Community Forums

Navionflyer · 07-20-2019, 10:03 PM

Has anybody put Hercules Tires on their motor coach?
Newbie here with limited experience regarding coach tires and semi tires.

Good evening everyone I'm looking for some advice and experience from others regarding swapping out my tires on my Essex. The size is 315 / 80 / 22.5.
Many of us would probably like to have Michelin tires or something equivalent at a much lower price. I've been contemplating Hercules Tires which actually have a stronger or higher weight rating capacity than michelins.
My concern is that with the tire weight rating capacity of the Hercules, I think that the sidewalls will be much stiffer and probably will give me a much rougher ride?
Michelin 9050 lb each. Hercules 10250 pounds each.

Hercules Tires can be purchased for $425 . Michelins for 725.
I might even consider putting two Michelin Tires on the front and the remaining six would be Hercules.
Cross-posted to DIY RV repair and maintenance.

Crasher · 07-21-2019, 05:16 AM

I was told the same thing when considering Toyo M144's to replace the 295/80/22.5 Michelins on our coach. I did it anyway and the ride is actually smoother. I stayed with the same size, but know of someone who went to the 315's on the front and said there wasn't much difference. You would not have to carry the pressure required for the maximum load. Just carry the psi required for the load they will carry and you should be fine.

hayward3411 · 07-21-2019, 06:56 AM

I replaced my Goodyears with H-902's at 34,000 miles. I have put 30,000 miles on the Hercules tires. The wear is great and the ride is the same.

I would not hesitate to recommend them.

Ivylog · 07-21-2019, 07:04 AM

I’m surprised your 03 Essex has 315 tires on it as you only have a 13,700 front axle and a 20K rear...much the same as my 04 Dynasty which came with 295/80/22.5. I put 315s on the front when my tires aged out BUT I put 6 Hankook 11R22.5 on the rear...same diameter as a 295 and plenty of load carrying capacity.

Without your axle weights we are just guessing although they are probably 13/19/7K.

gpounder · 07-21-2019, 07:21 AM

I would be surprised if you could tell the difference. There is a natural tendency to say whatever you buy is great, rarely does anyone say they made a mistake, it's a ego thing.

Whatever tire you buy needs to be properly inflated to achieve the performance it was designed for. You need the footprint on the ground for traction. Most truck tires do not have so called ratings(speed, traction & life) but that might be helpful if they do.

Buying a higher weight tire does have a impact on mileage and stopping as your spinning more weight or trying to stop it. I can't give you a figure but it is a real number.

I put Hercules on a Class C and they were fine, I could not say they were better or worse, just cheaper.

FORTRIDER · 07-21-2019, 07:31 AM

When we bought our Essex 3+years ago it had Hercules on it. No complaints. When they are needing replaced I will probably replace with the same.

TexasTom · 07-21-2019, 08:56 AM

Just switched from 3 year old Herc to Hancook. Better load capacity & much better ride

Navionflyer · 07-21-2019, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ivylog

I’m surprised your 03 Essex has 315 tires on it as you only have a 13,700 front axle and a 20K rear...much the same as my 04 Dynasty which came with 295/80/22.5. I put 315s on the front when my tires aged out BUT I put 6 Hankook 11R22.5 on the rear...same diameter as a 295 and plenty of load carrying capacity.

Without your axle weights we are just guessing although they are probably 13/19/7K.

Ivy log, good morning. You've done your homework. I am registered as a 03 Essex owner with a 14600 lb front suspension.
However, we purchased the 09 Essex about three weeks ago. We still have our 03 model and don't plan on putting it on the market for another week or two. That being said the 09 Essex does have the larger 315 tires.
I'm simply trying to decide if saving some money by not buying the name brand is worth it? Thanks for your thoughts and comments. C a r y

Milford 47 · 07-21-2019, 02:34 PM

Almost all truck owners put their favorite tire on the steering axle and the rest are what is available at a good price. Nearly all of the tires are inflated to sidewall psig and ride is not a factor, just mileage and durability.

There isn't much difference in all the major brands of tires so it comes down to service, availability, and price. All the majors have some issues from time to time and turn out some bad batches which are the ones you hear about.

As you can tell by reading the threads a lot of it is just the personal experience of the poster. Talk to a fleet owner if you want real data.

Navionflyer · 07-21-2019, 02:46 PM

Thank you all for the comments. Much appreciated. I've about decided to put two Michelin on a steer tires and I'll make the final selection on the remaining Six Tires tomorrow. Have a great day. May you have safe travels and always have tail winds. C a r y

Old-Biscuit · 07-21-2019, 03:05 PM

Hercules doesn't MAKE ANY tires.
They are a marketer, distributor of tires undwer their Name

COOPER mfgs their tires

Give them a try......2 tires for bit more then 1 Michelin
Air them according to weight being carried plus 5#

TonyMac · 07-21-2019, 03:11 PM

Love my H-902s, ride great at placard pressures. 20,000 on them.

Ivylog · 07-21-2019, 04:06 PM

C a r y, well that does make a difference on the front but not on the rear...still has a 20K drive and a 10K tag. Not sure why they put the same size tires all the way around. A 295/80/22.5 would be good enough on the rear and even a 11R22.5 would have plenty of load carrying BUT both are 3.1% more revs/mile.
I’m at 22K on the drive on my Navigator which came with 295s all around. I replaced the 4 year old cracking Michelin on the front with 315 Continental...very happy with them but they were $600 each. When it comes time to replace the 6 rear 295 I’m going to use 11R22.5 as they are the same diameter as a 295.

My 08 Navigator has the same rear axle ratio (4.33) as your 09 Essex so I do not see any reason to put six 315s on the rear...11Rs are $3-450.

PS: are you still flying a Navion? I’ve owned a 182 RG since 1980.

Pogo · 07-21-2019, 06:14 PM

I just replaced our Toyo tires with Ironman tires. They are 16 ply, and ride great. The size we have is 255/7-R22.5. Ironman is an associate brand of Hercules. Our old tires had very little mileage, but had to be replaced only due to age. And, we will not be putting a lot of miles on these new ones either, so it was a logical choice that our large tire dealer offered as a lower cost choice to Michelins or Firestones.