IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR ALL RETTROBAND OWNERS
Dear Rettroband Owner,
For those of you whom I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting, my name is Brett Davis and I am the Founder and CEO of National Indoor RV Centers. I am also Co-Founder of Rettroband. For what it’s worth, I feel you should know I write all my own communications. Not our marketing department, and not our lawyers.
I purchased my first coach in 1985. I have nine children and twenty six grandchildren. During those thirty five years, almost without exception, every time I’ve traveled I’ve had what I consider very precious cargo onboard in the form of my children and/or grandchildren. Needless to say, front tire blowouts have always been of paramount concern to me.
Five years ago I met Robert Craig, Founder of Craig International Ballistics, when he was taking delivery of his coach from National Indoor RV Centers, and together we formed Rettroband. Craig International Ballistics is the largest supplier of armor to the Australian military, as well as eight other militaries around the world. Craig International Ballistic’s products range from body armor, to armored vehicles, to both fixed wing and rotary aircraft, and to vessels. Robert has thirty five years experience in manufacturing military grade armor and protective products for armored vehicles, including “run flat devices”.
Robert’s and my desire was to develop a product, a “run flat device” which would free coach owners from the continual dread in the back of their minds of a front tire blowout. We both recognized the Motorhome market is a very small market, but in dire need of such a product. And, we both really desired to solve this problem.
So, why am I writing you? A couple of my pet peeves over my thirty five years of RVing experiences are:
- Regardless of the number of times their products fail, or how widely known those failures are within the RVing community, the manufacturers almost always say “this is the first we’re hearing of this”.
- Whenever failures do occur, manufacturers tend to point up and down the supply chain trying to lay blame on someone else.
These are only two of a myriad of frustrations I have personally experienced over my years of RVing, and which ultimately led to the founding of National Indoor RV Centers.
When it comes to business I have always believed “if you have a problem, you put it up on the table so we all have a problem”. At National Indoor RV Centers we don’t hide issues, and we don’t duck from our customers. So, I am writing to inform you we have had several Rettroband failures recently, for a total of five Rettroband failures out of almost one thousand. While 5/1,000 is a very small percentage, in my opinion, one failure is one too many.
We at Rettroband experienced our first failure on, none other than, September 11th, 2019. We immediately sent the failed Rettroband to the laboratory to determine the cause of the failure. The cause was found to be over tightening of the Rettroband due to improper installation. The next failure occurred June 21st, 2020, and the last three failures have been in the last three weeks which is prompting this communication. We have not received back the cause of the most recent failure from the lab yet as it just occurred a few days ago. However, it sure appears to have been over tightened as well, and is most distressing to me because we (NIRVC) installed it. I wish I had all the answers for this latest failure before writing this email, but I also didn’t want to delay in communicating what appears to be the issue and what we think the solution is.
Immediately after determining the cause of the first failure, Robert started designing and engineering a solution, followed by molds, then production, and finally testing. I will try and paint a picture with words in hopes you’ll be able to visualize the problem, and therefore the solution.
In our development of the product, which took 3.5 years to design, engineer, and test, Robert did extensive testing. I’ll share with you just a few of Robert‘s tests:
- Compression. Rettroband withstood 32,000 pounds of pressure before the Rettroband failed.
- Strength. On a tire testing machine acquired from Bridgestone by the Big Tyre Company, they took Rettroband up to 75.18mph and then instantly hit it with 10,000 pounds of pressure numerous times.
- Durability. We wanted to be certain a coach owner could safely drive to the next exit following a blowout. Below is a link to a video showing the Rettroband attached directly to the brake drum... no rim! The Rettroband has 6 tons (12,000 pounds) of weight on it, and is traveling at 45mph. FYI, the largest Alcoa aluminum rim is only rated to 10,500 pounds. As you will see, Rettroband is extremely durable, and more than capable of being driven on after a blowout. Remember, in a true blowout Rettroband will have the added benefits of being attached to a rim within a tire as compared to this video. Here is the link to the video: https://youtu.be/RmGGKxlHix0
- Blowout. As many of you have seen before in the below video, we used a gas coach with a short wheelbase, and a very long overhang behind the drive axle. We also loaded the coach with ballast to the point we couldn’t get its speed above 65mph. While the test driver knew we were going to blow the tire, he didn’t know exactly when the tire would be blown. The drone shot at the 7:15 mark of the video captures the blowout from the exterior. Notice the coach doesn’t even wiggle. Then the interior camera shot at the 7:17 mark of the video captures the test driver’s hand on the steering wheel at the moment of the blowout. Notice again, the steering wheel doesn’t even wiggle. Here is the link to the video: https://youtu.be/ujVVWz-Wxjo
Robert focused in testing on the pressure and compression associated with the centripetal force, and the sudden impact of a blowout. We knew it was critical during the installation of Rettrobands for the gearboxes to be centered, and tightened only until both halves touched. Preferably, we like to be able to slide a sheet of paper between the two halves. What we have found, unfortunately, is that third-party installers were using air wrenches or rattle guns, and over tightening the the gearboxes. Tightening beyond the ability to slide a piece of paper through where the two halves meet is incorrect, and we now know that apparently it may lead to Rettroband failures as the over tightening bows the two halves, and stretches the entire system causing it to work against itself.
Now knowing the problem, as we now do, hopefully you’ll be able to visualize my explanation of the solution. Since “a picture is worth a thousand words” I’ll start with a series of pictures and explanations of each. Here is a drawing of the steel band which is inside the new Rettrobands: |
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