Tire question

[johnlantz]

Well wouldn’t you know as I was driving the RV to my storage lot from my house I had a blow out. It was the rear inside passenger side. Got a roadside repair done and drove it straight to a tire place. I had no idea they were that close to giving out. Could have been a lot worse. The tire repair guy said Michelin’s are known for dry rot in the sidewalls. Thanks for all the comments.

[Garrette]

Wondering what you went back with. I just replaced my 6 year old michelins. Had no side wall cracking at all. Had a failure 2 years ago due to lose of pressure and had a separation couple of months ago that I am blaming on I-20 around Columbia, SC. Pothole city and deep too. I am trying the Michelin XPS ribbed, commercial tire. Same specs as the LTX. Hoping for a little tougher. Not enough miles to comment at this point

[TitanMike]

To emphasize what was said earlier, keep the tires covered when not driving. The weather checking is more a result of UV damage from the sun than actual rot. After the sidewall rubber degrades and cracks, water and air invades the piles of the tire causing failures.

Tire covers are inexpensive and the tires can even be shielded with cardboard, towels, or pieces of plywood, whatever's available.

[johnlantz]

I went with firestone. Don’t know the model off the top of my head. They were $160 a tire. That included mounting balancing etc.

I am still not understanding how the cover would protect the tire. All 6 of the tires had the cracks. The inside tires on the back never saw the light of day. Somebody said that the tires not getting used and flexed might be the cause. I don’t know...

[TitanMike]

Ozone in the air also causes this. Depending on local conditions the effect can me more or less depending on how much ozone pollution in air. More populated areas are worse than others. Covering keeps the damage from sunlight to a minimum but won't stop all.

[johnlantz]

Thanks.

[Skyliner]

Disclaimer up front: My truck with with Michelin's from the factory.

I used to be a die-hard Michelin fan. I loved how they performed in all weather conditions and loved the fact that I got a lot of mileage out of them. However, that seemed to change about 12 years ago. I started noticing that after 4-5 years that the Michelin's on my passenger cars would develop cracks identical to the ones in the picture by the OP. A quick google search showed this to be a new/common phenomenon that was not warrantied by Michelin.

I've since left Michelin's and have switched to Firestone tires for my pax cars and have been very happy with them. My 2 SUV's have Firestone Destination LE2's which have 60k thread wear rating and their performance, for me, is similar to the Michelins. I typically get 50k out of mine and that is good enough for me and I don't have to worry about deep cracks forming in them after several years.

Not sure what I will replace the Michelin's on my truck when they wear or crack up. I may They do ok in the rain and dry weather but they are pretty bad in light snow even though they are rated as a Mud/Snow tire. This is even with extra weight in the truck bed. So far, they are 2 years old with 20k miles on them and thread is about 1/2 worn but no cracks yet.

Not sure what truck tire I will get next. Possibly Good Year Duratracs or Firestone truck tires.

[Iwannacamp]

Imo... the tire boys have the best input to be had on LT tires. Any suggestions?

[Shredder]

I too had the same issue with my tires. They where the michelen LTX i believe. I was going to go on one last trip with them they where 5 years old and have only 20,000 KLM's on them. Just before i left the one tire would not hold air so i started doing some reaserch on what the replacment tire would now be as the ones on it where very bad. Once i put the tire make in the google search many recall results came back. What you should do is get the DOT number of the tire and call Michelen. They paid for 7 new tires installed and balanced for my rv. I was quite surprised. Its worth the call.

[johnlantz]

I did find the recall for Michelin’s and my tires did not match. Before the blowout I did have an online chat with Michelin and they said I had to go to a Michelin dealer before they would agree to give any money back. Once I had the blowout I got all tires replaced and it was too late to go back to Michelin at that point.

[ActionJackson]

Here's some interesting reading: http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ml#post1569004

[trdutch]

Originally Posted by johnlantz

I went with firestone. Don’t know the model off the top of my head. They were $160 a tire. That included mounting balancing etc.

I am still not understanding how the cover would protect the tire. All 6 of the tires had the cracks. The inside tires on the back never saw the light of day. Somebody said that the tires not getting used and flexed might be the cause. I don’t know...

You are correct
The tires need to move to stay “lubricated”
Driving excited the molecules in the rubber
Sitting for long periods like winter are the culprit
The bumpers on a new pool table will go dead if no one ever plays pool on it

[PeJa]

The tire cover works just like our exposure to the sun so it worth 26.00 to cover 4 tires. So I would say that 6.50 is worth the cost of a 175.00 tire. My son is a tire inspector with Bridgestone and he stays on me about the importance of keeping the tire covered and rotating while setting still. This is what I do every month and make sure it's done. Letting an RV set for long periods of time is NOT good. Also remember it does not matter what you have as far as BRAND or AGE, it's the NATURE OF DE BEAST, the RV!
Use to travel with with some friends that traveled to Dog Shows and we broke down at least once every other time we hit the road. So they decided to buy a NEW one. And the same thing happened with it but not that often so he said well I can't make a payment and keep fixing it! He was not happy with his present job so applied for a position to work at the place they bought the RV and got the job starting out in the shop, but now works as Head of Repairs and Production! She took a part time selling RV and did so well at Part Time, they made her Best Sales in the Business for 3 years in a row!h

[knockando]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

To emphasize what was said earlier, keep the tires covered when not driving. The weather checking is more a result of UV damage from the sun than actual rot. After the sidewall rubber degrades and cracks, water and air invades the piles of the tire causing failures.

Tire covers are inexpensive and the tires can even be shielded with cardboard, towels, or pieces of plywood, whatever's available.

Agree with most others on this post. Covers don't do much, but they do keep tires clean![emoji3]

[sask]

FYI... here is a link to Michelin’s technical bulletin regarding service life of RV tires. Pretty much what was covered here in forum. Max 10 years but conditions may reduce tire life. Inspect to see if issues. Replace if leaks, bulges, cracks, odd noises (while using them). Profession inspections after 5 years.

https://www.michelinb2b.com/wps/b2bc...e_RV_Tires.pdf