Strange tire wear

Up until 1,000 miles ago, this tire was in great shape.


This is what it ends up looking like if you rotate a directional tire the wrong direction though.

Until now, it looked like it still had 50,000 miles life in it. The opposing tire, which is rotating the correct direction, still has 3/8” of tread.

There will be a fresh set of front tires waiting for us on Thursday.

Motorhomeless no more

 

We’re back in the coach.  We’re still in the parking lot of the repair shop, but we’re back in the coach.  Tomorrow we head for a camping spot at Chatfield State Park.  We still have that right front tire issue, but we think it will get us to Chatfield and back.  We’ll have two new tires put on next Thursday when we’re on our way north to St Vrain State Park.

 

It’s good to be home.

 

 

Along the way

Jewell Wetlands Park in Aurora.

Afternoon light.





And a local resident.

Sooooooo close

We were supposed to pick up the motorhome today, but it’s not *quite* ready. Imagine that.

We’re supposed to be parked in a state park outside of Longmont tonight, so we drove to a hotel in Longmont instead. The Holiday Inn Express. This is the newest nicest hotel we’ve been in lately.

Did I mention the right front tire? Scallops out of the outside edge. We’ve been watching those tires for years. No sign of unusual wear and suddenly there are giant scallops out of the side of the tread. We blamed it on the tow truck driver; another part of the tow damage. We figure he skipped it on the road while he was towing it in for repairs. Today we found out what really happened. In 2006, the tire was put on backwards. This is a tire that is designed to rotate a specific direction. There is even a small arrow next to the tread (that we never noticed) indicating the correct direction of rotation. The alignment is perfect, but after five years of rotating the wrong direction, the bands inside the tire started coming apart. The structure of the tire collapsed. That’s how all of a sudden the tire showed bizarre wear.

A hold-up on the replacement tires. Can’t get them to Denver until next week. We did get to stop by, drive the rig around the parking lot, level it, work the slides, shuffle stuff around in it, and shut it all back down again. We had to give it back, but it felt good to be in it for a little while.


Meanwhile. Along the way.

Wildcat Bluff preserve. High plains desert outside Amarillo in northern Texas.

I stood on top of the bluff looking out. Near the bluff, a stream with riparian habitat. A historic food, water, shade, and rest stop along a branch of the Santa Fe Trail.

Limon, Colorado

 

It’s a hundred miles east of Denver.  It was too early to stop when we got there, so we drove on to Aurora.  We’re within fifteen miles of the coach tonight.

 

 

Our adult children have adult children

 

Granddaughter Taylor turned 18 today.  Happy Birthday Taylor.  She’s off to CSU in Ft Collins in about two more weeks.  Wow.

 

Tonight, we’re in Amarillo, Texas.  Right on schedule.

 

Tomorrow, Limon, Colorado; about two hours outside of Denver.  We’re scheduled to pick up the Coach on Thursday.  It’s not really done, but we worked out a deal.  They’ll finish the paint today.  They’ll do the tires and alignment tomorrow.  We’ll pick it up on Thursday and head for a nearby campground.  The paint will be dry, but it has to cure for two weeks before the plastic rock guard can be stuck back on the front.  We’re staying in the neighborhood anyway, so we’ll just take it back to get finished when it’s time.  I checked again today and we’re all still on schedule.

 

 

Junction, Texas

 

Right on schedule.

 

Tomorrow, Amarillo.