R/T Tire Choice

[herefishy]

I had a blowout on my 2005 32'RT with Goodyear Marathon ST235/80R16 tires. After reading the bad experiences that people had with these tires I decided to switch to Michelin. My question is whether to get the LT235/85R16 X-RIB or the XRLT from Sams Club that are $40.00/tire cheaper? Anyone have any experience with the Sams club tire?

Thanks
Bob

[herefishy]

I had a blowout on my 2005 32'RT with Goodyear Marathon ST235/80R16 tires. After reading the bad experiences that people had with these tires I decided to switch to Michelin. My question is whether to get the LT235/85R16 X-RIB or the XRLT from Sams Club that are $40.00/tire cheaper? Anyone have any experience with the Sams club tire?

Thanks
Bob

[Max1]

herefishy...
Welcome to the forum and though I am no tire expert I can tell you they come in diffrent plys and are stamped with codes that tell a great deal about them. I beleive a E means ten ply. At any rate I would be sure and get at least a ten ply tire for our heavier loads. You might want to check out these Video clips from Micheline as I found a good deal of interesting stuff on them though at times it does not take much to amuse me

[Shelia W.]

Which ever one you choose remember to check when they were made. Tires are only good for 6 years from being made. Just reviewed a 20/20 show that featured this information. Knowing this could save your life or a life of loved one. i.e. 209 - meanes 20th week of 1999, 1008 means 10th week of 2008.

[rockintom]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Shelia W.:
Which ever one you choose remember to check when they were made. Tires are only good for 6 years from being made. Just reviewed a 20/20 show that featured this information. Knowing this could save your life or a life of loved one. i.e. 209 - meanes 20th week of 1999, 1008 means 10th week of 2008. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi Sheila,

Welcome to the forum! I agree with all you said except the 6 year life. That, in my opinion, is stretching it a bit. A lot of variables are involved and won't go into detail (type of tires, weights, UV exposure, speed,etc, etc). Goodyear used to have a statement in their RV brochure that said 4-5 years....but it is gone. Based on my experience 5 years (from born date) is the limit. I know way too many folks tried to go "just one more summer" that had thread separation/blowouts". My tires were changed at 3 years (37,000 miles) for safety reasons. I know that's a little anal, but that's me. Also I couldn't pass up a sale!! And yes I inspected the new tires for dates before installed. The tire man said that's the first time anyone has done that in his store. I fall on the side of safety cause this is our HOME. As I said this info is based on my opinion and experience.

60 minutes also did a show on age of tires recently. Showed stores selling tires from 1999 as "new"! Had a great price on them though!! rockintom

[Gypsybill and Jennifer]

I just replaced the 4 year old Merit tires with BF Goodrich Commercial T/As in LT235/85r16 E (Michelin owned company now) and promptly made a 2500 mile round trip on them - no problems... You can get them at SAMS Club as well for less than either of the two you mention.. I did quite a lot of reading on the tire subject and settled on the BF Goodrich as I couldn't find anything bad said about them in the RV environment. Would have gone for the XPS Ribs if I was going to keep my present 5er, but since an Excel is in my near term future, I opted to save a few dollars and still get a good tire... YMV..

[Bruce and Jenna]

Can anyone tell me which code on the tire wall to use for the manfg date on the LT235/85R16 G614? I looked on the Goodyear web site. They warned about tire age, but didn't tell you where to find the date! Too many dang numbers on it.

I saw a phone number on one of them, something about a for good time, but the handwriting made me a bit suspicious.

[Workshop]

Here is a Michelin site I use as a reference now and then, look under RV TIRE GUIDE OR SERVICE LIFE.

Was the hand writting Rockin' or someone closer to home. From the photo's on your blog, it could have been either one of you having a good time.

[LindaH]

The age of the tire can be found at the end of the DOT code which is a combination of 11 or 12 letters and numbers that identify the manufacturing location, tire size, manufacturer's code, and week and year the tire was manufactured (it's often stamped in a recessed rectangle and it's also often on the back side of the tire, which means you'll have to crawl under the rig to view the code).

Tires manufactured since 2000 have a 4-digit code (remember, it will be the last 4 digits in the DOT code). For example, a code of "0608" would mean the 6th week of 2008.

Prior to 2000, the date code was only 3 digits: "068" would mean the 6th week of the 8th year of the decade.

[rockintom]

Bruce,

Check out this thread of the past....should explain it. Tom!

Tire date code

Opps, looks like Linda and Workhorse done beat me to it. Bruce, you must really need lots of help! Have a great Memorial day! Tom

[xc-mark]

you cant buy a beter tiem then the XPS rib, its about the only commercial rated tire on the market thats also trailer rated. Tread wear is very good , tires will stay cool on extream hot days. the "Club tire" may not have the same case as the XPS , I would not take that chance...... $160.00 is much money to save if you have a blow out!

[Bruce and Jenna]

Yeah, I found it, thanks to Linda's suggestion to look on the inside of the tires.

Why does DOT mount the tires like that? Must be George Bush's fault. After all, they were manuafactured in 2007.

[Alpenliteman]

Anyone have comments on "scuffing". My tire dealer tells me my tires are good but just showing signs of scuffing.. he says this is common on tandem axle 5th wheels..
Walt

[Still Working "NOT"]

Alpenliteman,

Scuffing is the sliding of the tires when you make a turn pulling any type of trailer. This happens mostly in a tight turn as both wheels on each side will not track in the others wheel's track.

A good way to see this is on a concrete parking lot. It will leave back scuff marks on the parking lot for you to see. It is not a problem 99.9% of the time.

Now go out and get you an Excel and join us fulltime.