Tires - To Sipe or Not to Sipe Toyo M154s

rgatijnet1 wrote:
From a tire warehouse dealer:
Aftermarket siping can void manufacturer’s treadwear warranty. Also, while siping might provide some nominal increases in traction, you are much better off spending the extra money you would have spent on that service on better tires with appropriate siping and tread.

Aftermarket siping may decrease the tread life of your tire. The engineering, high level of construction of the rubber compound and manufacturing process ensure that pre-molded sipes in the tread do not work against the expected tread life of the tire. Siping itself also reduces dry road performance as it increases tread squirm, tread wear, road noise and reduces gas mileage.

The Michelin tires have pre-molded sipes which were designed as part of the overall tire tread.

Judging by the photo in the OP, I'm not sure about that last sentence.

Also... tread life matters not to most motorhome owners. Age is the bigger concern. The last set on this rig was changed out at 10 years and only about 10,000 miles. The next change-out will likely be 6 years and less than 10,000.

But yes. Tread squirm is a concern of mine.

As for better tires? Very few options to replace the proprietary OEM tire size.

Also... I believe Les Scwhab has their own warranty that goes above and beyond the manufacturers'. They are known for good service. And you pay a premium for it. Often Michelin prices for Dean and other mid-level brands.

Toyota installed the wife's latest Michelins. Their latest special (Buy 3, get the 4th for a dollar) was tough to pass up! Before that, it was a tire shop in a town about a half hour south.

Les could get the Michelins. But at a HEAVY premium. Good on the salesman for talking me out of going through them for those tires.

But for truck and motorhome tires? They're pretty much the best game in town.

Thanks for weighing in.