Tires. Holy expensive, Batman.

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drisley

drisley

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Joined
Aug 11, 2013
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OK, picked up a new (to us) RV. As it turns out, some of the tires are pretty old. The ones on the front are from 2010 while the two I can see on the rear are 2008. I assume the secondary tires in the rear are 08 as well. They are Michelin XRV... 235/80 22.5's. 2 of the tires are XZE's (any difference?).

Anyway, only gotten one estimate so far locally - for 6 new XRVs - and it came in around $3200 out the door. I knew these things aren't cheap, but was hoping to be less (of course).

Got a few questions for anybody in the know...

(1) The 08's on the back are pretty old (although they look good), so want to replace. The 2010's on the front look good, but are now working on 6 years old. I've heard people say replace after 5 years, but heard others say that's overkill. Would you consider keeping the 2010's on there?

(2) Heard about the FMCA program... Michelin Advantage. What are the potential savings here? Would need to get installed in the Tampa Bay area (where I live). Worth joining for this?

(3) What about non-Michelins. Again, I know opinions are plentiful. :) But, thoughts?
 
A blow out on a motorhome is a total disaster. Not only is it dangerous to you physically, it generally will do considerable damage to the motorhome. The 10s are 6 years old, why take a chance. Don't be penny wise and pound foolish. Replace them all and drive with peace of mind.
 
Our motorhome has the same sized tires, and with the FMCA discount, and figuring one years membership, we saved a total of $150.00 on six tires.  That $150.00 is not per tire, but total savings.  From what I had heard, I expected the FMCA discount to be much more.
 
That's the thing. I don't want to pony up to join FMCA just to find out the savings is pretty minimal. Is there any way to check on that without joining?
 
The last two tires I had installed on the front were Hankooks.  I have used Hankook for years on my cars and have been very pleased.  My tire dealer said that they were the only tire other than Michelin that he would recommend.

The bottom line was a ~40% cost savings relative to Michelin and a smoother, quieter ride.  When the rear ones need to be replaced I'll do the same thing.
 
When I replaced our tires three years ago the difference on Michelins with FMCA was $200 per tire in PHX.
 
Just got a quote from the same shop for the Hankook 255/70's... which I'm told will fit just the same as the Michelin 235/80's... and it was about $2300. So, literally a $900 savings.
 
255 mm is how wide the tire is. If the dual tires in back make sidewall contact with each other they will POP. Better rethink the tire size for rear duals. The tire guy either didn't have enough info from you or is an idiot. the 255mm is about an inch and a quarter wider.

Bill
 
Aware of the issue with the duals. Not sure if they were on the phone, but I am. From what I've read, many people have replaced the Michelin XRV's with this tire on their RVs - with success. Seems like Michelin is a bit oddball in how they measure their 22.5 tires. But, will confirm more before I make a move.
 
From what I can tell, the width on the Michelin 235/80r22.5 is 9.2 inch... while the Hankook 255/70r22.5 is 9.8. So, it is a little wider, but we'd be talking about the rubber in the rear riding 1.2" closer together.... depending on air pressure. Guess I'd need to go out and measure the spacing on the duels.
 
What looks like good clearance sitting still might not be enough going down the road, remember the sidewall flexes more as the tire absorbs it's share of road imperfections.

Bill
 
Yep. Like I said, will confirm for myself.... but I'm seeing a LOT of people online here who have done this exact switchout of the tires. Only thing I don't know is their dual spacing.
 
Drisley im tire shopping as well and it appears that the original tires on my coach was supposed to be 235 80r 22.5, when I bought my RV it had the  toyo m154 and size is 245 75r 22.5 this size was used and I did not have clearance issues.
As far as my tire shopping went i will list the complete out the door price.
Champion tires x 6 = 1784 otd
Sumitomos = 2200
Yokohama = 2290
Toyo = 2347
Goodyear rv tires= 2543...

The size is 245 75r 22.5
Leaning towards goodyear since tbe price is outstanding next is yokohamas.
Taking her next week to change all six.
Ive been told only fronts need balancing but you will get all opinions.
Good luck
 
Michelin makes a good tire, as do many other brands. I went with Bridgestone because the price of Michelin even with the FMCA discount was much better. I have larger tires (295's) and more of them (8) and the difference between FMCA discount Michelin and Bridgestone was over $1,000 for the set. I too would just go ahead and buy 6 and be done with tires for another 7 years. Buy a good, brand name tire, from a reputable dealer and save some money when you can.

Ken
 
Alright, I went out to the RV to check out the rear tires. And I'm a little concerned on whether the Hankooks will fit. I'll need to talk to the tire shop about it - likely in person with the unit sitting there. As it is, there looks to be only maybe 2 inches (3 at the max) between the two tires. So, if I put the wider Hankooks on there, it could bring the distance between the tires to less than an inch, potentially. Not sure that's smart.

[sigh] I really hate to spend 3200 on rubber for this thing.
 
Just a thought. If you have room keep one of the 2010's for an emergency spare.
Michelin says 10 yrs for RV tire life if no probs found during that time. https://www.michelinb2b.com/wps/b2bcontent/PDF/3_TB_Service_Life_RV_Motorhome.pdf
 
We've had horrible experience with Michelin tires.  Two Hondas and our motorhome have all has serious cracking issues.

Went with Bridgestones on the Hondas and Summitomo on the motorhome.  There were about $2700 OTD in Costly-fornia!
 
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