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Tire Age/Condition?


breister

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I have 9 year old Michelin XZA's on my MH and they are hardly worn. I do notice some very fine "spider web" looking cracks on the sidewalls. Since Michelin says they should last 10 years, should I wait another year to replace or be worried about the spider cracks now and just bite the bullet? I was thinking of just replacing the 2 steer tires now and the rear 4 tires next summer to spread out the expense of it but not sure if I should take the chance or just do them all now. I am looking at Toyo M144's as I have read great things about them and they are much less than Michelins. Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

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As I recall, Michellin says that some tires "can last up to 10 years," AND they caution that any tire over 5 yrs old should be inspected yearly by a tire professional. A thorough inspection requires the tire be dis-mounted and inspected inside too. And they warn that 10 years is the absolute maximum aged tires you should run. I would definitely do the steers now, and if you want to spread the cost a bit you could take a chance and delay doing the 4 rears before you do any summer travel.

Paul (KE5LXU), former fulltimer, now sometimer...

'03 Winnebago Ultimate Advantage 40E

'05 Honda Odyssey

Escapees, FMCA, WIT, SMART

http://www.pjrider.com

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Nine years old and showing cracks would exceed my comfort level. Consider your consequences, are you carrying a good spare, can you change a tire on the side of the road, are you able to check your tires every 100 miles for high temperatures and belt separations, are you going to be traveling at high speed for any distance? For myself, I try to minimize risk levels while traveling.

Greg

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If they are showing "spider web" cracks I would change them out. This way you have the time to check on new tires and also get the best price on them.

On the road and needing a new tire you may be in a place where you will have to pay their price.

www.anindianandagypsy.blogspot.com/

 

Joe and Nancy

2002 34' Georgetown Motorhome DS

Towing 2004 Cavalier

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Agreed . 9 years is playing the edge , so to speak .

 

We had very good 'looking' rear Goodyear tires on the rig when we bought . They were almost 10 years old . We went with Toyo M143 s all around . That was 6 years ago . No regrets .

 

143 and 144 look to be the design , just different rim size .

Goes around , comes around .

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You are running on a set of time bombs.

 

I had a 7 year old Michelin XZA blow out the inner sidewall with the well known 'zipper' type failure. The force of the blow out damaged the engine doghouse and the passenger side floor. The tire still had about half new tread depth

 

A front tire blowout is not a trivial incident it often leads to loss of control and a major accident.

 

Perceived wisdom is to replace RV tires at 7 years REGARDLESS OF WEAR.

FT since September 2007

Safari Trek + M/C

http://johncarolandcharro.blogspot.com/

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You are running on a set of time bombs.

 

X2. At 9 years and showing visible degradation I wouldn't even consider driving on them much past the tire shop. If you can swing it.. I would bite the bullet and do them all the way around. With the weights and pressures at play a full on blowout can do significant damage.

 

You also want to consider that if 1 blows it's likely that the remaining tires will be pushed significantly over their weight capacity as they take on the blown tires load... severely compromising the rest. Even with newer tires it's not uncommon to have "domino failures" in fairly short order of a blowout.

 

To each their own, but IMO.. tires are NOT where you want to try and save a buck.

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Yeah it's a really big outlay... but consider the potential consequences. Does it really matter if you might get another 10% out of the tires? Are you full time with all your worldly goods (including your lives) in your coach? Cheap insurance... and learn to read date codes if you don't already know how and insist on fresh sneakers for your baby's new shoes.

"There are No Experts, Do the Math!"

2014 Freightliner Cascadia DD16 600hp  1850ft-lb  18spd  3.31  260"wb
SpaceCraft S-470
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Many good responses, but I'll add another thought. What are you willing to risk to save a few dollars? Every time you drive the RV you take on some degree of risk but with each year of age on the tires that risk is increasing. Some people run tires as long as possible while others of us replace them early. If you can see cracks that seems to be to greatly up the degree of risk, but it is impossible to say how much. While you could have the tires unmounted and inspected by a professional, I have never met a motorhome owner who actually did that and the cost of doing so would probably eat up most of the savings you might get by waiting to replace them.

 

The 10 years stated is not a magic number but just a point beyond which Michelin will not consider any sort of warranty and I believe that warranted service begins to decline after year 5 and is gone at year 10. Understand the risks that you will be taking to keep what you have, then make your choice.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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i had tires that were little past the 10 yr mark. but i only went about 75 miles each way, an every mile i was on edge. altho the ride was mostly off highway, still little dangerous. when i had a talk with local rv repair shop an he told me of the story when his rear tire went i started to look an get the tires done.

MY New Rule of Thumb. Is altho the price is high to replace. atleast i'm alive to pay for it.

2000 Itasca Horizon DP (Got Total During Irma). 

Vice President of Charlotte County Defenders LE MC

http://charlotte.defenderslemc.com/

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MICHELIN® truck tires bearing the MICHELIN® name and complete serial and identification numbers, used in consumer service, such as on a motorhome, according to the instructions
contained in this Operator’s Manual, are covered by this limited warranty against defects in workmanship and materials for the life of the original tread, or five years from the date of purchase, whichever
occurs first.

 

At that time, all warranties, expressed or implied, expire.

 

WHAT IS NOT COVERED
Tires/casings which become unserviceable due to:
– Road hazard injury (e.g., a cut, snag, bruise, impact damage or
puncture);
– Incorrect mounting of the tire, tire/wheel imbalance, improper
retread or improper repair;
– Misapplication, improper maintenance, racing, underinflation,
overinflation or other abuse resulting in casing damage or fatigue;
– Accident, fire, chemical corrosion, contamination, tire alteration
or vandalism;
– Flat spotting caused by improper storage;
– The addition of liquid, solid or gaseous materials other than air,
nitrogen or carbon dioxide;
– Uses other than long haul service for any extended warranty
casing claims;
– Uneven or rapid wear caused by mechanical irregularity in the
vehicle such as wheel misalignment, resulting in damage to the
under-tread, carcass or steel belts;
Ozone or weather checking.

Full Time since Oct. 1999
99 Discovery 34Q DP | ISB
Datastorm | VMSpc | Co-Pilot Live | Pressure Pro
2014 MKS Twin Turbo V6 365 HP Toad
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Thanks for the responses everyone! As I was typing my note yesterday, I realized I was answering my own question. Why would I risk going anywhere with my MH that has 9+ year old tires on them? All your comments just solidified my decision to order new tires right away. I put my order in for all new Toyo M144's and will get them installed in the near future. Yea it's a big outlay of cash, but now I hope I don't have to worry about it for at least 7 years or so! Thanks everyone for the great input and safe travels!

 

Brian

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When we bought our Foretravel nearly four years ago I couldn't easily read the date code on the rear tires, but the PO thought they had been replaced at the same time as the front ones, a couple of years earlier. I happily drove our new purchase home, 300 miles, without any issues. As I was learning what we had just gotten ourselves into, I found out that the rear tires had NOT been replaced as she had said, and were nearly 13 years old! I immediately ordered four new Michelins. I was a nervous wreck driving the 50 miles from our place to where the tires were. No problems.

David Lininger, kb0zke
1993 Foretravel U300 40' (sold)
2022 Grand Design Reflection 315RLTS

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