Tire Recommendations

I realize this is an older thread but why has no one mentioned to the Op to save some money and decide what tires he will purchase in the near future. then go out and buy one and have it installed and put the old tire on as his spare tire. This seems best to me for being a great shopper!
Just curious if this would work. That's my plan as I am going to buy in just a few weeks. I will save a couple old ones (of coarse the best ones and use them as a spare tire).

Hankooks have been around for quite a while. From use on tractor/trailer rigs to my own personal vehicles ( Ram truck and Toyota 4 Runner) they are as good or better than most tires available! memtb

fourthclassC wrote:
Cooper Discoverer HT3

Had Cooper Discoverer HT3's also. Good grip and quiet on the highway, although treadwear isn't the best.

Interesting, High quality brand name tires?? Are they better tires or is far more money spent advertising them? Is a brand name tire in Europe or Asia unknown in the US? And brand name in the US unknown in the rest of the world. Expiring minds need to know.

Seems as if one tire was so superior that no money would be spent on advertising, word of mouth would be all that was needed.

jyh818 wrote:

PatJ wrote:
The FORD replacement wheels you purchase from FORD parts are different than the ones installed at the factory despite the identical part #.

I'm looking to get a spare for my 2021 E450 Class C as well. I didn't realize that the specs are different with the same part number.

I had been considering getting 4 new Alcoa rims (2 front, 2 rear outer) and keeping the 2 rear steel inner. I saw a video saying why Ford had aluminum alloy rims on the outside, but steel inside because of the thicker aluminum rims. Having aluminum inner and outer would not have long enough wheel studs to hold. If I go this route and use my existing tires, I would then just need to get an additional tire for the spare on one of the 4 factory rims. The Alcoa rims run $1,199.

Hello, I looked into the Alcoa wheels for my 2021 E450 and could not get a quote from Les Schwab, America's/Discount Tire, or any shop near Walnut/Diamond Bar. May I ask where you got your quote and did you get those Alcoa's yet?
Thank you!

ron.dittmer wrote:
Hi ScottM,

If your rig is 29 feet or longer with one or more slide outs, you might want to consider those extra-capacity E-rated tires. It's like 500 pounds more per tire which means 2000 more pounds for the rear axle and 1000 more pounds on the front. But there is such a thing as "too much". A shorter lighter rig with over-rated tires translates to a more harsh ride. Just about everyone would agree that the continuous earth-quaking when being driven is undesirable. You don't want to make it unnecessarily worse.

For our 24 foot (2007 E350-DRW chassis) rig with no slide out, I am buying new tires in the next few weeks. I decided on Michelin Agilis CrossClimate 115/112R. Discount tire gave me a price on 6 for $1316 out the door. Our rig is 14 years old with 38,000 miles and still has the original tires in-part because we garage our rig. I had such a good experience with the original Michelin LTX tires that made no sense to try a different brand. I also like that they are "Made In USA".

Ron ... I'm curious.

Why are you going to have 115 tires put on you motorhome? Didn't it come stock with 225 tires on it like mine did ... along with so many other E350/E450 based motorhomes?

(I retrofitted our Class C with 115 tires in order to provide slightly more ground clearance.)

Why not get a used wheel from a salvage yard or LKQ?

PatJ wrote:
The FORD replacement wheels you purchase from FORD parts are different than the ones installed at the factory despite the identical part #.

I'm looking to get a spare for my 2021 E450 Class C as well. I didn't realize that the specs are different with the same part number.

I had been considering getting 4 new Alcoa rims (2 front, 2 rear outer) and keeping the 2 rear steel inner. I saw a video saying why Ford had aluminum alloy rims on the outside, but steel inside because of the thicker aluminum rims. Having aluminum inner and outer would not have long enough wheel studs to hold. If I go this route and use my existing tires, I would then just need to get an additional tire for the spare on one of the 4 factory rims. The Alcoa rims run $1,199.

Hi ScottM,

If your rig is 29 feet or longer with one or more slide outs, you might want to consider those extra-capacity E-rated tires. It's like 500 pounds more per tire which means 2000 more pounds for the rear axle and 1000 more pounds on the front. But there is such a thing as "too much". A shorter lighter rig with over-rated tires translates to a more harsh ride. Just about everyone would agree that the continuous earth-quaking when being driven is undesirable. You don't want to make it unnecessarily worse.

For our 24 foot (2007 E350-DRW chassis) rig with no slide out, I am buying new tires in the next few weeks. I decided on Michelin Agilis CrossClimate 115/112R. Discount tire gave me a price on 6 for $1316 out the door. Our rig is 14 years old with 38,000 miles and still has the original tires in-part because we garage our rig. I had such a good experience with the original Michelin LTX tires that made no sense to try a different brand. I also like that they are "Made In USA".

My 2019 class C came with the exact Hankook tires you mentioned. We are up to about 15k miles and don't have anything negative to say about them, If I had to replace them today and they were competitively priced I would probably buy them again. We camp a lot and will still probably age them out before 45k.

Something I want to share: I also wanted to add a spare as my C did not come with one, so I purchased an OEM Ford wheel as specified by Ford for my chassis by VIN (~$380,) which appeared identical to the factory installed wheels, and a Hankook tire identical to the OEM installed tires ($170.) The factory installed tires are made in Korea and the spare I purchased was made in USA but were otherwise identical. I purchased a steel valve stem from Napa and had it mounted and balanced at the local tire shop. My rig has an interior spare tire storage bin so I tossed it in and didn't give it another thought.

At the end of year 1 (spring 2020) I decided to rotate tires and put the spare on the rear. My FORD brand spare wheel with the identical part number to the chassis-cab wheels installed by factory RUBBED ON THE REAR BRAKES. It would NOT drive with the spare installed on the inner dual. I have to run the "spare" on the outer dual (I did not try it on the front, but the front brakes are even bigger than the rear.) So now I have one of the factory installed tires in the spare box and am running the "spare" I purchased on an outer dual. Reading online, I am not the first one with this problem. The FORD replacement wheels you purchase from FORD parts are different than the ones installed at the factory despite the identical part #.

My advice: If you choose to build a spare tire/wheel I recommend you either try it first or just go ahead and mount it on an outer dual position so a factory-installed wheel is your spare (assuming it will work anywhere.)