Learning Experience! Sometimes I hate learning!

[MaddyBob]

So we were on our first trip with our 2930RL. It was to be a short 180ish mile one-way trip to do some driver training with our new truck and new RV. Uneventful trip down to the campground. Made it to driver training the following day. Lovely day, with no rain. Do a pre-inspection walk around on the rig, and all is good. About an hour later, we notice a sidewall injury to a tire. So, we have a lesson in changing the tire. Find out the spare is not the same tire, not a great surprise. The real surprise is we can't find a replacement tire a multiple tire stores. The best would be 2-3 days to order in. <sigh> Ok, we'll drive home on it and find one at home. Plan to replace the spare with a tire we can drive on without worry.

The next day we do some road driving, hills, curves, and the usual driver training stuff. My wife Maddy, does the 3h run without a hitch. Then on my turn, going up a curvy 2 lane road with a narrow shoulder when the truck, a new Ram 3500 with 944 miles on it displays some error messages about cruise control, which was not on, adaptive high beams which were not on, and something else. RPMs then shoot up, and power is lost. Literally, coast to the side of the road. Full stop, flashers on, shift into park. Very loud ker-klunk. Passed by a full logging truck. Turn off the truck, and restart. Shift into drive with another loud ker-klunk. So much for the hope it was an electronic glitch. Put it into 4-wheel drive and limp about a mile to a tiny grocery store, "Lake Mayfield Grocery" in Mossyrock, WA. They were kind enough to let us spend the night until we could arrange towing. They also bought us some Mexican food so we would have dinner that night. They were so very kind!

We were able to get our truck towed about 5h after the event but not the RV. Towing company send a flatbed with a very nice driver, who got the truck on the flatbed tow vehicle. It fit if you don't count the 2' or so of our truck hanging over the back end. Their plan was to then attach our RV to the back of the tow vehicle and tow us the 180 miles to home. There was no way to connect the RV brakes to the tow vehicle so it would be towing dead weight. As this was unsafe, we opted to spend the night with the RV and find a tow home the next day. A friend was able to come and get us with his tow vehicle and take us home.

A week later, we still don't know what is going on with the truck. The dealer has been unable to have a technician evaluate it due to work already in the shop. Should be looked at next week which is better than the 3/9/23 date that initially said they could look at it.

Lessons learned:

• Have a spare you can run on.
• Always have your tire change tools & jack with you.
• Change your lug nuts to solid ones, not the jacketed ones that can deform when trying to remove them.
• Bring extra food and have fresh water in your tank.
• Don't count on a tow company being able to safely tow your tow vehicle and your RV.
• We really like our 2930.

We do have an epic story to tell. Thanks for reading.

Bob

[Cpb9294]

Sorry for your misfortune. I learned a long time ago to carry 2 spares, and yes the same as road tires.
I guess I could suggest looking at your owners manual to determine if the truck should have been driven more to break it in. I've always understood to drive at least 1000 Miles before towing. At least that's Ford and Chevrolet requirements. That way your breaking it in and them early gremlins may show up.
Best of luck on getting back on the road.

[NB Canada]

Sorry for your misfortune. I learned a long time ago to carry 2 spares, and yes the same as road tires.
I guess I could suggest looking at your owners manual to determine if the truck should have been driven more to break it in. I've always understood to drive at least 1000 Miles before towing. At least that's Ford and Chevrolet requirements. That way your breaking it in and them early gremlins may show up.
Best of luck on getting back on the road.

500 miles for Dodge and I believe that is only for the rear end. Nothing for the engine/trans

[WhittleBurner]

You certainally had your patience tested. With all those unrelated warnings maybe it is a computer issue with the truck? hope they get it figured out so you can enjoy the 2930.

What was the spare that it was so questionable to run on ?

[Steven@147]

Oh wow, so sorry you're having issues right out of the gate, not a good way to start out with your rig, but you know what they say, RVing is an experience.
I think we had somewhere north of 2000 miles on our 2018 Ram before we towed anything, but I don't think that was an issue for you.

We are running Sailun "G" tires on the RV and the spare is a Westlake "G" exactly the same size, I don't worry about that, but getting a replacement Sailun "G" in case of a damaged tire, we would have to wait to get one delivered as they are not stocked at tire stores.

Hope they find out what is going on with your Ram soon and it's not too bad to fix, at least your under warranty!

[geotex1]

Umph! Sorry to hear if all your challenges with trying to train and improve your skills... Hopefully, your RAM just needs the ECM replaced as there was a batch of them that had bad components that caused major electronic problems. You should not be concerned running on the spare, even of different brand. It's a full road spec tire. Your damaged one sounds like it could be a spare in a tight pinch. If you will frequently long tow, a second spare is not a bad idea. It doesn't necessarily need to be a mounted tire since most any tire shop could mount it, if needed. Nevertheless, you definitely got a crash course with this trip, and the hardest lessons are best learned! May your next journey be eventful in only the enjoyment of the destination!

[MaddyBob]

Thank you all for your thoughts. We did do a 600-mile break-in of the truck. Though no one at the dealership mentioned any time was needed for a break-in when we bought it. I'll make sure to update you when I know what went wrong with the truck.

My concern about the spare is 2-fold. It is a slightly smaller tire, but I will have to pull it and recheck to confirm. It is also on a rim that the lug nuts had difficulty snugging up to. Plan is to keep it as a second spare. It will fit in the back of our truck easily enough. The damaged tire had bulging from the sidewall that was slowly worsening. So not a safe tire to use.

Fortunately, the one thing this was not was a "crash" course.

[NB Canada]

Thank you all for your thoughts. We did do a 600-mile break-in of the truck. Though no one at the dealership mentioned any time was needed for a break-in when we bought it. I'll make sure to update you when I know what went wrong with the truck.

My concern about the spare is 2-fold. It is a slightly smaller tire, but I will have to pull it and recheck to confirm. It is also on a rim that the lug nuts had difficulty snugging up to. Plan is to keep it as a second spare. It will fit in the back of our truck easily enough. The damaged tire had bulging from the sidewall that was slowly worsening. So not a safe tire to use.

Fortunately, the one thing this was not was a "crash" course.

I think people are confused. Was this tire issue on the truck or the trailer?
I assumed the truck

[MaddyBob]

The tire issue was on the trailer. The truck's problem was the transmission.

[Hoopy Frood]

I wouldn't use that spare tire until the problem with "lug nuts had difficulty snugging up to" was investigated and resolved. Maybe it isn't a trailer wheel and uses flat lug nuts. Definitely something to check out.