Tire Replacement

[bdarren]

Ok. I am ready for all the input. I had a winnebago 38G and I have inherited my parents 2007 Monaco Knight 38PDQ. My parents thought they would travel the country in style, then they discovered it was much better taking his plane and being in hotels. That aside, I was offered there motor home this year. My main reason for posting here is the variety of input of tire related questions that I have, and also I have heard. the tires on the unit are Goodyear 275/70R22.5 and the coach only has 5100 miles on it. It has been stored in there airport hanger on the levelers when parked for the time it was stationary. I have heard all the the horror stories from all posts about the date codes on the tires, tires blowing out, running off bridges, running over little old ladies, etc. My problem is that I dont know how to judge the tires on the unit versus the date codes. Of course you call Goodyear and they give you the company line. So I decided to take it to several truck tire stores to get there input. Three out of three told me tires were better than normal. Two out of three told me to have the front end checked since the coach mfgs. usually dont have the alignment right. So, here I am. I would like input from you guys on the tires. Keep in mind the date codes are middle of the year 2006 and the related storage listed above.

Thanks,

Bert

[JR45]

I went with the FMCA / Michelin program and got a full set of 295/80R22.5 and saved about $1500, not bad. My old tires GoodYears only had 17K on them but 8 years old.
JR

[horizon36]

Lack of use is hard on tires. Seven year old tires that have been sitting are most likely at the end of their life. It's cheap insurance to replace all 6 so you don't have a blow out and get stranded, or worse. A steer tire blowout can be challenging to say the least. One guy told me about his steer tire blowout and said that he was lucky to have only taken out 200 feet of fence before he got his rig under control and stopped. Not the kind of adrenaline rush I want to have!

[Rodz]

I ordered a set through FMCA last week. Mine are on their 8th yr. By last fall the cracks were getting to big for comfort. It's been sitting since then. It's time to get back on the road.

[KazooTom]

Using the FMCA / Michelin program I am saving roughly $200 per tire from the best retail price I could find in my area. That's a savings of a whopping $1200. I could try to make the inner duals last another season, but that would be increasing my risk of a blow out. The potential damage to the coach could be substantial caused by a blow out. I am guessing that next year's prices will be higher, so replacing them all now makes sense to me.

[blangen]

Let's say you ran them for another year or two... you would have saved 1/7th or 1/8th of the cost of new tires. If you replaced with Michelins, you're talking about saving... maybe 700 bucks. In my opinion, peace of mind is worth WAY more than $700. Replace them with Michelin XZA2 Energy and drive down the road with one less concern.

[OnaQuest]

I'm in the camp that says "replace them". One blowout can easily do $8K to $10K worth of damage to that rig. ...and that's with good luck.

[KazooTom]

I agree that your tires should be inspected by a qualified truck tire shop. I ran a previous set of Michelin XZA's (on our previous motorhome) into the tenth year. They looked great on the outside, but when unmounted they were cracked all thoughout the inner casing. We were definately riding on borrowed time. In your case you may be able to get another year or so out of them.

The tires on our current unit are dated late 2005, 7+ years old. These are XRV's and are showing cracking on the sidewalls. The previous owner spent winters in Florida and never covered the tires.

I am in the process of replacing them. I have ordered 6 replacements using the FMCA Michelin Advantage Program and saving a substantial amount of cash. The discount is nearly 50% of retail, and a couple hundred per tire under the street price. The saving for my size is about 45% less than the best price I can get on Goodyear.

[jhilley]

I would take the advice of the tire companies that inspected them. You know the history of the tires and they were stored in a good environment. As always even with new tires I would inspect them every day before driving and check pressure periodically.

[wny_pat1]

I'm replacing my 7 year old tires this year. But not putting the Michelin or Goodrear tires on it!

[Mr_Mark1]

If you have any intention of keeping the tires, I would have them inspected by a heavy duty tire company by taking them off of the rims. That will give you piece of mind if they pass their visual test by looking inside the tire.

Personally, I wouldn't prefer Goodyear's as I had friends have trouble with them but yours are like new. That's why I would have them looked over really good and use them maybe for another year or so.

I have ordered new Michelin's using the FMCA program that should arrive at the end of this month replacing my current Michelin's with 57,700 miles. I'm just leaning on the 'safe' side replacing them at 7 yrs. as my date codes run from the 20th-42nd week of 2006.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.
MM.

[smlranger]

If it were mine, I'd replace all the tires. They are 7 years old and that is my limit on RV tires.

Goodyear G670's have reputation for 'rivering' on the front. I replaced my G670's on my previous coach with Hankook AH-12's in 275/70/22.5 and they were really nice tires with a great ride and handling. As noted, I would keep one of the existing tires as a spare if you have room to carry it somewhere in the coach. 275/70 is usually a size that has to be ordered.

[Ivylog]

Welcome to the forums and that's a nice MH. If I lived near you in TX I'd say replace all 6 so I could buy them and use them on one of my trucks. Unfortunately a 275/70 is not a normal truck tire size so selling them for $200+ each is not likely. Since you know the history and stored inside with some weight off the tires I'd replace the front two tires with Toyo or Hankook. Here's 61 posts on Goodyear and rivering. As you found out, truck tire places say they are fine while most on here will say replace all of them. I would carry one of the replaced front tires unmounted on the roof wrapped in alum foil and plastic wrap as I actually had a truck tire place laugh at me when I needed a 275/70. Here is a previous post on carry spare on the roof.
We are into weighing our MHs when loaded up and adjusting the tire pressures for the weight. My educated guess is you will need 105 in the fronts and 95 in the rear tires. While 5100 miles is not enough to tell about the alignment by looking at the front tires, you can check the toe in by measuring between the two same spots on the inside of the tires (front/back) and you want 1/8" toe in.

[Don_Don]

I have the same coach but a 2005. It is a great RV. You do need to change the tires. RV tires do not get enough use so the oils in the tires do not get distributed in the rubber and all the setting causes a lot of stress on them. I know it's hard to throw away all that trad but it the nature of the beast unless you are using it all the time. Yes you do need to check the alignment anytime you get tires but the chassis is usually done before they build on it and add the weight so yes it usually needs it when you first get it. I am about to get my 3rd set of tires this March. I use the Goodyears and have had great service with no problems. Take on here what you read with a grain of salt. Do you homework and fix your RV from a experienced source not recommendations from a lot of people you don't know whom are guessing most of the time. This is a great place to get ideas but it is a fraction of all the RV people on the road today.