Tire life in miles for an RV?

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oldryder

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Rookie RV'er here.  read the recent thread about tires with great interest.  Assume the questions below relate to a DP.

I know RV tires are often replaced due to age before they are used up.  I've seen 5 years and 7 years as time to replace.  which is it?

I'm wondering what is typical tire life in miles assuming they are kept properly inflated?

Possible dumb question:  Are the tires supposed to be rotated like you'd do on a smaller vehicle?

thx to anyone taking the time to offer advice.

mark in MN
 
I can't give you a direct answer for the very reason stated in your question, it is very rare for motorhome owners to ever wear out tires, assuming they are properly maintained, suspension is aligned, etc.  As to tires aging out a good rule of thump is 7 years, pushing beyond that raises the risk of catastrophic failure without warning, though some people will say 8 -10 years with annual internal inspection past the 7-8 year point.  It all comes down to how risk averse you are.  As to mileage, the average motorhome gets about 5,000-6,000 miles of use per year on average long term, and most motorhome tires age out with at least half their tread left.  You can come to your own conclusions from this.
 
All of this depends how you drive your motorhome.  I am on my third set of tires, but I have put 146,000 miles on my motorhome in a little over 8 years.  Plus, I had a recall on sidewall blowouts on my first set, which were replaced at 30,000 miles at no cost to me. 

So, while the average RV is only driven 5,000 to 6,000 miles per year, the big question in how many miles do you put on yours each year!!  Averages won't do you much good if you drive as much as I do.  I am guessing I am getting 40,000 to 50,000 miles on my tires. 
 
This is what Michelin recommends.

https://www.michelinman.com/howLongTireLast.html#:~:text=Ten%20years%20is%20a%20maximum,to%20spare%20tires%20as%20well.

 
I don't think anyone has ever worn out the tread on an RV Save perhaps for someone like Buckshot (Name of a movie, fictional country singer who traveled in an RV) or his real life act-alikes..  The tires age out first.
 
I'm with JudyB - I plan on 40k miles or 7 years whichever comes first. I may push the tires to 8+ years but it will be based on inspecting them.

I don't plan on rotating the rears but I might swap the fronts side to side at 20k depending on inner/outer groove depth over time. When I replaced the fronts the inside edges were almost bald and the outer edges were fine - bad alignment since corrected.
 
"All of this depends how you drive your motorhome.  I am on my third set of tires, but I have put 146,000 miles on my motorhome in a little over 8 years.  Plus, I had a recall on sidewall blowouts on my first set, which were replaced at 30,000 miles at no cost to me."
Click to expand...

Same here, man. I'm already on my third set of tires. I need to explore better options, but for now, I'm good.
 
If you buy an RV and there are tires on it older than 5 years I say replace them. You do not know how the tires were taken care of, were they properly inflated and covered when not in use for long periods or did they sit in the Arizona sun underinflated and uncovered for a year or more.
If you put them on the RV yourself and you keep them inflated correctly, covered when not in use for long periods and avoid using harsh chemicals on them (some tire shine products) then 7 or more years is okay
 
The 22.5" tires on larger Class A coaches are probably good for 60k miles and perhaps more in ideal conditions.  I've never enjoyed more than about 50k miles before either trading the coach or aging out (I get too nervous by about 8 years).
 
And I have definitely worn out the tread on at least one set of tires (not counting the ones that were replaced because of the blowout recall) and have four right now that will be worn out in about 5,000 more miles.  I do not let them get very worn, however, as I believe they are the most critical safety factors on my vehicle.
 
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