Thursday, April 21, 2022. Cottondale FL to Ocala FL- low tire pressure alert
We had a very pleasant and quiet stay at the Moonpie Farm and Creamery parked by the duck pond. Lot’s of duck action all around us. We set our sights on James Two Brothers Distillery in Ocala FL for our next overnight stop. We got a text asking for an ETA, and then learned that they close at 2pm. We had considered visiting the Florida Caverns, which were hear Cottondale, but had heard that they had been damaged by Hurricane Michael and weren’t well preserved, relative to the Karchner Caverns we had toured in Arizona a few years ago. So if we drove straight away, we could make it to the distillery before closing. I-10 veered more inland and the countryside took on the look of forested rolling hills rather than flat lands.
The DEF light came on and as we were zeroing in on Ocala. We pulled into a Walmart in Live Oaks FL for diesel, DEF and bathrooms with 19909 miles on the odometer. We took 14.546gal @$5.159/gal.
We were back on the road and on schedule to arrive at the James Two Brothers Distillery before closing until just 32 miles short of our destination, we got a low tire pressure alert from the tire pressure monitoring system that Ben had added to the RV. We pulled off the freeway in Gainesville and inspected the tire, which was the outside rear driver side tire. I couldn’t see a definite nail or screw in the tread, or damage to the sidewall, but confirmed the pressure had dropped to 48psi from 67psi. We put the portable automatic inflator on the tire, but after 5 minutes the pressure was still only 50psi. So we found a tire shop on Google Maps just 2 miles from where we got off the freeway and they were able to get us in for emergency service.
It turned out the culprit was a tire valve extension on the wheel that had lost its O-ring seal, presumably due to heat and vibration. At first, the guy at the counter said we were out of luck because they didn’t carry parts like that, but then the tech showed the guy at the counter the same valve stem extension I had originally used by modifying it (needs to be bent 15˚). 15 minutes later, they said they weren’t able to get the replacement to fit (they were unwilling to bend it) but removed the faulty extension and mounted the tire pressure sensor after adding air. They said we were good to go, but would have to buy a replacement valve stem extension at Camping World, or auto parts supplier. They didn’t charge us anything for the troubleshooting or attempt to repair, so we gave them some peanut M&M’s and cold sodas for their trouble, as well as our gratitude.
We drove off and set our navigation for the nearest Camping World, hoping to get there before they closed. It was at the south end of Ocala, a 30 mile drive, so we let the James Two Brothers’ distillery know we weren’t going to be able to stay at their facility. The TPMS took a while to read the pressures from the tires, and once it did read the effected tire, about 5 miles down the road, it read 55psi. It should have been aired up to 61psi. As we continued to drive south, we got another low pressure warning saying the pressure had dropped to 40psi. We got to Camping World by 4:30pm. Unfortunately, Camping World was out of stock on the 180˚ tire stem extension that I needed. The did have a different style stainless hose valve stem extender kits on sale, so Ben bought one in hopes he could adapt it to work. We then drove around Ocala to find a Napa auto parts, which did not have valve stem extensions, and all the tire shops had closed by 5pm, so we would not be able to get them to air up the tire.
So in desperation, Ben parked the RV at a small ball field by a church and removed the tire pressure sensor from the effected tire, installed one of the stainless hose style extensions, and then used the Li-Ion battery inflator, which filled the tire from 30psi to 45psi before it’s battery gave up. We then switched to a 12V plug in compressor to fill the tire to 66psi, which took almost 20 minutes. We put the TPMS sensor on the end of the new hose style extension and hit the road again, hoping for the best.
The TPMS showed pressures holding steady at 66psi in the outside rear driver side wheel which was where the troubles had been. We set our sights on a Cracker Barrel Restaurant north of Tampa, hoping that they would allow us to park overnight if we dined there.
This was at the crossing of US98 and I-75. Thankfully, there was a huge Speedway gas/truck stop right next to the Cracker Barrel with a huge truck parking lot. We topped off with 13.474gal @$4.929/gal with 20083 miles on the odometer (12.9mpg). We discovered that although the commercial truck lanes had the giant high speed diesel nozzles, there were potable water taps at the commercial lanes and they also had window washer squeegees with long handles that could actually reach the top of our RV windshield. We washed the windshield, but then pulled through to the automobile island to take on diesel when a big rig pulled up behind us. We may go back tomorrow morning if there isn’t too much semi-truck traffic to top off our fresh water which was down to 2/3 from washing dishes and taking mini showers.
The Cracker Barrel had a nice RV parking spot under a huge oak tree so we could run our driver side slide out and still be in only one parking space. The hostess said it was OK for us to overnight in the parking lot. Janet ordered chicken fried steak and Ben ordered fried chicken, which he had been craving since Texas. The food was good and comforting, although the fried okra wasn’t as good as Stewby’s. It was obviously fried from frozen, while Stewby’s tasted made from fresh. The temperatures were in the upper 70’s but with the windows open, there was a nice cross breeze through the RV, and no need to run the air conditioner. There were no TV channels OTA, and no wifi at the Cracker Barrel, so we’ll call it an early night.
