new tires

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Brent
Posts: 314
Joined: Tue May 16, 2006 4:53 pm

Post by Brent »

The rubber pealed off of the tire. Why - I don't know.

The intrepretation of "indictment" is your choice. An earlier post in the thread asked the brand of tires, I simply furnished the name so one would not have to ask.

The post is provided to those so they may make prudent decisions regarding the age of their tires and the time to replace ragardless of brand or "indictment".
Bornfree (1999 Rear Kitchen)
Traveling with Chester (The Boxer) - at least in spirit
Robert D. Grant

Post by Robert D. Grant »

I was the one that asked the question as to what brand of tire it was that "spider cracked" after only 4 years. When you have a tire that fails at 4 years it is not due to age and therefore has nothing to do with "prudent decisions regarding age of tires or time to replace". This post is intended to provide information for rational decision making regarding the buying of new tires.
Robert D. Grant

Post by Robert D. Grant »

Sam,

What were the decision factors that made you decide on the XPS and how much did they cost?

Bob
CHARLOTTE

Post by CHARLOTTE »

I too, have replaced the Firestone tires on my BF with Michelins. After searching the web & other RV sites I noted many RV owners having problems with their Firestone tires which resulted in expensive repairs to their coaches. It made sense to me to learn from their experiences. I bought my tires from Costco & am very satisfied with their performance. I think we've already had this discussion on this website in the past......
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Roger H
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Joined: Sat May 26, 2007 7:48 pm

Post by Roger H »

When I put my new set of Michelins on, I had the teflon wheel balancing powder they use in big rigs put in as well rather than using conventional lead wheel weights. What a difference in ride!

The powder was about $4/wheel, and I'll never have to take them off to have them balanced during the life of the tires.

Roger
'06 Born Free 32 RQ Kodiak Chassis
(Former: '01 Born Free 23 RK)
Dinghy: '16 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon with a Blue Ox Aladdin tow bar.
Traveling with Sir Winston and Lady Rae (Cavalier King Charles Spaniels)
Brent
Posts: 314
Joined: Tue May 16, 2006 4:53 pm

Post by Brent »

Sam and Bill,
I notice in this thread you both have ordered and installed Borg valve extensions.

As you may see on another thread I've put on a set of XPS tires that must be re balanced. Camping World has re-installed my old valve extensions (about 8 years old), which I appreciate them trying to save me $. Unfortunately one is acting up on this trip (a front). I'm thinking since I've got to pull the tires off and have them balanced anyway, maybe I should look at the Borg brass valves?

Are there any issues I should consider? Are they easily installed correctly by a tire shop without special instructions (I'm a little gun shy of service providers now)?

Thanks for sharing your information.

Brent
Bornfree (1999 Rear Kitchen)
Traveling with Chester (The Boxer) - at least in spirit
Brent
Posts: 314
Joined: Tue May 16, 2006 4:53 pm

Post by Brent »

Sam, thanks for the response.

A Company called "Tire Man" also sells a similar product; I wonder if it would be better for the front tires?

No Camping World did not spin balance. They used Equal, which Michlen recommed against, saying that Equal was more common for larger truck tires. The Camping World service manager told me they do not have equipment for any type of balancing other then the bags of Equal.

While some vibration at 70 mph has been a consideration in the past; it is now VERY pronounced.
Bornfree (1999 Rear Kitchen)
Traveling with Chester (The Boxer) - at least in spirit
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Mel Wilbur
Posts: 617
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2005 2:39 pm

Post by Mel Wilbur »

Brent, you mentioned that one of your front tires gave you a problem and if I understand it correctly you said due to an extension. Usually the only extensions needed are on the inside rear dual. Unless your old valve stems were metal, Camping world did not do you any favor by using them, I would suggest changing them to metal ones. As for the Equal, it is important to know how many ounces Camping world installed in your tires. For the 225/75R16 size Equal recommends 3oz be used although they did tell me you could use as much as 4oz in some cases if necessary.

As for which Michelin tire is best, that is a matter of personal choice. I prefer the LTX M/S as it gives a somewhat softer ride than the XP that has the steel reinforced sidewalls. The XP rib are commonly used for delivery vans as they get much more abuse hitting curbings etc.
Mel & Connie
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BornFree_n_Now
Posts: 168
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 9:28 pm

Post by BornFree_n_Now »

Have used Tire Man http://www.ridgecrest.ca.us/~tire-man/default.html ~~ extensions for 2 years now and am VERY happy with both the front and rear applications. They are all solid brass and very well constructed.

With reference to balancing, we have used this product for the past two years and are VERY happy with same http://www.centramatic.com/ ~~ No vibration, dynamic balancing (like products which go inside of your tire), no clumping or other internal tire issues, and easily installed or uninstalled ~~ like driving down a new blacktop road in an old Cadillac :>)

With reference to tire selection we use XPS Rib Michelins (lowest rolling resistance ~~ best gas mileage). They, as previously noted, have steel reinforced sidewalls which does tend to give a slightly harsher ride ~~ our solution to this, in part, was to install an onboard compressor which allows you to control the amount of air in your airbags as you are driving, thus allowing for a softer ride until you need extra clearance when entering or leaving a deep gutter area.
Larry & Sharon
2002 26' RSB
Suzuki X90 4x4 Toad
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Mel Wilbur
Posts: 617
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2005 2:39 pm

Post by Mel Wilbur »

Larry, also having the Air Lift on board compressor system I am curious as to what psi to you use for normal driving conditions.
Mel & Connie
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BornFree_n_Now
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Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 9:28 pm

Post by BornFree_n_Now »

Mel ~~ Normally somewhere between 45 to 55 (depending on how heavy we are loaded), we also vary the tire PSI depending on load, so there are other variables at work as well, but it sure is nice to be able to firm it up for an extra bit of clearance or changing wind conditions. On the downside, we recently had to replace the limit switch on our Air Lift unit, but it was straightforward and only cost around $25.
Larry & Sharon
2002 26' RSB
Suzuki X90 4x4 Toad
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Mel Wilbur
Posts: 617
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2005 2:39 pm

Post by Mel Wilbur »

Larry, I find that 35psi works the best for ride quality on our coach but the difference may be that I have the parabolic springs installed.
Mel & Connie
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BornFree_n_Now
Posts: 168
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 9:28 pm

Post by BornFree_n_Now »

Mel, your setup is what we have considered from afar, but have not, as yet, seriously looked at. Being able to run at 10 lbs. less with a comfortable level of support would be preferable to the feeling we get when we drop ours down to that level. As an aside, when we had our new exhaust system (cat back, 4â€
Larry & Sharon
2002 26' RSB
Suzuki X90 4x4 Toad
Bob Proctor
Posts: 23
Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2005 7:23 pm

new tires

Post by Bob Proctor »

Mel, can you say a bit more about your parabolic springs? Have had them for long? Are they the ones from MorRyde or something else? I'd like to put some on my '02 24RB but don't trust the local spring shop to do the job right from parts in their bin, so any info you can provide about brand and price of your springs would be gratefully received. Thanks.
2002 24RB
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Mel Wilbur
Posts: 617
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2005 2:39 pm

Post by Mel Wilbur »

Larry, I worked with a local spring shop that has done work on some of our other coaches. Initially installed, the springs made the rear bumper within 1/4 inch from the original. After putting about 1k miles they had settled about 3/4" so we then added a 1" spacer putting the rear approximately 1/8" higher than the original. I my case we did it with the two visits so that both the shop and myself would know what the normal settling in would measure. Adding the risers was a simple task and per prior arrangement I was only charged for the material. Based on our results and reading the posts of others that have added the parabolic springs it would appear that adding the 1" riser on the original installation would be the way to go. As for the exhaust, I added the Banks system at 6K miles and now have 73k with the original air bags. The heat shield for the exhaust seems to protect the bag as designed.

Bob, we have had the springs on now for just about a year with about 5k miles of use. The shop I used ordered them from their supplier as complete units for the Ford E-450 chassis. This shop does have the ability to make springs but it appears most shops do not make the parabolic design. My guess is that all spring shops would order them the same way. As you will note from other postings the cost would be in the $1,200.00 - $1,300.00 range.

For the opitum results a good set of shocks should be added if you choose to change the springs and still have oem shocks on your coach. If you do not want to do the springs but improve the ride quality just adding the shocks would make a big difference. Both Bilstein and Koni make excellent shocks for the E-450 chassis.
Mel & Connie
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