Are folks running a different type of tire tread on their drive axle vs the steer axle?
My understanding is steer tread should always be ribbed and can be used on drive axles, but alternately a lug or sipe tread can used on the drive axle.
I assume a lug or sipe tread would offer more traction, but probably not required for the driving conditions most likely encountered in a motor coach.
From the numerous prior posts, I know there are many passionate opinions on tire brands and I am definitely not asking that question. :)
Do you run the same tire style front and rear or do you use a different tread style on the drive axle.
Steer x 6
Steer. All the way around
KISS. Steer x 6.
Toyo steer x6
Toyo steer 6 load range H
OP said he doesn't care to discuss tire brands - he is only asking opinions about tire tread design.
As a highly qualified armchair engineer, I can't see how rear dually tire tread design would make much (if any) difference in common low traction situations. With all the weight hanging on the rear axle of a diesel pusher, traction is normally gonna be pretty darn good...until it isn't. But where do large pusher motorhomes commonly get in trouble? Three conditions that I have read about (but never personally encountered).
1. Mud. Stick a diesel pusher in mud, and the tires won't matter. The tread will pack with mud, and any tire turns into a slick. Call a wrecker.
2. Sand. The only tires that help in deep soft sand are flotation style paddle tires. Anything else is useless once you get stuck. Call a wrecker.
3. Snow and ice. I suppose a special "snow and ice" tire with specific tread design and rubber compound might help. No personal experience. I'll let those who have been there comment. I prefer to sit out the storm and drink hot buttered rum.
Steer x 6.
JohnH
If you have steer tires all the way around, your spare can be a steer and fit any position.
Pierce
Steer all the way around.
Larry
Steer X 6 here as well. I,m off pavement less than 1% of the time and then, only on maintained dirt roads, (dry).
Steers all away around and in the winter snow tires on the rear.
Having been stuck in the sand once you are 100% correct. ^.^d
I have driven in snow and ice both with snow tires and without. The coach is not to bad without snow tires but great with them.
Up here it is the law that snow tires are mandatory on certain highways from October to April.
If you drive in snow, there is a good chance the road may have been chemically treated. The number one Foretravel bulkhead killer. You have to wash thoroughly before storing again.
Pierce
As everyone else has said. Ribbed all around.
Lugged drives will help some in fresh snow that is an inch or more deep. Once it packs down into ice. Nothing but slowing down and chains will help.
But if one is regularly driving a coach in snow. One has rather big scheduling issues they should work on. :)) :))
Don't know about yours but chains won't go on our GV. A chain coming loose could do thousands of $$$ of damage.
Pierce
Just a general statement about big rigs. No way is there room for conventional chains on an RV. I ran automatic chains on my semi's. So no clearance issues at all. insta chain (http://www.instachain.com/)
I spent to many years fighting snow driving to missile silos and pulling double trailers in Wyoming & South Dakota and so I avoid snow.
Winter tire have a different Rubber compound than summer it's a softer compound I've driven 2200 miles and hit snow 100 miles from home You don't have to run winter tires but there's better tires you can put on the back of your coach than a steerIng tires you can easily be caught in snow conditions and by having all season tires or a gripping tire than A steering tire you can save thousands of dollars of damage by not slipping around on bad snow plus you got grip . I travel every fall from Canada to Florida or Florida to Canada in early March , I seen once leaving Canada on bare pave and get in Connecticut in middle of afternoon and hitting black ice. Road conditions can change in a flash. Like they say don't be caught with your pants down. If you run the southern states only you're ok but if you run northern state you can never tell what you will encounter. You can watch the weather but a drop in temperature changes the whole situation.
And no matter how hard I tried I could not pull Ted's coach out of the big deep holes he dug for himself. Even with 4 wheel drive.
We had to call in the big boy.
Interesting. Now Ted & Karen's decision to go brick and mortar becomes less conflicted. :D
Those Instachains are one of the coolest things I've seen in years!!!! Just sayin.
Very expensive, but in SD & Wy. You can run in bare pavement, ice and right back in bare pavement. That's why truckers try to not chain up. It's hard and slow and you can't run on pavement for long.
All I had to do was slow to 25MPH and flip a switch. Boom, chained up for that slick hill.
Bigdog when you ski it's nothing to do with schedule, it's what I want, lots of snow. I also have a set of soft chains that I carry so
when I travel during the chain months mostly coming back from a trip that I am legal. If I have to put on chains I will wait a day
or two until the road is clear. Sometime in late November I put on the snow tires.
I too played in the sand earlier this year...just wasn't as much fun as I remember it being when I was younger.
I guess you are the exception. My knees don't do skiing anymore. Nearly 40 years in super cold South Dakota digging my way onto missile sites and driving my expensive semi EVERY night come hell or high water. In ten years of semi driving. I only cancelled one trip on account of weather and had zero accidents. I just grew sick of working/driving in snow and below zero temps.
My rig came with steering tires all around, but I have wondered about putting traction tires on the rig when I change out tires. I do a lot of boon docking and have more than once had my rear tires spinning but luckily didn't get stuck. I met a guy on my way to Alaska in 2019, and he had traction tires on the rear of his SOB rv. I asked him about the ride difference, and he said he couldn't tell the difference. Does anyone know the reason that rv manufactures put steer tires on both front and rears of motor-homes?
Rotation? Dismount to rotate
Steer tires just work! Plus, they don't usually make any noise. Most coaches don't go much off road so not a problem there. We do take ours through an occasional field but make sure it's either level or downhill a little. Drive tires would not do much better in any situation. We spend 95% of the time either dry camping or boondocking so are well acquainted with dirt roads. Going to the beach in Baja is usually down a sandy road.
If you live or plan on spending time in the West, having a steer tire for a spare means you can stick it on the front where you would not want to mix steer and drive tires on opposite sides. Having a spare where there is no cell service like all around us in the Sierras can save your bacon. Ever go through an Indian reservation where they have their own cell service? Another thing about having a matching spare is when you put it on, it's the same brand as the rest so you don't have to be delayed finding a same brand tire.
Even if you do have to call to have it changed, it's just the time it takes the tow truck driver to get there and the 10 or 15 minutes it takes to change it and you are on your way.
Pierce
Are Toyo 177s "steer" tires?
M177 - Long Haul Commercial Steer Tire | Toyo Tires (https://www.toyotires.com/commercial-truck/tire/pattern/m177-long-haul-steer-tire)
This link gives recommended and suitable tire positions for HD commercial Toyo tires.
I have the 154 which is under regional. The. 177 is under long haul.
The 154s, H rated, were recommended to me by the tire store manager that supplied tires to Monaco and Country Coach in Junction City and Coburg, Oregon, and has had many years supplying various brands and models of tires to rvs and commercial trucks. He also supplied Goodyear and Michelin to Monaco when they specified those brands.
Commercial Tires That Are The Leading Value Alternative | Toyo Tires (https://www.toyotires.com/commercial-truck)
Maybe that was before Toyo came out with lower rolling resistance tires.
I run an M137 tire with the least amount of tread depth at 15/32 vs M154 @ 22/32
no need for the extra tread depth in our application.
No, in 2017 I purchased the 154s, three years after 2014 when the 177 came out. Like the 177, the 154 is also a U.S. Dot "Smartway" tire for decreased rolling resistance and increased fuel mileage.