I'm sure this fat has been chewed many times but, here it comes again.
It's time for new tires on my 38' Dutch Star Diesel pusher. I'm trying to decide between Michelin and Toyo.
Any input will be appreciated. Any suggestions for other brands?
2001 Dutch Star, Saturn toad
Me, Wife, Duffie (West Highland White Terror)
Well, in some 30 years of only running Michelins I've only had one really bad incident. A rat tail file went through the sidewall!! Did have a couple flats last year on the Ody, both screws through the tread picked up at the same venue at differen shows. Our MH Michelins are 5½ years old, no checking or cracking at all, they will go another couple years at least. Michelin now says that their tires should go 5 years before needing inspection, then they should be inspected by a professional every year, then definately replaced at 10 years. Here in the great wet NW I'm not too worried yet, if we were in AZ or that area I would worry more.
Deen - Vancouver, WA
'02 Dutch Star 4090 (41+', triple slide)
435/1200 ISC Cummins/Banks PowerPak
'08 Honda Civic/dolly
'05 Honda Odyssey/dolly
NRA Benefactor Life Member
FMCA f47302s, Life Member: Good Sam, Newmar DP Owners Group
51st yr of RV'ing
Here is a point that not all consider. I'm guessing that, like many of us, you don't carry a spare. If you ran into a rattail file problem as Deen did, how long would it take you to locate a replacement? My reasoning was that there were a lot of Michelins on the road and a lot more places to buy them.
To Norm's point, the previous owner of our coach had the original Michelin tires on after 26K miles and 4 years. Because it has sat for so long and developed checking in all of the outer tire sidewalls and I had no idea about how the tires had been treated (allowed to develop flat spots, stay under-inflated for long periods of time while it was sitting), I felt it safer to replace them. Ours had 22.5" XRVs and I went back with the same tires. 30K miles and 3 years later (knock on wood), we've had no tire problems. I did do research to verify that I had the right load range tires on for the weight of our coach directly with Michelin after weighing all 4 corners.
Michelins ride great, but the reason is a relitivly thin, or supple sidewall.
Some people feel that supple sidewall is not worth the ride improvement. I changed 4 drive 14 ply llR22.5 and 2 steer 16 ply, all Michelin to Kuhmo 16 ply in all positions on my toter home. Air suspension rear, 12k axle steer, weighs 24k. The ride seemed to improve if anything, a great surprise to me.
I think I'll go to Toyos when the time comes to refit my Wanderlodge, as they have a highway tread very similar to Michelin.
I am in the service business and hear too much Michelin related "grumbling".
We had excellent customer support from Toyo through two tire failures six years ago. They do seem to be to be moving their marketing away from the RV industry however over the last few years. We now have the Goodyear G670 R tires now and changed to Goodyear G159 (Toyo National Service manager recommended due to our wheel width) and have had good service.
Richard and Babs and a Bob Tail Cat
97 Beaver Patriot 40 Kitchen Slide
330 HP Member FMCA, BAC, Good Sam, CAT RV Club
Toad 04 Durango HEMI
Crusin', I too am considering replacement 0f the G-159's that are on my 2002 coach. The front tires were replaced by the dealer in 04 on the front, but the rear 4 tires have Nov and Dec 03 manufacture dates. Deen brings up an interesting point as to sidewall inspection, and longevity claims by Michelin. I have inspected the sidewall of the 159's several times and don't see any signs of cracking as yet, nor in the tread grooves. But, keeping the coach in a building may contribute to cosmetic charactistics, and may not reflect the true state of a tires condition. Have any of you folks had a tire to fail from fatigue when it still had a good overall appearance. If so, how old was it? Thanks.
David
2002 Monaco Diplomat 40 PST Triple Slide
Toad-88 Ford Mustang GT-Stick
David and Jean
When I bought my MoHo 5 years ago I put 6 Bridgestones R-250's on it...I just changed them out after 50,000 miles due to sidewall cracking...had 11/32nds tread depth left on the tires, about half as they come new with 22/32nds...put on the R-260 as it is the up dated tire with just a little more tread...the R-250's were great...superb ride and handling...the R-260's with more tread seem to be a little more soft and I believe they wander just a tad...tire size is 295/75R.22.5's...hope this helps...BTW this a very common tire found at most truck tire shops...
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