Tire blowouts common with ‘stock’ tires on new RVs, damage more than just tires

In this column, we summarize some of your emails and comments regarding RV service centers and repairs (we asked you to submit your stories here). We’ll tell you all: the best, the good, the bad and the ugly. At the end of this article, you’ll find a place to submit your own comments. I encourage you to do so.

Keep in mind, we typically only present one side of the story in most of these. Also, any remarks about service centers and mobile techs mentioned are the opinions of our readers and not necessarily RVtravel.com. 

Here’s what you had to say:

Tires blew out the sidewalls, tore electrical wires and damaged a brace

Steven W. has been happy with his RV but not so much with the tires. He wrote, “My wife and I purchased a new 2021 Grand Design from ExploreUSA in March of 2021. We have been very satisfied with our travel trailer. We’ve only had a few minor issues. We took our RV in for some warranty work—loose interior trim piece on slide out, a USB port with no power, and a light strip not working. It took about 12 weeks and two trips to ExploreUSA to get these warranty items covered, but, eventually, they were taken care of.

“A few months ago, we had two blowouts within three days on the same side of the trailer. Although the tires were properly inflated, only had about 4,000 miles on them, and tread depth was still very good, each ‘china bomb’ blew out from the sidewalls on one of our trips. I had read other posts that blowouts were common with the stock tires that came on new RVs and we got to experience it for ourselves. (Needless to say, when we returned home we invested in four new Goodyears!)

Tires caused more damage

“The thing is, when the tires blew out, they damaged one of the braces on the underside and tore the wires free from the electric brakes. I called our local ExploreUSA to make an appointment for the repairs and discovered they are now Blue Compass and was told it would be about six weeks before I could bring the trailer to have it looked at. We had an upcoming trip to CO in four weeks and did not think it wise to pull it without the trailer brakes.

“I started calling other local RV dealers to see if I could have the electrical wiring and support brace repaired. None wanted to assist because the RV was not purchased from them. Then, I called Colonial Del Rey RV. I explained what happened and asked if they could look at repairs. They got my RV in that afternoon and called the next day with an estimate. (The expenses were out of my pocket as they informed me up front they couldn’t perform warranty work on a manufacturer they do not represent, which was okay with me.) The cost of repairs was very reasonable and we had our trailer back within four days of drop off! Thank you Colonial Del Rey for prompt, quality, and reasonably priced service, even though I purchased my RV elsewhere.”

Case of bait-and-switch?

Gary B.’s first bad RV experience was what looked like bait-and-switch, then it got worse. He wrote, “In 2000 we bought a 33-foot 2000 Fleetwood Bounder from Dan Gamel RV in Morgan Hill, California. They showed us a unit with two air conditioners that we liked. When it came time for delivery but before final signatures, they tried to give us one with one A/C and other downgrades for the same price. After considerable discussion, the better-equipped RV reappeared, still at the same price.

“Later, at home, when examining the rubber roof, I saw a large bubble in the front-right. Checking with others, I learned that it needed to be repaired. Back at the dealer, the service manager claimed his techs were trained at training facilities and factories. After three months of periodic calls, it was ready. Someone had mortised in a small piece of rubber roof material after letting out the air. It still was not glued down and being a mortise inlay, not an overlap, it was not a weather seal.

“Took it to another place and they made it worse. They overlapped the hole with a larger piece and stapled it down. No adhesive, Dicor, caulk, or anything to seal it. I found RV Roofing Solutions. He removed the loose membrane, and then painted on an acrylic industrial roofing coating over the entire roof, including all rooftop places requiring caulking. That redone roof was about 15 years old when we sold our Bounder. The roof was still in excellent condition and never needed caulking again. While there were no more numerous black streaks, there were a few white streaks.”

Reader asks for help—What now?!

Curtis P. “Jayco Grayhawk – 2023. On our first trip, the auto level system in the front would not go up but a few inches. Luckily, we were only a mile from a Camping World, not the one we bought it from. They took the wires from the back and ran it to the front to raise the legs up far enough to get us home and then to the Camping World that we purchased from. (Note: We did our homework but they tried to upsell us as well as the other things that would cost us a lot more money if we did not know better.) After leaving it for seven weeks, we were told that warranty would cover the cost but we had to order parts, so we got it back in time to do a trip. We made them aware we were going out for a year-long trip and we would be living in it full-time. They told us no problem, it would be a one-day fix. We took it back and waited a month.

“They called and said it was done so we picked it up and moved it to our first stop and the level system did not work at all, not on the front or the back. We called them and they told us to bring it in on a date a week away. So we took it in on that date, and we sat in the parking lot. After four hours I went in to see when they were going to work on it. As soon as I walked, in the guy, Andrew, said we checked it out and told me the part they replaced previously was defective. I did not tell him we had been in the parking lot the whole time and saw that NO ONE EVEN LOOKED AT IT, but I let that lie go. So Andrew said he would have the part delivered to them Friday (this was on Monday) and to call him Friday afternoon.

“So I did. Called three times and left a voicemail. On Monday I called, and then called every day and left VM every day until the following Monday. The temperature was dropping and we had reservations to go south and I needed to get out of my home state. I lost my oldest daughter at the hands of her husband, and the people at Camping World knew this.

No one would call us back

“No one would call us back, so we went there and as I walked in the door, Andrew’s demeanor changed to a defensive tone as soon as I asked what’s going on why has no one called me?

“He first said they did not send the part, and halfway through the conversation he slipped up and said the part was on the manager’s desk. I called him out on that lie as well as the one previously about being in the parking lot and no one looked at it, and he turned red. I’m always nice, I believe in honey over vinegar, but not at this point, especially after he told me he saw it on his phone every time I called. I asked why did he not just answer and tell me what was going on. He said he was too busy. Oh, that really got my goat and I went from honey to vinegar real fast.

“I went off and he went and got the part and said the cinch connector wire diagram did not line up, it was only two wires. I said why not, just cut the wires to fit it if it was that simple. He gave us the part and said have at it and I walked out and took a walk around the lot to calm myself. My wife stayed and about 10 minutes later she came out with a $150 gift card (only good at Camping World, of course).

Need suggestions on where to get it fixed

“At this point, we are not sure what to do. We are in our RV traveling and living in it without a working leveling system as well as a few other things that need to be fixed. So any suggestions on where to get it fixed while we are living in it would be greatly appreciated. We are in Louisiana taking our time taking I-10 and heading towards Yuma, Arizona, for the winter. My wife has the wrong part w/o part # due to it being the wrong part and we know which part we need, but CW can’t seem to get it, nor can the Jayco dealer that my wife contacted in Indiana do anything either!”

On the bright side: Mobile tech fixed the problem in 15 minutes!

Rick E. has a good news story. He wrote, “I bought a wrecked 2020 Georgetown. After I repaired all the damage, I couldn’t get the stabilizers to work properly. A nearby RV dealer, Ray Citte RV in Riverdale, Utah, that had provided many of the repair parts, sent their tech to our shop to diagnose my problem. Instead of waiting weeks to get an appointment, he fixed it in 15 minutes. He refused to charge me, but I forced him to accept $50. That kind of service is how they do business.”

Editor’s note

Note from RVtravel.com: If hiring a mobile tech, a small or mega service center, make sure that they are experienced in the issue and have insurance in case something goes wrong. Also, check their warranty policy on the work they perform. Check reviews too and read between the lines—if the review sounds way too good to be true it might be. Compare with several reviews and not just the ones on their website.

Questions for you about RV service

We’ll continue to share stories of your RV service experiences. We want to know:

• Have you had good luck with great service or not so much?
• Did you get good service from knowledgeable technicians?
• Are you waiting to get into a service center or have a mobile tech come out?
• What has been the average time to get an appointment?
• Has your RV been in a service center for a while?
• Are you able to get any mobile techs to come out?
• Are the service centers able to get parts?
• When you do get the repairs done, is the price reasonable?

Please fill out the form below and tell us what your experiences have been like. It can be a horror story, an opinion about what’s going on, a positive experience, or anything else related to the topic. We want to know the great, the good, the bad, and the ugly!

Check back next week for more on RV service centers. See you then.

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Last week’s Service Centers and Repairs Report:

• RVers share: How to locate good service centers and mobile techs

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