Tire Blowout

[dalej]

Where is the link that shows what you should do during a tire blowout? I was telling my neighbor about it and can't find it.

The one that showed that you should floor it until you have control.

[dalej]

Thanks! I'll pass it along.

[garyde]

I spoke with my Local Tire person this weekend. I asked for a quote for two Michelin 365's for the front. The price was $665.00 each. They are normally about $1000.00 each I believe. Has anyone else priced Michelins lately?

[tdelorme]

I was quoted $625, unmounted a few weeks ago. The $1000 sounds a bit high, but it may well be the list price.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Different sizes. 365s are very big. That's a good price.

Ted, didn't your coach come with 12.00 tires? They should be less expensive. Can you say Double Coin? They still hold air.

[merle&louise]

Does the price of oil have anything to do with the price of tires?

Of course, they are made from rubber and steel rings (belts) but it seems like I remember hearing that an oil byproduct was used in the production of tires. If this is correct, shouldn't the price of tires come down since oil has dropped from $147/barrell to $39/barrell?:confused:

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I would be surprised if the price of tires drops when or at the same rate the price of oil drops.

What will make the price of tires drop is if buyers defer purchases and the tire companies are sitting on huge inventories. Remember that once the tire is made its build date starts a clock ticking. I think however that Michelin has from time to time had trouble meeting demand on our size tires so they may not have aging inventories and may not be pressured to reduce prices to encourage sales.

I will do my share to encourage Michelin to reduce prices. I will continue to buy Chinese tires until Michelin gets more reasonable. I have passed the halfway point agewise on my Chinese tires so if all four blowout simultaneously I haven't lost any money by risking the purchase of them. From now on every day is money saved.

[merle&louise]

Jon,

Let's assume the useful life of a tire is 5 years. If DANS buys a spare tire and carrys it on board (which is a good idea) after 5 years what should he do with the tire? Throw it away? Since it never sees the sun, is the shelf life extended beyond 5 years. Is the same true of spare air bags that Tuga will carry? I would hate to trash a new air bag or tire.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Both tire companies that did presentations at last year's spring rallies said exactly the same thing.

They said they no longer will honor warranty claims on a tire once it passes 6 years from its installed date or ten years from its build date.

They said they determine a tire should not be used based on the degree of visible checking or cracking in the sidewalls regardless of age or miles or tread depth.

Michelin provided a device with actual size photos for reference to determine the acceptability of a tire. Compare the photos of cracks to the actual tire and as long as the cracks (if any) are less than the size shown as unacceptable the tires are deemed safe to use.

They both did comment that apart from the warranty issue, tires older than ten years should be removed from service.

Regarding a spare........I used to carry one mounted on a wheel polished on both sides. I never used it in the entire 15 years we had that coach. My solution is to buy a tire wherever I have a failure. If the size I need is not available I get the closest size replacement tire (in terms of rolling diameter) and put the odd size on the tag axle. I carried the spare as a result of losing a tag tire on our first voyage with our coach in 1990 or 1991. There wasn't a 12.00 size tire in all of Las Cruces so I think I ended up with a 295 or an 11.00. As a result I though I needed to carry a spare.

On my current coach I got a cut in a tire sidewall somewhere in MO, and although it may have been OK I opted to not risk a blowout, and since I did not have a spare I just got an odd size that I put on the tag. I ran it for about a year and then replaced it during the normal tire replacement cycle. As I recall there was no down side to doing that.

If I had a spare I would include it in tire rotation to get some life out of it. When I rotated my tires (not including the spare) I got 130,000 miles from them and replaced them so I could use the tax deduction before I sold my company. They still had about 1/4" of tread. Tire rotation was a pain in the ass so I don't do anything beyond keeping the newest tires on the steer.

[0533]

I spoke with my Local Tire person this weekend. I asked for a quote for two Michelin 365's for the front. The price was $665.00 each. They are normally about $1000.00 each I believe. Has anyone else priced Michelins lately?
Hello Gary,

Do you currently have 365's on the front now? If not you will require of course the tires, wheels and new studs for the new stud pattern. This requires some thought and should be done by a dealer who will stand behind the install, warrantee their work. Also if you do upgrade to 365's I would recommend that you do so on the Tags as well. This will make for the best possible ride and allow for some type of fail safe get home in the event of a steer blowout, not a good solution but one just the same. The tags require on some older coaches a spacer be placed on the studs to ensure that the wider wheels and tires will not come in contact with the Airbags. There is plenty of room with the spacer and Prevost warranted the install this way.

[garyde]

I have 365"s on the front end allreay. The tires are 2003's. They look fine, no cracking. Because they are on the front, I feel the should be replaced this year. I replaced the drives and the Tags last year. Demand seems to be the over riding factor on the price of tires . The tires I got a price onhave blemishes so they are about 150.00 less in price each.

[0533]

Can you take a picture of your existing tires and post them on line. It would be interesting to see just how they look now at 6 years old. How many miles are there on them, how was the bus stored. How much tread is left? The 365's have a deeper tread than 315's do, it is about another 2/32's I believe. I bet you can get $150 X 2 for them from a bus or Tour company as a spare or something.

Your price seems very good considering, especially with the discount. What type of blemish do they have?