Michelin LTX vs. XPS?

[rv4fun]

I just joined Leap'n Lions about a week ago and have been slowly reading through the posts on this forum. I noticed there were some discussions about prices for the XPS and that they cost more than the LTX. I also noticed that Born Free factory puts LTX's on their new coaches. As a Born Free owner, what should I consider in deciding between the XPS and the LTX? New tires are one of the more expensive and important things I'll be buying for my Born Free. I'd be thankful for any input.. Larry

[bill crommett]

I will not get into a discusion regarding the quality of tires, but I would like to remind you that your neck and your life depends on your tires holding up their side of the bargain. My personal opinion is that tires are the last place to economise. You will see a lot about inflation pressures, too, but my philosophy is that even though a slightly over-inflated tire gives a harsher ride, the ride of the hard tire is softer than the ditch.
Others will chime in on the various values of tires and the sofisticated inflation parameters.
If you are towing a boat or other vehicle with a BFT, you may want to switch the trailer plug from it's present position to the right side of the bumper where you won't get entangled with the cord every time you enter or exit thje coach. This problem has been discused with the factory.
Bill

[bcope01]

...what should I consider in deciding between the XPS and the LTX?

IMHO both are good quality tires. Saying that one will save your life over the other is pure speculation. If cost is a factor, go with the LTX. If money is no object, then you might want to get the XPS. I have the LTX on my BFT and I am very happy with them. I will replace them with the LTX. My savings will go for gas so I can go farther on my next trip.

And I might add that you're probably going to want to replace your tires in 5-7 years due to checking and age, regardless of treadwear.

Bill

[robert]

Actually the tires come on the Ford vehicles when they come from Ford. I do not know if BF has much of a choice. When I purchased my 2002 from the factory, I had then switch out the tires (Ford was still putting on Firestones in spite of all the trouble they had with them).

It will cost you extra, but they can make an arrangement with a local tire dealer to switchout the tires. You have to ask about it.

[whemme]

Approximately 3 or 4 years ago, the Ford factory started delivering E-350 and E-450 bare chassis to the motohome manufacturers with Michelin LTX tires in place of the previous Firestone Steeltex tires.

Actually I have had no problems with the Firestone tires having run them for 55,000 miles on my first 1999 BF 24' RB and for approximately 20,000 miles on my current 2002 BF 26' RSB. I also am a firm believer in running the tires with the proper inflation pressure and making sure that they stay inflated properly. I run a PressurePro tire pressure monitoring system to watch over the pressure in my 6 BF tires and also the 4 tires on my toad.

And Robert is right, Ford installs the tires, not the motorhome completion facility.

The LTX tire has steel belts in the tread area but fabric belts in the sidewall area as do most radial tires being manufactured. The XPS Rib tire also has steel belts in the sidewall area increasing the weight of the tire and also the cost. I have noted on the various RV forums that some owners running the XPS tires say that it has a somewhat harsher ride due to the stiffer sidewall containing steel belts.

I think that the XPS tires were intended for severe duty delivery trucks where the drivers sometimes have a habit of impacting curbs and such with their tires. There probably is no question that the XPS is a heavier duty tire than the LTX at the expense of some ride discomfort - but I am sure some will disagree with that assessment.

[Mel Wilbur]

Check out the characteristics of each of the tires on the Michelin website. When changing I chose the LTX and like Bill have been happy with them and would use the same model when replacing in the future.

[rv4fun]

Thanks for all the replies on the XPS and LTX.

I called Michelin's customer support. The person I talked with asked me what kind of vehicle I wanted the tires for and how much it weighed. She then recommended the LTX because of better traction in mud or snow. She did say the sidewalls on the XPS were reinforced more than the LTX, but didn't say anything about how that would help me one way or another on our BF. When I compared the LTX and the XPS info on Michelin's website, it looked like the XPS maybe has less rolling resistance resulting in possibly better mileage. Both the LTX and the XPS had reinforced sidewalls, but nothing definitive. The LTX was recommended for mud and snow while there was no recommendation for mud/snow given for the XPS. Where I live in CA we get a lot of rain (and sometimes mud), so maybe the LTX is a good choice for me. Both tires are available in 225/75R/16 in load range E.

I weighed my loaded 22 ft BF this weekend. It weighed 11,740 lbs with 7,560 lbs on the rear axle, and 4,180lbs on the front axle. I wasn't able to get exact corner weights. Using the Michelin table of tire pressures vs. weight on the tires, I decided to run with 60lbs of rear tire pressure and 58lbs of front tire pressure. I'm curious what pressure others are running in similarly weighted Born Frees. Do you think this is a large enough safety margin?

I chose these pressures based on the following info from the Michelin tire pressure table for my 225/75R/16 size tires. The table showed that 60lbs pressure in the each of the rear tires would support a rear axle wt. of 7,980 lbs while 55lbs of pressure would only support 7,500 lbs of rear axle wt. That's why I decided to run the rear tires with 60lbs of pressure giving me a 420lb safety factor. It seems like a good idea to have that safety factor because I don't know the exact rear corner weights and it's more than likely that one corner is heavier than the other. Running the front tires at 65lbs will support 4,670 lbs of front axle wt., 60lbs will support 4,380lbs, and 55lbs will support only 4,120lbs of wt. It looks like a front tire pressure of 58lbs will give me a reasonable margin of safety on the front axle. Hopefully, this will work out right giving me a reasonable margin of safety and not too harsh a ride.. Larry