Costco may carry the common LT225/75R16 type, but I'm sure they won't have the preferred XPS Rib type.
As for comparing Michelin to Cooper LT's, I won't rouse that sleeping dog, and apparently no one else will, either. Heh heh. The only semi-safe answer is, YMMV.
When I bought my Michelins last year, Discount tire was matching the Costco price and I didn't have to deal with the zoo at Costco. Made an appt and got it done on a Saturday morning. No fuss no muss. I've done COstco a couple of times before and it's a PITA. Easier to dump the wheels there and come back later to pick them up (not an RV of course).
I shopped around and read alot of reviews and decided on Kenda,which for auto/rv in the US is distributed by Cooper.I was aware of their large market share in high performance motorcycle tires-of which Michelin is not a top runner. I put a set of Michelin Hyro-Edge on the family car and a set of Goodyear Wranglers on the toad,have Goodrich Comp T/A's on the old hotrod pickup and Kenda on my motorcycles.I fit what I think will perform best for the intended use and since you won't be driving them to their performance limits ,the real concern is proper inflation and keeping fresh rubber on the ground.
one thing that sold me on Costco other than price was the free rotation, etc. since my AWD Vue requires that frequently. and it certainly wasn't a "zoo" but I asked when their usual "slow periods" were and used them. now if you wanted to get in sat. am. then it might be different. I spent an enjoyable 45 minutes shopping and was all done. and of course since they filled the tires with nitrogen I now have doubled my horsepower, acceleration is twice as fast, the ride comfort has tripled, and my athlete's foot has cleared up.
bumpy
Well, there's Michelin, and then there's Michelin.
The Michelin tire of choice is the Michelin XPS Rib. Best on the market, but not cheap.
The Cooper SRM deos not appear to be in the same class, which is not to say it is not a good tire, just not, as near as I can tell, all-steel (including sidewalls) like the XPS Rib, and that makes a big difference in handling and life of the tire.
At this time, I will have nothing other than Michelin XPS Ribs on my rig.
edit: Note that I am talking about rigs needed Load Range "E" tires - like the Ford E-450 rigs.
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I replaced my Cooper SRM IIs after 3 years with approximately 30K on them. When the tread gets thinner heat will build up and you will lose them (two inside duallies in a month) (if you make a mistake with underinflation the heat build up will be worse). To be fair, I have a 30 footer/14,050 unit running at maximum weight. It does matter what type of unit and what weight you have. Buy the best tires.
I to had Cooper SRM II tires on my 23 ft class c, had 2 blow outs in 1 1/2 years, 10,000 miles, Replaced all tires with Dayton commercial series '16.5', Dayton has a harder ride over the soft Coopers but have been told they are great for heat and loads, I hope..
In the sizes for our Class C motorhome chassis, the SRM II at load range E has a lower DOT speed rating (by one category) than the Michelin LTX series or the medium-truck highway service grade Michelin XPS Rib.
The DOT speed rating is intended to be a measure of a tire's ability to handle heat build-up without tread separation. Heat buildup is the number one killer of motorhome tires (whether a result of excessive speed, excessive load, under inflation or high environmental temperatures).
My Class C gets driven hard with heavy loads, long driving days on rough, hot roads. Come the time to replace my Michelin LTX tires (probably soon) I'll be having my Cooper-Michelin dealer order me a set of XPS Ribs. I know they'll get installed right, which I don't expect from a big-box discount store.
I've put a lot of Coopers on cars, have gotten good service from some, had problems (tread separations, road hazard destruction) with others. I had tread separation bubbles show up on three supposedly premium Cooper tires during a single summer trip, and DD has destroyed a couple Trendsetters (road hazard damage, and an unexplained blowout)on her a compact SUV. I think Coopers are a decent value, I'll probably put them on a pickup that runs around town, lightly loaded, at 25 to 50 mph, but won't be putting them on the motorhome or anything that gets driven all day at 70+ mph on summer southwestern roads.
Afterthought:
XPS Rib may be overkill, it is a tire designed for a quarter million miles of highway service through 2-3 retread cycles. But a typical class C motorhome runs so close to the edge of its tires' limits, that "too much tire" is better than too little, unless you are just driving 15 miles to the lake a few weekends per year.
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edited 04/28/08 09:59pm by tatest *
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