Motorhome Tires

Topic: Motorhome Tires (Read 3240 times) previous topic - next topic

Motorhome Tires

January 16, 2020, 01:20:25 pm

Just bought my (new to us) 99 u320 which has 2006 tires all around (with a small chunk out of one on the sidewalls in the rear...). Currently in Nacogdoches and would like to know 1) who are happy with their tire choice (brand/size) and 2) are you aware of any place to buy more recently DOT dated tires around NAC? Read online about issues with Michelins on the forum but I have run them on a previously owned FT without any issues. Toyo's? Bridgestone? Michelin? Prefer hearing from folks with similar year/build coach. Thanks a million for your thoughts and experience!

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #1 – January 16, 2020, 01:51:47 pm

Herman Power Tire in NAC generally keeps a fairly fresh supply of tires cuz they sell a lot of them.

Herman Power Tire | Nacogdoches and Diboll, TX Tires And Auto Repair Shop

Our coach is not "similar year/model" but FWIW we went with Uniroyal RS20 275/80R22.5 LRH tires, and have been totally satisfied with them.

Prices have probably changed since 2 years ago:

Hanging At Camp FOT

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #2 – January 16, 2020, 02:10:11 pm

I got a 99 U320 coach which came with 295/75/22.5 Bridgestone tires and I have no complains.

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #3 – January 16, 2020, 02:14:32 pm

We have 295/75-22.5 Toyo M177 tires and they give us a great ride. Purchased in Sealy Brown Tire
John

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #4 – January 16, 2020, 02:26:33 pm

Toyo M137's 295/75/22.5 H
Southern Tire Mart Longview, TX as they do a bunch of oil field trucks and turn over tires quickly.
Mike

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #5 – January 16, 2020, 02:54:46 pm

36' 1998 U320. Changed over from the outdated Michelin's to the Toyo M137. Picked the M137 as they have a bit less tread depth (less tread squirm) than other Toyo's. We are happy with the Toyo's.
Main reason to not go with Michelin's was that Michelin has to pay for the racing sponsorships and up-charges significantly compared to others and more importantly has a well deserved rubbish reputation on warranty claims.

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #6 – January 16, 2020, 03:20:20 pm

Every unihome and unicoach made came with Michelin's.

Michelin's x steel inner carcass self centers in its design.

Plus the later tires have self centering sipes as part of the design.

Look at the various tires pictures on the internet for yourself and see the design differences.

Seen a lot of big rigs with Michelin's on the steer axle. Less riding herd on the steering wheel.

Thicker sidewalls on the other brands for run flat reasons.

Michelin runs thinner sidewalls on all their tires as the carcass itself will run straight after a pressure loss.

Shreds the sidewall. Versus hold it stiff.

Most coaches would not show the handling differences.

A unihome or unicoach will steer better IMO.

Yes they are more money. Cal freeways bad ride was helped by the higher load rated "h" series Michelin's that allowed us to run 97/87 front and rear pressures.

The other "h" rated tires lower load capacity would have us back to 107/97 for our load and result in a stiffer ride over the sharp edges on the freeways concrete block construction.

Perfect roads this may not be noticeable but on bad roads was very noticeable.

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #7 – January 16, 2020, 03:58:16 pm

I ran Continentals for 9 years. Excellent tires. I replaced them with the Toyo M137. Mainly because most seemed to like them and they seem to be a much better value. I have always liked the ride of Michelin, but not sure they are worth the extra$$. JMO.
Jerry

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #8 – January 16, 2020, 05:15:48 pm

Stiffer sidewall tires are more durable and the coach does not move around as much. Key here is not how many miles you can get out of them but how long the carcasses last. Bridgestone/Firestone have the reputation for lasting the longest, Michelin the shortest. Lots of good tires Toyo, Continental or even some Thai, Taiwan or Chinese tires.

Pierce

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #9 – January 16, 2020, 05:27:46 pm

When should we start seeing 2020 dated tires available at retail locations? I need new tires so following this thread with great interest? I definitely intend to let retailer know I want a recent manufacture date.

PO is adamant the tires are only two or three years old. DOT code shows they are much older. Could be he just lost track of time, but could be he was sold old stock tires. Sidewalls are not showing any cracks, but the date of manufacture is 8 years ago.

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #10 – January 16, 2020, 05:38:05 pm

You should be able to get tires made within the last quarter (3 months).

If not, were it me I would shop or wait unless an emergency situation.

And, I have specified exactly that on both our motorhome tire purchases and car tire purchases. Have seen zero discount for old inventory.

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #11 – January 16, 2020, 05:41:51 pm

Unicoaches seem to be 2,000 pounds heavier, mostly in the front structure, than unihomes.

So a lower tire pressure tire on a unihome with certain ride quality results may be different on a 40' unicoach with a front mounted gen and a larger fuel tank.

Our 97 40' is just over 12k on the front axle wet. The g rated tires at the needed higher pressure and older design rode roughly on bad roads.

New design, higher capacity, run at lower pressure really helped. Plus Koni FSD shocks.

Steers beautifully. Rides nice. Very little "squirm"

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #12 – January 16, 2020, 05:55:39 pm

Quote from: wolfe10 – January 16, 2020, 05:38:05 pm

You should be able to get tires made within the last quarter (3 months).

That actually does appear to depend on the tire size and popularity, at least with Michelin.

Seems, at least from our experience, they produce most of the MH tires for spring installations (which makes sense - that's when folks are getting coaches out of storage and doing maintenance). Now should be the best time to find fresh ones. We found waiting until later in the year you were much more likely to find older stock and in the case of the standard tire size (275/80R22.5) there were times, especially towards the fall, where the distribution chain showed no production of that tire/size planned for several months.

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #13 – January 16, 2020, 09:44:20 pm

When we got our coach at MOT in 9/17 we bought Uniroyal tires from Herman power in Nac. A year later one of the fronts got a bulge in the side wall the size of a golf ball on the way home from San Antonio, Brown tire in Sealy on I10 on the way home was our next stop. They were out of stock on the uniroyals so we went with 2 toyos on the front. Other than the one that went bad on the front they have all been good tires.. Herman power tire did me right on the defective tire, they seem to be a good outfit. Brown tire bought my old outta date tires for a decent price too by the way. They sell them to truckers at a reduced price, truckers don't care how old the tires on their trailers are. Helped on the sting of the price of new tires.....

Keith

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #14 – January 17, 2020, 10:33:20 am

Thanks for your feedback. Herman Tire had some Toyo's that I am having mounted as I type. Thoughts on air pressure to run in front and back? No slide U320 with 3 8D's and full propane tank at front axle. I will be getting it aligned (Big Trucks Huntington) and weighed (escapee's Livingston) upon my return home from NAC.

Walt

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #15 – January 17, 2020, 10:52:56 am

Until you weight it, go by the PSI on the GVWR sticker on the wall next to the driver's seat. It is based on each axle being loaded to its GAWR (Gross Axle Weight Rating).

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #16 – January 17, 2020, 10:53:47 am

^ What Brett says ^

You don't want to risk running underinflated and damage brand new tires. While inflating to axle rating will result in a stiffer ride, at least you won't risk tires or safety and in this case (with the Smart Weigh in the near future), it will only be for a short period of time.

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #17 – January 17, 2020, 12:35:06 pm

Quote from: wolfe10 – January 17, 2020, 10:52:56 am

Until you weight it, go by the PSI on the GVWR sticker on the wall next to the driver's seat. It is based on each axle being loaded to its GAWR (Gross Axle Weight Rating).

Brett, Wouldn't it be better to use the tire to determine what pressure to get to the axle weights? I was surprised to find that my front load range H tires had different pressures for weights than my rear Toyo load range H tires.

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #18 – January 17, 2020, 12:39:04 pm

The PSI on the GVWR plaque is for the OE tires. Certainly if you have different load ratings than OE tires, PSI could be different. Since one should NEVER go down in weight rating from OE, the OE recommended PSI could be accurate or a little high. Can't see it making a material difference. Would be surprised if there would be more than a 10% difference.

But, agree. If non-OE weight rating tires, I have no problem in going to the tire manufacturer's inflation table with the coach's GAWR to determine PSI until weighted (and weighted when loaded as you will travel which means full fuel as well as all your "stuff".

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #19 – January 17, 2020, 03:20:10 pm

Quote from: Caflashbob – January 16, 2020, 05:41:51 pm

Our 97 40' is just over 12k on the front axle wet. The g rated tires at the needed higher pressure and older design rode roughly on bad roads.

New design, higher capacity, run at lower pressure really helped. Plus Koni FSD shocks.

Steers beautifully. Rides nice. Very little "squirm"

Four years ago I put new Continentals (H) on all the way around. My front axle weight is 12,200 lbs loaded, which by Conti's tire chart require 110 psi in each tire. Even with new Koni FSDs the ride was horrible and very tiring. I did some research and found that Michelins (275/80R22.5) only needed 100 psi for that same axle weight, and further checking led me to the new Michelin X Multi Energy tires that only require 95 psi. I purchased two of them from OTRUSA Tires the first week in December with a manufacture date of 11/10/19 and mounted them with a pack of balance beads in each one.

Today was the first time I have driven the coach since changing tires and I am really happy to say that the ride with 95 psi vs 110 psi is like night and day. They ride great and steer great.

I still have the Conti''s on the rear at 95 psi so no reason to change them. The Conti's are a great tire if your axle weight allows 95-100 psi IMO.

Real Happy Camper here!

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #20 – January 17, 2020, 08:49:24 pm

Well stopped by Herman Power Tire this morning planning to purchase 6 tires. Decided on the Toyo M177 that they had in stock (they fell under Brett's 3 month rule

I asked them in advance if they thought there was any problem with the tire hitting the front airbags. They said no but that they were happy to mount one and find out. Sure enough they slightly touched the airbag metal base plate so I decided to look elsewhere (other tires I was considering showed a DOT code older than 3 months). So still hunting for some good tires that clear the front air bags in tight turns. I admit, I get confused trying to keep up with tread depth, tire width variances... therefore your help is very much appreciated. I do have a picture of the Toyo M177 hitting the front air bag of my coach during the experimental tire mounting if I can figure out how to upload it. Thanks to Herman Power Tire for their time and willingness to check it out together.

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #21 – January 17, 2020, 09:04:20 pm

Yes, I have inspected other coaches where 295/75R22.5 were just enough wider to touch either the bag base steel plate or the drag link.

In most cases minor "polishing" rather than destructive.

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #22 – January 17, 2020, 09:14:17 pm

The 295s don't touch the airbag, just the bottom plate in certain turns. It polishes ours but nothing more. It's NO BIG DEAL at least on ours.. I'll take the 7% added width anytime.

Here is the size comparison chart:

Pierce

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #23 – January 17, 2020, 09:15:18 pm

Quote from: web – January 17, 2020, 08:49:24 pm

Well stopped by Herman Power Tire this morning planning to purchase 6 tires. Decided on the Toyo M177 that they had in stock (they fell under Brett's 3 month rule I asked them in advance if they thought there was any problem with the tire hitting the front airbags. They said no but that they were happy to mount one and find out. Sure enough they slightly touched the airbag metal base plate so I decided to look elsewhere (other tires I was considering showed a DOT code older than 3 months). So still hunting for some good tires that clear the front air bags in tight turns. I admit, I get confused trying to keep up with tread depth, tire width variances... therefore your help is very much appreciated. I do have a picture of the Toyo M177 hitting the front air bag of my coach during the experimental tire mounting if I can figure out how to upload it. Thanks to Herman Power Tire for their time and willingness to check it out together.

When MOT installed my new shocks and airbags last year. I asked them about this problem with my new Toyo's. Their answer was IT ISN'T A PROBLEM. They emphasized that. They said the tire only rubs the base (not the bag) and that only happens during a very sharp turn. So the wheel speed is low. If you turn sharp enough at highway speed to start rubbing that base. You are either going to lose control or roll the coach. The rubbing would be the least of ones worries.

Re: Motorhome Tires

Reply #24 – January 17, 2020, 11:02:07 pm

My 12 year old bridgestones are getting replaced with Toyo soon. I would not consider Michelins under any circumstance. The local commercial tire shop actually recommended a popular chinese truck tire they have been installling successfully for years. I might go that route but havent decided yet. He is trying to save me $$ and says out of the thousands they install on fleets the amount of defective tires they replace is extremely low (he said similar to any major brand) and they work well in much heavier duty service than a motorhome. It would be quite a bit of money saved, but of course thats all for nothing if they suck.

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