Hi everyone, my first post. looking at a used U270 Diesel 36ft and it will need tires. 275/80R 22.5s Long haul trucker buddy recommended I go to 11R/22.5 tires a stiffer side wall and better wear. any thoughts or experience?
Thanks
Current Michelin xza-3+ are capable of 230,000 or more miles on the trucker forums or more before reaching 6/32's of tread remaining.
Stiffer sidewalls in the inch series rode worse when I used 9r22.5 and 10r 22.5 in Foretravels older coaches.
Massive ride quality improvement and all driving parameters with the xza-1's introduction in the unihomes in 1988
Welcome to Foreforums. I have only had My coach for 2 years, from what I have read on here, tires will age out before they wear out. Also, like a lot of things, lots of opinions on tires.
Dennis
Long haul trucking is different from an RV experience. Search this forum with the keyword "tires." You will find a LOT of information. There appear to be good reasons for buying RV tires for an RV, and truck tires for a truck.
We have had our coach almost six years. We put new tires on the coach when we bought it, and have driven about 72,000 miles on those tires. I plan to replace tires soon. They are worn, but still have significant tread depth. However, prudent and safe operation calls for buying new tires about every six years, even they appear to have good depth of tread.
Welcome to the forum. I suggest that you spend a LOT of time studying the collection of information here. The search function can provide a lot of information based on other folk's valuable experience.
You may have clearance issues with 11r's. Take a look at how much room you have between the tires and the air bag seats.
My experience was very much the same. I inherited Dayton Metro Bus tires on my last coach. While not inch series they had a very stiff, and thick, sidewall (probably for protection from hitting curbs) and the coach rode like a dump truck. Switching to Michelin XZA -3's made a tremendous difference in ride quality.
Unless you intend to spend all your time driving like your long-haul trucker friend you are more likely to have the tires rot out before the tread wears out.
295/75R/22.5 is what you want 11R are going to be too tall. 11R is 2'' taller
size circumference radius sidewall height inner diameter overall diameter
275/80R22.5
125.11 inches 19.91 inches 8.66 inches 22.5 inches 39.82 inches
295/7 5R22.5 125.42 inches 19.96 inches 8.71 inches 22.5 inches 39.92 inches
The 295/75R/22.5 is a very popular semi truck tire and available everywhere,The 275/80R/22.5 is not popular as a truck tire but it is as a RV tire. I'd go with the 295 myself as they are available should you ever need one and Pricing should be better than the 275 due to their high usage. The size difference in height is so close it wont even effect the speedometer.
I would be curious to go from 80 series tires to a lower profile 75 series. Probably make no difference but I would not want to lose any ride quality. Need a few that have done that change on similar weight coaches for feedback
If one desires to buy Michelin tires, when is the best time of year to buy them to get recently-produced tires? I've heard that Michelin typically produces their XZA-3+ tires only at certain times during the year. One certainly wouldn't want tires that have been aging in a warehouse.
Due to a blowout I put the Yokohama RY617 295 75R 22.5 on the rear of my MH a couple of weeks ago. So far I have not been able tell much difference between those and the Michelin XZA2's that were on it. We haven't driven it far enough to make a fair evaluation but headed on a jaunt to Boenrne in a couple of weeks and should get a feeling after a thousand miles. By the way I went with H rated tire instead of the G. After we get back I'll try to give an opinion as to their ride.
I've read many places, that the two tires are, for all practical purposes, the same. I think only Michelin makes 275/80r. With that said, I have a 295/75 and a 275/80 on the same spot on my rear duals after a blowout. 1000miles on it and no problems (I have dual dynamics equalizer).
The only issue I've read about on the forum for the 295's is the potential to hit the airbag mounting plates up front.
Can be overcome by grinding the airbag mounting plates slightly Front tires hitting airbag mounts (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=23341.msg181147#msg181147)
(there are other discussions about this; I just haven't found the right combination of search words yet)
We bought 6 new Michellins in August, went with the 275/80-22.5 XZE's rather than the XZA's. May not ride as soft as the XZA's but I wanted the reinforced sidewalls that the regional XZE's offered.
Most of the campgrounds that we stay in are smaller and negotiating tight turns and curbs are an issue. IMHO they don't ride any different that the 10 year old XZA-1's we replaced.
I have attached an Excel spreadsheet of the Michelin Advantage prices for 2016.
There is one tab that just has 275s and 295s
It looks to me that for the tires we want the 295s are about $100-200 more.
See XZE2+
HTH
Elliot,
The XZE2+ in 295 tread width is a 80 % sidewall aspect tire. This size is a larger diameter tire than a 295 75R 22.5 and the same diameter size 275 80R 22.5.
295 75R 22.5 have fit fine on my U320 for years. I do not think I can run the larger 295 80R 22.5 on my coach.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for all the responses, it sounds like the 11R is not the way to go. Will probably stick with an RV tire or maybe the 295/75s. Looking finalize the deal next week. Thankyou
Picked up a brochure at Quartzsite,"MICHELIN RV TIRES",has all the info ya-all are discussing here,can call 1-800-859-0665
and order one.Is MWL43146