Bridgestonel Truck Tires???

[BernieD]

Yesterday I had a couple of nail piercing of my right outer rear (drive) tire. Coach Net sent out a repair truck which appeared to do a good job of repairing the holes. I questioned the mechanic and he felt the tire was still good.

Well today I contributed to the alligators on the highway and all the tread delaminated tho the carcass held it's air pressure. Monitoring the tire all the way, I limped about 10 miles to nowhere (the NM Welcome Center on the Texas/New Mexico border). Called Coach Net once more and they were able to find a shop in Tucomcari that had a tire and could be out in an hour.

When he got to us, the tire was a Bridgestone R-159, 295/70-22.5. My tires are Michelin XZA2, 275/80-22.5. Considering that it would probably take a minimum of 2 days to get a Michelin replacement in the same size, I went ahead with the replacement.

According to the Bridgestone web site, the pressure/weight was about the same as my Michelins. The repair guy said the sizing, overall is about the same. However, while the R-159 is not listed in the current Bridgestone recommendations, it was built in March of this year.

My tires have over 66,000 miles on them and I was planning on replacing them next spring. So my question is, what do I do with the Bridgestone (I was considering either the Michelins again or the Goodyear G670 (?). Will there be problem running the new Bridgestone in conjunction with the well used Michelins? Any suggestions?

 

[Ned]

Why not get two new tires for the front, put one of the front Michelins on the rear and use the Bridgestone for a spare?  Then do the other 4 next spring.  I would think that preferable to running one Bridgestone and 3 Michelins on the same axle.

 

[Carl L]

Suggstions? Yes, indeed. ?With 66K and a major delamination, some one is trying to tell? you something -- your tires are shot.? Your spring replacement plan had bettter move up to the early autumn, maybe even Monday.? That way you do not have to worry about mismatched tires and you may even may make to spring.? ?;D

 

[BernieD]

Why not get two new tires for the front, put one of the front Michelins on the rear and use the Bridgestone for a spare?  Then do the other 4 next spring.  I would think that preferable to running one Bridgestone and 3 Michelins on the same axle.

Ned

I assume you are suggesting junking the other front. IIRC, you just bought new tires from Wingfoot and had them installed elsewhere. Why not the whole thing at Wingfoot?

 

[BernieD]

Suggstions? Yes, indeed.  With 66K and a major delamination, some one is trying to tell  you something -- your tires are shot.  Your spring replacement plan had bettter move up to the early autumn, maybe even Monday.  That way you do not have to worry about mismatched tires and you may even may make to spring.  ;D

Carl

I don't believe that such a generalization is warranted. The outside right drive wheel takes the bulk of the load of the drive axle. The tire was flat and the deformity could have been the critical factor in the delamination. Finally, I drove that tire over an alligator and it did a lot of banging around that tire. All of the other tires still look pretty good.

 

[Ned]

Bernie,

We were at FL for annual service plus a front end alignment and the alignment supervisor wanted to do a runout check on the new tires before doing the alignment.  Wingfoot installed the tires at FL just before the MH went on the alignment rack, runout checked, tires balanced with Equal.  If it weren't for the aligment, we probably would have gone to the Wingfoot shop for the installation.  I don't recall any extra charge for installation at FL.

 

[Carl L]

Carl

I don't believe that such a generalization is warranted. The outside right drive wheel takes the bulk of the load of the drive axle. The tire was flat and the deformity could have been the critical factor in the delamination. Finally, I drove that tire over an alligator and it did a lot of banging around that tire. All of the other tires still look pretty good.

Hey it is your motorhome not mine.  But how many years did it take to rack up that 66K milies, 5 years?

 

[BernieD]

[quote authorr=Carl Lundquist link=topic=6797.msg59769#msg59769 date=1156653251]
Hey it is your motorhome not mine.  But how many years did it take to rack up that 66K milies, 5 years?

Carl

Close, but the tires are about 4 1/2 years old, built December, 2001, that's why I was planning on replacing them next spring.

 

[JerArdra]

Bernie,

Safety is the most important, don't wait until next Spring, replace 'em all now.  I suggest the newer Goodyear RV 670 tires because when our coach was delivered it had Goodyear Marathon truck tires.  At 13,000 miles they were replaced with the "new in 2003" Goodyear RV 670s and we really could fell the difference in the ride quality.  For us on a 40,000 lb 40 foot MH these tires have worked VERY well.

JerryF

 

[Chet18013]

Hi Bernnie,

Goodyear has a rebate going on right now for the G670RV tires. It's good until 30 September.  See:

http://www.goodyear.com/rv/promotions/g670_rebate.pdf

Since I need a new set of tires, I'l going to be taking advantage of this offer in the next couple of weeks.

Chet18013

 

[BernieD]

Hi Bernnie,

Goodyear has a rebate going on right now for the G670RV tires. It's good until 30 September.  See:

http://www.goodyear.com/rv/promotions/g670_rebate.pdf

Since I need a new set of tires, I'l going to be taking advantage of this offer in the next couple of weeks.

Chet

The pdf says the rebate offer expires AUGUST 30, not September.

 

[Chet18013]

Chet

The pdf says the rebate offer expires AUGUST 30, not September.

What do you expect? I hadn't had my coffee yet.

Guess I'll have to get the tires tomorrow.

Chet18013

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I'd buy another Bridgestone to match and put them on the front.  Replace the others when the time comes. I dislike having mismatched tireson the same axle though - could give squirley results, either because of handling characteristics or size difference.

Nothing wrong with a Bridgestone - could buy 4 (6?) more when the time comes, or get Goodyears or whatever if you prefer. Just pair the Bridgestones on the same axle. If you have a tag, could always use them there if you prefer something else up front.

 

[Jeff]

Bernie;

Our Tradewinds had a set of Bridgestones installed in 2002 that now have about 40k on them. Good ride and handling and NO problems.

 

[Ron]

I would prefer Bridgestones over Michelins anyway.

 

[Ned]

Gary has the easiest, and cheapest, solution.  Don't know why I didn't think of it.  I have different tires on the front axle vs. rear, all Goodyears, but different models.

 

[BernieD]

Thanks all for the thoughts. We should be home tomorrow afternoon and I guess I will be on the phone looking for tires.

 

[BernieD]

I posted the same message on another RV Forum as my original one in this thread. Luckily, Neil Lekander monitors that forum and responded to me. Many who have been a member of this forum might remember Neil, he was a principal in A-Weigh-We-Go and did 4 corner weighings on many of our coaches.

Neil explained that delamination of the tire tread was probably due to the puncture repair. All truck radial tires are now one ply carcasses tho as strong as the 10-16 plies as their load ratings call for. When the puncture was repaired, there was probably some air leakage between the patch and the carcass support plies which probably blew off the tread when the air in the leakage pocket heated up with driving.

Neil considers all truck tire repairs suspect and strongly recommends replacement whenever a repair occurs.

 

[Terry A. Brewer]

Bernie

>>Neil considers all truck tire repairs suspect and strongly recommends replacement whenever a repair occurs.<<

I bet you agree with him now.<G>