Tires

[dumboat2]

Thanks for the info on the generator. We just purchased a 1997 Coach House 192 ks on a Dodge 3500 chassis. I need new tires for my rig. As I have gone back several months on the forum, the recommendations have been the Hercules and Michelin LTX M/S2. We have no Hercules dealer within 120 miles, but we do have a Michelin dealer and right now they are my #1 choice. I have Open Country on the van now and experience a lot of sway. Do you have any other suggestions before I purchase the Michelins or any other info in general about van camping or specifically to the Coach House and Dodge. Thanks. Jerry.

[CSG]

I don't get the soft sidewall comments on the Michelins. The ones I run on my pickup and van are E rated with 3000# plus ratings on each tire. What don't I understand?

[stan909]

I'd try pumping your current tires to near max pressure as per the sidewall and see what that does for you.A good set of shocks like a Bilstien may be in order.

[My_Roadtrek]

Another reason I'm recommending the Goodyear Adventure with Kevlar is the stiffer sidewall, plus because of the Kevlar they are lighter, and run cooler than steel belted tires. We all know heat gobbles up tire tread.
It's hard to get the Michliens fans to consider any other brand. I've ran the MS2, V steels, and both were really good tires, but for all types of driving, highway, rain, snow, dirt, my opinion is Goodyear Adventures are a better tire. I know they are an AT tire and that alone turns people off because AT's have always been noisy on the highway, not so with the Goodyears, there as quiet or quiter than other strictly highway tires.
Note: The Advenures (60,000 mi. warranty) with Kevlar are replacing the Silent Armors.

[overbrook]

booster wrote:
We have the MS2 on our 07 Roadtrek 190P and find them to be very good for us, handling very well, but we also have significant suspension upgrades that make the van extraordinarily stable. We are good to 85mph+ with no issue. There is no doubt that the MS2 have softer sidewalls, which we like for the softer ride they give compared to the stock Bridegstone Vsteel.

From everything I have read, the Dodges do the best with stiffer sidewalls. Many, many, many folks have found the best tires to be Michelin XPS Ribs, which are much more substantial in sidewall strength, and do a good job of settling down the often very wandery Dodges.

X2 on the XPS ribs. Very strong sidewalls. Can often solve wander problems. A little pricey though.

Bill

[booster]

We have the MS2 on our 07 Roadtrek 190P and find them to be very good for us, handling very well, but we also have significant suspension upgrades that make the van extraordinarily stable. We are good to 85mph+ with no issue. There is no doubt that the MS2 have softer sidewalls, which we like for the softer ride they give compared to the stock Bridegstone Vsteel.

From everything I have read, the Dodges do the best with stiffer sidewalls. Many, many, many folks have found the best tires to be Michelin XPS Ribs, which are much more substantial in sidewall strength, and do a good job of settling down the often very wandery Dodges.

[overbrook]

scrndoor wrote:
Hi there, I to am looking for new tires for our 2006 Roadtrek 210P. My research tells me that the Michelin LTX MS2 is the way to go. Maybe it depends on the rig, as far as performance.

Thoughts?

The LTX MS2 sidewalls may be too soft for the weight of the 210P.

Many people on the Roadtrek site recommend using the BridgeStone VSteel - which is the OEM tire Roadtrek originally put on your 2006 210P.

Bill

[My_Roadtrek]

Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar Review

I have these on our SUV and they have been a great All Terrane tire, that rides smoother than many highway tires.
Consumer Reports gave them a high rating.
They also cost a little less than the Michelins.
They come in Load Range E with an extra layer of Kevlar added. They should definitely be a consideration for a Class B.
Side note: The one problem with buying tires from Costco is you can't make an appointment for tire service like rotations, it's first come first serve.

[dumboat2]

Bill, are you talking about the LTX M/S or the LTX M/S2?

[scrndoor]

Hi there, I to am looking for new tires for our 2006 Roadtrek 210P. My research tells me that the Michelin LTX MS2 is the way to go. Maybe it depends on the rig, as far as performance.

Thoughts?

[overbrook]

CSG wrote:
That's pretty contrary to the experience most of us have had with Michelin LTX MS tires.

If you search RV.Net, Google or the Roadtrek site at Yahoo, you'll find many people who report the soft sidewalls on the Michelin LTX MS tires tend to induce wandering at higher speeds (over sixty).

Also note that Michelin recalled 1.3 million LTX MS tires because the tread might come apart. You can read more about this in the NTSHA document from Michelin announcing the recall at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/jaxrs/download/doc/UCM447539/RCDNN-13T012-5467.pdf

Bill

[CSG]

That's pretty contrary to the experience most of us have had with Michelin LTX MS tires.

[overbrook]

dumboat2 wrote:
Do you have any other suggestions before I purchase the Michelins or any other info in general about van camping or specifically to the Coach House and Dodge. Thanks. Jerry.

I had a 2000 Coachhouse 192 KS and put Michelin Michelin LTX MS2 tires on it. The handling immediately went south.

I tried an alignment, new shocks, rear wheel spacers - and nothing helped.

Then I replaced the Michelins with Bridgestone V Steels, and the handling issue resolved itself.

The Michelins LTX MS2 are great tires, but under the weight of a heavy class b van, the sidewalls and tread flex result in squirrelly handling.

They handle okay under 55, but at speed the road wander is hard to keep up with.

Get tires with stiffer sidewalls. The Bridgestone V Steels worked for me.

Bill

[mkguitar]

your best bet for Michelin pricing will be costco.

esp if you travel and have to do a warranty.

great tip on inflation above, for instance on my PW Lexor, it is 80 rear and 60 front

mike

[modomot]

Jerry if you haven't checked the air pressure and researched proper PSI then that is where I would start. I don't remember recommend amount for RAM 3500. 55 front, 65 rear or something like that.
Tom

[Mobile_Island]

We have used the Michelin M/S2 tires on three RVs and on a 2003 F-150. The RVs were a 2008 Winnebago E350 chassis and two 2003 Sportsmobile E350 vans. All of the RVs had a noticeable improvement in handling and no sway because of the stiffer side walls. The Winnebago had Michelin M/S tires on it before the M/S2 tires and those tires did not have stiff sidewalls and wandered all over the road. We still have the two Sportsmobiles and feel very secure driving on wet or dry pavement. We looked at the M/S2 data on tirerack.com to help make our decision.