front tire problems,,

[77Casual]

Hello, We have a old 84 Kingston motorhome with a E350 chassis. We have had it a long time. It seems to be real hard on the front tires. The tread always starts to separate from the rest of the tire.

I think it has gone through 6 tires now. The last couple could be just that they were old tires. It came with 16.5 tires but have had a set of 16s on the front the last couple years.

Is this chassis known to be hard on tires?

[Dakzuki]

Fords can be really hard on tires if the front suspension isn't aligned correctly. It can end up with nasty wheel flap if worn too. It is a byproduct of the swing axle design. If you are killing front tires you should have it checked out by a competent suspension place that knows Fords. I have seen Ford trucks with an intentional excessive toe in (tire killer) to take out the wheel flap.

[j-d]

Our 1984 24-ft Holiday on E350 was easy on tires. We had 8.75R16.5D from Pep Boys. Scrambler M/S as I recall and I think discontinued.
Have you weighed the coach and adjusted tire pressures? Was your weight above the rated capacity of the tires?
You say you don't have uneven wear. I still wonder if alignment is so far out that you're dragging the tires sideways. They tend to get toe-out. Wear in radius arm bushings or steering linkage. Also, the axle to crossmember bushings don't last forever.

[77Casual]

2 of the other tires that started to come apart were trailblazer regul a/p and one trail mark radial rv. All were 8.75r16.5 D rated tires. All had good tread and no cracking.

[77Casual]

The last one that came apart was a 10 ply Kumho. I would need to look at the last ones before I switched to the 16 inch Kumhos to see what brand they were. The Kumhos were not new when I put them on though.

I just ordered 2 Firestone TransForce HT 8.75R16.5 tires for the front. At least the tires will be all the same size again.

[2oldman]

Any chance you know the brand of tires?