2001 Alpine 40FD.. tire, and load range question..

StansCustoms · 10-21-2010, 09:08 PM

Can anyone tell me what brand tires and what load range a 2001 40FD Alpine came with from the factory..

Best regards..Stan M.

takepride · 10-21-2010, 10:04 PM

I believe they were all Toyo's, until the later years. Toyo quit supplying them for motorhomes due to wear problems and complaints. Do a search to find info on new tires. The raging debate right now (still) is Goodyear RV360 or Michelin. Your choice. Call around. Pick a price.

You'll find your tire label near the fuel filler and (often) inside an upper kitchen cabinet door. Best to weigh your coach to determine psi.

Old Scout · 10-22-2010, 05:54 AM

The basic tire reqmt for yr 2001 was a 295 75R with a load range of "H". Many people have gone to an 80R profile which has a slightly larger diameter. This means your engine ecm and speedometer are off by about 3%-5%. As for tire brand--Goodyear, bridgestone, Michelin all show up in conversation. Lots of good info on the forum--do a search on tires,,,,,good luck

Barbaraok · 10-22-2010, 10:47 AM

Just so you know, we replaced our Toyo tires with Toyo tires. While they may not advertise them, they are great tires and no reason you shouldn't consider them.

Barb

StansCustoms · 10-22-2010, 05:50 PM

Well...may not be the best, but my tire guy whom I've known 30 years, says Toyos will hold up fine. He says Michelins are the best..period! But he would head out to Canada on Toyos..(we are in Texas).

He also said that "most" Rv owners don't drive far enough to even worry about what tire they have...they age out way before they wear out.

I can relate to that...my Fleetwood has new Michelins on it...errr, well new in 2005. They are nearly gone ...got almost 6,000 miles on them

...

...but they will need replacing before long because of age. It's hard to buy new tires when you have Michelins that look new.. Real hard I think, because they are so expensive. I think some people can't bring themself to do it because they still look so good... That's exactly what I had to do when I got my Fleetwood, buy new tires because the ones on it were 9 years sold....but had only 3/4K miles on them. Man that was tough...they looked brand new.

Anyway on my new to me Alpine..I bought two new Toyo M122's today for the front ...which also matches the tires on it. The coach had one right rear inside tire that had been run flat or something, and beat on the tire beside it. So I put the front tires on the right rears, new tires on front..and had all 6 checkout and balanced. I'm glad I had them all balanced...because they wouldn't balance. Turns out that they had the sand stuff in them...which this tire shop thinks is a joke. Broke them all down, removed the sand and balanced them all.

Amazing difference not to have bought all new tires...day and night.

...and the good news is I saved a bunch of $$$$. Two years from now, I'll replace the other 4...which have the 19th week of 2006 date code and look great.

I'll be sure and post any problems I have with these tires (new and old) if any issues arise.

Now on to the next item on checklist...Generator and engine and service....and more $$$$.

Stan..

Rich and Cork · 10-23-2010, 09:06 AM

Since you have put new tires on the front, I would have the front end aligned.

Congrats on your purchase and enjoy

StansCustoms · 10-26-2010, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich and Cork

Since you have put new tires on the front, I would have the front end aligned.

Congrats on your purchase and enjoy

Good idea and one of the things on my list.

...and thank you we are having fun just puttering with it, can''t wait for some road time.

Stan..

F&D ABQ · 10-27-2010, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Scout

The basic tire reqmt for yr 2001 was a 295 75R with a load range of "H". Many people have gone to an 80R profile which has a slightly larger diameter. This means your engine ecm and speedometer are off by about 3%-5%. As for tire brand--Goodyear, bridgestone, Michelin all show up in conversation. Lots of good info on the forum--do a search on tires,,,,,good luck

I think it's load range "G". In any case, it's 110 psi max.

P.S. I like Toyos too; ended up putting 147's on the front and 122's in back. They give fine mileage.

StansCustoms · 10-28-2010, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by F&D ABQ

I think it's load range "G". In any case, it's 110 psi max.

P.S. I like Toyos too; ended up putting 147's on the front and 122's in back. They give fine mileage.

Thank you for the input... I thought so too.

According to max axle GVW #'s on the coach and weight rating on the the tires, G's are well within the recommended limits.

The coach had a matched set of six G rated Toyos (code dated 1906) when I got it. I deciced that I would match what was on it ...while replacing the front two.

.. and rotated the front tires to the right rear to replace the one damaged tire and the slightly scuffed one, as per previous post.

I'm thinking that I will put two new ones two on the front next year and two more the next....for safety mostly. But that will be less expensive and then I will do it every two years from then on....always putting "new" tires on front and rotating the front tires to the rear. I'll have fresh tires on front at least every year or two....and tires well within the recommended age limit on the rear.

I believe that the balance on front tires changes at least every two years...as does the flexibility of the rubber. That insures that I have live rubber with a recent balance on the font ones more frequently than I would have if I just bought new set every 6/7 years. Which is the recommended replacement age. (Actually some tire men think 7/8 years...if very low mileage like I have put on RVs in the past).

I can testify that just replacing the front tires and balancing all the rest made a very noticeable difference on this rig.

I said this before...but think it worth repeating, since I did a lot of tire work when I was young, and currently have a passenger car computerized tire balancer in my hot rod shop.

...the balancing sand that some tire shops put in tires is a rip off in my opinion. I "watched" them try to balance the older tires on a almost new Hunter computerized truck tire balancer (expensive). The weight kept creeping to a new spot every time (in other words would't balance). That's when we discovered the previous owner had installed the balancing sand.

I had them break down all the older tires, clean the sand out, examine the tires inside thoroughly and then try to balance them again. They "all" balanced quickly and perfectly then.. (and with less weight than the balancer was calling for with the sand).

Nothing beats a good balance job....skip the sand and other gimics.

Opinions vary of course...