From 12R's to 295/80's - report:)!

[bneukam]

So my Toyo tires on my 02 Intrigue are 7.5 years old, they look brand new. Decided to change out just the front. After install, saw the made in China, and not Japan.
My coach always drove really nice, no porpoising, and takes bumps pretty smoothly. I gave credit to the tires and Road King shocks.
Now I am a little worried about these new Toyo tires on the front. Haven't drove enough to really give a good assessment, but just the fact has me frustrated that I didn't check into them more carefully.


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[darstar]

Originally Posted by bneukam

So my Toyo tires on my 02 Intrigue are 7.5 years old, they look brand new. Decided to change out just the front. After install, saw the made in China, and not Japan.
My coach always drove really nice, no porpoising, and takes bumps pretty smoothly. I gave credit to the tires and Road King shocks.
Now I am a little worried about these new Toyo tires on the front. Haven't drove enough to really give a good assessment, but just the fact has me frustrated that I didn't check into them more carefully.


Sent from my iPhone using iRV2 - RV Forum

There was a time a while back when Country Coach blamed all the tire failures on Toyo . The real problem was CC not Toyo with all the mislabeling GAWR . These days I would not worry about , " made in China" . All the tire MFGs have some of their line made in China, too their standards, as they would say.

[B Bob]

So I now have new tag tires. The Michelin 22.5 895 80's. I added up the bill for the tires and the install. $817.94 each. That includes all fed and state tax. Fed alone is 40 bucks a tire. Price for tires without anything is 665 each.

Seems like a lot. So I called Parkhaus Tire, the place locally where I got the four Firestone drive tires I have had for four years to see what the cost of those is today. Including all taxes, install, new vales, $555,74 each.

The Michelins using the FMCA "discount" plan are only 47% more than the made last month in the USA Firestones.

Maybe the FMCA deal is not so good.

[Smitty77]

Bob - No question they're pricey, even with he FMCA deal!

And other good tires are available at lower prices. Never mind saving money. The Hankook AH12 came highly recommended, though I'm still not clear if they were OK'd by Hankook on my 8.25" rim.

Parkhouse, in Kearny Mesa, is where I had out 8 XZE* 12R's installed when I bought the coach. I wanted a fresh alignment, and had always had great phone support when talking with Laszlo, so TCI was where I ended up for both.

I have no buyer's remorse, and like really like the ride difference of the XZA2's over the XZE* and even the ST230 (Had been on steers only before this purchase.)

But for sure, lower costing, and safe, tires are available... Not knocking the Firestones, as I have not had a set, but they never made it onto my list of tires to consider. (Though the Bridgestone's did, and as you know, they own Firestone. Though not available in 12R or 295/80, I did hear good things about the R283's. For those that have sizes in that tire, may be worth checking).

At least I will not need to worry about it for another 5-7 years! (Knocking on wood....).

Best,
Smitty

[darstar]

Originally Posted by Smitty77

Bob - No question they're pricey, even with he FMCA deal!

And other good tires are available at lower prices. Never mind saving money. The Hankook AH12 came highly recommended, though I'm still not clear if they were OK'd by Hankook on my 8.25" rim.

Parkhouse, in Kearny Mesa, is where I had out 8 XZE* 12R's installed when I bought the coach. I wanted a fresh alignment, and had always had great phone support when talking with Laszlo, so TCI was where I ended up for both.

I have no buyer's remorse, and like really like the ride difference of the XZA2's over the XZE* and even the ST230 (Had been on steers only before this purchase.)


But for sure, lower costing, and safe, tires are available... Not knocking the Firestones, as I have not had a set, but they never made it onto my list of tires to consider. (Though the Bridgestone's did, and as you know, they own Firestone. Though not available in 12R or 295/80, I did hear good things about the R283's. For those that have sizes in that tire, may be worth checking).

At least I will not need to worry about it for another 5-7 years! (Knocking on wood....).

Best,
Smitty

The Hankook 12Rs do call for 9" wheels , a bit painful but , I am committed , ( or should be ) only 4 more too go.

[B Bob]

Smitty - The thing that bugs me a little bit is I think the price I paid through the FMCA program might be higher than I could have got just getting the best price on Michelins. I did notice what I thought was a better ride when I replaced the steers on the front with Michelins a few months back. But this is subjective and I am told new tires ride better.

These days there are lots of add ons that jack up the price of tires. When I say add ons I mean things like Federal taxes on top of the usual sales tax the State and Local people collect. Buying tires is kinda like renting a car these days. The daily advertised rental charge is $29.95, but when you see the bill it is $72 dollars a day. You just paid for the local stadium, planning commission, housing adjustment tax, and so on.

Firestones. About four years ago my drive tires on the rig were Michelin and they were about 6 1/2 - 7 years old. I went to Parkhaus Tire in Escondido at the recommendation of a friend for tires. I got quotes on Michelin, Firestone, and Yokohama. Michelin was 28% more than Firestone or Yokohama. The manager of the store in Escondido said that he puts the Firestones on a lot of school buses and they are good tires. The ones he had were made in the USA and one month old. So I bought them. They have worked very well over the last four years. Firestone is owned by Bridgestone. Firestone is a long established US tire maker. They got a bad rep over the Explorer tire fiasco a few years back. From what I read it was more of a Ford issue than Firestone. But I can say my experience with them has been good.

Dunlop. Almost the same deal as the Firestones. I had Mich on the front. My toe in was a bit too much on the bus and when we were headed back from Ohio to CA I was just nervous about the tires. So I replaced them in St Louis at a big truck tire place. Got prices on Mich and Dunlop. Both one month old. Both same rating. Michelin 27-28% more. I took the Dunlops. Dunlop a long time British maker now owned by Goodyear. The Dunlops I bought were USA made. I did not get the fronts aligned. So I wore out the fronts in 3 years because I did not get the toe adjusted. I finally had toe adjusted at TCI in El Cajon when I put the Mich on the front a few months ago.

Very likely Hankook are good tires. Lincoln sells them as an optional upgrade on their cars. I do try and buy stuff made in the US when possible. Generally speaking these days made in the USA is better quality than import. Generally. Plus I like the idea of supporting USA workers. I love this country and I want to spend my money here when I can. Plus I can tell USA standards for tires is very high. When tires are made here it is very likely those high standards are followed.

My final comment on tires. Michelin and Goodyear are the only two companies that have taken the time and spent the money to make tires specifically for RVs. They both make high end tires that are backed by very good warranty and nationwide retail outlets. No other country except Canada has lots of big RVs like the ones we drive. There are a few in Europe and Australia, but nowhere else. So pretty likely companies doing engineering and manufacturing here where the motorhomes are would have the best handle on how to make a good RV tire. That said, unless you are really flush with money it is hard to justify 28% more if you can get a safe product for that much less.