Shredded!

It happened on I-25 northbound between Pueblo and Colorado Springs.  Trish had taken over as pilot after our lunch break at Pueblo.  She pulled onto an off ramp and I asked,  "What's up?"  "There's something flapping back there" said she.  There was a wide spot with room enough for us to park well off the road.  We hopped out and took a look.

Holy crap!  Some folks get flat tires but not us.  We shred 'em!

Trish got on the phone to Hartford to request roadside assistance.  After 30 minutes of inane questions and long holds, she was told that we had roadside assistance on our vehicles but not the 5th wheel.  She told the claims guy to go ahead and send out a repair truck anyway - at a cost of $125.

The alligator, aka tread, wrapped itself around the axle, had to pry it off.

We waited an hour for a message from the repair people, at which time I said the hell with it: I'll change it myself.  Just then,Trish got the message that the repair truck would be there in 2 1/2 hours.  We told them to forget it and issue a credit for the $125.

It took us 45 minutes to change the tire, first tire change on the 5W and first time I'd used the bottle jack I'd purchased for exactly that purpose.  Had a couple false starts, experimenting with the number of wood blocks under the jack to get the necessary height.

Yesterday morning we went to Discount Tire in Colorado Springs, bought 4 new, top of the line, 10 ply tires (original ones were 6 ply), had them balanced and mounted, out of there an hour later, $611, worth every penny.

Now, I have to fix the collateral damage.  The underside of the rig is insulated and covered with tough woven plastic - all sealed up.  Except, that is, for the 5' x 1' section that the alligator ripped out as it flapped around.  That section is now bare wood, chip board to be exact, not known for its water resistant qualities, soaks up moisture like a sponge.  We bought some heavy duty contact vinyl, will see if that'll stick, with the aid of duct tape.