zmotorsports

THAT (highlighted in BOLD) is the best formula for success Jim, regardless of manufacturer or age. This goes well beyond tires though. I have preached this for decades now to become up close and personal with your rigs and keep an eye on things. SO many things can be kept at a minimal cost and severity by just crawling under it on a normal basis and putting eyes on components. I can't tell you how many things I have seen over the years could have been avoided had the owner just crawled under it once in a while with a flashlight.

I am very well aware that the 11R22.5 is a substitute for sizing, that is what we run and what I purchase for our fleet of OTR truck/trailers at work. However, there wasn't much of a savings as I got these for nearly the same price as an 11R22.5 and in a 16-ply tire. As for the POR-15, I chose not to use it in this application due to the thickness. I didn't want to use a coating that added much thickness to the mating surfaces. Picked up the new tires Friday afternoon but didn't get a chance to mount them on the coach yet as I had a couple clients vehicles in the shop to work on over the weekend plus a LOF service on my 2006 Silverado 2500HD. Unloaded and awaiting cleaning and wheel polishing before installation. Someone had asked about the inside of the tires so here are a couple pictures of the insides of the Michelin take-offs. They look brand new inside, but then again, I've been using the "good" air in these. 🤣 Old tires being delivered to their new owner yesterday afternoon. I'll post up more pictures once their washed, wheels polished and installed on the coach.

As Vito suggested above, it can be either boiler fluid (glycol) from the Aqua-Hot unit itself OR engine coolant from the engine pre-heat loop if your coach is so equipped. I believe most Monaco coaches that are equipped with the Aqua-Hot option do have the engine pre-heat tied in from the factory. Some other manufactures it seems to be hit and miss as some didn't utilize that option from the factory for some reason. Tiffin in particular I've seen about 50/50 have the engine loop. You will need to at minimum remove the upper cover and it will be easier to remove the lower cover as well as the engine pre-heat hoses are located at the bottom of the cabinet. With that size leak it should be fairly evident where you problem lies. If it is not the engine coolant loop then start looking at the boiler side but I've seen and read multiple issues with the heater hose rubbing through on Monaco coaches creating an engine coolant leak just out away from the cabinet. When I replaced all of my hoses about 8 years or so ago mine had been wearing a spot that was ready to fail so I caught it in time. If you determine it is Aqua-Hot boiler fluid, then look at main lines first before branching out to zone lines.

You're welcome. Glad to hear it was helpful.

In all fairness to the coating, I'm not sure the fronts were powder coated originally. They have been in service for 24 years now. They were on our 1991 Beaver Contessa on a Gillig chassis for the first 7 years then when I sold it I removed them and put them on our Dynasty in 2007 along with the drive axle set. I purchased a new set for the tag axle in 2007 when we purchased the Dynasty and I replaced the drive axle set about 7 years or so ago so I really can't complain about their finish. I don't think the fronts were powder coated back then and just painted but I could be wrong. The tag and drive sets just needed a bit of a "scuff" after cleaning as they were in excellent condition, I just wanted to freshen the finish a bit. When I added the ones to the tag axle I could have installed the ones like the steer axle but opted to get the same as the drive axle for uniformity at the rear and a bit more centrifugal weight. I don't think it would make a difference other than the larger flat ones have a bit more balancing ability due to their larger diameter. On a single tag tire it's probably a moot point but that was my thinking.

I received a text from my cousin yesterday informing me that my tires had arrived via truck freight at his shop. I ran and picked them up after work and dropped them off at the tire shop, then ran home loaded up the tires/wheels from the coach and dropped them off as well. I was told they would be ready this afternoon for pickup so I hope to be able to get them installed on the coach over the weekend. I still have the rear ride height links to replace while the drive tires are off and they are easily assessable as well as install the new Haldex air drier cartridge that is much easier to access with the curbside tag tire removed. After arriving back home I completed the refinishing of the Balance Masters as they were looking a bit "rough". I had sanded and painted the tag and drive axle ones a few days ago but still had the steer axle ones to complete. The steer axles were a bit worse than the drives or tag for some reason and required a bit more sanding, so I broke out the DA and took them down to bare metal on the mounting surface and then just scuffed the outer ring like I did on the others. Sanded and wiped down with Wax & Grease Remover in preparation for Eastwood's Extreme Chassis Black paint in satin finish. This stuff works quite well for an aerosol paint in harsh environments. One down and one to go. All completed and ready for installation. I also purchased a set of new Crossfires that will go on the drive axle. The ones I removed have been on this coach for 17 years and one of the hoses was showing signs of fraying and one of the gauges were fogged. I contacted them about having them rebuilt/repaired but was given an option to purchase new ones at a fair price, so I went that route. They arrived a few days ago so they will be installed along with the new tires and freshly painted Balance Masters. Thanks for looking.

I know the Aero muffler is quite popular but I wanted something a little more subdued when I replaced mine. I went with a 5" Dynomax muffler on mine. Been on there for 17 years now as that was one of the first things I did due to the original owner smacking the exhaust on something and I had to replace from the turbo out.

As far as staggering purchases of tires I have done that on this coach because I have a tag axle. On our previous two coaches that did not have tag axles I did not stagger purchases, but then I only ran one set of tires on each having the first gasser for 6 years (one set of tires) and our second coach (first DP) for 7-years also with only one set of tires. On our current coach over the past 17 years of ownership I would stagger purchases by purchasing drives and steers, then move my previous steers to the tag. Then a few years later purchase another pair of steers and move the previous steers to the tag, always scrapping from the tag axle if that makes sense. The current tire purchase is an anomaly for two reasons, first, I was changing manufacturers, which usually isn't a big deal to have different tire manufacturers on a rig as long as their not paired on a dual setup and secondly, because I got a price break at 8 tires with free shipping which negated any savings by only doing 6 tires this time. Otherwise, I would have moved my 5-year old Michelin steer tires to the tag and purchased new Toyo tires for steers and drives as I had originally planned. It wasn't until I ran the numbers with the price break at 8 and shipping figured in that I decided to do all eight at the same time. Here's my thinking on the tire rotation as you mentioned. As long as they are EXACTLY the same diameter, meaning the tread depth is spot on the same I would say that would be acceptable to interrupt a set of duals. Also, if you can somehow make certain pressures are going to be the same on those duals. For the most part I do not like to upset a dual pair running together unless absolutely necessary such as a roadside issue or other unavoidable reason. Others may or may not agree but this is my reasoning. Years ago, I read in a Bridgestone training brochure that spoke about mixing tires in a dual configuration. Now this is quite common in running fleets but it has to be managed and cannot be just random. Their communicated message was twofold. First it talked about age and tread depth. Seeing as how the inside dual takes the most abuse due to heat, they don't recommend putting older tires on the inside because they are the most overlooked and less attention is paid to them, which I can see after managing a fleet of OTR tractors and trailers for several years. We also tracked age and tread depth precisely for our 46 tractors and when they got to a certain point they would get downgraded to trailer tires for our 235 refrigerated trailers. We would also run recaps on the trailers as long as the casings met the proper criteria. We would match duals only with another tire measuring the exact same. If we didn't have one at the time, new tires were installed and the odd tire was recorded in our spreadsheet and set aside until another came about with the same measurements. The other message Bridgestone communicated was specifically dealing with outside circumference. Two dual tires bolted together running down the road have no other choice than turn at the exact same RPM. If one tire is smaller by only 5/16" in total circumference then those two tires are not going to wear the same because they cannot cover the same distance per revolution. Just a 5/16" of tire circumference is enough for that smaller tire to be drug approx. 13' per mile. Calculate that out and in 100k miles the smaller tire is being dragged 246 miles compared to the slightly larger tire. Back in the late 90's when I learned that it also got me thinking about tire pressures because they can impact overall tire diameter, ie. circumference, in the same manner. In reality, only a 5 PSI difference in tire pressures can also result in a 5/16" diameter in a large OTR tire. This calculates out to the same scenario as the smaller tire being dragged along as having a difference in tread wear on a dual tire setup. This is when I began running Crossfires on our first DP in 2000 and have continued to run them on our current coach. That inside dual is going to get hotter than the outside dual and therefore the tire's diameter can change driving down the road. The Crossfires (and Cat Eyes) work to keep the pressures the same inside to outside and therefore they are much more likely to run the same diameters and give the tires the best chance for a long and happy life. Hope that makes sense, but that's my take on the matter anyways.

I'll soon find out on the smell, I just got an email stating the tires were delivered to my cousin's shop so I will run and grab them this afternoon. Should be able to have them mounted over the weekend and get them back on the coach.

Agreed Rusty, I think having the coach in a climate controlled environment when not in use plays a huge factor, but also routine usage is just as important. I have only been fortunate to have our coach stored indoors for the past almost 7 years now as the first 10+ years of it's like as well as our previous two coaches were outside full-time. The tires were covered however when not in use which wasn't quite as good as being indoors but better than nothing. You guys are making me nervous about the smell of the Toyo's. I really don't want my shop to smell like some kind of barnyard animal. Hell, I couldn't wait to get off the d*** farm, let alone go back to having to smell one. My last shop after working in it for 25+ years took on a smell of race fuel and machining oils and I LOVED it. Would like to get my new one to smell like that eventually but now I'm nervous I may have introduced a not so pleasant smell into it. The surrounding farms where we live are all the animal smell I can take.

Looks like your experience with the Michelin's mirrored my own Frank. Although my coach has technically only been stored indoors for 7 years now, prior to that it was outside 24/7/365. But I did cover them when sitting in the driveway. I covered all the tires on my 3 coaches over the past 32+ years or RV'ing. Even my enclosed trailer tires were covered when not in use and I had similar results with those tires. In the 25+ years of hauling enclosed race trailers around the western U.S. they all lasted in the 8-9 year range before starting to crack. As soon as minor cracks were noted they were replaced.

Thanks Vito. We all learn from each other, I don't know everything, but what I have learned over the years I am happy to share. Just like I am happy to learn from others who are willing to share what they've learned over their years and experiences.

Thanks Jim. Yokahama's were another brand that my local tire shop carried and suggested when they told me the Bridgestone R250 was not available in the size I needed. There was a Bridgestone replacement, I think it was an R268 but don't quote me on that. He said they sell a lot of the Yokahama's so I had him give me a quote. They were cheaper than the Toyo M144's were by quite a bit from my local shop but my local shop was quite high priced from what I thought on the Toyo's. I was able to get eight Toyo M144's from tiresdirect.net for $4200 delivered. I thought that was a pretty decent deal @ $525/each and I can live with that. My local tire shop will dismount/mount them for $39/each and I won't have to incur the disposal fee because my company is going to take them off my hands and run them on yard trailers, although the steer tires will probably see some additional highway miles yet being only 5-years old and in excellent condition.

I will try to get pictures. To be honest, the outside is what gets attacked by UV and ozone. This is why keeping them flexing and keeping the tires clean as the black carbon on the outside of the tire as it sloughs off and using mild detergents and brush to keep them clean is so important. This is also why most major tire manufacturers insist on doing a thorough visual annual inspection at 5 years. Michelin even has a spec' for what size cracks are acceptable and what are not. The fact that they allow, and actually expect cracking, kind of shocks me because if I see any cracking at all I get them off. Thank you. I will report back on my thought on the Toyo's. I was going to run the Bridgestone's again as I had them on my first two coaches and really liked them but the R250 is no longer available and I didn't really care for the replacement's tread design when looking at my local tire dealer. I know a few guys running the Toyo M144's and I value their opinions so that weighed heavily in my decision.

Well, it's time for new shoes on the coach. Although I really can't complain, these Michelin's have lasted quite a while and technically they are still in very good condition. In fact, I can't bring myself to scrap them just yet, so we'll be running them on our yard trailers at work. I thought I'd post up my experience with the Michelin XZE2 Energy tires that I've been running on my coach for the past almost ten years now in the 295/80R22.5 size. I put the tires on in spring of 2015 and they had a code date of 2514 (mid-2015). I know many people replace tires at 5 or 7 years regardless of condition but personally, I don't change them until they start showing signs of deterioration. Throughout my career as a mechanic and after attending multiple tire seminars I start paying particularly close attention at the 5-year mark but don't replace them until they start showing signs of weathering, cracking, UV or ozone deterioration or anything that raises suspicion. On my first two coaches I ran Bridgestone R250's and they lasted 6 years and 7 years respectively, actually that's when I sold the coaches and the tires were still in excellent condition. Some might explain this by being able to park our coach in a climate controlled shop when not being used but that is only a recent option. Our first two coaches as well as the first ten years of ownership of our current Dynasty have all been parked outside, however, I did keep the tires covered when parked in the driveway at our first home. I think the best thing for tires is for them running down the road and flexing but the next best thing is keeping them clean and protected. When we bought our 2003 Dynasty in early 2007 it had those horrible Goodyear G670's on the front and drive with G159's on the tag. I think it came with the G159's and just before we purchased it they installed 6 G670 tires on the drive and steer axles. We ran those for about 5 years or so and I couldn't wait to get them off the coach as I hated those things and will never run another Goodyear tire if someone paid me to. In early 2015 I did some suspension work on the coach and installed 6 Michelin XZE2 Energy tires on the steer and drive axles and found a couple of couple year old Bridgestone's for the tag axle at the time. Then in early 2020 I purchased two new Michelin XZE2 Energy steer tires with 1919 code dates and moved the steers to the tag to replace the aging Bridgestone's. Last spring I waffled on replacing the tires but they were in such good condition I just couldn't pull the trigger so we ran them all of last season, but I told myself I would replace them in spring 2024 regardless of condition as they would be ten years old. I would not hesitate to run Michelin XZE2 Energy tires again, however, after looking for the past couple of months and being shocked at the pricing, even with the FMCA Michelin Advantage pricing, there is no way I can see a 45%-60% markup between Michelin tires and something like a Bridgestone or Toyo, all of which are a top tier tire and use a high quality casing. Are the Michelin's a great tire? Yes. Are they 45-60 percent better than say a Bridgestone or Toyo? No, I don't believe they are. I ended up ordering eight (8) Toyo M144's last week and will be putting them on the coach when they arrive in a couple of days but thought I'd show how good of condition these Michelin's are that I just took off. Here are some pictures of just how good of condition these 10 year old tires are. No sidewall cracking or deteriorating at all on the tag tires. Code date of 2514. Nor on the drive tires with same code date of 2514. Steer axle tires look great but these are only 5 years old. With a code date of 1919, installed March of 2020. I put these on just as the pandemic broke out because our tire guy at work informed me that tires were going to be hard to get in some sizes and I didn't want to chance it with the older Bridgestone's on the tag so I ordered two new Michelin's to install on the steer axle and move the 2514 code date Michelin's to the tag axle. Coach up on jackstands and ready to remove tires/wheels. Removing polished stainless steel nut covers. Wheels need a good polishing as they have some water spots from last year's washing. Drive and tag's removed on street side. Crossfires off to the side will be reinstalled with the new drive tires. Drives and tag's removed on curb side. Ready to be dismounted when the new Toyo's arrive in a couple of days. Thought I'd show how evenly these wore. Granted they are about worn out but they are all pretty consistent with close to 60k miles on them. My balance masters removed. I will give these a good sanding and a coat of epoxy paint before reinstalling. Steer axle Balance Masters will get the same sanding and painting treatment before the new tires are installed. Steer tires are in excellent condition and wearing very evenly. Thanks for looking.

Frank, that bolt that you are pointing to is a pin that is spot welded into the vertical framework on mine. I guess I could drill it out and replace it with a bolt but it's six of one half a dozen of another as to which would be easiest to install the strut. These Monaco's really are snowflakes as no two are alike. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad at times.

Frank, that works on some compartment doors that open upward and out of the way of the strut. However, on pantographic style where the struts connects to the integral part of the hinge assembly through the middle of the framework, that doesn't work. Especially on the engine hatch where the entire hinge assembly is welded together and the fiberglass hatch itself fastens to the pantographic hinge assembly.

I have found a ratchet strap works well if there is a bracket on the end to lock the strap to or on lighter duty compartment doors. Unfortunately, on these 150 lb. rated hatch struts there was nothing but the ball receiver and I just didn't feel comfortable with a strap wrapped around the ends as they looked like they could easily slip off and put a dent in my forehead.

I noticed last fall during the LOF service that my coach's engine hatch was harder to open, therefore I knew I had at least one of the gas struts failing. I ordered a couple of new Suspa gas struts as I have had the best luck with them lately on other compartment doors. I changed the engine hatch with a cheaper pair from my local NAPA a few years back and they just simply didn't impress me at all. I replaced a few compartment door struts with the Suspa ones several years ago and I can already tell a difference in longevity and quality. I'm not sure if this has been shared before but seeing as how some of these gas struts have high pressure ratings (100 lbs. +) I figured I would show how I go about replacing these to avoid damage to the coach's painted surfaces as well as how to avoid personal injury. Maybe someone has already shared this method but if not, here is how I change these. With the engine hatch struts being 150 lb. rated, I compress them in the hydraulic press, but any form of compressing the strut can be used. With the hatch propped fully open, I measured the ball to ball distance and then compressed the strut to about an inch less than the measured distance as the strut will extend slightly as the wire becomes taught. Before going to the press I clamped the cylinder end in the vise slightly to allow me to wrap some stainless steel wire around the end and tie it tightly. Safety wire pliers work best for this as they twist uniformly and repeatably with each pull netting a nice tight wrap pulling the wire securely together. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of my safety wire pliers. I then compressed the rod end into the cylinder about an inch further than my previously measured distance. Once compressed I used a couple of small worm style hose clamps to secure the wire to the rod. I clamped the first one as far as possible to the connector, then folded the wires over (180-degrees) and added the second hose clamp. This locks the wire to the rod without damaging it. Also, prior to this step I sprayed a bit of brake cleaner on a rag and wiped the end of the rod to avoid letting the clamp slip if there were any oil/grease on the rod. Once the clamps are secured in place, slowly release the tension and the wire will pull taught and the rod will extend slightly. Now it can easily and safely be pulled from the press and installed on the ball ends. Once installed the clamps can be removed and the wire cut at the other end and it is complete. I will admit, I couldn't remember what wire size I used last time so I grabbed my "medium" wire that I use for safety tying fasteners which was .032". It was not strong enough and broke as soon as I released the tension from the strut. I grabbed the .041" wire and it held easily. I hope that helps others to safely and easily replace their gas struts when necessary. I'm not as young nor spry as I used to be and compressing these struts has gotten harder for me over the years, plus I don't heal as well as I used to, so I have tried to be a bit more cautious as I perform certain repairs. 😏

Personally, I am a fan of oil bath vs. grease on our coach. I converted our last coach's steer axle to oil bath right after first purchasing, 1991 Beaver on Gillig chassis purchased in 2000. Our current coach had oil bath on steer and tag already upon us purchasing it. I have serviced the steer and tag every 5 years or roughly 25k-30k. Way overkill for servicing oil bath hubs but with the small amount of oil it takes to drain and fill each axle end it isn't that big a deal. Plus I feel it allows me to get a feel for how things are wearing by being able to see what the fluid looks like coming out. I had to replace a tag axle seal about 8 years or so ago that I noticed was a bit wet behind the drum during one of my chassis inspections. I noticed it in plenty of time, so it never got on the brake shoes and only required a new seal, Stemco gasket and fluid. I am replacing all my tires right now on our Dynasty and have fluid sitting on the workbench as both steer and tag axles will be getting serviced again next week after the tires arrive. For routine inspections, my center caps have the outermost cap that comes off for a visual inspection that I check a couple times a year plus I inspect the back of the drums at least 3-4 times a year while I'm under the coach.

Thanks Rick. Just giving ya a hard time.

Oh come on Rick, you mean you can't remember all 100+ pages. What the hell????? 🤣 I just thought I'd throw that out here as I hope others can benefit as well if they are also being told they are "within spec".

Rick, I'm not sure if you've followed along on my thread on irv2, but I am surprised no one has mentioned thrust angle. When I purchased our 2003 Dynasty it had a pretty significant pull to the right, even on flat concrete interstate, and worse on crowned 2-lane highways. If holding the wheel straight it was fine but upon removing my hands it would shoot pretty hard to the right, like within a couple of coach lengths it would be in the next lane. I took it to several alignment shops and they all said the same thing, "it's within spec." After a couple years of tolerating this I finally took matters into my own hands and used a laser alignment tool from the drive axle to the steer axle and immediately saw the issue. The drive and tag axles were off by approx. 1/8". This resulted in no matter what was going on in the front end, with the drive axle pointing slightly to the left, it was driving it to the right causing the steering wheel to have to be used to correct. Hope that makes sense. Basically the drive and tag axles needed to be adjusted to keep the coach pointed straight ahead by lengthening the control arms on the left side. However, the wife and I prefer to travel 2-lane backroad highways whenever possible, so I wanted to add just a little more thrust angle to compensate for these crowned roads. With no adjustment on these coaches like we have on our OTR trucks, I ended up cutting my trailing arms on the left side (street side) and lengthening them by .156" (5/32"). The 1/8" the trust angle was off plus another 1/32" to compensate for road crown. I have a video on my YouTube channel explaining the symptoms as well as how I corrected it. Our coach has handled like a dream ever since. There really shouldn't be much needed to these S-Series chassis if all of the geometry is correct. Unfortunately, I discovered that the "specs" are quite forgiving so when the alignment shops told me they were within spec, this was still a rather broad range. As I see it, anything else thrown at these chassis to aid in the matter is nothing more than a bandaid unless the geometry is correct. That being said, I did fabricate and install a Watts link to the front of mine a couple of years after adjusting my thrust angle and while the results were much less noticeable, the area the Watts link helped the most with is on those long large radius sweeping curves. I would set my steering wheel going into them and about 2/3 or so through I would have to adjust the steering wheel just a bit to compensate for the forces being applied to both the panhard bar and control arm bushings. Even with the Atro bushings the forces are enough to allow enough movement to allow the H-frame to shift slightly. I also have a three part video series on the fabrication and installation of the Watts link on my YouTube channel as well. Actually I think I may have posted those videos to the video library here on monacoers.org after joining. Once the Watts link was installed in the front that issue was resolved. Personally, I would put my Dynasty up against d*** near anything on the road as far as handling now. It's been a joy to drive for the past almost ten years now since the suspension work and 650+ mile days are nothing. No arriving at the campground or home and being exhausted from chasing the coach down the road.

Great thread and great catch Jim. I can also attest that I prefer to do all my own work as well as I don't think others are as vested as I am. I actually just don't trust anyone else to do the work to my standards as much as it pains me to say. While I have been fortunate to not have found any cracks on ours in the 22 years and over 140k miles she's been on the road, I do crawl under it at least twice a year and put eyes on the chassis. I was under it multiple times a year for all those years we drug our heavy enclosed race trailer around the western U.S. Seems like I was under it after about every other trip during those years. One thing I did do early on in our ownership was to beef up the vertical supports for the drive axle. Back in the mid to late 2000's I was fortunate enough to have a local Monaco dealer and he was great to let me crawl around and check out the new coaches when they arrived each year. On the 2009 model year coaches I noted that they added a large gusset to the drive axle trailing arm supports and I had heard of several failures on early S-Series chassis. I made a template and added these gussets to our 2003 Dynasty as a precautionary measure.

Thanks Ivan. I test my coach coolant annually just as I do my other vehicles so thanks for the confirmation.