essex tires

[2305a2305]

i just bought a 2008 essex and the drive tires need to be replaced and the michelin tires are about 1000 the dealer suggested i but bf goodrick st230 tires on it any good or bad news on these

[Midniteoyl]

They'll work.. They are a truck tire, but most say there is no difference.. They are owned by Michelin.

http://www.bfgoodrichtrucktires.com/...do?tread=ST230

["007"]

Welcome to the forum 2305.
Why do you need to replace your tires on a 3 year old coach?
The wheels out of alignment or driven with to low a pressures?
Here is Michelin tire info.
Here is a discussion on both type tires.
Here is the Goodyear tire web site.
My Michelin's are over 7 years old have never had a blow out and never had a blow out on 6 coach's I have owned.
If you have coach weight and tire pressures set up with the tire pressure tables of manufactures of your tire you should be able to get the years up to 10 on Michelin's.
If I owned a ESSEX I would stick with the Michelin tires because of the good service on all my coach's.
You will find in coming future posts that the discussion will get long and its still going to come down to your decision.

[2305a2305]

i am guessing low pressure both are the same way and when i was looking for a used essex everyone i looked at had the same problem with the drive tire i assumed it was something they did thats why i was thinking of a driffernt tire the dealer said to run 125 psi in front and 85 psi in back

["007"]

As long as side walls are not overly cracked and you get coach weight for weight its carrying, fluids, personal belongings and such you may not need new tires.
Is this the dealer telling you you need tires or a Michelin tire dealer?

[2305a2305]

thanks alot for the info, neither it just looked strange to me seeing the edge of the tire worn like that i assumed they needed changed there is no sidewall cracking and the tread in the middle is really good

[Lug_Nut]

Sounds like they came off the front and were rotated. If it is only the shoulder wear, the tires may be good for thousands of miles more. I agree with 007, I too would only replace with Michelin when the time comes.

Peter

[Iron Man]

You might want to confirm that they were at one time the steering wheels. Drive tires should not wear before the steering tires. If they were always a driive you should have an all wheel alignment done. On second thought you should get the alignement checked. How many miles does the coach have.

[2305a2305]

sorry my mistake they are the steer tires the drive tires all look good

[Perry White]

My advice, stick with Micheln. I have 34,000 on my Essex and they look like new. You might have a tow in-out problem. Mine are dated 10-05'

[2305a2305]

i had not thought of that you are probly right, i wonder if i could take the front and rotate them to the rear and get a few more miles out of them or would the side tread be a issue

[Skipper 05MA]

You will find a lot of posts on this issue with the front tires wearing on the outer edges. On our 08 Essex we had the same problem. Took it to Spartan and they checked all the front end and aligned. Spartan said it was an issue with the Michlen tires and suggested I move the fronts to the drive axle and the drives to the front. Had something to do with the tires wearing in on the drive actually helped when moved to the front. So that's what we did and drove the coach another 15K miles before trading with no further problems.

[Batman_777]

Check the DOT Date code? We've heard of tires sitting the warehouse for 1-2 before they were installed.

[ottffss]

The EX on K2 have a history of moderate to severe "river wear" (a.k.a. camber wear). An often stated cause of river wear is tire design. Seems the Michelins in this application appear to be highly susceptible to river wear - but there is no data to support this. FWIW I have had significant river issues using both Michelin XZA1 (original installed rubber) and even on Michelin XZA2 in the steer positions - most notably on the right steer outer rib.

Please, if you choose the Goodrich skins (the weight specs are fine) let us know what you discover. Some real data and experience would be helpful.

The definitive source for identifying tire wear and cause and effect is from the American Truckers Association Technology and Maintenance Council’s "Radial Tire Conditions Analysis Guide". Any really good truck tire place will have this giant picture book as does Spartan.

You might get a nice tread depth gauge (a couple dollars) and measure the depth in the two outer and center grooves every 5k miles or so and monitor. I also use a very wide (10in or so) shape tracing tool (Lowes Kobalt brand about $10) to trace the shape of my steer skins every so often to identify the wear pattern before it is blatantly visible.

Sidewall checking is another common Michelin issue. Checking in the tread zone (above the belt band) is considered cosmetic, below the belt band it is potentially structural. Michelin warrants this w/o issue. Note: Spartan in Charlotte is NOT a Michelin "service center" and can not do Michelin warranty work - though they are an excellent place to buy new skins outright.

BTW Rotating both steers to the same side of a drive position OR better yet rotate the steer (either one or both) to either or both tag to finish scrubbing and mounting new on steer are perfectly recommended and done in practice. Use the tag position to "finish wearing off" tires. The tag positions are handy as the tire wear does NOT have to be matched like the drives do.

Yes, the Michelin XZA1 or 2 are now right at a cool $1,000 EACH mounted. These have skyrocketed since only a couple years ago when they were about $750 each.