Question Rettroband - are they worth it?

[Richpatty]

New member here—I greatly appreciate all the comments in this thread and am planning to contact NIRVC in Atlanta to install the Retrobands on our Dutch Star sometime before the spring.

RichPatty, (assuming you also installed new tires) did you also purchase your tires from them? Or did you have a third party ship them there?

Gary

I had two tires shipped to NIRVC Atlanta and they held them for me until I arrived. I had the other six tires installed locally before.

I did let the service manager know (of course) that they were on their way and put them to the managers attention. I had no issues. NIRVC will also quote tires from a local tire place as well.

Hope this helps
Rich

 

[LeslieGary]

Very helpful—thank you!

 

[Neal]

Some around here are eagerly waiting and wondering about this post...but I'm going to keep it pretty short.

I signed up for Newmar Hoots which I'm at the tail end of located at Hilton Head National RV Resort. When signing up I asked if they were doing RettroBand installs as NIRVC handles the sign up process, the answer was no, they are going to be at a conflicting event. I decided to get new tires installed the week prior to coming to this event and made arrangements to go to NIRVC in "Washington, DC" aka Manassas, VA on November 15th. I had hoped to go before coming to the Hoots rally but NIRVC didn't have the rettroband for my tire in stock.

I get to the event and learn that they ARE doing Rettroband installs and was disappointed as I'm carrying around two heavy tires in the back of my pickup for a month and would really like to have gotten it done here but they only have a few slots (2 a day I think) and they booked up before I got wind of it. Short story - they fit me in due to a cancellation. Great!

In the above thread, or another one, I expressed my concerns on the torsion placed on the tire during the install process and how it may damage the tire, etc. Short story again - they destroyed my brand new Toyo during the install process today, a torn bead they call it. According to one of the staff, it occurs every few months (he said 6-8, who knows, it happens). They are training a new guy here presumably and it happened. The sad situation is they could not find a tire and I was on the phone with my dealer in Virginia that I bought 8 tires from and he could get me one not too far from me mid next week. Finally the guys here found a tire and drove to Augusta, GA (2-1/2 hours) to get it. It's amazing that both Michelin and Toyo are hard to find when we thought Toyo should be the easy ones to find. Kudos to Corey G. for going the extra mile. He had a discussion with me afterwards about doing the right thing vs. trying the other tire. Ummm, that is not an option, I'm glad he chose to do the right thing!

I'm tired, it's been a long day in the heat and my day was pretty much trashed due to this so I got nothing done and couldn't partake in the activities due to the dog. I requested compensation for the situation, it was not met with a pleasant response, sadly, but in the end, it was granted and I'm pleased with the result. For the person I spoke with, if you're reading this, your answer to me immediately should have been "Don't worry, we will make it right."

My concern remains that some tire failures with Rettrobands may be due to the installation itself. While Rettrobands should give you confidence for a blowout situation, my concern is they could be a contributing factor but I hope I'm wrong. The total cost for my size tires which are 305's comes out to around $4k. It's done and I'm done, for the day. Hoping for the best with all 8 new tires now in play.

 

[Joe Hogan]

Neal, Thank you for sharing this. Glad they finally stepped up and took full responsibility.
Regarding your concern about MIF(Maintenance Induced Failure), always a risk. Just too many variables to quantify unless a unmistakable trend emerges like RetroBand V1 installation issues.
Hopefully the 365 tires give them more room to work on the DSDP.

 

[DennisT]

We used to call them “clean and destructs” in the service when doing required maintenance on old equipment. Always a risk.

Glad they did the right thing for you.

 

[DHudson]

Here is my 2 cents worth. Attached is a VERY horrible accident. I did not find a write up about it, but pretty sure the outcome was very bad. My guess is, they had a leak in the left front tire, and low tire pressure cause heat build up with the tire coming apart as a result. They may have struck something in the road and blew the tire as well.
A blowout usually happens when there is air loss and heat builds up in the tire, causing it to come apart..
Low air pressure settings on the Ford Explorer a few years back was the cause of all the blowouts/roll overs. Most of them happen in the hot Nevada type enviroment.
What I am getting at, If you do not have a coach with factory a installed TPMS system, I would highly recommend one. Reguardless if factory installed or aftermarket, maintain it and pay attention to it. Other than stricking something, destroying the tire, it will give you time to come to a stop before you have a accident. I would guess, the majority of blowouts is the result from air loss, that if you were warned of, you could have time to slow down and stop under control.
About the only time I see Rettrobands come into play, is when you strike something and destroy the tire. IF you have a TPMS in good working order, you should have time to slow down to avoid a accident, or worse.

 

[Richpatty]

Here is my 2 cents worth. Attached is a VERY horrible accident. I did not find a write up about it, but pretty sure the outcome was very bad. My guess is, they had a leak in the left front tire, and low tire pressure cause heat build up with the tire coming apart as a result. They may have struck something in the road and blew the tire as well.
A blowout usually happens when there is air loss and heat builds up in the tire, causing it to come apart..
Low air pressure settings on the Ford Explorer a few years back was the cause of all the blowouts/roll overs. Most of them happen in the hot Nevada type enviroment.
What I am getting at, If you do not have a coach with factory a installed TPMS system, I would highly recommend one. Reguardless if factory installed or aftermarket, maintain it and pay attention to it. Other than stricking something, destroying the tire, it will give you time to come to a stop before you have a accident. I would guess, the majority of blowouts is the result from air loss, that if you were warned of, you could have time to slow down and stop under control.
About the only time I see Rettrobands come into play, is when you strike something and destroy the tire. IF you have a TPMS in good working order, you should have time to slow down to avoid a accident, or worse.

If you are insulating that watching your tire pressures, having a TPMS and taking care of your tires you can avoid any issues with tire blow outs, I respectively disagree. I baby my tires in so many ways but still almost had a disaster when a bubble formed on the inside of my tire. I found this after a trip coming out of the VA mountains. This could have been ugly and life threatening. I got luckily. I now have Rettrobands as that extra insurance.

 

[Neal]

I’m an hour on the road and I’ve heard a loud bang twice and I don’t know what it is. I pulled over and inspected and all looks good and pressures are holding. I sent an email to Corey G and Chuck L. and hope someone will call. I’m going to resume my trip but I’m concerned a rettroband has separated. Posting for the record. Resuming travel as I have no idea what it was or what to do.

 

[Neemer]

@Neal , if it helps put your mind at ease, there would be a whole lot of shaking going on if the band had failed. At least that was the reporting of the ver 1.0 failures.

 

[sheridany]

I think @Neemer is right. I recall reading something a while back that if the two pieces became separated, you would know it right away.