Truck blows a tire!Apr 11, 2011
|
|
| The day started with a normal breaking up camp and leaving about 9:15 and it did take over an hour to get through Houston which we expected. The traffic was heavy but not awful but there were a few anxious moments because of other folks being dummies like the guy going about 40 in the fast lane of the freeway. We encountered the rain a few minutes out of town and at one point, it was very heavy rain but it didn’t cause us any real problems because we slowed down and were careful. We can’t remember the last time we were in such heavy rain so it has been a while. It was somewhere between Livingston and Corrigan that I heard a muffled “whoomp” and at the same time my mind registered, “that was a tire,” the Pressure Pro started beeping and told us we had lost all the air out of the passenger-side inside dually. I turned on my warning flashers and slowed down and heard on the CB, “I guess he is going to turn because he has turned on his blinkers.” I told the oversized rig driver what had happened and he said for us to follow him because he knew where a tire repair shop was just up the road. I soon lost them because I wouldn’t travel that fast but about 10 miles later, we found a tire shop. They pulled us into the shop and changed the tire putting on the spare. The kid and I couldn’t find anything wrong with the tire and he convinced me that something separated on the inside of the tire. $15 later and we backed out of the shop and were headed down the road with instructions on how to get to Discount Tire in Lufkin, “it is right on TX-59.” Wrong! It is on the frontage road and we knew that when we whizzed by it. We eventually wound our way back to the Discount Tire. We had plans to replace the tires later this year but decided to go ahead and replace them now. Discount didn't have six of the Michelin tires I wanted in stock, so our friend Ricky convinced me the Michelin tire he did have in stock would work just fine. OK, do it. Well, they put all the new tires on and when I went to inspect them to make sure they had left me access to all the valve stems, I noticed that the rear duallies were touching one another at the bottom and the distance between the tires was less than the width on my finger and this is unacceptable. I complained. Sharon complained. Nothing to do but put all of our old tires back on the truck, fix the flat tire, and that’s what they did. And, there was no charge for any of this! We were on our way but two hours behind schedule. We will contact the Discount Tire in Longview and arrange for new tires to be put on this week. No more problems today. Two hours later and we are checking into the Buckhorn Creek COE that is on Lake O’ Pines just a few miles outside the town of Jefferson. This is the latest we have ever been at setting up camp – 5:30. The place is really nice. Very quiet and green and we can see the lake. Just a nice place to be. What a day! We know that this life style of ours is going to present some challenges now and then but if we keep our wits about us, we will be alright. We can do this. |
Advertisement 
|
