Difference between RV Tires and Truck Tires?

[Dunnpe]

I recently recently purchased a used 2003 Itasca Suncruiser 33V. I noticed that the existing tires were old and considerable cracking. I had the dealer (very reputable) install new tires on the rig before I would take it. I did not recognize the manufacture, but the tires handled and felt good when I traveled home, some 250 miles. I am just curiuos about the differences.

[Dunnpe]

I recently recently purchased a used 2003 Itasca Suncruiser 33V. I noticed that the existing tires were old and considerable cracking. I had the dealer (very reputable) install new tires on the rig before I would take it. I did not recognize the manufacture, but the tires handled and felt good when I traveled home, some 250 miles. I am just curiuos about the differences.

[bobpie]

My M/H came with the Goodyear G670RV tires and when I replaced them I used the same. Very good tires. IMHO. My old southwind had the truck tires that had sidwall cracking in them, I never seen any sidewall cracking in the Goodyear tires. They were 7 years old at replacement. They looked good enough to keep!

[ua40j]

IMO, there are few construction differences between "RV" tires and "truck" tires of the same grade. There are many differences between manufacturers and countries of origin.

I replaced the tires on my RV and did a lot of research on brands, load ratings, tread depth, UV resistance, pricing, etc. "RV" specific tires normally have a higher percentage of UV resistant compounds built into the tire, but load ranges and sizes and performance seem to be the same between similar tires of both types.

Truck tires do have more categories of use. Drive or Steer or Trailer tires are used on specific applications. They also have AP or 'all position' tires. They have ranges (Long haul, regional, on highway/off highway, etc). And they have usage recommendations (garbage, ambulance, trailer, etc). RVs normally use the drive, steer or AP tires, unless you really want non steer tires on your rear axles. From the RV manufacturers, almost all RVs come with AP or steer tires.

The biggest differences appear to be reputation and price and personal experience of the buyer. Each company seems to have followings of 'lovers' and 'haters'. But overall, there appears to be a general split between brands of really well known tires (Goodyear, Michelin, Bridgestone, Continental, etc) and the not so well known tires (Hankook, Kelly, Kumho, General, etc). Same with countries of origin. A split between well known countries (US and France) and not so well known countries (China, Korea, South America).

In the end, my decision for my size was based on national presence, performance factors (load range, tread depth, warranty) and price. I chose truck tires because they were less expensive than RV tires of the same size and performance where I live.

Here's a link to some really good info on tires and what to pick. It is for 2006 so some of the tire models and sizes that are available might be different than today.

http://www.randallpub.com/overdrive/..._specs_new.pdf

And just to reiterate, I began this reply with the acronym IMO....in my opinion.

Happy RVing!

[Richard 34A]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ua40j:

"...And just to reiterate, I began this reply with the acronym IMO....in my opinion. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

And in my opinion, that's a great, informative reply... thank-you!

[Dunnpe]

Jim, Thanks for your explanation, wisdom and experience. I did look at the web site for OHTSU (ohtsutires.com) my particular tire the 245/70R19.5 is the RI-128 14/G load range. The tire is in the Highway Rib category instead of the Drive or All Position. I have not found out what the difference is between the different categories of this brand of tire. For now, seeing as they are brand new and seem to do the job I will see how things run down the road.

Again thanks for the reponse.

[ua40j]

Dunnpe,

You have new tires and that's great. But please make sure your 'G' load rating is enough for your coach's axle weight.

And, of course, make sure the inflation matches the load. If you don't know what your coach weighs, I would recommend inflating your tires to the maximum cold pressure listed on the sidewall. There should be 2 separate pressures. 1 for single axle placement and 1 for dual axle placement. But I would only run them at maximum until I weighed the coach.

The manufacturer may have a website and it might have the load/inflation tables for your specific tire. I would not rely on the dealer for accuracy.

Richard....thank you.