Question Rettroband - are they worth it?

[turbopilot]

Right front blowout in a 3343 New Aire with Rettrobands.

 

[Neal]

Good find, good story. That's what I like seeing. Interesting scenario though. Is that a cut at the outer edge of the tire above the gaping hole?

 

[turbopilot]

Good find, good story. That's what I like seeing. Interesting scenario though. Is that a cut at the outer edge of the tire above the gaping hole?

No idea, but with Rettroband the "evidence" is largely preserved after an event like this. Normally the tire is so shredded it is not clear what happened.

 

[Neal]

Here is the installation video that will start at the relevant point:

 

[Jim]

I hope it goes better for you guys than it did for me. My rig went to NIRVC for a list of things, one of which was new tires and to make sure I'm running the newest version of Rettrobands.

Six weeks later, Newmar picked up the coach and took it to Nappanee for some warranty related repair. At that time, not one item had been taken care of, including the new tires and Rettrobands.

 

[Bigblockyeti]

In the video above, I'm curious as to what a "front drive tire blowout" @ 2:57 might be? AWD (I'm betting against that)? Fast lips, slow thoughts?

 

[Neal]

One thing that concerns me in watching the removal of the RettroBands from the New Aire (video above) is the amount of torsion placed on the tire (stretching it) to get it out. Imagine that done on install causing tears, fractures, etc.? Certainly got my attention. And in the New Aire video there appears to be a gash above the hole so I'm not sure if there was trauma that started that or what. I tried watching it back in portions to try and catch WHEN they got RettroBands installed on their coach, i.e. was it recent to the incident.

Also FYI they will put a placard below your key pad entry that advertises RettroBands installed on the coach. You may want to consider as I would to not put any marketing placards on the coach. I don't do dealer placards and I certainly would direct them not to put that on my coach if I choose to get these.

 

[Bigblockyeti]

Yeah, the placard marketing isn't a "free" thing on any of my vehicles either. I trust folks like that just enough to remind them that such a sticker would be professionally removed and the coach detailed at the expense of whomever installed the sticker after they were directed not too. Based on how much I trust most folks with an agenda to adhere to my instructions, I would follow up the verbal instructons with an email to that person stating the same and copied to their boss & their bosses boss to remove all ambiguity and generate a paper trail.

 

[Neal]

This happened on my Chevy Colorado, delivered with no sticker, it went for paint protection and came out with dealer tag, sent back for removal and redo of paint protection in the affected area. I don't do free marketing, sorry, and the RettroBand placard is not small. Be aware.

 

[Neemer]

When my Rettrobands were installed, I was asked if they could put that label on the coach. I declined. However, there are small stickers on each steer tire to indicate the bands are installed. That makes sense to me.

One thing that concerns me in watching the removal of the RettroBands from the New Aire (video above) is the amount of torsion placed on the tire (stretching it) to get it out. Imagine that done on install causing tears, fractures, etc.?

That is why they won’t put the bands on tires that are older than three years. Their cost to replace damaged older tires began to erode their margin.

 

[Jim]

A friend told me that he considered having the Rettrobands on his Newmar would be overkill as he felt the Comfort Drive would keep his rig from diving left/right if a steer tire blew.

Does his theory have merit?

 

[Joe Hogan]

Let’s hope he never finds out..

 

[GlampDaddy]

A friend told me that he considered having the Rettrobands on his Newmar would be overkill as he felt the Comfort Drive would keep his rig from diving left/right if a steer tire blew.

Does his theory have merit?

I heard the same as a second-hand quote from the former president of Newmar.

 

[Scotttkd2]

@Jim, it was not the case in my recent experience as the tire shredding took out the adjacent electronic bay and disabled the comfort steer as well as most of the rest of the electronic controls. I had no steering control at all and was pulled into the median. Not to mention the subsequent damage to the body that now is requiring repairs. I will be adding Retrobands this year as soon as I can get scheduled at an NIRVC location.

 

[J&JD]

I had no steering control at all

Would you clarify this for me please. Are you saying that all driver control of the steering system was lost? That would mean that the mechanical linkage from the front wheels to the steering wheel was so badly damaged that it was totally useless. Is that correct?

 

[turbopilot]

Interesting followup on the video I posted earlier of the New Aire with Rettrobands that had a blow out.

Apparently this coach was involved in an accident a year earlier that involved significant contact with that right front steer wheel that failed. A factor?

 

[Scotttkd2]

Would you clarify this for me please. Are you saying that all driver control of the steering system was lost? That would mean that the mechanical linkage from the front wheels to the steering wheel was so badly damaged that it was totally useless. Is that correct?

I have documented and am updating what happened in a different thread on rvf, but what happened was the shredding tire chewed through the fiberglass bay in front of left wheel that contained the electronics bay, and immediately most of my electrical systems went down. I assume (RV is still in FL shop repairing said damage) that this severed the controls for the comfort steer. I was in right lane at 65 when blowout occurred, no wheel protection (I had Tyrons installed but they failed) so left rim was on pavement and I had no way to steer vehicle to the right shoulder as I had planned to do. I know the procedure for a steer blowout is to accelerate, and I did try that but immediately realized I had no steering control, engine had shut down (again electrical) and was swerving into the left lane and headed for the median at speed. I got into the brakes hard at that point and attempted to stop before going fully into the median. I was able to get it stopped with rv partially in median, right rear wheels were off the ground and rv was "teetering" as traffic blew by. Recovery tow driver estimated with contour of median I had about 15 more feet and I would have rolled over into median. Sorry for lengthy post and I didn't intend to hijack this thread, but I believe the expense of the Retrobands is far less than the cost of my repairs, and hopefully wold provide some semblance of control like seen in the videos. My tire in the photos on my other post has no visible tread on it to run on, just sidewalls and steel wire shredded everywhere and you can see I was running on the rim on pavement, all things the retrobands are intended to prevent. Hope this helps and again apologies to OP for the temporary hijack.

 

[team bradfield]

Why did your Tyrons fail? I've read they are very dependable and designed to prevent exactly what you describe, if installed correctly, they keep the rubber on the rim, what did the Tyron folks discover?

 

[Scotttkd2]

@team....I believe the correct assumption at this point is if installed correctly. You can see in the photo on other thread that the left side band had slipped and was all the way out to the rim edge at one point Instead of centered. Both sidewalls were on the rim, but there was absolutely no tread like their videos show left intact to run on so rim was in full contact with the pavement. I literally just an hour ago heard from my FL shop that their tire shop found the right front rim was damaged by the Tyron install (large gouges in the center of the rim) and they are requiring a new wheel before they will install new tires. So far no answer from my attempts to reach Tyron USA for any feedback, and my selling dealer was sold twice since I bought so I expect nothing but a hand wash from them either.

 

[Neal]

The keyword in this thread "if installed correctly"

My concern from my initial opinion is that tires are not supposed to be messed with nor did tire manufacturers engineer their tires to have stuff inside of them, i.e. will this affect cooling, temps, breakdown, flexing, wear and tear? It's way too early for any data points on the new product that is RettroBands. It looks like a promising design, it seems like a good answer although outrageously priced as usual in this RV market space targeting seniors and retirement accounts on fear. Now lets also look at numbers. What is the total number of truck tires on the road (light truck I suppose is the better characterization) and how many of those fail? How many of those are at proper pressure, properly inspected, replaced at a respectable age, etc.? RettroBand doesn't prevent shredding and damage as happened to @Scotttkd2 I don't believe, so damage can still occur, components can be taken out, etc. but it's a run flat device affording controllability. There are pro's and con's to everything, the owner/buyer decides. Has NIRVC put out any direction on time intervals for RettroBand inspection? What if they come loose or components within fail?