oldgrape Report post Posted March 17, 2021 Howdy all. I just replaced my old Michelins with Sumitomos. My fronts were 2012 year and the rears were 2014 year. My coach has been in storage for a year and that was the final straw for the tires. Side walls were heavily cracked. I was going to get Toyos but they were back ordered several weeks to a few months. Hankook was going to give me their last FMCA pricing since I reached out to them before they stopped participating. But they could not get them to me in the time frame I needed. So after some additional research I went for the Sumitomos ST 788 SE. I had 275 80R 22.5 Michelin XZE2 on the front and XZE on the rear. I checkecked the tire size comparison tool and they were an acceptable substitute. Here is a link to the specs: "http://www.sumitomotrucktires.com/Tires?linename=ST788%20SE&productCode=5533275". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manholt Report post Posted March 17, 2021 Any difference in ride? Keep an eye on the sidewalls! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldgrape Report post Posted March 17, 2021 8 hours ago, manholt said: Any difference in ride? Keep an eye on the sidewalls! So far not that I can tell. Still need to get an alignment. The shop I got them at did not have that capability. I will keep an eye on the sidewalls. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rayin Report post Posted March 18, 2021 (edited) Concerning long-term storage; Tire mfgrs. recommend inflating to sidewall listed pressure if rims match that pressure. I always lower the leveling jacks to remove most weight from tires. When you get that alignment make sure they do a total alignment, this include the rear axle/thrust angle. Edited March 18, 2021 by rayin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tireman9 Report post Posted March 19, 2021 I get a bit concerned when I read "acceptable alternative". Would be more comfortable if the ststement was more like..."The new tires have the same load capacity as the OE tires" or The new tires can carry xx% more load than the old tires. For too many people "acceptable alternative" may mean that the sidewall dimension numbers are close (but not identical) to the OE tires. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldgrape Report post Posted April 8, 2021 On 3/18/2021 at 5:14 PM, tireman9 said: I get a bit concerned when I read "acceptable alternative". Would be more comfortable if the ststement was more like..."The new tires have the same load capacity as the OE tires" or The new tires can carry xx% more load than the old tires. For too many people "acceptable alternative" may mean that the sidewall dimension numbers are close (but not identical) to the OE tires. Sorry for the generalization. They meet the exact load, speed, and load index ratings as the original Michelins. Speed "L", Load "H", and Load Index "146/143". Here is the tool that I used. https://tiresize.com/calculator/ I attached a screenshot of my comparison. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites