Brian,

Excellent point about the Chinese tires. I certainly gave a lot of thought about that, and that is why they are on the drive axle only. Right now they are holding air, they still ride smooth and don't have any balance issues, so I am optimistic.

If one of them fails it is probable I will not suffer any loss of control, but I may tear things up. It is a risk. FWIW the Michelins are 16 ply rated and the Double Coin are rated 20 ply. Both are DOT marked but I have no clue if that involves anything more than checking to see if they are round.

Coloradobus hit on one thing not previously stressed. I changed all air bags a short time back. They were about 10 years old, an age when some problems with air bags had appeared with not only me, but some other guys as well. When I removed them I planned to keep a couple for "spares". There was substantial cracking where they roll over the piston. My point is that stuff like our tires, air bags, and brake diaphragms are rubber and they age. Prevost's posture on air bags as expressed by Bill Jensen in Branson was to drive them until they fail, with no recommendation for life expectancy. I contrast that with the Prevost policy as stated in their manual that brake chambers should be replaced annually or every 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. My point being that unless and until we can get sufficient data we can only do what we feel is best for us and take our chances.

Right now all we have to go on is anecdotal evidence.