Proper Equipment For Clippers

[Clipper Joe]

Hello All Clipper Owners,

This Is Just A Small Post On What To Take On Your Clipper Outings.
At Our Last Past Rally We Had A Member Who Had A Flat Tire On The Rear Dual Wheel.

There Is A Mention In Our Last Clipper News Letter.

I Have Read This A Few Times. It All Ended Up With The Tow Service Re-Installing The Spare And All Is Done.

So Now Here Is Just A Comment That You May Have Some Opinions On.

1.) The Safety Factor Of Moving A 10,000 Lb. Clipper Rig 37 Years Old At Speeds 55-65 MPH, Down The Road Or Highway On 5 Tires Instead Of 6 Tires.
Well This First Item, Lucky This Rig Did Make It To Rally All In One Piece.
2.) After Tow Service Was Called, They Came To Fix The Tire Flat, They Really Seem To Have Very Little Experience, On Changing A Clipper Dual Wheel & Tire.
In Turn This Made The Tire Change More Difficult.
3.) Lifting This 10,000 Lb. Rig To Repair Was Also Very Challenging The Tow Service Guy Used His Tow Lifting Winch To Lift The Back Of The Owners Clipper.
The Tow Guy May Have Not Known That These RV's Are Made Of Fiberglass, Or He Just Wanted To Get This Flat Changed So He Could Go On To The Next Service.
4.) At This Time Their Was Many People Around, And Lucky Some Were Able To Give Good Input Also, Had Tools, And Mel Was Able To Let Them Use His Air Compressor, For The Job.
After Some Work The Tow Guy Got The Spare On & All Was Done.

Now I Will On Another Post Somethings That Would Have Helped In This.
Please Add Your Feedback To This.
I Know With The New Year We Get Busy, It Would Be Nice Getting This Web Site Rolling Again.
And Remember This Post Is For Info Only.
Joe

[Toedtoes]

I remember when I bought my clipper, my dad said "if you blow one of the rear tires, the other will give you enough to get off the road to a safe place".  In other words, it's not enough to drive another 20+ miles, but you can get another mile or two down the road to a station or a turn out, etc., rather than stopping in along the freeway with a narrow shoulder, etc.

I have two hydraulic jacks in my clipper.  I believe they are each rated at 10,000lbs, but I'm not positive.  At some point, I'll trade them out for a couple 20,000lb jacks and put these in my SUV.

One thing I've learned over the years is that if the person I'm paying to do a job does not appear to have the expertise needed to do the job right, I stop the work.  It's not worth it to me to have an inexperienced or incompetent person do work for me (especially something like the clipper where one thing done wrong can ruin a trip, the clipper, my life, etc.).  In the incident at the rally, I would have called the ERS and explained that the tow driver they sent did not know how to deal with (and didn't have the tools to deal with) my vehicle and to send another one out asap.  We were all safely parked at the RV Park and waiting a few hours longer for a proper fix wouldn't have been an issue.

[Clipper Joe]

Hi All Clipper Folks,
Well Here Is A Follow Up Post On This Topic.

Was Hoping On More Feedback, Seems There Are People Like To Read These Posts, They Are Real Good Information.

Wanted To Say That Toedtoes, Is Right On Track With Her Post.

1.) Now, Before All Trips You Need To Look At All Tires For Low Tire Pressure Front & Rear.
2.) You Want To Make Sure You Carry The  Large  Lug Wrench  & Bar For 1 1/8" Lug Nuts.
3.) It Is Wise To Buy A 20 Ton Bottle Hydraulic Jack, They Are About $40.00 From Lowes. They Are Easy To Store. It Lifts Clipper With Ease.
4.) It Is Also Wise To Have A Small 12Vdc Air Compressor, This Can Also Be Used On Air Bags If Applied To Your Clipper.


I Have A Big Truck Tire Thumper, I Keep To Check Inter Dual Tire.
I Know There Is Not A lot Of Storage Room On Clippers, But These Items Will Help You When You Are In Need Of Them.

Most Of Us Say Why, I Have A Tow Service! I'll Let Them Do It.
For Me I Do Have A Premium Tow Service, But It Is Just A To Have Incase Of An Emergency.

Please Post Your Views On This Topic. It May Help One Of Your Fellow Clipper Owners.

Thanks For Viewing,
Joe

[caninecaravan]

Since it was my rig that had the flat tire, I think I need to respond to the post. The problem would not have happened if the plug on the Quick Pressure Tire monitors had not lost its top along the way. This allowed the valve stem to be pushed in which led to the slow leak. I have since replaced it and there is no more problem. I should have continued to let Good Sam service come and take care of the rig instead of getting antsy and calling AAA. They would have probably come with the correct equipment since they know we are a motor home. The problem only became major because of that. I have a compressor for the tires on board, but I assumed the tow truck driver would have had one also. All the problems are solved now and we are ready to roll again as soon as I get the time to get going. Thanks for all the help and advise at the rally. It was still a fun weekend overall.

[Clipper Joe]

Hi Larry,
That's Great You Were Able To Get To The Bottom Of The Cause.

It Is Also Good To Carry A Good 1-1/8" Lug Wrench & 24" Large Bar That Came With Clippers.
It Does Help To Have A Compact 20 Ton Jack. They Do Not Take Up Much Space.

I Think Most To Services Either AAA Or Good SAMs Club, Would Have The Proper Equippment To Do Any Jobs For Our Clippers, The Prices We Have To Pay For These Tow Services.

Thanks Again For The Update,

Joe