25ft Workhorse P32 Steer Tire Recommendation

[Sst1226]

I'd like to replace the steer tires on my 2003 Georgie Boy Landau 25ft Class A, 8.1 P32 Work Horse Chassis. I've owned the coach for about 6 months and it currently has 225/70/19.5 Falken RI128 tires up front. The side walls appear to be in great shape and there is plenty of tread, however the date code shows them being made in 2013. I will be doing some towing with this coach and don't know how much the tires were exposed to the elements by the previous owner(s). The coach drives fine, but I'd rather replace for piece of mind.

With that being said, I'm looking at three tires in order of expense highest to lowest:
- Continental Hybrid HS3
- Kelly Armorsteel RSA (I believe is made by Goodyear)
- Sumitomo ST718

I believe the Continentals and Kelly's are made in the USA and the Sumitomo is made overseas, possibly Japan?

These are all G rated and the revs per mile vary slightly in this order:
- Sumitomo - 652 revs per mile
- Continental - 649 revs per mile
- Kelly - 636 revs per mile.

My annual travel will consist of 95% highway towing, 20-80 miles per trip one-way, 8-12 times per year.

Thoughts? Recommendations?

[Isaac-1]

I have Hercules H902's on mine thanks to the previous owner, he said they drive better than the previous Toyo M154's, though I have no first hand experience on that. Please post back with what you end up going with and a review of the change, too many of us out here have little or nothing to compare our current tires with, and will be in the same situation you are in soon.

p.s. I have heard some good things about the Sumitomo ST718 and they are currently on my short list

[theroc]

Sst1226, even though Kelly and Continental are considered to be U.S. companies, it doesn't necessarily mean that all their tires are U.S. made. Even Goodyear has plants all over the world. And just as most Japanese and German car manufacturers have plants in the U.S., so do many foreign tire manufacturers.

(Continental's parent company is actually German, btw.)

My understanding is that all Yokohama (a Japanese company) commercial truck tires are now made at their Mississippi plant.

Sumitomo (another Japanese company) I believe is also starting to shift their production of commercial truck tires to their plant in Tonawanda New York. I'm not sure if the ST718 is manufactured there currently or not but I do know that the ST788 is now, or will be shortly if not now, being made in New York.

With that said, I personally like the tires from the Japanese and South Korean manufacturers no matter where they may be manufactured. Toyo, Yokohama, Sumitomo, and Hankook are my favorites.

Since I've posted previously about how I believe Sumitomo represents some of the best values in commercial tires, --low prices for excellent quality tires-- my recommendation is the ST718. The reviews are very good for the ST718 and the price is lower than the competitors. Of the three, that's the one I'd be looking at. But that's just me and I know many will disagree.

[Sst1226]

Went with the Sumitomo's, the ST718 pair that I bought was made in the 48th week of 2018 and are still made in Japan. I'm very pleased with them. They were cheaper than the Kelly's and the Continentals. I would recommend the ST718s.

On a side note, I had one of my Falken fronts moved over to the spare which was the original dry rotted Michelin. When they took the tire off of that rim, there was a lot of water in it and there was some rust around the bead. I had them mount one of my Falkens on that rim just to have a spare, but it looks like I'll be looking for a new spare rim as well in my future.