Alignment and Balancing ?

[dmason]

Our 2007 HR Scepter has been pulling to the right during the last trip. Passenger side front tire shows unusual wear on outboard edge. Going to take it in for a front end alignment. Should I have the front tires balanced also? What is the preferred balancing method . . . if I have a choice?

Tires are Goodyear G670 with about 14K miles on them with a manufacturer date of 11/06. Thanks as always.

[Barlow46]

Richard/Mary Lou,

Google "rivering Goodyears" and take a look at some pics and see if that is what you are seeing as unusual wear on your outboard edge.

Also, since your tires are approaching 7 years of age, you will probably be looking at replacements shortly especially since they have been sitting unused quite a bit of the past six years. There are many opinions of the lifespan of a class A tire but most agree that approaching 7 years will be time to look at replacement.

I saw in an earlier post that you were headed to Florida soon. If so, give Barry Hamton a call at Josam's Truck Alignment in Orlando. They are reported to be the one of the best in the country at doing Class A coach alignments and he also can get your tires at a decent price and install them for you should you chose to do so.

Josam - Truck Frame and Alignment Specialist Worldwide

Josam Truck Frame & Alignment
8849 Exchange Dr Orlando, FL 32809

[Dutch Star Don]

damson.....If you're coach recently started pulling to one side, it's most likely a tire going bad. Alignments generally don't go bad like that on a coach as new as yours. I'm willing to bet that one of those pieces of junk GoodYears are going bad and has a tread separation.

My recommendation would be to put two new front tires on. If you have to have a name brand tire, go with two new Michellins. Your rears will probably be good for awhile because the GoodYears do okay when they're in a non steering position. Replacing the front two now and then waiting a year or so on the rear helps spread out the expense of new tires.

I just put the Hankook AH12's on my front and balanced them with beads for the first time, instead of spin balancing. They've been FANTASTIC. They already have 10000 miles and are wearing perfectly and ride better than the GoodYears ever did!

If you haven't had your coach aligned recently, I would do the alignment as a preventative measure. Even if it's off a little, it can cause you to do a lot of unnecessary steering/corrections to keep the coach going down the road straight. I'm not talking about your pulling issue, but wandering when the toe-in/toe-out is not set correctly.

Make sure the alignment is a four wheel laser alignment. This makes sure that the front wheels are tracking straight with the rear.

The alignment should be around $150.00. I bought my two Hankooks for $940.00 OTD.

[JFC]

I had my '07 Scepter aligned at 9K miles due to problems with Goodyears on my last coach. Replaced Goodyears on Scepter at 20K miiles due to rivering. Replaced with Bridgestones and no problems for next 25K miles. Had alignment done at a large truck facility and spin balanced new tires.

[bgbranch]

Originally Posted by dmason

Our 2007 HR Scepter has been pulling to the right during the last trip. Passenger side front tire shows unusual wear on outboard edge. Going to take it in for a front end alignment. Should I have the front tires balanced also? What is the preferred balancing method . . . if I have a choice?

Tires are Goodyear G670 with about 14K miles on them with a manufacturer date of 11/06. Thanks as always.

Richard,
You probably have one of those Goodyears separating.
If it were my coach, I would locate the nearest tire dealer and have at least the steers replaced now, as your tires are 7 years old.
A good safety measure is to replace tires at 5years regardless of the miles on them. If you have experienced or seen the results of a blown steer on a MH you would agree.
Tires are cheap when it comes to the families safety.
Good Luck,
Ron B.

[kketterling]

I have similar problems with my tires and only have slightly less than 20,000 miles and yes they are Goodyears. Very disappointed with them and will not be replacing them with Goodyears. Will try Michelins and plan to upsize to 315s.

[Gorlininc]

I have the Goodyear G670 that are now 2 years old with 20K Miles on them. I had my coach aligned last year and all the tires rebalanced at Josam on Florida. They found 2 tires were out of round. They shaved them round. Apparently it's a problem with Goodyear tires. They are giving us a great ride now and smooth. If you have Goodyear tires you may want to get that checked. My next set will be Goodyear tires again. Once they are balanced and rounded, they do give a great ride.

[Mike & Mike]

dmason,

I had our Alpine coach aligned last week (mostly since it had been 5+ years since the last alignment, not because I felt any particular bad handling). I asked the alignment guy why my Goodyear G670 steer axle tires (3 years old) were wearing on the outsides of the tread. He said 'tire balance'. He then suggested that I move the steer tires to either the left or right rear and move those rears to the steer axle. He also suggested that I come back to him for tire balance, which he does with the tires mounted on the steer axle (not in the back room of the tire shop), which balances the entire tire/wheel/brake assembly.

He had a rolling hand-truck-like cart with a motor that got the wheel spinning quite fast and he then put some weights on it and did it again to confirm he'd gotten it right.

I have only driven the 30 miles back to the house so I don't have the experience of a 'trip' behind us yet but all of his comments and suggestions made perfect sense to me.

By the way, I agree completely with those that have suggested that you replace your 2006 tires. From everything I've heard about tires, you are at the end of the useful lifespan (which is not based on tread depth).

Please take a look at the YouTube video found at this link. This is about the hazards of running 'old' tires. It completely changed the way I've thought about tires.

Dangerous Tires - YouTube

Also, if you haven't seen it yet, take a look at the Michelin produced video of how to handle a steer tire blowout. I think you'll be surprised at what you learn!

How to Handle a Tire Blowout in Your RV - YouTube

Cheers!

[dmason]

Thanks for all the suggestions and recommendations. Now looking to replace all eight before heading south to FL.

[Moxy]

not a big fan of all of this fear mongering, before anyone starts with the flaming, yes I have had blow outs, front and rear, new and old tires, by new I mean three years old, by old I mean over 10 years, I have 5 year old goodyears 670RVs on my tag axle coach, when I had tires blew out because of pot holes, running over or very close to speed limits of the tires, I now run TPMS and always will, there is no rhyme or reason to tire blow outs, well maintained un abused properly inflated tires will last much longer than 7 years, regardless of if they are on a motorhome, a boat trailer, car or truck, if you are worried, have them removed and inspected by a trustworthy shop, it is far more economical then throwing out perfectly good tires because of people who abuse, overheat, overload or dont have a clue what they are talking about, don't buy into this 7 year itch crap, take your safety into your own hands and pay attention, we all haul precious cargo, check tire pressures, watch your speed, feel your tires or take their temp when you stop for a break, our tires are rated at 75mph max regardless of load so slow down especially when running in 100 degree temps,

Rant complete

Moxy

[bgbranch]

Moxy,

Really, are you freaking kidding me?

You stated you have had blow outs on both old and new tires alike. Well, now we know why.

First let me say, I was in the OTR trucking business from 1986 thru 2008, when I retired, and averaged spending between 150,000.00 to 200,000.00 per year in tire purchases. At that same time I owned and operated a Goodyear commercial tire store in Kingsland, Georgia. Since my retirement, I helped my son start a heavy truck and RV repair facility which has become very successful for him. So, I am not uninformed about useful tire life.

If you want to run tires on your coach that are 10 years old, that is certainly up to you. However you should not tell someone else it is completely safe to do so. Industry wide, it is a well known fact that the chance of a tire failure, because of age, dramatically begins to increase after the 5 year period. That is why reputable truck tire recappers will buy used tire casings up until the age of 5 years old as evidenced by the manufacture date on the casing. After the 5 years, they won't touch them. Also, if it has had a puncture, they won't purchase them because moisture invades the casing, rusts the steel belts and will cause a failure.

Again, take all the chances you want, but please don't encourage someone else to take a chance with safety. I mean if you invest dearly in a nice coach, why in the world would you want to try and skimp on tires or maintenance.

Ron B.

[Moxy]

Originally Posted by bgbranch

Moxy,

Really, are you freaking kidding me?

You stated you have had blow outs on both old and new tires alike. Well, now we know why.

First let me say, I was in the OTR trucking business from 1986 thru 2008, when I retired, and averaged spending between 150,000.00 to 200,000.00 per year in tire purchases. At that same time I owned and operated a Goodyear commercial tire store in Kingsland, Georgia. Since my retirement, I helped my son start a heavy truck and RV repair facility which has become very successful for him. So, I am not uninformed about useful tire life.

If you want to run tires on your coach that are 10 years old, that is certainly up to you. However you should not tell someone else it is completely safe to do so. Industry wide, it is a well known fact that the chance of a tire failure, because of age, dramatically begins to increase after the 5 year period. That is why reputable truck tire recappers will buy used tire casings up until the age of 5 years old as evidenced by the manufacture date on the casing. After the 5 years, they won't touch them. Also, if it has had a puncture, they won't purchase them because moisture invades the casing, rusts the steel belts and will cause a failure.

Again, take all the chances you want, but please don't encourage someone else to take a chance with safety. I mean if you invest dearly in a nice coach, why in the world would you want to try and skimp on tires or maintenance.

Ron B.

Hey Ron first of all read my post and tell me where I told anyone is was completely safe to go ahead and unconditionally run tires of any age period, so stop misleading readers and misquoting me,

Secondly with all your experience in business I would expect you would understand the concept of measuring twice and cut once, two ears one mouth, or maybe a little knowledge is a dangerous thing that kind of thing, there is no empirical proof or data that supports your claims of well know failure due to being 5 years old, if you have please post it, what is proven that more miles means more chance of failure period, regardless of age,

Congratulation's on your extensive experience but I will defer to my experts whom are the ones who are liable to me and coincidentally are Goodyear Truck Tire retailers,

Not really sure what you comment means regarding we know why I have had blow outs, I told you why they blew out, and it was not due to their age, excessive speed, yes and I admit it, a brand new tire will not last if abused or driven above its rated speed in 90 degree temps for extended periods of time, pot hole damage on 3 year old tire remains unseen until its to late, or should I replace three year old tires if I may or may not have bruised them on a rough road, or just wait for the 7th year and take my chances.

You may have bought a lot of tires, you may have started a few successful business as have I, but what does that have to do with tires on a motorhome, what do re treads have to do with 7 year old RV tires, nothing.

Quite simply 5-7 year old tires are not junk by any stretch and there are thousands perhaps millions of tires that old running around the country on RVs, my bottom line was don't listen to blow hards and know it alls who love to jump on the band wagon and if you are rightfully concerned and cautious like me, have your tire inspected by someone you trust and do what they tell you to do based on the condition of your tires, not what a bunch of armchair quarter backs tell you to do because they figure they are the experts that have never seen the inside of a tire. Which Don is what I said in my post.

Next time you are at a park, have a look around the tires on coaches and trailers, you would be surprised at the number of 7, 8, 9 10, even 15 year old tires there are. if you were right and it was as epidemic as you are eluding to there would law regarding tire age, or the NTSB would have weighed in long ago.

So inclosing Don, you business experience does not make you an expert, your business purchases do not give you a crystal ball, if you have any hands on experience showing that 5-7 year old tires are prone to failure I would like to see it and it will change my mind, until them as stated earlier, Ill go with my experience and the expert opinions I have received locally,

Moxy

[bgbranch]

Moxy,
WOW, calm down and have a great day, that's all I have to say.
Ron B.

[Mike Thomas]

You really only have to ask yourself two questions. 1) How old would you like those tires to be, and 2) how fast would you like to be going, when you go in the ditch.