Where to find tires ....

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As far as nobody having tires or being able to get them.....I don't think so.

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Perhaps if one knows specifically WHERE to call, then it's easy. But, in the last week I called over 15 tire dealers, trying to purchase 315/80 tires, because that's what were on my coach, and at the time, I thought that's what I needed.

Out of that 15, only three could get tires, and I ruled them out. Prevost and Richards Tire Service, because I thought that I could get tires for better than $750 per tire. And Petes Tire Service, because I didn't want Toyo tires.

The other dozen places I called, even places like Camping World, which "said" they carry 315/80 tires then called back to say they couldn't get them. I even spoke to their wholesaler/distributor, and THEY couldn't find them in California.

Yes, when you finally know the right place to look, then perhaps it's pretty easy, but I looked a lot and came up pretty much empty handed. The place I learned about Friday, Wingnuts, carried the Goodyear tires in 315/80. BUT, the bad news is that the Goodyear tire (at least the G670RV) is not approved for a 8.25in wheel, only a 9, unlike Michelin, which Wingnuts doesn't carry. And the Goodyear tire I wanted doesn't come in a 12R22.5.

I have to admit, I would have expected that calling up a place, wanting to spend $3000+ for 5 or 6 tires, would have had people trying for my business. Admittedly I had a difficult time finding truck tire dealers. I'm pretty good at web searching, but there seems to be very few commericial tire dealers listed on the web, or I just don't know where to find them. In all of my searching, I never ran across this Wingnuts, which was recommended by Goodyear directly when I spoke with them. Turns out they have a nice website, but all of my google, yahoo and ask.com searches never turned them up.

OK, finally got weighed. Still some lingering questions ...

Front: 13,760
Drive: 18,240
Tag: 8,560
Total: 40,560

That was with full fuel, 1/2 full water, 2 people in the coach

It seems clear that the bigger wheels were put on the coach to handle the front end weight. 8.25 wheels and tires are rate for only ~7000lb. This comes in very close to that limit.

I would guess that I could simply get 12R22.5's on the rear, as no tire has more than ~4500lb on them.

Does that make sense to mix 315/80 on the front, and 12R22.5 on drive and tag? I assume that is sensible?

Now the dilema. So far the tire dealier I found that seems to have tires has Goodyear, and the G670, which I wanted isn't approved for 8.25 wheels, and doesnt't come in a 12R. So, I would assume (I can find out on Monday) that Wingnuts can get me some kind of 12R Goodyear tire, since they don't stock Michelin.

Seems like I have a couple of options:

1. Go with Prevost at $750/tire, and get Michelin 315/80's all around. Most expensive option, and probably not necessary.

2. Go ahead and put the Goodyear G670RV on the 8.25 wheels? Dangerous? Wingnuts is supposed to get back to me on Monday on whether or not this is even a possibility.

3. Leave the current 50% Michelin tires on the front 9in wheels, and get 6 12R22.5 for the rear (of some brand). I kind of hate to put new tires on the tags (would have rather transferred the fronts), but if the rear is all 12R, then I'd have to get all new tires in the rear.


So, bottom line, at least now I know that I have mixed wheel sizes (9 in front, 8.25 in rear), and I have weight figures to use to make a reasonable decision.

Thanks for all the help. I apologize if I sounded snippy on this, but this tire search has really been a pain in the backside. Luckily it won't happen often.

ray

Ray,
Don't know where your located, if it's CA, everyone on the west coast with CC's alway bragged about Les Shwab (spelling). 315's can be had here in GA for about 525.00.

Good luck...

[QUOTE=Ray Davis]And what would this mystery tire from China be? I'm curious.

Ray, sorry, I was wrong--I know all these guys are writing the date and time down that I admitted to this:p Our local bus guy didn't tell Bob about the Chinese tires--the guys out in Phoenix when he went to pick up an H345 that we owned earlier this year steered him in that direction. They claimed this tire is made to Michelin specs but alas, BOB-00 cannot remember the name of them other then to say it was long and he couldn't pronounce it--:rolleyes: If I can find it on one of the pics of the H3 I will let you know.

Debi and the silent but reading Bob

Sounds like I need to get into the tire buisness. 22.5 michalin or bridgstone 400 give or take a few and off brand 300 max. I have found that the off brands balance better. Never had any quality issues either. Most of us will be removing our tires only half spent because 6 years will come first. If you give me tire sizes I,ll check prices for you all. What are you doing with your take-offs. They are worth 100 bucks a-piece in almost any condition. Also greater mass also means more heat. A low-profile tire while standing shorter will actually go more miles by running cooler because its less mass. My tire guy might be able to network. Let me know. If you feel more comfortable run better tires up front. If you look at Rays axle weights the steer are at 7000lb each, the 6 at the rear are only 4500. Im gonna take my old tires and run them on my dump trlr. until the cords are showing they blow out or a cop makes me change them and not a minute sooner!?!? HeHeHeHeHe

OK folks I just got off the phone with my tire guy. 315-80 michelin INSTALLED tax included $580 and hell get them next day. He tells me all his charter bus coustmers dont use them because of cost. They are using Kumho 315-80 $365 installed. Also avalable next day. He will let me know Mon. about the 12-22.5michelins. Also no sooner did I say 315-80 he told me 9inch rims only for this tire size. Ray I wish I would have read this thred sooner.

Joe, I'm just curious where you are located. I couldn't find
Michelins (315/80's) for under $600 + installation. Finally had
to break down and pay that due to time constraints.

Probably better to purchase tires out of California.

Ray, Chicago, we are a couple miles north of 1-80 in Illinois at the first exit west of the Indiana boarder. The tire shop is Sergios tire 1-773-406-2954 its 5 mins. from the Halsted exit off I-80 South holland, Ill.

Just so there is no confusion, 315 and 12R tires have virtually identical rolling diameters and both are acceptable on 8.25 wheels as well as 9.00 wheels.

If larger tires are installed (as in Ray's case) they do not increase the carrying capacity of the axle because other components are sized to the rated axle weight, such as brakes, bearings, air bags, etc.

This is my take on the tire issue...
From the mouth of service manager at Fort Worth Prevost, don't put 315's on the drivers with 8.25" wheels, they will end up kissing and build up heat. So I only run 315's on the steer and then move them to the tag.

Dale,

Your coach came with 12 tires, and not the 315 size. His advice is probably sound because it is not only the width of the wheel that has an impact, but the amount of offset on the wheel. I think you came standard with two 8.25 aluminum wheels on the drive.

On coaches that come with the 315 tire such as mine we have 9.00 aluminum wheels on the outside, and 8.25 steel wheels on the inside, and 315 tires at all locations. Newer coaches have 365 on the steer and tag and 315 on the drive.

Is anyone currently using a wirless tire monitoring system? We are using Pressure pro by DORAN mfg. www.doranmfg.com and this is one of the best options on the bus. The sending unit is nothing more than a oversize valve stem cap that incorporates a pressure guage wirless antenna and small battery, one for each tire, including the toad. It gives me an audible alarm, marks tire position and pressure automaticly when any tire goes 10% down. We run 100psi in our tires and being a trucker for 25 years I can tell you there is no way you would even notice a tire so slightly down on pressure by sight or feel.To us this is great insurance and also a great sence of security. Unless we directly drive over something it almost completly elimanates the risk of blow outs. If your torn on how much to put out for tires this could be had with savings from going with lesser brands. This is not too much money, easy to install and pays for itself the first time it goes off. When I leave town Ive got almost everything thats important to me in this world, Debbie my grandchildren my dogs, my 04 HEMI, and having been through blow-outs and sitting on the shoulder on an interstate with traffic zipping by at who knows how fast it has become my intent to never put my family in that situation again.

Here is another old thread, maybe worth updating.

Ray, I know you just got a new coach, maybe you need tires already ?

I just bought 8 315/80R22.5 Michelins. After a lot of shopping , and being frustrated more businesses were not interested in my pile of money, I think I ended up with a fair deal.

I went to Les Schwab in Springfield Oregon. They do all the work for Marathon. They know their stuff on tires and Prevosts. Less that $700 a tire installed out the door. No sales tax in Oregon helps. With fuel prices rising tire prices rise too. This one store bought 220 of this size tire so they would have a good stock on hand. Everywhere else I called they said they would have to order them in.

Which brings me to the next issue brought up earlier in this thread. Speedometers. I have observed that most coaches before about 1998 have had the speedometers replaced, obviously because the original VDO mechanical looking but actually electronic units fail. These had a seperate trip odometer window as well. They get an electronic signal from the transmission computer to display the speed. They are very easy to program if you need to adjust them to make them read correctly.

The new sppeedos are a newer design and have an electronic odometer, with the trip odo in the same window, and the numbers are printed a little different, and the bezel is a different shape.

I bought a replacement speedo ( $250 from Prevost, found one for $30 on eBay). But I did not like having the tach look different, so I ordered a matching replacement for $100. Now that is all nice, but the ODO does not show the correct vehicle mileage.

I have rigged up a device that is presently rolling the miles onto my new speedometer at the rate of 84 mph. It will eventually read the correct coach total. Eventually being in about 7 weeks. Brian has asked to run his to the correct setting too, when mine is finished. Perhaps others would like to do the same?

You can also send the unit in to the factory through a speedo shop, and they will then set it electronically for $125. I thought that was an absurd charge for a simple programming job, that is kept secret only to reduce the false odo readings.

As they say, your mileage may vary...no pun intended.

Peter et al,

I sure agree about the speedo reliability. There are some messages here for buyers of coaches and current owners.

The clear message to buyers is that if you are looking at mileage on the odometer as to the coach condition it is likely wrong. My 87 stopped recording miles but intermittently would run in spurts. So buyers beware. Having said that however, I still think a coach that is 10 years old and has 150,000 well maintaned miles is a better coach than one the same age that has 50,000 miles. I think miles are only good as reminders of when to change the oil.

If the coach has Pro Driver that is recording the mileage, as is the DDEC (I think). An owner or buyer can rely on that.

I have a new speedometer to install in mine, maybe Peter can help me with setting it if I promise not to do a search and repost his assertion he was going to run his tires until they were ten years old.

Good post Peter, I sure enjoy reading post like these.

Hey Jon,

Just a final note on the tires, my old ones were made in September 1997, and I replaced them in February of 2008.

None of them were ever removed from the wheel during their entire life. I would say it was a successful run.

They all had lots of tread left, a couple had minor rubber checking on the sides. They ran about 65,000 miles.

I agree with your comments on the ODO being good to remind about oil changes, but the Pro Driver is not a foolproof way to know the coach mileage either. If you open the pro driver up, remove the memory battery for a few minutes, then reinstall it, it will reset the Pro Driver ODO to zero. You can then reset it to match it to the dash ODO.

The DDEC brain keeps track of miles also. But my DDEC was replaced a while back and the new one started at zero when the coach had $70k miles or so.

The very best indicator is if the owner(s) have kept a detailed maintenance logbook with dates and events in chronological order. That will corroborate the truth. Just like we do with airplanes.

When my old bus odometer quit I did not immediately replace it. So what I did was use miles from the truckers mileage between cities book as the distance travelled and added those values to my log book.

(For those that can't wait to get all over the fact that I have a log book, it goes back to when the bus was used for business, and it was to satisfy the IRS requirements......so there!)

When I did replace the speedometer, I noted it in the log book and added the miles listed in the log to the zero reading, like we do if the tach is replaced in a plane.

But I like your idea of putting the mileage value in the new odometer. I will not wait 15 plus weeks however for it to get where my mileage is, but will just add 200,000 to the value. Tell me how you did it.

Jon, did I read you post right about the IFS. Did you say you drove 300k in your 87 bus? and 30k in your 97?

If I did I misspoke. 300K total miles. I have about 50 I added to this one, and I did about 250 in the first one.

No, that just seems like a lot of driving. We have logged close to 97k on ours in almost 10 years.

Until I became unemployed in 2000, we used the coach to do trade shows for our former company as well as travel to do seminars for our largest customer. Our customer had about 80 sales offices around the country and we would spend a day with the sales reps, and then generally do a seminar or presentation relating to the products and how they related to the various applicable plumbing codes with the reps.

The company we owned also did about 30 trade shows related to the campground industry, and I used to do most of them, I carried the entire booth and its contents in the bay of the bus or our Grand Cherokee that we towed.

While we ended up traveling into every single one of the 48 contiguous states and taking advantage of the work we were doing to get us to places we would not have ordinarily seen. We had little time to ourselves to enjoy the bus except on weekends. We spent about 13 to 16 weeks in the bus each year, not all at once but in various length blocks of time, with the longest being gone for 5 weeks and a typical trip around 5 days to a week.

When it didn't make sense to run the bus, such as a one day seminar 400 miles away I would use the plane. During that decade I did a lot of travel and when I sold the business to my daughter the first few years down here in TN we rarely used the bus or the plane. I think one year we put 30,000 on the bus and that really was too much. Now I think we are around 12,000 a year, and this year may end up being a little more.

"If the coach has Pro Driver that is recording the mileage, as is the DDEC (I think). An owner or buyer can rely on that." Jon's quote

I purchased the Silverleaf VMSpc that has a whole variety of information on sensors, gauges, AND a speedo with an odometer. The device reads from DDEC and indicates the mileage on my coach is about 2,000 miles less than indicated on my dash odo. Jon, does that mean, to a certainty, that my odometer mileage is not to be relied on? If that assumption is correct then would it be best for any POGer buying a used coach to use this device to make sure the mileage is correct?:confused:

I will bring this device and a couple of adapters to POG VI in May if anyone wants to check their odo or any other items, like codes, etc. Let me know if you have any questions or check out the Silverleaf website. My laptop will also be available for those lacking a portable computer.

Darl,

I have not heard of a coach odometer reading more than the DDEC or Pro Driver. It is usually the other way around because the speedometers our vintage coaches had did not always count distance traveled. They would cease functioning for short periods and they eventually just stop registering miles.

But I think you might have a CC dash. Different animal I think.

The new Prevost replacement speedo that replaces the original uses an LCD mileage display, and it replaces the electro mechanical original.

It is a CC dash Jon. Having spent more than a few days in the new and used car and RV business I too have never seen a speedo with more than actual miles unless it had been replaced with a used unit. Maybe!

The difference could just be in the calibration that CC did when they built it.

When I replaced the speedo in the other bus it had to be calibrated. The calbration value Prevost gave was quite a bit wrong, so on my first trip I think it indicated 20 or 25 mph at 55. I knew from experience what my speed was from the tach so it was no big deal to have a bad readout for the trip. The cruise still worked and is independent of the speedo anyway. I eventually got it pretty accurate through trial and error. I assume the interstate mile markers are fairly accurate and I was able to go fifty miles or so and still have the tenths read out within a few tenths of the one when I first started checking.

I still use the Pro Driver as the mileage because it has the maintenance reminder built in. It makes life simple.

Jon,
The gizmo for getting the odometer to read right is simply a signal generator, hooked to a small electric motor. The leads are connected to the new speedo, and the number of pulses it provides at the spinning speed is programmed into the speedo so it reads 84 mph while running. Obviously the speedo is also connected to a battery. Then you wait. Wait some more, wait even longer. Depends on how many miles you need to add. basically 84 mph is about 2000 miles in a 24 hour period. I need to rack up 143,000 miles so it is about 2 months. Today it reads 18,000 or so. I am patient.

Ans there are no mechanical parts in the new speedo, so there is no wear happening.

Aren't the electronic odometers settable, i.e. there's some magic way of just setting the correct reading?

Ray,
There is some way to just set them, but the industry makes that extremely difficult because they do not want to make it easy for people to set them back at resale time. There is some proprietary hookup and software involved. Heck, if a teenager can crack an I-phone this is probably not hard by comparison. I just decided to use the brute force approach to set mine.

One would think there should be a one time set option when you buy a replacement unit, and the number should only get bigger, but that is what VDO wants $125 to adjust.

I know it only takes them 5 minutes to set it and I dislike paying that much money for 5 minutes work. After all, the guy is not performing surgery on me....in that case I might spend that kind of money for 5 minutes work.

I didn't realize they get $125 to do that! Yikes. Well, two months ain't too long to wait ... :eek:

In the olden days, like at least 30 years ago, a gal that wanted to change the odometer reading could do it herself. The guys didn't do stuff like that very often.
Then the law rode in and said hey, STOP THAT it's not nice. So everyone thought that was a good idea, especially the guys that didn't know how to do it when they wanted to sell their used wheels.
Ahaa, it's still exists, believe it or not. Maybe Roger will back me up. It's now gone to the "specialist" mode, wherein there are roving specialists that can be called into a used car dealer to, make the appearance of the vehicle match the odometer. :eek: