Over Michelins excessive cost

[Coloradobus]

Does anyone have info on an alternative tire with a Load Range "L" (9090 lbs) cap, other than the Michelin Energy 315X80X22.5.
Our tires are now over 4 years old and am shopping for new ones at least for the front. From Spearfish POG, "Great Weigh in", our front is at 17,000 lbs.
Been Googled to death, and made some calls, however Bridgestone, Continental and Firestone only go to Load Range J.
Any suggestions?

[jelmore]

Does anyone have info on an alternative tire with a Load Range "L" (9090 lbs) cap, other than the Michelin Energy 315X80X22.5.
Our tires are now over 4 years old and am shopping for new ones at least for the front. From Spearfish POG, "Great Weigh in", our front is at 17,000 lbs.
Been Googled to death, and made some calls, however Bridgestone, Continental and Firestone only go to Load Range J.
Any suggestions?

As far as price goes, we bought 6 XZA1 Michelins at $617 last year in Dallas at TCI. That was tough. This year we needed another and it was $382 in Tulsa at T&W (headquartered in Dallas). Go figure.

I think the XZA1 load range is L.

[adamdegraff]

I put two Firestones on and they were terrible. I went back to XAZ1s and was impressed that not only did handling improve, but so did fuel economy. I would do XZA1s again. Hard to find, but they are out there.

That my not answer your questions, but it is an answer for something. :-)

~Adam

[merle&louise]

Jim,

I bought 2 Toyo 315/80 R 22.5 Load range L for my coach in August 2007. Paid $427 plus tax and balancing and I have put 28,000 miles on them with no problems. MM has a complete set of Toyos on his H3 and I'm pretty sure he likes them.:D

[merle&louise]

Jim,

Would you consider the Chinese tires "Double Coin"? I haven't heard any complaints from A-1 or Fast Roger or "Fast JimC" for that matter:D

Anybody know the current price on Double Coin in that size?

[MangoMike]

Jim,

As Tuga astutely has said I do sport the Toyo's. Just added 2 new ones to the steers and am a satisfied customer. Priced right.

Mike

3826

[Coloradobus]

Thanks Mango,

Was your Toyo purchase price about the same as "Merle and Louise"'s? What is the tire rated for 9090, or 9990 lbs at 130?
Your Avatar is sporting a Smart Car. Do you carry it in the underbelly garage of 654?:D

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Since Roger's Double Coin tires are now Jim's that might make me the senior owner of a set. I cannot speak about their long term life span because they are only a couple of years old and the mileage is minimal, but I can say they ride smooth and hold air. Don't laugh about the holding air comment because over the years I have had exclusively Michelin up to this point and I always had to top some of them off despite never finding leaks at the valve stem, core or tire bead.

What I really like about the Double Coin is the sidewall compared to the Michelin. The Michelins I have had had a less smooth surface and they were very hard to keep looking clean and a rich black. The Double Coin sidewall surface is very smooth, very easy to keep clean and with just a minimal amount of tire dressing look very nice.

Did I say they are still holding air?

Bob 05 has Double Coin all the way around. Make fun of them all you want, but from this point on if they all explode I am still money ahead because they were half the price of the same size and rated Michelins.

[flyu2there]

The Euro is down 18% and oil prices have tanked, both being key ingredients in Michelin Tires, I would bet that we will see a substantial price reduction in the near future......if anyone has any money left to buy the things:D

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Well the oil component is going to be going up.

OPEC set their price last Saturday to $101.00/barrel. :eek::eek:

Oil is now at $54.00/barrel


JIM

[flyu2there]

The oil futures sure do not show that...look out 6 months. Supply side economics, and greed......it will go up but you will have worn through your new Michelins by then:D

[Yankee802]

As far as price goes, we bought 6 XZA1 Michelins at $617 last year in Dallas at TCI. That was tough. This year we needed another and it was $382 in Tulsa at T&W (headquartered in Dallas). Go figure.

I think the XZA1 load range is L.

$617 each or for all 6? I'm assuming each, because if it were for all 6, I'd buy them now even though I have nowhere to store them, or just replace mine ahead of schedule.

Being I'll be spending $5k on repairs to my car, that takes a huge chunk out of my coach tire budget, so I'll be watching this thread pretty close.

How much are the "Double Coins" going for now? Would someone provide a source for them?

Geoff

[jelmore]

$617 each or for all 6?

I was the newbie that paid that for each. They said I was getting a really good deal. I'll believe anything.

[Yankee802]

Ouch! That must have hurt.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

That was the price a while back. With the economy being what it is we can hope they might come down, but as long as the government is keeping the money printing presses cranked up I'm reasonably certain that inflation is going to kick in so to put a new set on a bus is going to be at least $5,000.

But for Geoff (Yankee) he likely has 12.00 22.5 tires and they are less expensive than the 315s.

How come nobody with 365 tires are telling us about the deals they are getting?

[MangoMike]

Jim,

More info on the my toyo tires which are M111Z's.

Specifications:

http://marktg.toyotires.com/file/30182.pdf

Tire Pressure Chart

http://marktg.toyotires.com/file/tbrdata.pdf
tire pressure page 37

$1355 for 2. Mounted, Equal, Taxes, disposal, switching steers for tags, etc. Unfortunately I don't have a price breakdown. (I think they were $522 each just for the tire).

Mike

[Alek&Lucia]

Mike,

Ddi you installed them on H3 or XL ?

Alek

[MangoMike]

Alek they went on the H3.

Mike

[mike kerley]

Jim and Linda,

dont feel bad. You did fine. I just recently paid $700 each for six 315-22.5 XZA2's in Florida and that was with a generous discount.

They sure ride better than the GoodYear's I was running.

Mike

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Everybody that gets a new set of tires always gets a better ride than the set removed.

If I had a set of 5 or 6 year Michelins and mounted a new set of Goodyears I would be tempted to post how great the Goodyears ride compared to Michelin. The reality is that as tires age they harden. You never realize it because the change takes place over years. But when you take off an old set and replace them with new you sense immediately the difference.

The only way to judge the ride or feel of different tires is to use all brand new sets and compare them one right after another. My bet is there is very little difference between tires designed for the same applications.

[Coloradobus]

Jon,

Interesting. We found our new Michelins Energy's we put on four years ago rode more firm/stiffer than the Michelin Pilotes we took off.

[garyde]

I have not priced tires in a while but with all commodities dropping in price, I am wondering if tires will also. In my industry we are starting to see some great price reductions in copper wire which was twice as much per thousand just 3-4 months ago. Copper wire, with the thermal plastic cover, follows oil and copper futures, which have dropped significantly.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Jon,

Interesting. We found our new Michelins Energy's we put on four years ago rode more firm/stiffer than the Michelin Pilotes we took off.

And that could be attributable to tire design. I have had an improvement in ride quality going from old Michelins to new using the exact same tire, but also when replacing Michelins with the Double Coin. The difference was distinct. Maybe Roger can chime in and see if he noticed the difference also.

I have had cars with old tires, but good tread left that started making road noise. When I replaced the old tires with new, not only did the road noise diminish, but the ride was improved.

[0533]

Hello Jon,

I know you are not going to like this, but here goes anyway.

I am in love with my Michelin 365 steer upgrade. When I made the purchase for the Michelin steer 365 upgrade it came with the promise that Prevost would engineer a way for the 365's to be placed on the tags as well. This required having new studs (longer) approved and a method to keep the wider tires away from the air bags. I now have the 365's on the tags and the steer with 315's on the drive,.

I am truly impressed by the ride. there is no doubt in my mind (I will not allow it anyway) that the wider profile, lower air pressure makes a big difference.

I also believe that the added tread depth will improve tread life and have been assured that with Greyhounds commitment to 365's that the Michelin will start to increase their production in Spain to accommodate the demand.

PS> I am now the Michelin 365 dealer for South Fl. Just kidding