Tires, what do you use?

tandem54 · 12-22-2015, 08:19 PM

Hi, I "blew" a tire in N.M. coming home from Wisconsin and I was looking at the tires I have now.
I need to buy 2 tires for the left rear duels.
What brand do you use?
Also I think I need a 4 wheel alignment?? any ideas on that?
The left duels are wearing much more than the other tires!!

Ken K. · 12-22-2015, 10:08 PM

I can tell you with tires you will get what you pay for. I sold truck tires for years. I know what came back because of failure, and workmanship. You will never ever go wrong with Goodyear, or Michelin. Michelin is probably the better of the 2 for wear. As you already know when these things come apart they have a lot of energy store up. You need to have the best chance of it not happening again. Good Luck!

tandem54 · 12-23-2015, 07:43 AM

Thanks, the MH came with Terramax by Sailun from Canada.
I don't think they have any dealers in the US. I just checked them all yesterday and the front and right 2 duels are like new and the left duels are down to the wear bar!! So I need 2 tires and I want to keep them as close to the same as possible.
I have to find someone local to do/check for a 4 wheel alignment, at least I think that's the problem?!

00buck · 12-23-2015, 10:32 AM

Firestone Transforce HT on a Lexington 235. 8,000 miles this year, no issues or unexpected tread wear. Drove to Utah & back between 70 to 80 mph most of the time. Monitored pressure and temp with TireTraker.

Given the rapid tread wear on one wheel, your problem might be weight distribution.

tandem54 · 12-23-2015, 11:16 AM

[QUOTE=00buck;1062923]Firestone Transforce HT on a Lexington 235. 8,000 miles this year, no issues or unexpected tread wear. Drove to Utah & back between 70 to 80 mph most of the time. Monitored pressure and temp with TireTraker.

Given the rapid tread wear on one wheel, your problem might be weight distribution.

That side only has the bathroom and couch, all the heavy stuff (frig. stove,water heater, etc. is on the other side.

JLeising · 12-23-2015, 11:55 AM

In answer to your original question, on our Mercedes Sprinter based MH I replaced my OEM tires with Michelins from CostCo. Got about 33000 on the OEM tires (Continental 4 Seasons), now have that much on the Michelins and they still look quite good.

On our Solera I don't believe there is any way to adjust rear wheel alignment. My alignment shop did trade one set of rear duals with the fronts when I had the MH aligned ("tire rotation" sort of...). Any possibility someone did that to yours and the wear actually occurred when the tires were on the front? Otherwise, something bent on the rear side that has the wear?

lacamastraveler · 12-23-2015, 12:55 PM

On current and past RVs I've had Goodyear, Continentals, Toyos and Michelins. Without a doubt the Michelins are the best. I run Michelins on my autos too. In order of smoothest ride they are:
Michelin
Goodyear
Continentals
Toyos (horrible)

Someone mentioned buying Michelins at Costco. Great advise. When it came time to replace the tires on my CRV I shopped around and found the best price at Costco for Michelins. I had previously purchased the same Michelin tires at Sears for a lot more.

Aggie Dad · 12-23-2015, 01:09 PM

I believe you are living on borrowed time driving 70-80mph.....just saying....

oldsmasma · 12-23-2015, 01:13 PM

We have replaced ours with the same Michelins that came on it originally. Never had a problem (knock on wood)!

tandem54 · 12-23-2015, 02:54 PM

I was thinking of getting Michelins, I don't think I'll be sorry. I figure I'll put 2 new ones on the front and move the fronts (like new) to the left rear, that way I'll have all 4 on the rear the same.

Harkerr · 12-23-2015, 05:48 PM

Definitely Michelins!

tandem54 · 12-23-2015, 07:41 PM

I can't find anyone that can do a 4 wheel alignment, so the Ford heavy truck service said to bring it over so they could check it. That will be after the new year I'm not going anywhere for awhile! and the Michelins really don't seem to be much more $$ than the rest!?

grumpyoldman · 12-23-2015, 10:11 PM

Are you doing a regular tire rotation about every 6000 miles? I find that rotating the tires makes them wear longer. I move the right front to the right rear to the left rear to the left front to the right front. In other words a clockwise rotation. Not sure how dual rear wheels figure into the rotation cycle. But they do need to be rotated on a regular schedule to get the maximum wear out of them.

Copacetic · 12-24-2015, 08:41 AM

Merry Christmas all,
Thought we would weigh in on this discussion as we just returned from a near 4000 mile trip over three weeks in our 2006 Lexington 283. She drove like a dream, until she didn't. On our last leg of the trip, we developed an unbelievable shake in the coach, one so strong it felt like it was coming apart. Upon stopping, we discovered both front tires had cupped. We got lucky, the only thing at that exit was a tire shop, open, late on a Sunday afternoon. Two new tires later, we were back on the road, shake gone, smooth perfect ride. 300 miles later, a shimmy developed over the rear end. Pulling on the shoulder of the interstate, we find we now have a flat on the outside driver side dually. Spare was dry rotted and not usable (learn here, always check your spare if you have one) and Good Sam's sent a man with a tire. When he got the old tire off the rim, we saw we had picked up a nail, allowing some air to leak out, then the tire was running under-inflated and deteriorated from the inside out. Tire man said he had never seen a tire so beat up on the inside that did not blow. 4 hours on the side of the interstate taught us a valuable lesson about the importance of a good spare. The next morning we made it into Tupelo Mississippi and Southern Tire. There we had the front end aligned, we were out 1/4 of an inch on Toe, had the new tire balanced, got a new tire installed on the spare and the other three dually's checked for damage. The guys at Southern Tire were excellent and I can highly recommend them. So here is what we learned, the front tires were most likely not inflated enough and with the alignment out they cupped (tires were only about 1 1/2 years old and less than 5000 miles). The folks at Southern Tire, checked how the MH was loaded, verified it was how we usually run and recommended keeping tire pressure at 80 all the way around. Also, be sure and have the alignment checked regularly. Second, always have a usable spare if you can carry one. The roadside tire, even with Good Sam's covering the service call and mileage, still cost over $350 for one tire. Double check the dually's on the inside of the rig can be checked and aired up without having to remove the outside tire, ours were not. Southern tire found the dually's on the inside were under-inflated. If one of your dually's fails, have the others checked, they were bearing extra weight and could have gotten too hot and thereby suffered damage as well. We got lucky, it could have been much worse. As it was, we only lost time and money. While we were waiting for the rig at Southern Tire, we took our dinghy and ran to Harbor Freight where we picked up a laser thermometer, now every time we stop, we read each tires tread on the rig and our dinghy and check for consistency. Any one running hot, could indicate a problem. Hope this helps someone else learn from us, Merry Christmas and safe travels!

patrickwstewart · 12-24-2015, 11:29 AM

Google Rickson wheel and tires. I upgraded my TV to 19.5" commercial tires and never looked back. I've done everything from pulling my 35 foot TT to drive cross country with a 3800 lb truck camper doing 70 mph. It's a bullet proof set up and gives a great amount safety margin. Plus, the tires last forever...

Chuck.C · 12-24-2015, 11:31 AM

Copacetic, I don't want to have this sound like lecturing, just want to pass on my experience. I picked up a nail in an inside rear tire and wouldn't have known it, except that I'd just installed a TireMinder, and it alerted me of the pressure leak. I immediately found a tire repair place and was on my way in less than an hour. The point is that the $350 you spent an a new tire would easily buy a tire pressure monitor. Paid for itself on the first trip.

tandem54 · 12-24-2015, 11:33 AM

That's what happened to us, the shimmy developed just outside of El Paso Texas, I pulled into a rest area and checked the pressures and everything looked good, so I told the wife we'll have to drive until something breaks because I had no idea what was going on. well 1/2 hour later the inside right rear blew. Luckily we had a new spare, so now I need to get a spare so that's why I will put 2 new on the front, use one for a spare and get the alignment checked. ALWAYS something!! Just glad it's this time of year so we have time to get it all checked and fixed before we want to use it! Everyone Please HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Copacetic · 12-24-2015, 12:28 PM

Chuck,
What monitoring system are you using? We had it in our last RV and they failed to register a leak. Is the brand TireMinder ?

grumpy0374 · 12-24-2015, 12:46 PM

It pays to carry a GOOD spare tire/rim. Even if you can't change it yourself, you have it for a repair person to use, rather then having to pay for a tire that they might bring. $350.00 will pay for a new tire, rim, and the Curt spare tire carrier I bought, plus the dual tow mount. I carry necessary tools to change it myself, but if you have to rely on roadside assistance, and have a spare, at least your not at their mercy.
Grumpy

TimVWulp · 12-24-2015, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tandem54

Hi, I "blew" a tire in N.M. coming home from Wisconsin and I was looking at the tires I have now.
I need to buy 2 tires for the left rear duels.
What brand do you use?
Also I think I need a 4 wheel alignment?? any ideas on that?
The left duels are wearing much more than the other tires!!

Hi If you are not replacing the left duels with the same brand and size tire you may damage the rear end axle differential. Each tire style and type will have a different diameter. This will result in the set of tires rotating different distance for each rotation. This may damage the rear axle. You may want to check the left tire rims if the are bent and resulting in more ware. An other possibility may be uneven weight distribution resulting in more weight on the left rear.

Hope This Helps Tim

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