Michelin tire question

[MSHappyCampers]

Originally Posted by Bumps

Joe: I can comment on the ride. We have Michelin XZE's on the rear and Goodyear G670's on the steers. We put the Michelins on last Spring and noticed a softer ride right away. The G670s are are harder ride, IMO.

The G670s get replaced this year. I was going to go with the XZE's all around, but am now rethinking the steers.

\ken

So what are you thinking on the steers?

[Bumps]

I think either the Michelin XZA3+ or the Continental HS3 will be fine. I don't have reliable information on availability of the new XZA3+ in my size, so it will come down to timing. If not avaiable when we are ready to hit the road this Fall, we will go with the HS3.

\ken

[Craigls2]

I couldn't open the riveting attachment so can't comment on that. Personal experience with 2 sets of GY and one set of Michelin's is they are both quality tires. We only have 10,500 miles on 2yo GYs right now so probably too soon to know if we will see rivering. Personal experience has shown that weighing the coach has allowed us to reduce tire pressure which hugely impacts ride quality. I personally don't believe there is any best or worst tire but you have to feel confident with your decision.

[dennis45]

Originally Posted by MSHappyCampers

Dennis, look at the drawing of the "rivering" in the attachment I posted above. It looks like just wear along the top edges of the grooves around the tire. I don't see how that could cause any problems. Now if "cupping" is involved, that's a different story! I would not be saving any significant amount of money by going with the Goodyears so that's not my concern. Mainly it's just that I can get the GY's within a couple of days and I really need the MH for a trip next week.

Last summer we were in a Caravan to Alaska. One of our travel mates with a Ventana had just put on a new set of GY prior to setting off on the trip. 3000 miles later in Alaska, he noticed "rivering" on the RF tire. I can tell you it was more than a little wear around the groove. It was in fact very noticeable wear in the form of cupping all around the diameter of the tire on the outside edge ABOUT 1" wide. By this time we were on the return portion of our trip so he went into a Goodyear Dealer in Anchorage to have it looked at. Their response was they have seen it before and the solution was to remove the tire and swap it with a rear tire.
So, they did the swap and off we went. Now, a year later, we met up again and he showed me the same symptom on the RF tire again. He has had two wheel alignments since the initial install and the problem persists.
That is what I know. Not speculation. For that reason, I would not put GY tires on my coach. Just not worth the trouble. IMHO...

[wigginsjsr]

Originally Posted by MSHappyCampers

This is what's so confusing to me! The "rivering" the article mentioned does not mention cupping, just the wear around the top edges of the grooves. It sounds like your problem was not "rivering"

According to GY, the problem I had was "rivering." It does not always just include the problem outlined in the article. I agree with the readers response that stated, why would you want to buy any tire that is prone to any type of known failure. Failure is failure.

[Duoglide1]

If I was broke down in a small town and that's all they had I would try them. Other than that I wouldn't roll the dice to see if I was lucky or not. Too many other good choices.


2005 Country Coach Inspire, C9 CAT

[harleyjt]

I think you will find the Michelins will probably ride somewhat smoother due to a softer sidewall design. I just bought my coach several months ago and put Michelin XRVs on it. Same as OE. Have nothing to say yet as I've put very few miles on them. I do expect many years and miles of service from them.


I'm hearing 2 different issues here - one is rivering, the other sounds like cupping. Two different issues. The rivering issue wouldn't bother me too much, especially since you have authoritative information, both verbally from a GY competitor, and a tire article obviously researched by a knowledgeable author. These people are in the business and should know what they are talking about. I've never quite understood the "you can't tell me that..." mentality by some when dealing with a professional in the field.


Frankly, imho, if you want the Goodyears, and you've had good service from them in the past, that's what you should go with. You might improve your ride somewhat by going Michelin. You might save some money by going with an Asian tire. Though I really have never considered Hankook or Yokahama as a major name tire. That's just me. You can second guess yourself to death on some of these issues. My opinion for what its worth, get a quality name brand tire and you'll be fine. If there were that many Michelins blowing out sidewalls, or if there were that many Goodyears failing due to rivering then I think they wouldn't even be available. My gosh, this is worse than an oil thread on the Harley forum!
jt

[MSHappyCampers]

I'm waiting for a callback from a Goodyear tech support guy tommorrow, and also am going to get a final price on the Michelins from FMCA, THEN I'm gonna make a decision, ready or not!

[acerv47]

What is the problem with Goodyear G670's?

[Illfarmr]

Although I haven't bought my first coach yet, we have narrowed our range quite a bit and looking for just the right one in the next year.

That said, I have many years in the trucking industry as a small fleet owner, and have had plenty of experience with tires. While there are several good to excellent companies out there, for the last ten years we have exclusively run Michelin's on the front. We have had excellent service from the XZA3's, but in all of the discussions above, I have not seen one mention of Load Rating for these tires. On our semis, we run 12,000 to maybe 12,500, loaded or empty,on the front end. It is nothing to get 150,000 to 200,000 miles on a properly aligned and balanced tire. We run Load Range G, which equates to the old 14 ply tire. From what I have seen in the literature for what we are looking at, an Allegro Bus, front end weights get up in the 14,000 plus range. I would seriously look at a LR H tire if you are having problems. I know they are more money, but they may be what is needed on some of these coaches.

A couple other points. I but my tires thru Michelin's Small Fleet program, so I would imagine it has similar discounts to the club discounts. My XZA 3's run $505 with tax, picked up at my local dealer. Sometimes we mount and balance them ourselves, but sometimes have them do it. Also, someone mentioned the 11R 22.5 tire. We call those "tall" tires versus a "lo pro" tire like a 295R tire. Either is ok, except a 10R is about two inches taller than a lo pro tire, and an 11R is even taller. Some coaches don't have a lot of room around the wheel wells anyway.

[mccrob]

The rivering you are talking about is knowing in the industry as radial run out all square shoulder tires will have it so the tire companies came up with a decoupler groove in there steer tires to combat this problem from my experience if you put a Michelin XZE or a Goodyear 670 on the steer you will have the same problem Michelin XZA3 for the steer no problem. 40 yrs in the trucking industry 😎

[Dutch Star Don]

Jpe....Here is a good photo of "rivering". The edge that looks the worse is the outside edge. The "rivering" also causes cupping, just in that one area of tread. Two sets of Goodyears wore exactly like this. Without making any changes to the front end, I installed the Hankooks and they wore perfectly for 30K before I sold the coach. The Goodyear G670 in the photo was run 5 psi higher than the weight chart recommended.

[normandlegra]

You will never get that with a Michelin tire, that's it that's all.

[buckeyemike]

I have the GY tires on my coach and do not like them...they too are rivering and cupping and ride very hard..the only good things I can say about them is they are 9 years old and absolutely no cracking at all....I will be replacing them with the XZA3