Tire lifespan

[Flyinhy]

I'm currently bringing an 01 executive back to life. Little by little I'm going through her and fixing all major concerns first. Complete fluid change on engine , Trans and generator are this week. I was thinking about the tires today. The coach only has 53k miles on it and this is just an assumption, but the tires look brand new but I'm sure they're more than 5 years old. Tires are a huge expense for me and I was wondering at what point are they just too old to get on the road even if they "look" good. 

[Just Jim]

Oh boy, tons of conversation on this topic already.  Check the tire codes for manufacture date... You can't go by tread or looks.

[Dr4Film]

There are LOTS of opinions as to when RV tires age out. It really depends on lots of variables. Tire brand, how well they have been taken care of, have they been abused while driving, etc.

I tend to change out the steer tires quicker than the drive axle tires. Although I now have Tyron Bands on the steers so I may extend the time span on those a little longer.

On average most people say RV tires age out around 5-7 years. My last set of drive axle tires were 9 years old when changed. The steers were 7 years old.

[Jdw12345]

A couple of things to consider in regards to tires, first learn how to read the tire date codes if you don’t know how, if tire expense is two great to replace all the tires at once start with the steer axle tires first for obvious reasons, then if your steer tires happen to be the youngest tires you have you can change out those for the oldest tires you have. Tires are like playing chess, what are you willing to loose, also consider collateral damage that could occur should you have a blow out, body damage, air bag damage, coach damage underneath,  etc, etc…….

Keep the tires inflated to recommend pressure, try not to be driving when it’s hot out, if you have to drive in the heat slow down a bit or leave earlier in the day and bet the heat! 

 Not purchasing the tires you can’t afford in one shot my actually cost you more in the long run!

Also during your updating and repairs consider how much you’re really going to use the coach, maybe your tires are sufficient for the time being until you can change out all at once and then hit the road, lots of things to consider!

Jmo

[JDCrow]

Quick video 

 

 

[Ivylog]

Welcome to the Monaco RV world and you save a few steps by going with a 43’, but it concerns me that you do not know the age of the tires.

Like Richard, I tend to go 7 years on the front and 10 years on the rears BUT only if I’ve put all the miles on them , properly inflated for the weight, and use them regularly…sitting is hard on tires.

On the rear of these rigs you do not need a 295 tire…often on the front, you need a 315 but not on a 01. I just replaced my rear 295‘s with 11 R 22.5‘s, probably the most common truck tire…6 tires was $2300 installed, out the door…

PS: The tires I took off, prematurely, were Michelin‘s because of excessive  sidewall cracking. 

Edited October 3, 2021 by Ivylog

[redstickbill]

By all means learn to read the date code on the tires. The guys have given you some excellent advise. I adhere to the 5-7 year life span. Some folks keep the used tires for resale to dump truck owners and recoup some of the cost of the new tires.

Bill B 07 Dynasty

[Flyinhy]

Great video.....8k ??? Holy crap! I'll make a list of the tires and dot codes tomorrow. As far as weighing the corners? That'll be a learning experience. I won't be traveling too much until I get her back into shape. I've been around big trucks and truck cranes all my life and I'm not intimidated by driving her at all but I want her to be a safe vehicle not only for me but for other people on the road with me. She's been neglected for a while. 

[jacwjames]

I had the same issue when I bought my rig, tires were original and I had no idea how they were maintained.  They were Goodyear and the fronts had the notorious rivering wear pattern.  I replaced the front with Bridgestone and had an alignment done. 

One thing I would highly recommend is getting a TMPS (tire pressure monitoring system) if you don't have one.   I got one when I installed the above tires and found one of the front leaking from valve stem and then found one of the rear stems leaking.  I don't move the coach until the TMPS shows all tires good.

I ran the rear tires until they were 10 years old.  When ever I have tires changed I watch the whole process and then whey they remove a tire from the rim I thoroughly inspect it, looking for any tell tale signs of problems.   When I managed mines the tire vendors would inspect tires both on the rigs and ones that had been removed.  You could see the results of low tire pressures, impact breaks, sidewall cuts etc.  Besides, it shows the tire supplier that you might know what your doing.  Also ask about lug torque and inflation pressure and if spin balanced the amount of weight required. 

Just had all 6 tires replaced, all had good tread left but all were aged out.  I hadn't taken a long trip since 2015 so I was fine with letting the tires continue to age until I was sure I was going to use it, which finally happen May of this year.  The fronts were 12 years old but still looked good, but definately aged out.  Rear were 10 years old, looked good, aged out.  

One issue is that tires are in short supply, I wanted Toyo tires but had to settle on Yokohama,  None of the 3 large tire vendors I called could source Toyo's (they all called regional warehouses).  My 6 tires cost $3600 out the door.

[JDCrow]

2 minutes ago, jacwjames said:

I had the same issue when I bought my rig, tires were original and I had no idea how they were maintained.  They were Goodyear and the fronts had the notorious rivering wear pattern.  I replaced the front with Bridgestone and had an alignment done. 

One thing I would highly recommend is getting a TMPS (tire pressure monitoring system) if you don't have one.   I got one when I installed the above tires and found one of the front leaking from valve stem and then found one of the rear stems leaking.  I don't move the coach until the TMPS shows all tires good.

I ran the rear tires until they were 10 years old.  When ever I have tires changed I watch the whole process and then whey they remove a tire from the rim I thoroughly inspect it, looking for any tell tale signs of problems.   When I managed mines the tire vendors would inspect tires both on the rigs and ones that had been removed.  You could see the results of low tire pressures, impact breaks, sidewall cuts etc.  Besides, it shows the tire supplier that you might know what your doing.  Also ask about lug torque and inflation pressure and if spin balanced the amount of weight required. 

Just had all 6 tires replaced, all had good tread left but all were aged out.  I hadn't taken a long trip since 2015 so I was fine with letting the tires continue to age until I was sure I was going to use it, which finally happen May of this year.  The fronts were 12 years old but still looked good, but definately aged out.  Rear were 10 years old, looked good, aged out.  

One issue is that tires are in short supply, I wanted Toyo tires but had to settle on Yokohama,  None of the 3 large tire vendors I called could source Toyo's (they all called regional warehouses).  My 6 tires cost $3600 out the door.

While their reputation is known, Michelins must have a gold strand in their tread plies.
 

[Rikadoo]

My old motorhome had 19.5s on it, i learned so much from that coach in regaurd to tires. One of the lessons learned i created by myself, an thru that if i have the resources to replace ASAP, if in doubt. Now with my current rig i use my assometer to always note any possable issues, along with my TPMS. When im “out there” on the road i make a note of any potholes or driving issues that might cause me reason to be weary of a possable issue, so buying a used rig with no idea what the tires have endured might be worth like others have said replace steers if nothing else, then as your use increases replace the rears.

[Flyinhy]

Just checked my tires , all are Goodyear. 275/ 22.5

Steer dot - 3816

Rears  dot - 1207

Tag dot- 1205

Looks like I'm gonna be buying tires in the near future. I will be moving her to a more suitable place to work on her in the next month or so. Maybe 40 miles.....I don't want to go much further because of the age of the rears. 

[JDCrow]

4 minutes ago, Flyinhy said:

Just checked my tires , all are Goodyear. 275/ 22.5

Steer dot - 3816

Rears  dot - 1207

Tag dot- 1205

Looks like I'm gonna be buying tires in the near future. I will be moving her to a more suitable place to work on her in the next month or so. Maybe 40 miles.....I don't want to go much further because of the age of the rears. 

You’ll find no love here, well anywhere for Goodyear tires. Took mine off as soon as I got home. 

[jacwjames]

4 minutes ago, JDCrow said:

You’ll find no love here, well anywhere for Goodyear tires. Took mine off as soon as I got home. 

I pulled mine off the front due to the rivering wear pattern but ran the back another couple years.  When I replace they were ~10 years old and they still looked decent. 

 

But 14 & 16 years is pushing it.

 

Might consider moving the front to the tags and replace 6.  Since the tags aren't drive axle size won't make a difference.  Then when you have to replace move the newer steers to the tag and put new on the front.  This will break the cycle of buying a bunch of tires all at once. 

 

In the mines I worked at they did not have a good tire management program.  Spares were put on with no thought.  After discussions with tire vendors they suggested a monthly tire inspection coupled with a management program.  I created a simple chart the mechanics could use to know what size tire they could use, the manufacturers recommended now more then 3% difference on any tire so I had the mechanics measure the largest and smallest tires and balance all 4 to be with in the 3% range and when replacing measuring to determine which spare they could use.  If you put a new tire on with 3 old ones the new one will wear out faster until it reaches the same size (kind of counter intuitive).   Each month I'd have 4 new tires mounted and then installed on the hardest working loaders and then use the ones we pulled off as spares.  When trucks were brought into the mines did the same thing.  This worked great and soon the other 3 mines were doing the same thing.  We eventually had the tire management with inspection aspect included in our contracts.   I know that we saved $$ thousands on our tire budgets, which in the largest mine was ~$35-40K per month in the mid 90's, hard to know what it would be now. 

[Chuck B 2004 Windsor]

5 year old tires are old enough for me.  I have seen what blow out damage is done to a coach,  front, rear, and tag.  Your coach, your family.  Chuck B 2004 Windsor

[Flyinhy]

I agree. The steers look a lot better than the rest of the tires after I inspected them a little closer. I will do what you guys suggest and take the steer and put them on the tag and buy all new for the rest of them. Just a huge expense for me. And stay away from Goodyear? .......I hear bad things about doublecoin too

[Chuck B 2004 Windsor]

I have been around since 1998 when Bill D formed the Monacoer's group.  A while back there was a female member who reminded me of a female libber who joined the group after purchasing a 2004 Windsor.  Several members warned her about tires over 5 years old.  Her reply was that she has been around tires all her life.  

A couple weeks later she posted she had a left front blow out, crossed the medium into oncoming traffic hitting a car head on wiping out an entire family.  I would hate to live with that the rest of my life.  Chuck B 2004 Windsor

[jacwjames]

That's why I recommended moving the 5 year old tires to the tag axle. 

I do agree with running good tires on the steer axle. 

Also highly recommend the use of a TPMS!!  My coach doesn't move until it shows all good on the tire pressures. 

 

Also agree with it's your money, if you want to replace tires after 5 years, it's your dime.  I'm fine with 7 on the front and monitoring the rear.  Ran my last two sets to 10 years on the rear, my dime, my choice.  But I also know they've been taken care of, no time of running low pressure, no side wall cuts, no impacts (at least visually, until you take them off you never know).

[Flyinhy]

Yea.....without knowing how these tires were taken care of , I'm gonna bite the bullet and replace all but the steer for the time being. The steers will go on the tag axle for a short time. Unless I come across a really good deal and I can afford all at one time, plus it's not gonna move more than 40 miles for at least 6 more months. 

I also want to put the monitors on them. I looked them up and compared to the cost of the tires ....4 or 5 hundred bucks to make sure I won't have a potential blowout is priceless.

 

[Dr4Film]

Charles,

The TPMS with not prevent a sudden unexpected catastrophic tire blowout.

However it will alert you to the possibility of a tire failure due to over or under inflation.

[JDCrow]

8 minutes ago, Dr4Film said:

Charles,

The TPMS with not prevent a sudden unexpected catastrophic tire blowout.

However it will alert you to the possibility of a tire failure due to over or under inflation.

Exactly, just watched this last night. Guy had no clue, his TPMS didn’t alert him 

 

 

[jacwjames]

I wonder what percentage of tires that fail had been run low on pressure at some point, my guess, higher then you would think.

 

One of the downsides of the tire management program we had in the mines is the vendor would check tire pressures, if he found one lower then the recommended pressure he would note it.   We had guarantees on tires, usually hours run which we tracked daily.  Guess what if a tire failed prematurely that had had a recorded low pressure we got ZERO of the guarantee back. 

 

 

[woodylmiller]

Something also to consider: tire shortages.  Good luck finding TOYO's right now.  I just bought 8 and that took me a few days of looking.  Had to buy them online and had them shipped to me.  So, will the price and availability improve over the next year or get worse?  My money is both will get worse.  Container ships are stacked up like cord wood and can't get unloaded.  Inflation will add a $1,000 to the set of 6 new tires in my opinion depending on brand.  My tires were right near the 7 year mark on the drive and tag, the steers were less than a couple years old but they were Goodyears that I was stuck with while stranded in New Mexico and it was all they had.  All tires had good tread left, but supply and inflation led me to believe it was the time to bite the bullet.  Then after buying 8 TOYO's, I opted for some Bullet Rye Whiskey, which didn't lower the cost of the tires, but I felt better.  Good luck on your project.  Beware, 315's would not fit on the steer position on my Dynasty, they rubbed, also the tire chart said 295's for all 8.  Lot of money for 8 tires, but have you been to a body shop lately and priced just a paint job?  My 8 TOYO's cost me $4,500 installed, delivered, taxes, disposal fees and balance beads in all tires.  Now, where's that bottle Bullet Rye?

Woody Miller

09 Dynasty

[Ivylog]

On 10/3/2021 at 8:24 AM, Ivylog said:

I just replaced my rear 295‘s with 11 R 22.5‘s, probably the most common truck tire…6 tires was $2300 installed, out the door…

I considered not replacing until June 2022… before our next big trip. Like Woody ^^^ tires are in short supply and I do not see it getting better. Would have preferred Toyo or Hankook but not readily available so went with what my tire guy recommended… Americus, made in Thailand.  In 7 years it will be interesting to see if I replace them or go for 10 years. By then there will be more info on how good a tire they are.

[Rikadoo]

So i had decided to replace my front steers, my search between the computer an my phone was over 2 hours, i finally found a place in West Sac, ca that said there were only 4 hankooks AH-37 in the state. So he had 2 sent from there to his location. The person (Richard) at Radial tire center was AWSOME, he comunicated with me every step of the way. 
All that said i will say know what your 1st choise is an what your second choise can be, cause my 1st were Toyo’s an not available, so as i was asking for availability i had choise on my side and didnt have to settle for “what they had” my AH37s were $441.00 each