New Tires on Horizon - The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

I replaced my Michelin XZE tires today with Michelin XZA3 275/80R22.5 LRH tires.  Here is a quick summary of my day that started at 7:30 am driving 60 miles to A&E tires in Denver and returning to the campground at 7:30 pm this evening.

Good:  I really like the Michelin XZA3 tires.  They have a smooth ride and I feel I now have a softer ride than the XZE tires.

Good:  Michelin gave me 70 percent warranty replacement on one of my tires with sidewall cracking - 4.5 yrs since purchase of my coach and 16/32 inch tread remaining.

Good:  A&E tires gave me $125 trade-in on the five old tires with 16/32 inch tread remaining.

Good:  I was very impressed with the people at A&E tire.  They were great to deal with.

Bad:  My old tires had a wear pattern indicating a toe-in problem so I had to have the front end aligned.  This was unexpected since the local Freightliner facility performed an all-wheel alignment 10,000 miles ago.

Ugly:  A&E could balance my drive wheels, but their balancing machine could not mount my steer wheels.  They had to take my newly mounted steer tires and wheels to another dealer for balancing.

A word of caution:  This is the second time I have taken my coach to a major truck tire dealer and they did not have the equipment to balance RV tires due to the size of the center hole of the wheel.  Last time was just the opposite, they could balance the steer wheels but not the drive wheels.  And, I found the local Freightliner dealer does not have the proper tire balancing equipment.  They send RV's to a tire dealer several miles away.

Dare I ask what the $ damages were as a result of your outting?  Wait, let me sit down first.......

Sarge

One doesn't have those balance problems with Equal or Dynabeads.

Another Good:  All tires had a date of 12/09.  A&E sells a good volume of Michelin tires and had received a new shipment of XZA3 tires two days ago.

Ron, I had actually expected to put Equal in the drive tires since I thought they would not have the balancing equipment for those wheels.  When they told me they could spin balance I told them to go ahead.  In hindsight, with the problems I experienced getting the steer wheels balanced I probably should have gone with Equal in the steer wheels and it would have saved me about two hours time.

LK23 said:

I replaced my Michelin XZE tires today with Michelin XZA3 275/80R22.5 LRH tires. 

Good:  I really like the Michelin XZA3 tires.  They have a smooth ride and I feel I now have a softer ride than the XZE tires.

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Rex,

Do you feel the softer ride is due to the XZA3 tires or the higher load rating allowing you to run at lower pressures?

It would be interesting to run them at the same pressure as your XZE and see if that makes any noticeable change.

I am contemplating making the same change in the front as you have done

Harry,

I feel it is the XZA3 tires that provide a softer ride.  The dealer set my pressure at 95 psi in the front and 90 psi in the rear.  I then drove 60 miles back to our campground for the comparison.  Previously, I was running 100 psi in the front and 85 psi in the rear.

With my weight and the new H rated tires will run 95 psi in the front and 80 psi in the rear.  I plan to adjust the tire pressures today.

Rex - thanks for the report.  Other than a little softer ride, do you find the handling has changed?  I was thinking about body lean in cornering, for one parameter.

did not have the equipment to balance RV tires due to the size of the center hole of the wheel

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I've not encountered different sized center holes in steer vs drive wheels  ...is this a Freightliner thing???

John,

My return trip from Denver to Colorado Springs was a pretty straight shot other than approaches to the Interstate, etc.  I didn't see any difference there, but I wasn't paying much attention to that.  I will be traveling to Casper Wyoming next week and will pay more attention.

AFChap,

Yes, I guess the different size center holes on steer vs. drive wheels is a Freightliner thing, maybe due to the independent suspension.  I had a discussion with A&E tire today about them obtaining the adapter for the large center hole steer wheel.

I would have expected the tire shop to be equipped to handle any job they accpted to do.

AFChap, Yes, I guess the different size center holes on steer vs. drive wheels is a Freightliner thing, maybe due to the independent suspension.  I had a discussion with A&E tire today about them obtaining the adapter for the large center hole steer wheel.

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Quite curious to me as my Spartan chassis has IFS also, but I believe the wheels are identical as far as center hole size in concerned...

afchap said:

Quite curious to me as my Spartan chassis has IFS also, but I believe the wheels are identical as far as center hole size in concerned...

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We have a Spartan Chassis too and like yours the wheel are the same even with the IFS.  I don't think I would like it otherwise.  Wonder what other folks that have Freightliner chassis with IFS have regarding the wheels..

Our IFS is German - Zonderfunk (ZF).  Don't know if that makes a difference or not.

John,

You said "drift".  I think you meant "cornering lean"   

Our IFS is German - Zonderfunk (ZF).  Don't know if that makes a difference or not.

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That could be the reason for the difference ...the IFS on my Spartan chassis is Reyco Granning built by Tuthill Corporation in the US, AND the rear axle/suspension is also Reyco.

Ron said:

One doesn't have those balance problems with Equal or Dynabeads.

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1.  Freightliner recommends not using either (as of last week at Camp Freightliner).
2.  They are not good if you have an internal tire monitoring system, like Smart Tire.  They eat up the sensors.

porscheracer said:

1.  Freightliner recommends not using either (as of last week at Camp Freightliner).
2.  They are not good if you have an internal tire monitoring system, like Smart Tire.  They eat up the sensors.

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If I had a TMPS that couldn't handle either Equal or Dynabeads I would have a TMPS for sale as I would replace it.

At Rex's request (actually I should have done it a long time ago  :-[), I pruned away all of the SuperSteer Motion Control valve posts and made them a new thread in the Motorhome section. 

Thanks for bearing with your novice moderator 

I continue to be very pleased with my new Michelin XZA3 tires.  I still have a front wheel balancing problem and have become suspicious of the tire dealers balancing equipment (They had to put 12 oz of stick-on lead weights on one of the front aluminum wheels).

I am considering using Equal in the tires instead of balancing.  I contacted the Equal representative and learned a couple of important things:

1.  As most know, you need valve core filters and they come free with every bag of Equal.

2.  The tire mounting lube is very important.  As vegetable oil-based lubricant must be used.  Petroleum based products must not be used.

This is consistent with the Michelin Truck Tire Service Manual that states:  It is essential that an approved tire mounting lubricant be used.  Preferred materials for use as bead lubricants are vegetable based and mixed with proper water ratios per manufacturer?s instructions.  Never use antifreeze, silicones, or petroleum-base lubricants as this will damage the rubber.  Lubricants not mixed to the manufacturer?s specifications may have a harmful effect on the tire and wheel.

I believe you will be much happier with Equal or Dynabeads and your tires will too.