Cooper vs Michelin

That Michelin XPS RIB® tire has a great reputation as a commercial tire - with it's steel sidewalls for improved curb scrubbing ruggedness in delivery service. However, it's tread is best suited for strict hard surfaced and dry, or merely wet, roadway surfaces.

The Michelin M&S tires are named that for a reason - they have a more aggressive tread to handle a wider variety of road surface and weather conditions - which IMHO is a better way to go for an RV that needs to be ready for anything anytime.

I now run the Michelin M&S2 Defender tires on our Class C, but of a different size than the stock MIchelin M&S that came on our E450 chassis. I discovered that the slightly taller and narrower M&S2 Defender tire in the LT215/85R16 Load Range E tire size has the same weight versus pressure ratings as the tires that came stock on our E450 - LT225/75R16 Load Range E.

This slightly taller and narrower tire provides at least these advantages:

1. It's larger diameter provides more ground clearance for everything on our Class C.
2. It's larger diameter provides a higher "air balloon" to support the weight - hence a slightly softer ride.
3. It's larger diameter provides a taller overall gear ratio to slightly counter the E450's low 4:56 differential ratio so as to help with fuel mileage.
4. It's narrower width provides more room for cooling air flow between each tire in the rear dually sets.

The only disadvantage I've noticed is not one I care about - the speedometer reads around 1.5 MPH low.

I'm also hoping that the new sidewall material in the M&S2 Defender's sidewalls helps with Michelin's "notorious early sidewall cracking" problem. For comparison, the Cooper's on my 4X4 pickup are at least 8-10 years old with not a sign of exterior cracking.

Hi,

I've had good results from Toyo. My dealer does sell Micheline and Goodridge as well. He recommended the Toyo even though they were cheaper.

I have had Michelin LTX M/S on my F350 dually for years, we have the M/S 2's on it now. For our Monaco, though, we opted to go with the BF Goodrich Commercial T/A All Season 2's. I bounced back and forth between it and the Michelin; cost was what made up my mind, especially since I had just put new Michelins on the dually. I had BF Goodrich Commercial T/A's on my old Dodge 2500 and liked them, so hopefully they work as well on the Monaco.

If you {OP} only got 16,000 miles out of the Michelins you are doing something seriously wrong. Overloaded, underinflated or serious issues with your suspension all come to mind. Got 32,000 {so far} on my LTX M/S 2's {that were free thanks to the recall}.

Would not run any tires on my coach that were over 5 years old but that is just me. Larger Class C's tend to have serious rear axle overloading issues {that air bags have zero affect on}. Get that rig weighed and put the proper load tires with enough PSI to handle what they are actually carrying.

As always... opinions and YMMV.

:C

Cooper's had some recent bad press, but I don't know which series of tires. So many brands have many of their lines made in so many different places, results are likely to vary. Our first Class C used 8.75R16.5 tires and I bought Pep Boys Futura Scramblers, made by Cooper. Not one bad thing about them.

Others... Michelin name needs no introduction anywhere on the planet. Those XPS Ribs are the top of their line. Goodyear has a competitor for those a "G-something" and I forget the number.

Our present Class C came to us used with Bridgestone Duravis R250, probably the Rib version of the R500 mentioned above. Simply outstanding tires, but priced close to XPS Rib.

Firestone Transforce HT competes with LTX MS2, and most of what I hear about them is good. LTX line is a good OEM tire from a great company, but still an OEM tire.

I'm concerned about the blowouts. Have you weighed your coach, loaded as for camping? Inner rear duals lead a hard life. If all four rears are inflated the same, the crown of the road puts extra load on the inners. If we run the right outer off the edge of the pavement, right inner gets shock loaded to full weight of the right side. Less ventilation under the center, and if it's a Ford the hot tailpipe runs next to the right inner.

Our rear axle is loaded very close to max, and we have not had any tire failures. Makes me wonder if you're over. What's Year/Make/Model of your Coach? Can you provide the Wheelbase?

We had used the OEM Michelin LTX on our C and they were OK, they kept the rims off the ground. Just replaced them with Bridgestone Duravis 500 HD and couldn't be more pleased. Way better ride and steering response.

I currently run Michelin LTX MS tires on my RV which I put on in 2013. I've recently had both inner dually tires blow out, on two separate occasions. It's time to replace all the tires. I replaced one of the inner tires with a Michelin Defender LTX M/S and the other inner with a Cooper Discoverer HT3 tire. I wasn't able to get a Michelin so I replaced it with a Cooper.

After somewhat disappointed with Michelin LTX tires on my dually, I went with Coopers. Time will tell if they work out better. So far my best luck has been with Toyo's but I thought I would try the Coopers this go around.

Talked with a highly recommended RV/Alignment shop here and other talk forums and they recommended the Michelin XPS RIB®.

They went into detail of how the rib tread is better for mileage , handling and doesn't flex as much as the LTX MS and other tires..

That is all I've ran the LTX MS2 and now the set I had replaced from BFG Commercial to the Michelin Defender.
Not sure what the difference is between the reg LTX MS2 and the Defender tire ? I know the mileage wear warranty is different, the Defender shows 50K while the LTX MS2 has a 70K wear warranty ?

But the tires will age out before that kind of mileage...

Next time to replace the tires , I might try the XPS RIB ..

You shouldn’t be blowing tires either if not overloaded and the tire was at 80 pounds. Weird.

FWIW Ford is putting Hancooks on the E450 now.