Tires

[Mark3101]

I have read many posts about tires here since I joined POG. My bus chassis is now just shy of 6 years old and the tires are original Michelins. We have owned the bus for about 20 months now, and have 30,000 miles on it (total). The bus sat in the hot Texas sun for about 2.5 years prior to our purchase.

I have no cracking on the sidewalls, and have great tread left. I talked to my old tire dealer (from when we were in the trucking business) about when he thought I should replace the tires on the bus. His opinion was to wait at least one or two more years, or if cracks develop in the sidewalls. He didn't think there was a magic number until one gets closer to the 10 year casing life Michelin uses.

What does the brain trust think? Does this seem right, or should I replace them sooner??

[merle&louise]

Mark,

I am a long way from being an expert on tires, but here are my thoughts.

Your bus has a front slide-out and therefore it carries an extra 1100# or more. My coach also has a front slide and Newell recommends changing the front tires every 3 years. They recommend changing rear tires every 5 years (I have a rear slide).

I follow this regiment for one simple reason: I am too young and beautiful to die!

Just kidding!

[charlesebrownjr]

It is my understanding that most will suggest getting new tires at 5 or 6 years of age. If doing nothing else, I would replace the steer tires at a minimum. As we all know, a blowout at 65 or 70 MPH could do more damage to the coach and its passengers than the price of 8 tires!!!!

[Mark3101]

Just so you know, I am leaning on replacing them this year, but am not sure it makes sense to do it yet. I have seen info both ways, hence the question.

Anyone else want to chime in? I value all input!!

[gmcbuffalo]

Replace the steers ASAP.

[LarryB]

Mark, why delay? The price of tires will not be lower next year and your "Peace of Mind Factor" will be very high as soon as the tires are replaced. See Jon's posting of his tire damage. Just my 2 cents.

[garyde]

Ive had blow outs on Previous Rv's . The tires showed no cracking. You actually have to take the tire off and inspect both sides of each tire carefully. 6 years would be the max I would keep a tire. If you are going by the dates on the tires, that might not tell you much. Sometimes tires sit a year or more on a shelf prior to being sold.
So, if you want to keep them, have them inspected by a Michelin dealer. But, your on borrowed time after 6 years.

[BoaterAl]

There lies the question on the table, Mark. How old are the tires ? Not how long on the bus. Your tires "could be" pushing 8 years old.

We don't have time to visit you guys in the ER.

[Sid Tuls]

I replaced mine at 70,00 miles they were 5 years old had plenty of thread left but from what I've read on this site that was reason enough for me!! Sounds like cheap insurance if you ask me!!

[jack14r]

My tires had just passed 5 years old when I heard a thump-thump on the left front and I was lucky to not have a blowout as the inside sidewall had what I would call 2 blisters.I replaced them all after spending $1100 on the road for a 315 to go on the tag so that I could put the tag 365 on the left front.Much cheaper at the tire store than on the side of the road.In the future 5 years is it for me on tires.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I think Larry has it right. Once you have replaced the tires you have an additional benefit. You know the exact history of every tire you are riding on.

All the tire manufacturers are consistent in their recommendations. They recommend at 6 years from installation to have a dealer do a detailed inspection frequently, and under no circumstances to run longer than 10 years from the date code.

What is invisible to you as someone who was not the original owner is any damage that might have occurred from running any or all of the tires at a low pressure. All tire companies also agree that if a tire has been run at 20% less than the specified pressure it is junk and should be replaced. Are you absolutely sure that a tire on your coach that should have been inflated to 100 PSI has not been run at 80 PSI? When you replace your tires you will know the answer to that. The correct pressures are found on the tire manufacturer's web sites and are based on the weight imposed on the tires. When you install the new tires, weigh the coach and determine the pressure you require at each position.

[Loc]

Mark,

I follow this regiment for one simple reason: I am too young and beautiful to die!



I hope that Louise was at the computer.

[merle&louise]

Loc,

Alright, so I'm not young!

[truk4u]

It's painful Mark, but change them out as others have recommended and you'll have piece of mind. I just did mine with the Michelin Green XZA2's and they will not get any cheaper next year. You should be able to get a credit for the take off's of around 75.00 each or try to pre-sell them to a local company that can use them on their trucks.

[Mark3101]

It's painful Mark, but change them out as others have recommended and you'll have piece of mind. I just did mine with the Michelin Green XZA2's and they will not get any cheaper next year. You should be able to get a credit for the take off's of around 75.00 each or try to pre-sell them to a local company that can use them on their trucks.

I guess I will start getting prices. Approximately what is today's price? Does it make sense to get a price from Prevost, or are they always high on tires? I am going to be there in a couple of weeks getting some other things done under warranty.

[phorner]

Believe it or not, Prevost in Jacksonville was very competitive on tire pricing.

They were around $100/tire cheaper than our local truck tire dealer, and the Prevost inventory was brand-spanking-new by date code.

Unfortunately, I didn't discover that 'till AFTER I purchased my tires elsewhere....

[Sid Tuls]

I purchased mine from Prevost Mira Loma and they were cheeper than the dealer my boys buy all their tires from! That sure made me feel good!

[BoaterAl]

Mark, I got cash ($75ea) ..the green stuff for the take offs 315. Each one was inspected and marked with previous location. All were sold to a rock hauler ($100 ea) before they were taken off the bus.
Invested the funds in the fuel tank.
AL

[Lawrence M.]

Mark, Sent you a PM

[BoaterAl]

Mark. we all had warnings on POG members spending OPM (other peoples money) so how did the group do ?

Will we hit the $6K bell ?

[Mark3101]

Mark. we all had warnings on POG members spending OPM (other peoples money) so how did the group do ?

Will we hit the $6K bell ?

I hope you are all sitting down...Prevost TN wants......wait for it....$8159.00 plus tax for all 8 tires and mounting / balancing. I think that is way high, but have not gotten any other prices yet.

I thought they were going to be more reasonable, but Keith told me they are NOT a tire dealer and only carry tires as a customer convenience. WOW!

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

I priced a Michelin XZA2 today in OHIO, mounted $774.00 ea. so times 8 = $6192.00.

Kauffman Tire, Ravenna, OH 1-330-296-6428, might be worth the trip? I think that included tax.

JIM :)

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Forgot to say their price for Continental HSL1 Coach in 315/80x22.5 is $650.00.

I would go with that but dealing with matching due to a failed tire.

I didn't notice what size you were pricing when I posted, hope my size is relevant to your need.

JIM:o

[Mark3101]

I priced a Michelin XZA2 today in OHIO, mounted $774.00 ea. so times 8 = $6192.00.

Kauffman Tire, Ravenna, OH 1-330-296-6428, might be worth the trip? I think that included tax.

JIM :)

Was that for the 365's or the 315's? I ran out of time this afternoon to do any shopping.

[merle&louise]

I priced 2 Michelin 365/70R22.5 steering tires (XZA2) here in Houma, LA. $2280 for 2 tires (tax, balanced, and mounted). The TCI store said they didn't have any in stock nor did their surrounding stores. The tires would have to be ordered directly from Michelin.

I am glad I have 315s on the front. I don't want to do the update: too expensive and too difficult to locate in case of a blow out on the road. 315s are not that easy to find either in case of a blow out on the road.

[charlesebrownjr]

November 1, 2010 Prevost in Jacksonville replaced all 8 of mine for $643.11 each. Michelin 315 XZA2's

[garyde]

Prevost Mira Loma has been very competitive with their pricing. Try to get three seperate prices in your area for the same tire. Then it will be easier to make the decision.

[truk4u]

I think you will be hard pressed to find 315 XZA2's for less than 750.00 - 800.00 now with current date codes. Stick with the XZA2 and not the cheaper regional tire.

[BoaterAl]

Checking with my tire guy this morning on tires for my personal car.....he says Michelin announces a ....12 %.... price increase effective today. Usually they were given advance notice and increase would be effective at a later date. No more, reason raw materials ?

[srowe]

Not sure if this is the appropriate thread to post, but is anyone running the wide base (14") singles on the drive? The simplicity of it all is certainly attractive. Weight capacity could be a problem on some coaches @ 12500# each.

Steve Rowe
90 Royale XL

[Mark3101]

Well, Prevost came in at less than the estimate I got. The tire price was comparable to other prices I got. The 365's were $829.75 and the 315's were $784.75 each. They do charge more for labor for mounting and balancing, but I could not have driven anywhere else to get the job done and saved very much. It was convenient to get it done while I was there and they had fresh date codes too. So if you are in the market for tires and are going to get any other work done at a Prevost shop, you should check their prices.

I have had pretty good luck at the TN location. Easy to get an appointment, and the hook ups, dump and fresh water are a plus.

[Yankee802]

I just had all 8 replaced at CoachWorx for $815 each, Michelin 315 XZA2. They only had 4 locally and had to order the other 4, date codes for the first four were only a couple months older than the brand new ones.

While we were at it, also replaced all air bags and shocks, also new batteries, both house and chassis. Along with all that, needed a new 24v battery charger/inverter, a hot water heater, cruise air A/C compressor, re-coated/sealed the roof, fuel lines, and general service.

Now we have a brand new 27 year old coach! :)

Hmm, no signature? Wierd. :(

[Sid Tuls]

Hey Mark drove thru your town a couple of days ago wow what a rain storm!! First time up in this part of the USA ! It's beautiful except for the humidity :-((

[Mark3101]

Hey Mark drove thru your town a couple of days ago wow what a rain storm!! First time up in this part of the USA ! It's beautiful except for the humidity :-((

Yeah...I thought it was hot down in TN last week, but I returned to find more of the same here. Where are you heading from here?

[joelselman]

Steve, we probably are hijacking a bit. I have installed super singles on the drive 455/55's and 365/70's on steer. Still have 315's on the tag.

[Gary Carmichael]

Joel, How much weight can those 455's handle, Did you put a spacer inside or is the tire set to the inside? Thanks Gary

[joelselman]

Without checking my installation notes (which are in the coach) or the Michelin website; I'll say the tires are about 11,000# each @ 120psi max. My coach has a fully loaded drive axle weight of approx 20400 w/o a trailer and I initially used inflation of 120 but the centers wore. Reduced to 110 per Michelin website and they're doing better. I can tell you that the left held nicely last year when my left tag blew castastrophically @75 mph. At the time I converted, the wheels were available with no offset (ie mounting plane in center of rim), or offset 2" inside or outside. I installed 2" outside offset, the widest possible. The outside of the tire is now maybe 2" further in than when equipped with duals. The look is odd at first, but I got used to it (less unusual than the tag axle look) and Alcoa says the geometry actually gives you an effectively wider track because of the rims relationship to the hub surface. No spacers, that would worry me.

[Sid Tuls]

Yeah...I thought it was hot down in TN last week, but I returned to find more of the same here. Where are you heading from here?

We were part of a cook team for a group of Native Americans in a town called Orr,MN. We will to that for 10 days and then back to see our kids in Texas and then back to Caif.

[Joe Camper]

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15183

All 3 pictures same tire. Best 15 yr old Michilan u will ever see.

[Gil_J]

Was that a spare? If not it must have been driven on carpeted roads to preserve the Michelin Man on the tread.

[Joe Camper]

A entire set on a M919.

Went through Barstow in 03 for brakes tires batteries and then it sat till auctioned off.

There is not even a hint of a crack in the sidewalls that's the really amazing thing.

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