Advice need for tire replacement.

[Whippetsmom]

We need help on suggestions of where to get our tires replaced on our motorhome in the Centralia area of Washington State. We went to Les Schwab in the area and spoke with them, they gave us a quote on replacing our Goodyear G670's and a equivilent Michelin tire. The Goodyears were $160 more a tire. We also asked about installation, they said that they would place our aluminum rims on a carpeted area and would take the tires off with hand tools from the back to avoid marring the front of the rims, so you would not see any scratches or dents. This alarmed us, seeing they do not have a machine to do it automatically. They also stated that they do not spin balance the rear tires, only the fronts. This also did not make sense to us.
We did not expect to have a hard time finding a place to replace the tires. Do you have any suggestions of a place that could handle this. We have had terrible luck with Camping World with damage caused by them on our other motorhome, and will not go there. This is an expensive endeavor and would appreciate any suggestions from your experiences from any of you.

[JohnRR]

Most places changing truck size tires do it by hand, a reasonable good tire changer can change a truck tire faster by hand than with a machine!

[Whippetsmom]

Thanks for the reply, what about the fact that they do not find it necessary to spin balance the rears. I would assume that might cause a problem going down the road, shaking things apart if they were not balanced, any ideas? I just want to make sure things are done correctly and safely.

[rsflight]

We just changed our 6 tires, all 22.5 Michelins. We stayed with Michelins, some truck tire shops said that they had problems getting the Goodyears to balance properly. The Michelins were slightly more than others, but we have had good luck with them & decided to stay with them. We use DynaBeads in all 6 tires in place of the weights.

[JohnRR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whippetsmom I would assume that might cause a problem going down the road, shaking things apart if they were not balanced, any ideas? I just want to make sure things are done correctly and safely.

For the last 40 plus years I've never seen the need to balance the rear duals, but they were tow trucks, however with this my first Class A or RV of any type I had Dynabeads installed in the rear tires when the steel wheels were replaced with aluminum wheels.

The Dynabead rep at the factory said my rear tire size called for 12oz but their recommendation was to install 14oz since they were duals so 14oz it was. I can not say anything about a difference as the coach has not been off the jack stands since the wheels were replaced but it was worth the little extra money for my piece of mind.

[Diplomat Don]

Whippetsmom....Rear wheels can hop from being out of balance the same as the front. They say they don't balance rears......that would be your decision, not theirs.

My local truck tire shop charges for mounting and balancing no matter if you bought the tires there or somewhere else. All tire dealers buy their tires from a local warehouse or distributor. Go to a local car tire dealer and ask him if they can order the RV tires even though they don't install them. I have a friend that chrges me $25.00 over his cost for RV tires and then lets me pick-up them up at the warehouse. His only involvement is writing up the receipt and make a quick profit.

I did this when I replaced my front two Goodyears. $540.00 each at the truck store, $375.00 out the door with my own tires. It's worth a try if you have a vehicle that can transport the tires.

[sCarycary]

I replaced all six of my tires at Les Schwab here in Fremont, CA. Tracy was great. I had ordered the Dyna beads seperately. He installed them. I bought Toyo's. My tire are 245/70 195. We paid right about $2,500.

[OLYLEN]

Just replaced mine 2 weeks ago in OR with TOYO at Les Schwab in Prineville. They put in the beads on all 6. Saved $1000 on the 6 instead of the Michelins, they seem to drive better and went up one load grade in the process. 265 70r 22.5 $2400

LEN

[WindsorDave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whippetsmom We need help on suggestions of where to get our tires replaced on our motorhome in the Centralia area of Washington State. ... ...Do you have any suggestions of a place that could handle this. We have had terrible luck with Camping World with damage caused by them on our other motorhome, and will not go there. This is an expensive endeavor and would appreciate any suggestions from your experiences from any of you.

You're not that far from Coburg/Eugene.

GCR Tire on I-5 in Coburg, (541-345-4120) just south of Monaco and Cummins Northwest for Bridgestone/Firestone.
Randy at Wyatt's Tire Co. in Eugene (541-344-3221) for Michelin.

They both spin balance and Wyatt's "true" tires for the front axle. That is to say, after mounting the new tire on your rim and before installing it on the coach, they put the wheel/tire assembly on a big lathe-like machine and take a cut across the face of the tire tread. This makes the tire perfectly round. GCR may do this too but I just bought drive-axle tires there.

And there is the added advantage of no sales tax in Oregon.

FWIW