Let’s Talk Michelin Tires

[DC21]

For what its worth, Just sat through a seminar put on by a factory Michelin engineer at a rally. A lot of time was spent on tire life and he indicated 7 to 10 years is possible with RV tires with proper care. Things like consistent proper pressure based on your weight, routine visual tire inspection, covering tires when parked more than a few days to protect from UV, protecting the tires from ground contact during periods of extended parking or storage and never using any brand of tire protectant or tire shine. For cleaning tires all Michelin recommends is soap and water, they do not recommend or endorse using any so called tire protectant after cleaning.

[Gary.Jones]

DC

That is interesting... I have been to tire presentations by Michelin (Dont remember who did it), but their recommendation was that a product such as "303" was fully appropriate to use on their tires, and that is the only product that I personally use on my coach..... of course, if you dont tell them otherwise, any professional wash or detail done on a coach is likely to add "tire black" of one sort or another to your tires.

Gary

[DC21]

Gary, I'm the same and agree, I have used 303 forever. Brought that fact up to the Michelin engineer and he repeated that Michelin does not recommend usage of any brand of protectant. He did indicate that it is in the warranty paperwork, although I have not confirmed that yet. Guess at this point I will stop using 303 on the RV tires and when using a wash service stopping them for using anything on the tires.

[tap4154]

Our 2010 28Y class C came with Michelins from the factory. Only after getting it home did we notice hairline cracks in the sidewalls. Internet search showed this was common on that brand, and they even had a chart showing when the cracking was considered a concern. We just drove it anyway, but after a few years the MH sat in storage because of health issues.

Just recently I've been getting it back in shape and the tire sidewalls, now 9 years old, looked like a jigsaw puzzle, with a big crack all around the tread circumference.

I ran across a recall with free replacement on that particular tire (free replacement) for the tread flying off, but the period of manufacture they covered was 3 weeks after ours were made. I tried to challenge it with Michelin, but they held firm and would not offer any compensation. I asked it there was a big change that occurred 3 weeks after ours were made, they refused to answer and just said ours were not included. IMHO it was probably just an arbitrary decision.

So the last brand I was going to replace them with was Michelin, and I had Toyos installed a few weeks ago. They look really nice, ride much better, and we'll see how they hold up. BTW the tire shop, which works with a large local RV dealer, put a liquid UV dressing on right after installation, and I bought new covers for them.

[Tom78418]

I have been a Michelin fan for decades though my recent encounter shook my confidence a bit. Still a Michelin fan, but with slightly less enthusiasm. A calamity of steep driveway, uncooperative traffic and forced to be too close to a curb with a small small bit of rebar and took on some side wall damage to the outer driver side drive tire. Drive as-is, replace one tire, replace both on the driver’s, or replace all four drive axle tires. Amazing how many versions I received talking with different Michelin CS reps. That just short of long holds listening to obnoxious music, the mix of advice given was annoying to say the least. Ultimately we replaced both driver’s side tires and not all 4 drive axle tires as that is what the dealer had available. For a little extra flavoring to the experience, we sat in the parking lot after all the work was done another 40 minutes while the dealer was on hold with Michelin to close the paperwork.

Not he best customer experience, but tires are so incredibly essential to safety we will stay with the best. As for when to replace, we are among those who will replace on wear and not date considering the amount of travel we do.

[DSL417]

Guess I talked to Michelin CS at a better time, on hold for 30 seconds. I did learn one thing I didn’t know...Michelin does have some type of warrantee on these tires, but they must be registered. I never saw any paperwork on this with coach purchase, so I am not sure what it is, but for those with newer tire, you may want to ask the question. I doubt seriously that Spartan would submit registration when they build and equip the chassis.

[BCam]

I've used Michelins on my automobiles quite a bit over the years but when I had to buy tires for my new-to-me MH early last year, I just couldn't justify the price of the Michelins. The commercial truck tire shop I went to gave me a good price on Uniroyals with the comment that they were made by Michelin and, except for tread wear, stacked up well against Michelins. Considering that, at my use level, the tires are going to age out long before they wear out, I went with the Uniroyals. Only time will tell.

[Tom78418]

Catch them early in the day and wait time is very short. As the day grows longer so does the wait time. Interesting various company CS doesn’t recognize telephone traffic is one of the measures for success. Poor handling of telephone traffic will remedy itself. Customers will eventually start calling the competition.

Sorry Michelin. You’re awesome, but there is always room for improvement.

[DoggieDaddy]

Just replaced our two front tires dated "3113" (31st week of 2013). They were starting to check. And yes we cover them. Michelin discontinued the OEM "Piloted" tires for "Energy" tires that are designed to give less road resistance. About $1,900 for the pair installed with balancing beads.