Replacement Tires for a 2004 Beaver

[jimwasson]

I would appreicate any advice on replacement of my OEM tires which are the Goodyear 159's 275/70R22.5. It is time to change the tires, we probably will use the coash <4k miles per year and live in AZ. We just purchased this coach so it is all new to me.

Thanks,

Jim

[garykd]

Hi Jim,

Welcome to the forum. Your question is a deeply religious one. Hopefully, the responses will be passionate with information to back up the passion. For me, my first class A coach was in 1978. From then until now, I have had only Michelin tires. There are so many things to keep one busy with a coach, if it ain't broke, I don't fix it. This applies to tires. For 31 years I've had only 2 out of round Michelin tires and they were replaced under warranty. I keep them covered when not moving. I also treat them 3 times a year with Weather Proof Tire Dressing. I'm an RVer that will actually wear out the tread. I am also anal about PSI and weighing the coach to ensure the PSI is correct. We spend a lot of time in the coach. I have nothing for or against other tire brands. It's just that Michelin has served me very well.

[tbutler]

Jim,

Welcome to the forum. I am not going to recommend a tire brand, I'll let others do that. You indicate that it is time to replace the tires. That would be unusual on a 4 to 5 year old coach unless it is high mileage. The normal lifetime of an RV tire is the length of time the manufacturers recommend for time in service. In other words, your tire tread won' wear out before your tires are too old to use. Manufacturers are unanimous in saying that tires more than 7 years old should be replaced no matter how much tread they have. For me, we drive between 12 an 15,000 miles a year so a seven year life span would be about 100,000 miles. That will just about take care of the useful tread as well.

Your estimated use of 4000 miles per year will amount to 28,000 miles in 7 years and there will be plenty of tread left if you keep your coach for 7 years. If some of your tires still have tread, they should be good for several more years and you might think about a plan phasing in tires, for the steer axle this year and then replacing the remaining tires in the next year or two. By the way, the 7 years begins when the tires are manufactured, not when the coach is manufactured. Each tire will have a date code stamped on it indicating date of manufacture. A post by Wolfe10 in the forum: Technical:Weight and Tire Safety:Tire Replacement Time? gives some details of how to read this code. Another post in the same topic by Wayne77590, Weight and Tire Safety:Old Tires... mentions the same date code and how to read it. So your '04 coach may have tires that are 5 or 6 years old, they shouldn't be older than that but check to be sure. Read both these topics for good information that should be helpful.

I have a 2004 Windsor. I have initiated a 2 year replacement cycle for my tires. The new tires always go on the steer axle. The old steer tires go to one set of rear duals or the other. By the time the oldest tires on the rear axle are replaced, they will be six years old. The advantage here is that I don't have to lay out a huge sum for six new tires every six years, sort of a budget billing plan.

If your question is about tire size, I would go with what the manufacturer installed. There might be slight differences in size designations with different manufacturers. The tire width of the rear duals is particularly important. The space between the two tires will affect tire temperature and thus tire wear. If the tires are too close together they will run too hot and their life will be shortened. This results in a dangerous situation that can be avoided by making sure your replacement tires are no wider than the original.

If you are going to be in Bowling Green, OH for the FMCA Bowling Green Bash in July, look for tire safety workshops by RVSEF (RV Safety Education Foundation). They have great information on tires, weight, and safety considerations. If you have your coach there, you can have it weighed and get the weight of the coach at each wheel position. This will help you shift weight around to even the load on the tires on each side of the coach and make sure each axle is within its weight limit. This is must have information! See their web site: www.rvsafety.com