Speed Limit for Michelin tires used on RV trailer axles?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
FastEagle

FastEagle

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 12, 2010
Posts
647
In the past month I?ve asked Michelin ? via eMail ? a specific question about speed restrictions on their tires when used in the RV trailer position. Both times they have answered me with their standard response that says - in part - they will answer me within two working days. I?ve not received any answers from them. Because I live just 10 miles from Michelin of North America I would normally go over to their offices and ask them face to face but, I?m in FL for a few months and can?t do it right now. So, what do you think their answer will be? Has anyone else asked them a similar question and got an answer? Normally they would have to answer the question but because they do not supply tires to any RV trailer manufacturers as Origional Equipment they may just want to stay mum on the subject. Listed below is the last question I sent them. It?s simple and to the point.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I?ve asked this question before and have not received an answer. I?ve gone back to your current ? on line ? Tire Data Book and Truck Tire Service Manual and cannot dig out an answer. So here is the question again.

When someone selects a specific Michelin tire as a replacement for an RV trailer axle and the Michelin tire has a speed rating of 75 MPH will it still be rated at 75 MPH when used on the RV trailer axle?

V/R
CR
----------------------------------------------------------------------

FastEagle
 
Well, I don't know the answer for sure, but it sure seems to me, that the speed the tire is rated for should not be specific to a particular vehicle.  In other words, as long as the vehicle the tire is on does not exceed the rated tire limits, (weight and such), the speed should not change either.  We have a tire "expert" on another board I'm on, and I can post this question over there if you like and see what he has to say.
 
edjunior said:
Well, I don't know the answer for sure, but it sure seems to me, that the speed the tire is rated for should not be specific to a particular vehicle.  In other words, as long as the vehicle the tire is on does not exceed the rated tire limits, (weight and such), the speed should not change either.  We have a tire "expert" on another board I'm on, and I can post this question over there if you like and see what he has to say.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I may already have it posted there.


FastEagle
 
The speed limit question that is easiest to answer in the thread above is "If it's rated for 75MPH will it still be 75MPH"

So long as the load is within the tire's range and the rim is the proper rim for the tire the answer is YES. there is NO difference (to the tire) between the rear axle of a FWD car and the trailer axle.. IN fact there's no difference in the axles either in many cases.

Now, that said, Please read the sidewall of the tire... You will note it says something like

"Maximum load 1,000 pounds at maximum pressure of 30 PSI"

This means if you are only carrying 750 pounds.. You don't use 30 PSI.  (NOTE: Numbers pulled from air and are only "Examples" not intended to be real numbers.. though for a 12 inch tire they are not far off)
 
Just a note about Michelin tires. A few years ago I bought new tires to replace the Goodyear tires that had been well used on our rig. Within less than 1000 miles three of the Michelins blew out on the sidewall. I learned that Michelins have no warantee. since then I have always checked for a tire warantee when buying new tires. We still use Goodyear or Bridgestone.
 
Michelin has a warranty, they just won't stand behind it.  They had a rash of sidewall blowouts on their RV tires and would always blame it on the owner/driver.
 
The Michelin tire warranty is pretty much the same as the others, at least in writing. However, reports suggest they are much more likely to reject a warranty claim as being the result of a owner failure to maintain proper pressure or other tire "maintenance".

I'm not sure that reading the warranty will make you any smarter when they all talk about "tread wear" and "defects in materials and workmanship" and leave the determination of the cause of the failure to the manufacturer.  Often it is the dealer who makes the difference, either strongly backing the owner or just passing on the claim to the manufacturer and being totally transparent.
 
Rancher Will said:
Just a note about Michelin tires. A few years ago I bought new tires to replace the Goodyear tires that had been well used on our rig. Within less than 1000 miles three of the Michelins blew out on the sidewall. I learned that Michelins have no warantee. since then I have always checked for a tire warantee when buying new tires. We still use Goodyear or Bridgestone.
Click to expand...

I have a written warranty on my Mitchlins.  However I don't know if they stand behind it

If you had 3 of 'em blow in less than a kilo-mile I"d be asking about the load v/s inflation.. Sounds to me like they were either overloaded, underinflated, or both.
 
Hmm, I don't know about the RV tires, but I've had nothing but good to say about their regular tires.  My son blew two tires within a week of each other.  They stood behind their prorated warranty (they had over 25,000 miles on them).  I can't imagine them not standing behind the RV tires either.  Interesting.
 
There have been numerous reports over the years on the RV related internet venues about Michelin's failure to honor their warranty on RV tires.  It's always the fault of the owner with Michelin claiming overloading, underinflating, etc. even when presented with evidence to the contrary.  They made a bad RV tire and wouldn't admit to it.  The newer Michelin RV tires may be better designed but I won't ever trust them to stand behind their products.
 
I have no complaints about Micheline's tires, but I have seen far too many reports of their intransigence on warranty claims to give them good grades on that score. Another anomaly is that Michelin warranties seem to  vary with the source of the tire - a Michelin bought from Sears may have a different warranty than one bought elsewhere.  Apparently Michelin leaves the warranty to the distributor when they contract with a major outlet like Sears or Canadian Tire.

They are also much more expensive than many other excellent brands.
 
Another vote against Michelin. Firestone or Goodyear lasted me many times as long as Michelin in heavy applications (combine trailer) twenty years ago. I'd get warranty service out of them if I had an unusual problem too. Michelin would just thumb their nose at me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 852 (members: 30, guests: 822)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,919
Posts
1,387,471
Members
137,673
Latest member
7199michael
Back
Top Bottom