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Ray,
I had Toyo's on two different CC's and had my share of balance problems. I have a friend who's in the tire business, Action Tire in Atlanta, and with his help we changed a few out of round 12R's. Toyo no longer uses their pressure charts and insists the tires be aired to the Coach placard, in my CC's that was 120 lbs. I think I saw something where CC is no longer using Toyo's.
I would stick with the big M if possible.;)
That was a concern with Toyo. Someone else had mentioned problems, and in researching I did come across a document indicating CC didn't recommend Toyo tires any more (something to that effect)
So, I'm going to try to get to a public scale this weekend. The question is how to properly weigh the axles? Especially the tag. I read some pages on the internet last night about weighing, but they were aimed at trucks and didn't address a tag axle.
I would assume that all things considered you'd want to weigh every axle seperately, even better every wheel if you could. But, how do you weigh the tag without the drives affecting it, or vice versa?
Ray,
It depends on the scale, but the one I used was rigged up where I could set the front, rear and tag on separate pads, so the weights showed up correct for each one.
If they are weighing it manually, then just weigh each one independantly or do the front, rear, then take the total and subtract for the tag if it was off the scale when the rear was weighed.
The public scale I used was a CAT and they are pretty common around truck stops and they have a website to locate them.
Good luck.
[QUOTE=Jerry Winchester]Lew,
Does this guy ring a bell?>>
ring ring, I know who this guy is:D He does have a very "hot" bus, or so he tells me. I do remember that our local bus service station, Delta Performance in Greenville, SC, highly recommends a tire that is made in China. This gentleman owns several charter busses and this is all he uses. I can get the name if you would like?
Bob, (that would be BOB-00) put some on one of our coaches rather then buy Michelins and he said he wouldn't hesitate to do it again. I can hear Jon and Mango sighing and thinking "yeh, but he never keeps a coach long enough to find out how the tires wear" :eek:
Mrs.BOB-00
And what would this mystery tire from China be? I'm curious.
FYI, I called Goodyear today. Their website had a page specific for bus tires, which says call their MILEAGE group. I spoke with Debbie there who informedme that their G409 tire is what they suggest on a bus.
She also told me (don't shoot the messenger here), that the 12R22.5 and 315/80R22.5 tires are interchangeable. That one was the Canadian metric version of the other. However, from what I've read elsewhere the 12R22.5 is more like the 295/80R22.5. And it definately comes with a lower load range.
Yep, looked at what I printed last night. At least in Toyo tires, 12R22.5 is equivalent to 295/80R22.5.
I love it when everyone agrees! :confused:
Let me share this much with you:
When we switched to the Michelin tires from the junk that was on our 89, I can tell you that it was a completely different ride. It was smoother; the big tires held the road much better and we were very pleased with what we purchased.
You can't define that by the numbers.
I wouldn't put anything but Michelins on my bus; not a pitch for the company as I think they are overpriced, but in comparison to the Goodyears we had before it was a comparison in ride between a dump truck and, well, a Prevost.
Just checked on our bus to make sure. It's an XLV and we have the 310's, probably an XLI can take the next size down.
Anybody that tells you a 315 and a 12R are the equivalent are likely talking about rolling diameter which is almost identical. That is important because your speedometer is based on the rolling diameter as is the gearing which dictates performance.
But as one who has lifted and changed both size tires I can tell you the 315 is a bigger, heavier tire, and it is definitely wider. The 12R tires I had were rated at 7400 lbs. maximum load and the 315 are rated at 9000 lbs. maximim load.
Since it is unlikely the average owner will wear out the tire before it ages out, the 315 is only justified in my opinion if the coach came with that size, and you need the load rating.
I agree completely with Jeff about Michelins. Too damn expensive, but the bus was built with those tires in mind and I think the ride on them compared to the ride on Goodyears such as some chartered Prevost coaches have had is far more comfortable.
Well,
The saga continues, but in a good way. I had been looking for the Goodyear G670RV because I'd heard good things about them from Kevin, and it looked like a good tire, for about $100-$150 less than the Michelins (at least based upon the price at a site which actually HAD any)
I spoke with Goodyear, and they suggested I call Wingnuts in Chino, and believe it or not, they had 12 of the tires that no-one else could find.
But, that's only part of the story. I snuck off work early today, grabbed the bus, and ran by Prevost Mira Loma. They put my bus up on the rack and I found out something really interesting.
So according to their research, indeed the 92 era busses came with 12R22.5 tires on 8.25 wide wheels. I looked at the drive wheels (they are stamped on the outside), and indeed my drives were 8.25. But when we got under the front of the coach, we were surprised to find the fronts were 9 inches. Checking the tags showed that they were 8.25.
So, I've got 8.25's in the rear all around, which currently have Michelin 315/80's on them (including the inner dual), and 9's in the front, also with 315/80's.
I'm making an assumption that the front wheels were replaced with 9's when the inside flooring was replaced with tile. I'm going to try to find an open scale tomorrow to weigh the coach.
The bad news is this new G670RV tire isn't available in a 12R22.5, nor does Wingnuts carry Michelins.
So, now I'm not sure what to do. Obviously 315/80's fit on this, but as Jon has rightly pointed out, the coach originally had 12R's. Should I keep 315's in the front, and replace the back 6 with 12R's? Or, since I have a source of the 315's in the tire I want, should I go with that?
Maybe I'll know more after weighing tomorrow.
Sheesh, it shouldn't be this hard!
ray
It isn't hard Ray.
If you start at the beginning and get it weighed then all the speculation about tires goes away. Once armed with the right information you can focus on the right tire for your bus.
As far as the wheel size goes, both the 12R and 315 are listed as being acceptable for the two wheel sizes you have. In fact my 315 tires on the drive come from the factory on a 9" aluminum outer wheel and an 8.25 steel inner wheel.
As far as nobody having tires or being able to get them.....I don't think so. Maybe your state is so prosperous tire dealers don't have to worry about sales but where I come from dealers actually want your business and compete for it. I have bought several sets of tires over the years and all I did was make a few phone calls and show up when the dealer had them.