Continental vs Michelin Tires - Isata 3

[jneum525]

Hello All,
Just saw an article in Motorhome mag indicating that it is quite common to have a shimmy with the MBZ based MH's that are equipped with Continental tires and that the only fix is to install Michelins.

Was wondering if others have experienced this and what make, model and size tires you installed? ...and did it resolve the problem w/ the Shimmy?

I did not experience that Shimmy while driving from MO to CA when I drove my recently purchased 24FW home. Our coach still has the original Continentals that look like brand new. Was not planning to replace them for another couple of years probably.

Had Michelin XRV's on our old Class A and they worked great, but this is my first experience with Continentals.

Thanks

[milkman55]

MICHELIN
AGILIS CROSSCLIMATE
LT215 /85 R16 115R E1 BSW

Search forum for “Michelin” and you will find an abundance of info.

[chroniekon]

The continentals are good tires. If you are not having a problem, I wouldn't replace them.

[cooper16]

When we bought our 2018 Isata 3FW new it had a shimmy at around 60-65mph. The Mercedes dealer balanced the tires and the problem was still there. So the dealer did a "road force" balance, at no extra charge, and it fixed the shimmy. If you have problems in the future, that might be something to try before you spend money on new tires. We've also had car tires balanced that way to correct shimmy.

[The2002Wanderer]

My 2020 Isata 3 came with Continental Vanco Four Season LT tires. At about 5000 miles I took them to my tire shop to have new valve stems installed for the TPMS system. We discovered the right side inside dually had MAJOR DAMAGE: total (full circumference) side wall separation on the inner dual tire. I looked up the Continental Warranty and it says tire is covered for full replacement for defects during the first 12 months or 2/32" tread wear. This tire falls into those categories. BUT, local Continental Tire dealers refused to honor the warranty because I had not purchased the tires from them and "Continental doesn't reimburse us for our expenses". One even told me that Continental requires the dealer to return the tires to Continental for inspection and if Continental not agree that the tire is covered under warranty they will refuse the reimburse dealer AND return the damaged tire to the dealer at the dealer's expense! Dealers all told me to take it back to where I purchased the tire.

I called Continental and was told I had to claim damage through the dealer that sold the RV to me. The FR dealer told me they don't do tire warranties and I had to take my claim to Mercedes Benz. Further calls and MBZ dealer
said they would not cover damage and it looked like I had run the tire flat (I have a TMPS system and I know this wasn't true). Weeks went by trying to chase this down when I found a Continental dealer who agreed to SELL me a replacement tire and would try to process claim. Then came COVID-19 shut down. I just got a call from tire dealer that told me Continent denied my claim of manufacturing defect because the tire suffered "OZONE DAMAGE" which was not covered.

6 months of screwing around on this and my conclusion is that Continental Tires SUCK. Warranty isn't worth the paper it is printed on and MBZ and Forest River are doing all of their customers a disservice putting these tires on the ISATA 3 chassis. I plan on replacing all of these tires with Michelin in the near future and will never give Continental a recommendation.

I consider myself lucky that I wanted better valve stems for the dually tires - I could have had a catastrophic tire failure if I continued driving on the unsafe tire.


P.S. Attached are some pics of the "Ozone" damaged tire. 3 well known local tire shops, including one specializing in truck tires, have examined the tire and all agreed the sidewall separation was a manufacturing defect.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by The2002Wanderer

BUT, local Continental Tire dealers refused to honor the warranty because I had not purchased the tires from them and "Continental doesn't reimburse us for our expenses". One even told me that Continental requires the dealer to return the tires to Continental for inspection and if Continental not agree that the tire is covered under warranty they will refuse the reimburse dealer AND return the damaged tire to the dealer at the dealer's expense! Dealers all told me to take it back to where I purchased the tire.

I will verify that what the dealers told you above can be true. Dealing with manufacturers and warranties can be an utter nightmare. Recalls can be a different scenario, and the manufacturer will reimburse you somewhat on mounting and balancing, but usually won't on just a single defective tire. It's a pure money loser for the dealer unless he can get the labor costs paid for, and they will be reluctant to try and warranty a tire unless you are a regular customer.


I try to explain it to ones in situations like yours and tell them we can try and get the tire warranted, but will need to charge the customer upfront and I will refund their money if I can get it back from the manufacturer, which is a long process. Manufacturers usually also don't cut a check back to the dealer, but give a credit towards the purchase of more tires.

[RCW]

Until recently was a shop foreman at a Mercedes-Benz dealer. Dealing with the tire manufacturers are a complete nightmare! Jump through a bunch of hoops wait at least 90 days and then they deny it! Conti in not the only one.

[jneum525]

OH MY... 2002 Wanderer. Thanks for the heads up and so sorry to here what you have been trough w/ all parties and more importantly what you could have been through if not caught when you did. I have the same make/model tires and will be pulling the back tires off for inspection tomorrow.

My tires have a much older manufacturing date of 0116. When do most folks change their RV tires? How many years? I have just under 20,000 miles.

I pushed it way too long on my Southwind and had a blow out. Don't want to do that again and embarrassed to say how old the tires were...

Please let me know what model tires you install ...Wanderer.
Thanks

[milkman55]

Originally Posted by jneum525

When do most folks change their RV tires? How many years?

Totally depends on the elements the tires are subjected. If stored outside in the sun, then tire sidewalk checking will most likely do the tires in before mileage. I think the absolute outside timeframe is 7 yrs, but I probably would not go beyond 5 yrs. Obviously if you drive a lot, tread wear may predate any of these guidelines. Just check the sidewalls for any sign of breakdown.

[jneum525]

Thanks Milkman,
Not sure if or how they were covered previously, but I have Adco tire covers on them. that should protect them from most sun damage. For some time the previous owner had the MH stored indoors.

Since my tires are coming up on 4-1/2 years I was hoping to get 6 years out of them, but will continue to monitor the sidewall condition. I have not tried to price them yet, but I would imagine the 16 inch RV tires are much cheaper than the 19.5 inch.

Are the 16” Michelin’s considered XRV’s for the model or type?
Thanks.

[milkman55]

You need to verify suitability, but if you search Michelin on this forum you will see several who replaced the Continental with these Michelin and liked the results. About $200 per tire.

https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tires.j...!&gclsrc=aw.ds

[AudiDudi]

I had a shimmy at 42-45 mph on the Vanco tires. Had them balanced - no change. Had the alignment checked - in spec per Mercedes but you could see that camber was off.

At 16k miles, the front Vanco tires were shot with major edge wear. I put the Michelin Agilis on and a lot of the shimmy went away, but was still slighly there and in 1500 miles I could see the beginnings of edge wear again.

I took the motor home to a Mercedes dealer, paid $240 for an alignment and the tech did an "out of spec" alignment that cured the issue. The tech said that in his experience, the settings he used worked better on the Sprinter based motor homes.

Fortunatley I did not need to purchse the special camber bolts to get a proper alignment.

[2guppies]

We had a shimmy at 60-65 mph. Noticed excessive wear on two front tires in the middle of a long trip. Turned out the front end was badly out of alignment. We were told that is somewhat common with Class Cs in that the chassis is aligned before delivering to RV manufacturer but that can change once the build is complete. We’re new to this so have no way of knowing if this is true. However, once Mercedes fixed the alignment, the shimmy was gone. We did replace the front (worn) Continental tires with Michelins based on comments on this forum and the Dynamax FB group, and the ride is so much better. We do plan to replace the back four soon but they showed no wear at the time so we decided to wait.

[McCormickJim]

I wouldn't put MICHELIN tires on anything I own. Personal experience with blowouts at highway speed on NEW tires soured me on MICHELINs.

Search "MICHELIN tire issues"

[jneum525]

What do you suggest?

Personally, I have great experience with Goodyear and Michelin XRV's. 2002Wanderer sure hasn't had good luck with Continental's.

[Bill Davis]

I have Michelin tires on everything I own, my car, motor home, and motorcycle. I wouldn’t own anything else.
I also would not run any tire over 5 years old by the date code on the sidewall. In my opinion it’s not worth the risk.

[2guppies]

Originally Posted by McCormickJim

I wouldn't put MICHELIN tires on anything I own. Personal experience with blowouts at highway speed on NEW tires soured me on MICHELINs.

Search "MICHELIN tire issues"

I understand. Our experience with Michelin has thankfully been exceptionally good. We’ve had them on all of our cars over the years and never any problems. And the difference in how our coach rides now is amazing.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by wmtire

I will verify that what the dealers told you above can be true. Dealing with manufacturers and warranties can be an utter nightmare. Recalls can be a different scenario, and the manufacturer will reimburse you somewhat on mounting and balancing, but usually won't on just a single defective tire. It's a pure money loser for the dealer unless he can get the labor costs paid for, and they will be reluctant to try and warranty a tire unless you are a regular customer.


I try to explain it to ones in situations like yours and tell them we can try and get the tire warranted, but will need to charge the customer upfront and I will refund their money if I can get it back from the manufacturer, which is a long process. Manufacturers usually also don't cut a check back to the dealer, but give a credit towards the purchase of more tires.

What you say is very true. It can be even worse in some cases. Many times the agreement between dealer and distributor involves a warranty allowance where the dealer gets a lower purchase price but in return agrees to handle warranty adjustments with no reimbursement. If warranty claims exceed an agreed upon threshold then they can get reimbursed for any excess.

[jneum525]

For everyone that is running Michelin’s on their Isata 3’s, is everyone using the Agilis Crossclimate model tires?

Just curious if there is only one or multiple Michelin models to choose from in the appropriate LT215 /85 R16 size?
Thanks
PS: Really appreciate all the great info on this and every other subject.

[Bill Davis]

Originally Posted by jneum525

For everyone that is running Michelin’s on their Isata 3’s, is everyone using the Agilis Crossclimate model tires?

Just curious if there is only one or multiple Michelin models to choose from in the appropriate LT215 /85 R16 size?
Thanks
PS: Really appreciate all the great info on this and every other subject.

I’m running the Agilis and they were a big improvement over the Continentals.