Q&A by Mark Polk for January 2008

*NOTE: At Mark's discretion, material might be edited to suit a wide audience. Due to the large volume of material and correspondence we receive, individual replies might not be possible, nor can we acknowledge receipt of submitted material. Selected questions will be answered in future issues of our RV Education 101 newsletter and on our site. Thank-you for your understanding.

Q. Thank you for trying to help with my towing question. For over 6 months I have been trying to get a correct answer to this question, and maybe there is not a correct answer. I have two cars, a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan front wheel drive, auto transmission, and a 1998 Pontiac Grand Am (It can be towed 4-wheels down) . I bought a tow dolly so I can tow either the car or Van. Dodge says not to tow the van on a tow dolly. I called the factory, and their reasoning is because it is so high that the dolly makes the center of gravity higher, not a mechanical problem. The Pontiac is also a auto transmission, front wheel drive car. The steering wheel doesn't lock on either of these car when the key is removed or in place. U-haul in their flyer says the steering wheel must be tied off. Other RVers have said the same for both of these cars. Others say no, you do not have to tie off the steering wheel. Master tow (tow dolly manufacturer) says yes, you do have to tie the wheel off if the steering wheel does NOT lock. Have you any input on this subject.

Mark Says: I have experience with Roadmaster and Master Tow tow dollies . Master Tow is only about 20 miles from where we live and we have actually done some filming at their plant for the RVTV show.

Both of these manufacturers say the steering wheel must be locked or secured and this is why.

This is an excerpt from the Roadmaster Inc. owners manual:

The towed cars steering wheel must be locked when towing. Failure to lock the steering will allow the towed car to pivot on the bed causing it to hit the fender and wheel assembly of the dolly. Severe damage will result to both vehicles.

I would follow the guidance you received from Master Tow on using a ratchet strap to secure the front wheels in a straight forward position.

I hope this answers your question. I'm not sure about Dodge's reason for not towing the van on a tow dolly.

Q. I live in a large 5th wheel full time and I am plugged in at all times. I heard the battery charger kicking in from time to time and the humming of the converter. Do I have to have the converter on all the time? Is it on only to charge the batteries? The manuals are the pits and I am really trying to know all about converters. The more questions I ask from different sources the more answers I get. I read your web site you do explain well. Thank you.

Mark Says: The converter in your RV basically does two jobs.
1) When you are plugged into electricity it converts a portion of the 120 volts coming into the RV down to 12 volts so all of the 12 volt devices like overhead lights and fan motors will operate without draining the RV battery.
2) It has a battery charger built in the converter to keep the RV battery charged (topped off).

The noise you are hearing is most likely the fan on the converter. The converter gets warm when it is on so the manufacturer adds a fan to help keep it cool. Some are very noisy.
You do need the converter on when you are plugged in. If the converter wasn't on, or wasn't operating properly you would run the RV battery down because you are using the 12 volt appliances and devices.

Some older RV converters charge the batteries at a constant rate and will continue to charge the batteries when they are fully charged. This can result in the battery or batteries losing water, so battery maintenance and inspections are important when you have the RV plugged in for long periods of time. Newer converters have 3 stage chargers that know when the battery is fully charged and at that point in time only provide a float charge (less charge) to prevent overcharging conditions.

Read this article I wrote on converters that might help explain it in more detail. http://www.rvuniversity.com/article.php/20080107175732307

Q. We purchased a 1998 Class A 33 ft Hurricane Motorhome in October of 2007. The total mileage on the motorhome and it's original (10 yr old) Michelin tires was 33,150 miles.

We ordered and prepaid for seven new Michelin XPS-RIB tires (six on the ground & one spare) from a large national RV Service Center. The tires were installed, balanced, etc., but the original rubber valve stems were not replaced. When I expressed concern, the center's service manager stated that the original were fine! Every time I walk out to the motorhome, I glance down at the valve stems.

Changing the stems out at this time would require a new service schedule (4 - 6 weeks), removal of the new wheel liners, breakdown of the new tires (and possible damage to the tires), balancing, and mounting on motorhome - again. Also, we would need to recheck the wheel lug tightness at 100-150 miles of driving.

I'm considering having this done at the first tire rotation (4,000-5,000 miles ?). We had no air leaks on the original tires, just surface cracks on the sidewalls next to the wheels that appeared to be from UV exposure.

In hindsight, I should have had the entire work scope explained in advance. Also, I should have stipulated that I wanted new tires that were manufactured within a certain date range. Some of these new tires were manufactured in the first week of 2006. They will be two years old next week. Also, when the tires were mounted, some have the manufacture date facing inward on the rear wheels sets. I won't know their manufacture date until we rotate the tires. Does the age on a warehouse shelf count toward the 5 to 7 year replacement time?

Mark, based on your experience, What are your thoughts and recommendations?
Thank you in advance for your help.

Mark Says: The date of manufacture does count towards the over-all life expectancy of the tire, but chances are the tires were stored properly and not exposed to the sun or UV rays. The 5 to 7 year rule applies more so to tires already on an RV, exposed to the elements and sitting in storage for a good deal of time. I wouldn't be to concerned about the actual manufacture date, but now you know what to look for the next time.

The only problem I have ever encountered concerning the original rubber valve stems is in some instances when you add metal valve stem extenders the added weight of the extenders can cause the rubber valve stems to leak air. If the extenders are properly installed the rubber valve stems should be okay until you have the tires rotated, at which time you can have the valve stems replaced.

If the rubber stems are a real concern you might want to add some type of tire pressure monitoring system so you know exactly what is going on with the tire pressure when you're traveling down the road.

I'm not sure if you ever read anything I wrote about tires where I reference a helpful Bridgestone tire brochure that you can download for free. If not copy and paste this link into your browser and download the brochure. It's loaded with great information about your RV tires and there is another one on how to properly weigh your RV. http://www.bridgestonetrucktires.com/us_eng/rv/index.asp

Copyright 2008 by Mark J. Polk owner of RV Education 101

RV Expert Mark Polk, seen on TV, is the producer & host of America's most highly regarded series of DVD's, videos, books, and e-books. http://www.rveducation101.com/