Tire replacement & balance ?

[Hedgehog]

I own a 2006 Monaco knight with the original Goodyear G670's on it. They have no dry rot but I want to start replacing them for piece of mind. I only plan on traveling approx. 250 miles from home this year so I was going start by replacing the steering axle this year and the drive axle next spring. I am looking at hancook ah12 in a 275/70/22.5. The local tire shop gave me a price of $431 plus tax a piece and if I want them balanced its a extra $30 a piece. They told me that since I have aluminum wheels, they can only balance them with equal. Should I opt for the balancing this way or does it not need it? Also, is this a fair price? I can't wait to see how the coach handles with new steering tires since my G670's are rivered pretty bad, especially the passenger front. The rears look like new. Also, should I get a alignment and how much should I expect to pay for that? Thank you in advanced.

[the_silverback]

X2 on Michelin thru FMCA.

[okgc]

They told me that since I have aluminum wheels, they can only balance them with equal.

1000s of Aluminum wheels are balanced every day with stick on weights. They work wonderful if used correctly. Having the tire wheel combination actually balanced is also a outstanding way to measure the quality of tire construction. I have rejected new tires that were out of round or with a poor balance.
With spin balancing bent or other wheel issues are also easy to see.

With the price of tires knowing what you are buying is important. Of course this is more time consuming for the dealer.

[timmac]

Yes go with the Equal, I did this on all my 6 new Hankook tires, it stays balanced all the time and no more weights flying off rim, I also have the Centramtic Balancers as well.

I think it was $20 per tire for Equal..

http://www.imiproducts.com/products/equal/

http://centramatic.com/Page.aspx?page=Video How Centramatic Balancers Work

[DSDP_Don]

Hedgehog.....I put the Hankooks on the front of my 05 Diplomat a couple of years ago and went with the balancing beads for the first time. Wow....what a difference over the Goodyears. I had replaced the Goodyears twice on the front because of the rivering issue and the Hankooks were the third set in 50000 miles. After 20000 miles, the Hankooks were wearing perfectly and rode soooo much smoother than the Goodyears, even when the Goodyears were new. I will NEVER buy another Goodyear product because they refuse to admit/correct the rivering issue.

The Hankook price is good, but $30.00 a tire to throw a bag of beads in it is a little high. $15-$20 per tire would be more reasonable.

[J-Rooster]

Robert the tire price seems fair and so does the balancing! I bought new Michelins last year @ $378.00 per tire (thru FMCA Michelin Fleet tire program) plus $25.00 for balancing. Yes, you can do just the new steer tires this year. I can't tell you anything about alignment because I've never had one of my RV's aligned and I have been RVing since 1976! Good Luck

[hershey]

I had all tires on my MH replaced two years ago with Michelins. I have steel rims and I was quoted $16.00 a tire to add Equal. At the installation time, the tires were wet and so Equal couldn't be used so i was discounted the $16 price. Sounds like the $30 price you got is about double what I was offered.

[terryb149]

I just replaced my front tires and had my coach (2006 Allegro Bus) aligned. It cost me $125.00 at a local truck repair place in Greenville, SC.

[MountainAir05]

I use Dynabeads, have not tried the equal. NO issues for the past 10 years.