The rest of the leaking valve stem story

[Rabbit]

Yesterday I reported my I-75/Atlanta flat tire story, but left out the “fun” part. Called Good Sam Road Assist. The agent did a good job figuring out exactly where where we were. She found and relayed to us the repair service within half an hour (it was Sunday so expected longer). The service made immediate contact and said he was an hour away. Now things start down hill. I had reason to call the service back about half an hour later. That’s when I found out his dispatch gave him I-85. I sent him my coordinates. He arrived half an hour later. I expected a truck - he was driving a tiny KIA. He dug out a scissor Jack that plugs into his cigarette lighter and eyed my truck. “No, the flat is on the trailer.” New problem. His Jack cord won’t reach. He figured he’d be able to park his KIA next to us on the berm, but we’re about three feet from a wall on an I-75 acceleration lane on I-75 in Atlanta - no way! He was saying he was sorry he couldn’t help, when I membered I just last week dug out a long forgotten 12v extension I’d used with an old air pump. Fortunately it came with battery clamps I could use on the camper battery. He had the tire changed in no time. We were blessed! I noticed the pressure before the tire disintegrated (other tan the valve stem, it wasn’t damaged, nor was the trailer). It happened where we could pull off the driving lanes of I-75, rare in Atlanta. I called the service back in time to avert a wild goose chase on I-85. I’d retrieved a forgotten 12v extension and it could clip to my battery. All in all, not bad, could have been worse.

Then that evening, Compass Connect spontaneously disconnected from my iPhone. I could get it to reconnect to the phone, but the phone would not connect the other direction to the RV. But that’s another post. 😖

[Lonestar]

I'm glad you were able to successfully resolve your problem. Your experience with roadside assistance seems to be similar to many we hear about today. You would expect a guy in a Kia if you were in the middle of nowhere, but in a large city that's not the greatest of service, especially since he really did not come prepared. It's sad that there are few if any RA programs that are really first class anymore.

[Cate&Rob]

My similar valve stem leak story also happened on I75 in Atlanta. Luckily for me, I was able to get off on an exit ramp with a reasonably wide shoulder and the problem tire was on the curb side. I changed it myself. A little intimidating, crawling under the RV to retrieve the spare, with continuous traffic rolling by. I was hoping that one of Atlanta’s finest would stop and give me a little protection with his red & blue flashing lights . . . but, none of them stopped.

We could have a whole thread on the comedy of how bad Good Sam’s Roadside Assistance is. I have heard many and actually seen a couple. We used to have that coverage (never used it) but realized that it is less than useless . . . customers actually sit there thinking that they are going to get competent help.

Rob