supercub wrote:
My Michelin tires are just starting to show some barely detectable cracking. tire dates are 24/12 so a little over 5 years old. I keep them cover whenever stored. Any idea how much long I can run them safely?
How are Continental Tires? FMCA have a special pricing for members on Michelin's and Continental's, the Contintenal's are a lot cheaper, just wondering how the handle and ride.
The Michelin's are about $715 295/75/22.5 (a Michelin size) Continental's are about $411 for 295/75/22.5 an equivalent size to the Michelin's if I'm figuring right.
supercub,
I just went through all of this with our coach and it's tires. The coach, an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT, came from the factory with Michelin 255 80R 22.5s. They, like yours, were/are proprietary to Michelin. My coach, is parked INSIDE an RV garage, 24/7/365 WHEN we're not using it. But, at about the 4.5-5 year mark, our tires too started to show the infamous "Michelin" sidewall cracks. Well, that topic's been discussed on here and other RV forums a few dozen times.
Michelin knows about the cracks and, stipulates a certain size and length of the cracks BEFORE anyone should show concern. I ran mine with those cracks about 15-25K miles like that. I never felt comfortable with them. But, it was one of those things that, if Michelin says they're fine, well, who am I to argue?
But on a very recent trip, my fronts were wearing very badly. So, While on the trip, I started searching for them. As stated earlier, the 255 80Rs were/are Michelin proprietary, meaning, THEY'RE the only ones that make that particular size. Trying to find a proprietary tire, while cruising the circumference of the U.S. was to say the least, totally futile. This is when I started doing some calculations and research.
Long story short, I came up with Yokohama RY 103 265 x 75 x 22.5 LRG tires. The Michelins, if and when I could EVER find them, were well over $550 each, not including mounting and balancing. The Yokohama RV RY 103s are $375.00 each, WITH MOUNTING AND BALANCING!!!
The ride and handling is superb. I couldn't be happier. Some folks go Michelin crazy. That's perfectly up to them. I don't ever plan on having another Michelin on anything I own or, will ever own. Waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much cost for a name.
Scott