Firestone Tires

[tdelorme]

I've got new Michelins on the front, but the drive and tags are going on 8 years old and I started looking around. There are some real strange names on tires these days and apparently just about all of todays tires are made in China or Japan. I hunted for Jon's Double Coin brand but while several dealers had heard of DC, no one had a source. Prices all over the board. A low of $375 for a twenty ply Chinese tire that the dealer says he sells a ton of to garbage hauling outfits. I ended up buying six Firestones with a price of $504 each mounted and Equal installed. Nice looking highway tread and typical truck tire warranty. I guess I should have ask first, but has anyone run Firestones on their bus? I'm not looking back now, and the install is set for next Monday, but if there are comments good or bad, I'd like to hear um.

[rmboies]

Hey Ted--Message from Bob via his slave typist

I put eight Double Coin tires on our '05 Millennium... had nothing but trouble with them--side wall separation, out of round, just not a good experience. They took them back, full refund, and I replaced them with eight Firestone FS400's using the Counteract steel balancing beads. I now have 1500 miles on the tires and they are the smoothest running set of tires I have ever had on a coach and I have had a few
Bob

[tdelorme]

Tell Bob thanks, Debbie. Also tell him his "slave typist" deserves a raise. I appreciate your effort, Ted

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Ted, what was the size of the Firestones you purchased?

JIM

[dale farley]

Ted, I have 6 Firestones on the rear of our bus. They are about 2 1/2 years old, and we've had no problem with them. I would buy them again.

[Orren Zook]

The two largest charter fleets around here use the Firestone FS400 tires exclusively, one shop foreman told me they get double the mileage of the Michelin tires. I just put four on my drives (315/80R22.5 @ $475 each) based on his recommendation.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Just looking around and found this:

This is one year old, but I thought I would post it anyway, just incase.

Also what's this about the 55mph limit on the Firestone tires, or did I misinterpret what was printed.



http://www.usrecallnews.com/2008/09/nhtsa-1996.html


JIM

[ajducote]

On the Firestone site there is a pdf with this information:
http://www.firestonetrucktires.com/u...load/index.asp


Look at page 17

Cut and Paste did not work so well, but the last entry is the speed.
Load range "J" 75MPH
Load range "L" 55 MPH

FS400
315/80R22.5 † J 216-109 145 9.00 42.4 12.4 19.7 13.9 490 18 3750@830 8270@120 3450@830 7610@120 75
315/80R22.5 † L 216-126 146 9.00 42.4 12.4 19.7 13.9 490 18 4125@900 9090@130 3750@900 8270@130 55
† Requires the use of a 9.00 rim to carry over 8000 lbs.

[Loc]

When I replaced the tires last summer, the only Firestone tires I could find in a 315x80R22.5 had a G load rating. The tires on the bus were a L load rating. I went back with the Michelins because they were the only tire I could find with a L load rating and a 75 mph max speed. I talked to five different truck tires shops in Houston. Perhaps they just wanted to sell the Michelins, but I couldn't find a L load range in a 315 on the internet for any other provider either. I did find a couple that were L load rating but had a 55 mph max speed rating.

[Petervs]

Next thing you guys who are buying the cheapo tires will do is buy that cheapo Prevost knock off built in China. Quite similar to a Bounder I think.

You get what you pay for in my opinion. The Chinese tires might be good, but you can not guarantee they will all be good from batch to batch and brand marking to brand marking.

I learned my lesson with Firestone back in 1978 with their "500" series car radials. They all flew apart within 1000 miles of each other.

Michelin knows how to build quality tires, there is no doubt about that I think we all agree.

The cheapo tires make sense for the back of a truck trailer, where there are 8 tires sharing the load and none are driven. I would not have them on my bus, I would put them in the same category as bicycles hanging on the back ladder, plastic shields on the front, etc...In other words, the exact opposite of bling.