

That's fantastic. Let's talk bearings for just a second, because I think so many people don't realize how often you should do maintenance on them. Yeah. How often would you say you need to like repack your bearings?

SPEAKER_02 50:26

Um, so per manufacturer specifications, regardless if it's Dexter, Lippert, Kurt, all of them, it's once a year for 15,000 miles, whichever comes first.

SPEAKER_04 50:38

So if I'm an RVer, I should do it once a year. At a minimum. Okay. Yep. All right, that's awesome. Yep. So let's talk through the parts on your table a little bit. Okay. Can you tell me kind of what you've got here?

SPEAKER_02 50:48

Yeah, absolutely. So this is a display model. It is not the actual hub rotor because we have a nice lightweight one, so we don't have to carry the big 40-pounder around. That's smart. Right. But this is what the disc brake would look like. Obviously, not plastic. And then these are our steel lines that we use that we run from the actuator back to the calipers on each one of these hub rotors. That's how the fluid gets pushed when you actually apply your brakes. We've got some of the hoses. These are the ones that connect to said caliper that these steel lines connect to. And these are at each wheel and they're flexible because obviously there's potholes on the road, and we need to account and absorb for that. So you need a little bit of movement at the caliper so you don't blow a line. I'll come back to those in a second, but we got some bearings that we were just talking about and what they look like and things that we see out on the road. We've got some shackle kits, the common skinny one for manufacturing that has a tendency to break and the holes wallow out. And then the upgraded one that is double the size of the skinny ones. Every trailer, no matter the size, should at least upgrade from the small to the heavy-duty shackles. It makes a world of difference. Um, and then those are some of the equalizer types. We're a distributor for moride. Um, and then this is a sample of half of a cross member. A cross member goes from spring hanger to spring hanger on driver side to passenger side. It reinforces those spring hangers so that they don't bend, break, snap, a concave, expand, any of that on you, which also reinforces the frame. To jump back over here, these are the seals that actually go on the back side of the hub rotor and hold that inner bearing in. These are the common culprit that if people use the zerk that's on the end of the spindle, and they're like, oh, I'll just shoot some grease in there, my bearings are greased. Well, if this is already blown, the grease that you just pushed in there now just went all over your brakes. So do not use the zerk on the end of your spindle, especially with drum setup, because you have no idea where that grease is actually going. And you could be putting grease in your brakes. Do you have safety tips for somebody that maybe loses their brakes on the road? Call me right away and we'll talk through it. It could be a lot of things. It could be an electrical component, it could be grease in there, uh, it could be the magnet malfunctioned. If it's uh disc brakes already, it could be a blockage in the hydraulic line, it could be a rubber line was too close to the tire and it rubbed, and now you have hydraulic fluid coming out. So there could be a couple different things depending on what you have. So yeah, give me a call. Whether you're a customer of ours or not, call us. We want to help and support the RV community as a whole, not just our customers. So please give us a call. We will help you regardless.

SPEAKER_04 53:26

Okay, so how do they get a hold of you?

SPEAKER_02 53:27

Telephone number 405-626-7009. We are a small family-run company. Um, and by family, we've all been installing for many years uh under the previous owners, and a bunch of us installers recently bought the company. So we are family because we've been out here blood, sweat, ears, smiles, all of it for many years with you guys. So, yeah, we're a small company and we answer the phones and answer emails, especially if you call and then send a text and say it's an emergency. Even on the weekends, we try to get a whole get back to you as quick as possible. You can also visit our website at performance trailerbreaking.com or send an email at infoinfo at performance trailerbreaking.com.

SPEAKER_04 54:12

Okay, let's talk rally schedule because I know you've got a full season. Yes, ma'am. If people were going to other rallies this season, not just the HDT rally, where would where might they find you this year?

SPEAKER_02 54:22

Well, we uh do grand design, we support Brinkley, we support Forest River, JCO, KZ, Frogs. I'm sure I'm forgetting somebody, so sorry if I forgot you. But uh we have over 50 rallies that we attend as a company, and there are nine authorized independent installers. What that means is we they don't work for the company, but they get paid directly at time of service. So that is a separate piece, but we all work together. So there's a whole network of us and we support each other. And that's how we're able to attend so many rallies because we have people positioned all over the country. An easy way, a new add-on to our website, if you go to the installers section and click any of one of our photos, you can see our map of where we're about to be for the remainder of the year.

SPEAKER_03 55:05

That's awesome. Great weekend.

SPEAKER_02 55:06

Yes, easy way to track us.

SPEAKER_03 55:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 55:09

So don't forget to check out performance trailer breaking. Ashley's a wealth of information. I've known her for a bunch of years. The reality is, is all of their text, just like our teams are the same way. You know, they're very well versed in what they're doing, or they wouldn't be part of this team. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 55:22

Awesome. Thanks so much.

SPEAKER_04 55:23

Thank you guys. Bearings are so important. You should actually repack your bearings typically between 10 and 12,000 miles at least every year if you're an RV'er. Um, and it's kind of not a whatever comes first. The reality is you just have to be mindful about it. So you want to look for excessive heat at the wheel hub and don't touch it. You know, have a have a fire extinguisher handy. Uh grease leaking from your hub is, you know, something that is kind of one of those telltale signs or a vibration that you maybe can't explain. Um that's a time to call out an RV tech. If you're not comfortable doing it yourself, find somebody that, you know, specializes in that. A performance trailer breaking is one of those companies. There's quite a few of them across the country. Uh inspect the seals when you're servicing and don't assume it's fine. Don't don't assume it's on, you know, because it it could be fine or it could be on fire, and there's a big difference between those two. Um, you know, but that's one of those unseen areas.

SPEAKER_01 56:21

I mean, one of the things I recommend is that if you do have an R V tech coming for something other problem, you're you're crazy not to not to have them also just do a quick check. They're already there. You're already you've already paid money. So what's it you're gonna pay maybe an extra hundred, hundred and fifty bucks for them to take the hour to look around, but then you know, you got you've got peace of mind and you you know there's a problem or not.

SPEAKER_04 56:42

And and that's super, super important. All right. So there is so much packed into this one episode. Tires, brakes, suspensions, TPMS, it's not exactly fun, but it's definitely the side that keeps us rolling, literally. And you know, stuff like this is you know important. If you've ever experienced something going down the road that's caused an issue, a hiccup, a bump. If you have a story, it's one of those crazy campfire stories. We'd love to hear about it. It can be a tire story, it can be a suspension story. It can be a why you upgraded your suspension before there was an issue story, because that's really the smart time to do it. Not repacking your bearings on the side of the road before you go across to Mobile, Alabama right before the bridge.

SPEAKER_01 57:24

I sound a little too personal there, Jen.

SPEAKER_04 57:27

We drove across that bridge a bunch of times that day, actually. But yeah, so I mean, there's so many things that we should be mindful of. So from blowouts to braking distance to ride quality and suspension, this is a complete guide to what's happening underneath your rig. I just want to take a minute to thank Rick for coming on today and for Tasha to putting up with us. Don't forget to like and subscribe to Learn to RV the podcast. Thanks for popping in. See you around the campfire.