CAT Stephen Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 (edited) I made the decision to replace my six tires recently on my Holiday Rambler 38WDD coach. My full disclosure is: - I am not affiliated in any capacity with the tire industry. - This review was created on my own accord without compensation or other influence This tire review is for your benefit and consideration if you are in the market for replacing your coach tires and your parameters fit well to the parameters specified: - Tire Size is 275-70-R22.5 - Ride quality is the highest priority - Seeking superior stone ejection capability over my baseline tires that I am replacing (Hercules Strong RA) - Willing to sacrifice warranty quality for lower tire cost as I always age out coach tires before I wear out coach tires - Willing to use offshore manufactured tires for lower cost - Tire Type: Unidirectional (i.e. steer and drive) to enable rotation between all six (6) tires I investigated every tire on the market available in the size specified. After ~1 month of reviewing all available tires in the target size, I selected the PowerKing Navitrac N346 (relabeled in 2024 as the PowerKing Navitrac NRS20) from the TBC Brands Tire Company based upon: - Excellent reliability of PowerKing tires that I have used previously for my tandem axle boat trailer application, while incurring substantial ride quality risk as there were no reviews that I could find on this tire for either trucking, bus, or RV applications of this tire. - Observation that the tread is exceptionally deep and tapered that should theoretically provide better stone ejection than the baseline Hercules Strong RA tires which have much shallower tread that is not significantly tapered. - Observation that this tire is also targeted to the passenger bus market which should theoretically provide better ride quality than tires targeted only for the trucking market. - My Cost: $220.00 each plus $32.51 FET (Federal Excise Tax) -Product Information (See Page 6): 275X70R22.5 https://www.tbccommercialtires.com/pdfs/catalog/TBC Brands_Navitrac Catalog 2024.pdf - Warranty: https://tbc.scene7.com/is/content/TBCCorporation/TBC Brands/Commercial/Navitrac/Warranty/1253_TBCB_WARRANTY_Navitrac MRT Limited Warranty_1220.pdf Here is my review after ~50 miles in service on the six (6) new PowerKing Navitrac NRS20 tires : - The ride quality is now exceptional and very smooth compared to my prior Hercules Strong RA tires. - After driving ~1000 feet on a crushed stone road, I observed the tires to be stone free. - The handling of these tires is less stiff than the Hercules Strong RA. Thus the reaction of steering feel is now much more muted and softer. Edited January 30 by CAT Stephen Modified Title 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1nolaguy Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 CAT Stephen, Thank you for posting this information. While some may say 50 miles is not enough for a solid review, Unless none of them were at highway speeds I am confident in your assessment. If there were an issue (save for premature wear or deterioration) it would show up early. I am currently just over 5 years with the 6 Michelin X-line Energy tires that cost me over $6K. They are already showing sidewall issues and I will find out tomorrow if Michelin is going to cover their replacement under warranty or not. If their answer is "NO" I can see no reason to spend more money on their product. I will be giving these a serious consideration. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim McFarland Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 CAT Stephen have you ever rode on the Michelin tires? I've heard of Hercules tires but never have rode on any of them. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAT Stephen Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 6 hours ago, Jim McFarland said: CAT Stephen have you ever rode on the Michelin tires? I've heard of Hercules tires but never have rode on any of them. Jim Jim, I use Michelin Defenders on all of my passenger vehicles and they are incredibly smooth and have long treadlife, but I have not used the Michelin brand on my coach due to the high cost. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAT Stephen Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 6 hours ago, 1nolaguy said: CAT Stephen, Thank you for posting this information. While some may say 50 miles is not enough for a solid review, Unless none of them were at highway speeds I am confident in your assessment. If there were an issue (save for premature wear or deterioration) it would show up early. I am currently just over 5 years with the 6 Michelin X-line Energy tires that cost me over $6K. They are already showing sidewall issues and I will find out tomorrow if Michelin is going to cover their replacement under warranty or not. If their answer is "NO" I can see no reason to spend more money on their product. I will be giving these a serious consideration. Yes, ~44 miles of the review were on a concrete interstate highway at speeds between 60mph and 75mph with ~5 interstate miles through a construction zone with uneven pavement to push the tires tracking capability to the maximum. There were also numerous expansion joints on this interstate in poor condition which tested the tires impact absorption to the extreme. I am very pleased with the exceptional smoothness and impact absorption of TBC Power King Navitrac NRS20. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1nolaguy Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 CAT Stevens, where did you buy these for $220 and did that include shipping? I could not find them locally and on line, once I include FET and shipping, the tries are about $350 each. With mounting that brings them close to $400-$425 each. That is still a good price just noting it for clarification in this discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAT Stephen Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 @1nolaguy, I purchased the tires locally in the south eastern Tennessee truck tire shop so that I did not need to pay shipping. You can avoid shipping fees by having a local truck tire shop order the tires for you. I called nine (9) local truck tire shops and went with the best price shop which was $220.00 each last week in the Chattanooga, Tennessee area. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1nolaguy Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Thanks for the clarification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dl_racing427 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 15 hours ago, CAT Stephen said: Jim, I use Michelin Defenders on all of my passenger vehicles and they are incredibly smooth and have long treadlife, but I have not used the Michelin brand on my coach due to the high cost. Michelin, while they make some good performance passenger tires, their reputation on coaches is HORRIBLE! I'd avoid them even if they were cheap. Stephen, Thanks for this review, it's great info on a reasonably priced tire brand. I'm sure it will be invaluable to me and others. I look forward to hear your updates as you get more time and miles on them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now