Best national tire chain to buy 6 new tires?

[Cheryl_B]

I know the best price from a chain that is only found in New England is only going to hurt me in the end, so I'm wondering which of the national tire chain stores would be best as far as being able to locate them in whatever area I'm in nationwide.

Leaving CT in another few weeks. Heading West and I'm gonna keep right on going.

[j-d]

If you'll give me till Monday, I'll go to Discount Tire and try to confirm the dual spacing for the 875 tires vs the 800's you have now.

For now, here's simple: find some scrap pieces of boards and see what thickness you can poke between the dual tires where they sit on the ground. If you can find some "Two By" like 2x4... Put it on the thin edge and see if the "2-inch" that's actually about 1-5/8 will slip between. If it will, will it wiggle?

Do that, report back, and please include the tire size info that's molded into one of your actual tires.

[ParkCountry]

photobug wrote:
got mine at les schwab. took them on my trip down the west coast last christmas, didn't use them. Moving to florida this summer, not sure if I'll ever use them. Weird thing is, the chains on my e350 van are bigger than the ones on the E450 MH

I dealt with them very regularly for over 25 years and have lost count of the number of sets of tires I've purchased from them. Sadly, ever since the old man died, I have most definitely noticed a serous decline in their quality of service. The last straw for me was when I went in to have the winter set of studded snow tires put on my wife's car for the season a few years ago and they dented the passenger side door. Ironically, the reason I found the dent is because I found a smudge of white tire-marking chock and wiped it to investigate and found the dent behind it. From the time I gave them the car until the time they told me it was ready was literally TEN minutes. Those boys were really moving! They denied that they had caused the dent (surprised?) and I took it up to the corporate level and they, too, denied my claim. I've literally spent thousands of dollars on all those tires over the years. I am SO done with them.

[Cheryl_B]

I'm sorry, but this is madness. I know there are people out there who are gun hoe about everything but here's me:

I checked my tire pressure in CT last summer when I bought the RV.
I checked the pressure again before I left CT, in November (same psi.)
I checked the pressure when I got to Georgia (same psi.)
And when I got my oil changed in GA before leaving to head north, they checked the pressures again (same. Kept at 50 psi each.)

I just want tires that will replace what I got. I won't buy new rims if I don't need new rims. I can't buy a 7th tire (and rim) just to hang it on my bumper like bait for a thief to come and steal.

Keep it simple for me, folks. This old girl is 31 years old, and I'm 55. We need it simple.

[j-d]

Just found this quote in a search that turned me back to RV.net:

"I have an 85 gmc class c with 875 16.5 firestone transforce with no problem"

The question was actually about a different chassis, but this is part of what I wrote then, after a little research:

"According to "Tire Guide", the 8.00 and 8.75R16.5LT tires are "Light Truck Numeric" so the "Section Width" of the 8.75 is .75" (3/4") more than the 8.00s you have now.
If your dual spacing, between sidewalls at the closest point is now about 2.00" now, then taking 3/4" off leaves about 1.25". That's about what I saw when I just went out and looked at the duals on our E450. So guess-by-gosh looks like you can make the change and stay with 16.5" wheels. The difference in section width would be 3/8" on each side of each tire, so 3/4" total change in that gap."

If you want to go to the 875R16.5's, we have to be sure you end up with enough dual spacing that your sidewalls have the clearance they need to shed some heat, and NEVER NEVER "Kiss" when they bulge over bumps and dips in the road.

[j-d]

I see three possibilities:

Try to replace 800/16.5 with 875R16.5E, which is available in Firestone TransForce
Doing this requires we figure out the OFFSET of your current wheels, to see if they meet the spec for the larger tires.

Simply replace 800-16.5. There ARE such out there, all off brand, some for Trailers. Don't get Trailer Service tires for your coach. Speed rating is too low. The tires you need should bear "LT" for Light Truck, or at least a Load Range, like "E". What you have now is probably "D". STAY AWAY from Trailer, designated "ST" for Special Trailer.

Replace your rims with 16" and of course 16" tires. If we can get you to the right wrecking yard (for tires and wheels, of course, not personally) I think there should be a set from a Chevy/GMC dually pickup that would work.

I found a thread on a Chevy Truck Forum where an OP had a 1986 G30 with 10500 GVWR and 800/16.5 tires. Seemed to indicate that Chevy Dually Pickup Wheels up to 2010 model year would be on the same "Eight on Six Point Five" bolt pattern, meaning eight lugs, with a bolt circle 6-1/2" diameter. There's also a Center Hole that centers the rim on the hub. The lugs do NOT do that, so while a smaller center hole obviously won't fit, too large a one won't center up and bear load correctly.

If I had the time to work on this, this is what I'd do. Our RV was a Ford chassis, and in 1983 they used odd wheels called "Coined." If it was a 1984 Ford chassis under that "1984 RV" it would have had 16.5 wheels with bolt patterns they used many years after and an easy swap. So I just went with 875R16.5D tires. But that was 15 years ago. 16.5's have gotten a little harder to find since.

Say you find a wrecked dually with nearly new tires (by date code). You could install Dually Valves in four of them, have all six mounted and balanced, and bolt them on. Go a couple years before buying more tires. Get a matching spare too, SEVEN wheels total. If you have a flat on a rear dual, you need to replace with a tire that's a very close match. Otherwise the taller one will overload and blow out.

Let us know what you'd like to do. We'll try to help.

[Cheryl_B]

Okay. Here's what the tag on the doorjam says.

They are the dreaded 16.5's.
March 1985 seems to be the date for the Chassis and anything else on that tag.
Although near GVW (10,500), it does say "4/85" which would be April rather than March.
"Front- 3,900 with 800 x 16.5 D
Tire 16.5 x6, rims 60 PSI"
"Rear-7,200 with 800 x 16.5 D, 60 PSI cold dually."

[j-d]

femailyetti wrote:
Pep Boys can get 16.5 tires

Funny you should mention that. It was around 2001, I'd just bought a Class C on a 1983 Ford E350. Blew a tire on the way to work. Plan was to head out on a weekend trip after. Called around, and decided on Pep Boys tires, over Tire Kingdom. Part of it was PB was national and TK was regional. Tires I got, were Futura Scrambler, 8.75R16.5

Never had a minute's tire trouble with those. I bought seven, and rotated the spare against the fronts. Never moved the rears. We didn't drive all that far, but FL summer does a good job heating the road surface to scorching...

We still need to know what tire size our OP is running. If it's actually 16.5's and the spec is 8.00's, we need to be sure the 8.75's can mount with enough "OFFSET" at the rears. The 875 size is about the most common 16.5 available now, such as Firestone Transforce.

Cheryl, "Offset" shows up as the space between the inner rear sidewalls, but that's not how it's measured. Topic we may not have to get into, we can handle it if needed.

The door jamb label I'm thinking of, shouldn't be "paper." There are probably two. One from Chevy that came with the chassis, then one from Rockwood. The "RV" one might be less durable than Chevy's. Both should have tire information.

Still hoping it has 16", meaning 16.0" wheels...

[femailyetti]

Pep Boys can get 16.5 tires

[Cheryl_B]

Thanks for that. It's raining cats, dogs and rats at this moment so I won't be checking any of that stuff today. Last time I checked for the door label, I found it was paper and completely unreadable. I'll check it again, though.

I hope the worst of the rain is over now. Yeesh! Deluge.

[j-d]

Chevy should have stuck a label inside the driver's door frame. Should show the tire size, and also a date of manufacture. To be a "1985" it would probably have to be built in AUG84 or later. If it's FEB84, NOV83, and so on, then it's a 1984 chassis year. The manufacturer of the RV designates the model year, so your 1985 could be on a 1985 chassis for sure, but many are on a model year earlier.

The Date Code is the last four digits of a long string of characters beginning in "DOT." Those four are "branded" at the end of that string. The others look more "molded in." It's four characters WWYY, where Week is 01-52, and YY is last two digits of the production year, so 2515 would be mid-year 2015. It only appears on ONE place on the tire.

Firestone offers its Transforce HT Load Range E in 8.75R16.5 for about $150 a tire.

When we get the actual size, hopefully 16" and NOT 16.5, things'll get clearer.

[Cheryl_B]

Well I better get out there and give those tires a good once over. I have no clue about how old the chassis is. No idea how to find that out, either. I'm laughing because if you knew me, you'd be laughing to.

I did check them all over very closely once, looking for the DOT number. Couldn't find anything that said DOT or looked like a date anywhere. This could get interesting. 😉

[Chum_lee]

jyrostng wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:
The only "National" chain I can think of is Discount Tire. They seem to be everywhere.


Discount Tire Center
West Haven, CT · (203) 933-8973
Open until 4:30 PM
WEBSITE
DIRECTIONS

discount tire no longer works on 19.5 tires Walmart either. just saying, I know this is a class c forum.

Yes. My experience also. Discount Tire in Lake Havasu City, AZ would not touch the 19.5" wheels on my class A. They said they do not sell or have equipment to handle tires/wheels that large. Yes, I know this the Class C forum also. IMO, a very professional shop though.

Chum lee

[jyrostng]

DutchmenSport wrote:
The only "National" chain I can think of is Discount Tire. They seem to be everywhere.


Discount Tire Center
West Haven, CT · (203) 933-8973
Open until 4:30 PM
WEBSITE
DIRECTIONS

discount tire no longer works on 19.5 tires Walmart either. just saying, I know this is a class c forum.

[ncscz]

j-d wrote:
Tire Brands... For a 27-ft without slides, I don't think I'd spend premium dollars for commercial grade tires like Michelin XPS or Bridgestone R250.

The Michelin name needs no introduction anywhere in the world, and LTX MS/2 is a good tire competitively priced. And I agree with Firestone, the TransForce series.

You want a degree of quality. Cheap isn't cheap if the tread comes off and destroys a corner of your coach.

Again, What Size? It's OK to tell us what's on there now, but please also look in the door jamb and get the size originally specified there.

The mid-1980's Chevy Class C that I owned came with 8.00X16.5 Michelin tires. I do remember several threads in recent years about "I cannot find tires in 8.00X16.5 size". I think the solution involved changing the wheels also. 😞

[Sam_Spade]

Cheryl_B wrote:
I know the best price from a chain that is only found in New England is only going to hurt me in the end,

In what respect do you think that might "hurt you" later ?

My advice is to look for an independent truck tire shop near you.

I say that because: I have found that they have the best prices on "truck" tires. Might be an old name brand that you aren't familiar with however. My local shop gives me EXCELLENT service.

If you do have a problem out on the road, it probably will make little or no difference if a selling dealers store is 100 miles away versus 1000 miles. It likely will still cost you $$$$.