Tow vehicle tire trauma.....

[cdlaine]

Yep...this a.m. ...greater Phoenix metroplex. Planned on
camping this weekend , but, now need to get remaining tires
replaced... camp site cancelled.

4 years old, Michelin LTX M/S 245/75/R16... side wall blow out.
Not towing when it happened. Had drying out of side wall...was
trying to stretch life cycle of tires before replacing. I chose
poorly. New tires this week.

..don't be like me. 😮

Will replace with same. Lately, the RV'ing thing has been performing
significant wallet biopsies... more then "the cost of doing business".
I need a break from things breaking . :B

Charles

[cdlaine]

Yep Ben... and add in the ever - popular black interior. Mercy...
don't even want to talk about wearing shorts and the contact "speaking
in tongues" that result from the combo. :E that will crack your thigh sidewalls indeed....

So , today , got around to thrust angle alignment.... as predicted , the
camber, caster , and toe were not off by much, but conventional wisdom dogma requires I should do this when putting new skin on the truck.
For those interested...Brakes Plus...$50.00 with internet coupon. 45 min.. Adjacent to the Discount Tire where I bought the replacement Michelin's...they are probably in cahoots. Probably not needed but does track honestly without drift or correction required. And now I can't be criticized for not getting it done. :B

Charles

[BenK]

Yeah...been there done that in Phoenix on business trips...

Acquiring a division from Motorola...many meetings that started in the spring...the
rains and those 100 yard wide culverts to drain and direct rain water run off...

Little did I know about summer out there...late, as my flight delayed and arrived
at the rental...they gave my ride away...even with my corporate Hertz card...said
take that one out there...

It was in the sun...got in and HOLY #$#$ was it HOT in there...couldn't touch
the steering wheel and drove with the AC full blast to Chandler with just
my finger tip/nails touching the hotter than a frying pan steering wheel...

UV/Heat are the two worst things for tires

[Huntindog]

Bionic Man wrote:

45Ricochet wrote:
But it's a "dry" heat :B

Just like my oven.....

I've spent a fair amount of time in Phoenix, but have never lived full time there. I do know about the 120* days, where it cools down to a balmy 100* overnight.

But I still don't accept that tires should last less than 4 years. As I said, if it was me, I would talk to my tire dealer (usually Discount Tire) about standing behind the tire. I wouldn't expect full replacement, but I would be surprised if they didn't offer something.

And if they didn't stand behind them, I certainly would not buy the same brand a second time. Especially when there seems to be many reports of similar damage in more hospitable climates.

Well then.... If you lived here....You'd have fun walking.
Most of the time tires are good for about 3 years here. 4 years is pushing it. I recently got reminded of this when I "lost" track of time and my old Blazer blew a tire. Close inspection showed they all were on the way out. And it was not a Michelin.
Garaging can help. Unfortunantly few have a garage for their TTs.
I do get 5 years out of my TTs Michelins, but it cost me 240.00 for the covers to do it... It takes two sets of covers as they don't last very long. I am pretty sure that the math doesn't work out favorably.. But it makes me feel like I am doing something.

[Bionic_Man]

45Ricochet wrote:
But it's a "dry" heat :B

Just like my oven.....

I've spent a fair amount of time in Phoenix, but have never lived full time there. I do know about the 120* days, where it cools down to a balmy 100* overnight.

But I still don't accept that tires should last less than 4 years. As I said, if it was me, I would talk to my tire dealer (usually Discount Tire) about standing behind the tire. I wouldn't expect full replacement, but I would be surprised if they didn't offer something.

And if they didn't stand behind them, I certainly would not buy the same brand a second time. Especially when there seems to be many reports of similar damage in more hospitable climates.

[45Ricochet]

But it's a "dry" heat :B

[cdlaine]

Huntindog....

Sun exposure is definitely brutal to rubber, plastic, and fiberglass.
All which are abundant on our RV's. This round I need to pay better
attention to detail...

and, if Michelin gives a 50% rebate on 5 1/2
year old cracked sidewalls I'm all in.

Charles

[Huntindog]

cdlaine wrote:
Well Scott.. no justifiable reason other then to say that
many/most of the truck owners that I have spoken with here in
the Phoenix region site similar results regardless of
brand. I have not been convinced that the problem lies with
the tire manufacture process/content. It seems more likely
that the trade offs that have been made to provide comfortable
ride, load ratings, speed ratings, number and make up of
side wall plys etc. play a more important role then brand. In
the region I live in, environmental conditions (sun) and
road surface conditions (marginal) are also factors. Since I
drive like a Nun it is not likely I'm to blame. 🙂

Being a creature of habit, and, wondering if the "forum" reporting
of premature failure is of statistical significance, and, if switching
to comparable brands would yield better results (already similar
results with Bridgestone and Goodyear). I decided to stay with
tires within the same spec range of the o.e.m. tires that came with
my truck.

I am not a tire expert. A change in brand name at this time seemed
more based on "just trying something else" then reasoned thought.
When I initially purchased the Michelin's they were the darlings of the forum...
much love for the logo, except for "cost". The tide has turned. We shall
see if I sink or swim. I wouldn't advise anyone to do as I've
done as every application is different.

Charles

Most of the responders just have no idea how severe the heat is in Phoenix.. It has to be experienced to be understood.
Rubber and plastic that stays outside doesn't live long here. As a 43 year resident, I have had many sets of tires, none of them were impervious to the Arizona sun...
But on the flip side, vehicles don't rust here.:)

[filrupmark]

Michelin warrants and prorates for six years.They gave me 50% credit due to cracking on 5-1/2 year old M&S tires.

[FishOnOne]

alexleblanc wrote:
at the first sign of dry rot/cracking i'd be changing out my tires, seems like lots of people try to get a little more out of them - seems kinda dangerous and careless in my opinion.

Well said.... I was rotating my tires 2 weeks ago when I noticed my BF Goodrich's are starting to crack. I currently have 44k miles on them and there's enough tread to get an easy 50k miles or more, but I'm going to pull the trigger on a new set really soon.

[alexleblanc]

OFDPOS wrote:
Well you know what they about opinions 😉 lol

They're like A-holes (that drive on dry rotted cracked tires)?

[OFDPOS]

Well you know what they about opinions 😉 lol

[alexleblanc]

at the first sign of dry rot/cracking i'd be changing out my tires, seems like lots of people try to get a little more out of them - seems kinda dangerous and careless in my opinion.

[BenK]

jerem0621 wrote:
Geeze Ben.. You make my $98.00 POS Huffy blush!

Bought my Trek 1000 for $100 bucks...from GF's son who was graduating
from UCLA.

Seems that is a great way to get some used bicycles...gotta go to a
college with rich kids in attendance...

High end would have been an 1800, but all had the same alu frame and
the difference in components. Shimano on the 1800 and SunTour on my 1000

Cleaned, tuned, etc the wheels and sold them both for $50 bucks. Took
them off spot on when a guy liked how I cruised right past him. Put
his OEM Trek 1000 wheels/tires and sold them on Craigs for $25 bucks

So, was in on this bike $25 bucks and going through the BikeNash
catalog and found a great sale going on...best deal was the $350
Magma seat for $129, which is now on my Madone 6.5...it is lighter.
and the Madone seat is on the 1000

Bought fav Mavic rim's IIRC $139/ea list on sale at BikeNash for $89ea

Built them on Dura Ace hubs and cassette from my parts bin (build
for me, buddies and donation). Lots of my premium parts are take offs
from bike found on the side of the road...inspect and many times find
that they were high end...most likely stolen and never cared for...clean
and polish and now have ultra high end components

The wheels/tires/hubs/gears/etc would cost me about $600-$700
pair/list to build today

[Fordlover]

FWIW, I have Michelin LTX m/s tires on the X. They are Passenger tires, but were manufactured in 2008. They are all just about worn down to wear indicators, and nary a crack on the sidewall. The truck is garaged however, which IMO helps significantly.