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RVFunlovers · 11-07-2022, 05:51 AM

With all the tire threads lately I find got serious about checking my tires.

I could not find the date code on the outside of my front 315’s. I found them on the inside though. They were made in week 07/21 and week 08/21. So they made back in February of 21.

At 9K miles I see no evidence of any issues with the tires. I asked the Spartan tech to look closely at the tires and he agreed they look good. I have retrobands on the tires.

My 6 rear tires were all made in 27/21 or 28/21. So July 21 about 5 months after my front tires. They all look good as well.

It was an eye opener that my front tires are 5 months older than my rear. Not to bad but they were 1 year old when I got the coach new.

I have no idea if the 315’s will hold up well or how long I will have this coach. I might change the front tires only out in about 4 years and roll the rears a couple years longer.

brobox · 11-07-2022, 06:23 AM

Hal,

Consider yourself very fortunate. The Tires on my 21 are dated 17 and 18. I had to replace the front tries to have Rettrobands installed as the were older than allowed.

Most coaches will have at least 1 year old tires for the year of the coach as the chassis is normally a year before the coach date. My 21 coach built in 20 has a 19 Chassis with the maximum allowed by Michelin, 2 year old tires. Luck of the draw.

With coaches selling they way they were during the pandemic and the scarcity of tires, getting older tires on a new coach probably did not happen. My coach was finished, just before the pandemic shutdown, but had to wait for delivery.

GeezerViz · 11-07-2022, 06:30 AM

If your tires are in good shape, Michelin recommends they be replaced at the 10 year mark. I don't see any reason to replace sooner. Of course if you see issues, that time line should change.

777 Driver · 11-07-2022, 06:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RVFunlovers

I could not find the date code on the outside of my front 315’s. I found them on the inside though. They were made in week 07/21 and week 08/21. So they made back in February of 21.

At 9K miles I see no evidence of any issues with the tires. I asked the Spartan tech to look closely at the tires and he agreed they look good. I have retrobands on the tires.

My 6 rear tires were all made in 27/21 or 28/21. So July 21 about 5 months after my front tires. They all look good as well.

It was an eye opener that my front tires are 5 months older than my rear. Not to bad but they were 1 year old when I got the coach new.

I have no idea if the 315’s will hold up well or how long I will have this coach. I might change the front tires only out in about 4 years and roll the rears a couple years longer.

Hi Hal,

It was nice chatting with you at Spartan (Shyft) last week. Glad you got in and out quickly.

I was of the impression that your steer tires were 365/70R22.5 v 315.

The date codes are embossed on one sidewall. Although I'd guess it's just chance whether that's installed on the inside or outside, I always supect that if the installer is proud to be installing tires manufactered very recently, he'll install them with the date code on the inside. OTOH, if the tires were manufactered many weeks before installation, he'll be inclined to "hide" that date code on the inside. Further exacerbated on a dual wheel installation where it's possible to install the tires with the date codes facing each other where the only way to see them would be to remove the outer dual for inspection.

I've been told, although I haven't confirmed by reading the warranty fine print, that Michelin tire warranty begins when weight is first put on the tire. I've always been a little sceptical of tire warranties, anyway. It's always seemed to me that the biggest benefit of a tire warranty is in the case of a manufacturing defect causing the tire to fail. In that case, I'd expect that to happen early in a tire's life and the manufacturing date isn't a determining factor in warranty coverage. The pro-rated mileage warranty never seemed to be worth much, to me.

Although I fully appreciate the magnituge of damage caused by a blowout and the effect of age on tires, I sometimes think that some of us obsess excessively about tire age. Proper inflation seems to me to be a much bigger issue in tire life.

My pattern of use is generally about 12K - 15K miles per year. I've always kind of held my breath for the first year, or so, after a new tire has been installed because I'd expect that any manufacturing defect would manifest early in the tire's life. I obsess about proper inflation and have the tires carefully inspected annually. I'm disinclined to replace them early (4 -5 years) solely due to the manufacture date.

Take care,
Stu

RayandWendy · 11-07-2022, 07:01 AM

The Michelin 315s I put on my 2014 Anthem a year ago have a rotation direction on them. So it ends up the date code is inside on one side and outside on the other.

Later...
Ray

Gary.Jones · 11-07-2022, 09:28 AM

As of last week, Michelin 365s and 315 are in very short supply nationally. For example, in the entire Dallas metroplex area and Houston, there are no available Michelin 365s, and Michelin dealers have no idea when they will get any.... apparently the show up randomly with dealers with standing orders placed and they can't anticipate when they are or will be available. A thorough telephone canvas of tire dealers all over the southeast found two in Florida, 4 in Nashville (now gone) and one somewhere in Texas.

I'm pretty sure that any recent Cornerstone is running 365s on the steer axle and 315 on the drive and tag axles. I KNOW that is the situation on my 19 Cornerstone. The loads on those tires are just under 5 tons each tire (just under 20,000# on the entire steer axle) so very few tires are able to carry that kind of load.

Why Michelin tires are in such short supply is beyond me, but it appears that they are just not shipping them fast enough to keep up. Now, I have heard stories on this forum and the Newmar forum about recent Michelins having all sorts of tire problems from weak sidewalls, separations of tread and missing chunks of tire, etc. etc. Maybe they are having serious quality control problems.... I dont know and am just guessing, but I KNOW it is leading to serious tire supply problems.

I am also hearing that the price is sky-rocketing for coach-quality Michelin tires. Don't want to start rumors, but that is what I am hearing so be cautious and check it all out.

Gary

Gary.Jones · 11-07-2022, 09:34 AM

Ray

Mine are the same.... to see one of the date codes you have to crawl under the coach or remove the wheel/tire.

And as Chuck says, a coach that comes off the line, lets say, in the Spring of a calendar year (new (next) year production) is built on a Spartan chassis that it at least made near the end of the previous calendar year, and has tires on it that may well be six months to a year (or more) older than the chassis.

Gary

RVFunlovers · 11-07-2022, 05:59 PM

My brain and fingers were out of phase with each other.
I have 365 in the front and 315 in the rear.

My 365’s (front) are the oldest tires. I guess from what I am reading they are not that old at a year before I took possession of the coach.

joema62 · 11-15-2022, 06:47 PM

Your tires are very important as you are probably aware. I am anal about my tires. I had goodyear on my Entegra Aspire and MICHELIN on my Riatta. On both Entegra's I had an air compressor that went to 150 pounds and a thread gage. I check my tires every 1000 miles or as close to that as I can. We covered 25000 miles iin the aspire with no problems. The jury is still out on the Riatta as we got it last January (22 Riatta) The tread depth on the Michelins is 17 mils