For reference, back in 2007 when we special ordered our Phoenix Cruiser
HERE.
The tires were dated week 50 of 2006, the chassis was manufactured in April 2007, Phoenix USA received our special order on May 4th 2007 and we picked up the finished rig from the factory on June 26th.
So we received a brand new motorhome made in a very timely fashion with tires that were over 6 months old.
Last year I bought my first set of replacement tires from Discount Tire that were manufactured (date-coded) 3 months earlier. The store I selected, did not have the tires in stock at the store. They had to request them from their warehouse.
The first Discount Tire store I called, had 6 new tires with various older date codes, so I bought the tires from the store that had to get them from their warehouse. I hoped to get more recently made tires and my strategy worked.
The original tires lasted 14 years and 38,000 miles. Because the rig is lighter weighted requiring only 63 psi in back, 43 psi up front, and the rig is always kept in climate-controlled storage when not on trips, the original tires lasted that long with only micro-cracking that formed. I would have gone even longer but started to get very uncomfortable stretching it further.
I replaced 4 of the 6 wheels with Alcoa alloy wheels. Here are the original 14 year old take-off tires with OEM steel wheels that I sold on Craigslist. At a glance, they look like new take-offs.
A lighter weighted rig stored indoors except when in-use, makes all the difference.
If you study this picture closely, you can see the micro-cracking around the date code 5006.
Linear Mode
