XZE Vs. XRV Tires

[tquin]

Harry,

Thanks and great answers. I always tell people to contact the Mfg. and then decide. Michelin and Goodyear both make good tires but each person needs to decide for themselves and what there needs are. Go to the source. Stay Safe people.

[scott0651]

If anyone out ther is looking to buy Mich. tires you will want to use FMCA's tire program. It's saving me close to 300 dollars a tire. 365's and 315's

[rdtripn]

Just put new Michelin XZE 255/80R22.5 replacing the 12 year old XRV on our 1999 Sportscoach 380MBS. Have not been on an extended ride on them yet but feel the ride is no different. The regional tire made more sense to us after much research and a 1300 mile trip to Niagra Falls. The roads from Maine to Niagra had more than their share of terrible blacktop so our thought was the tougher construction of the XZE made sense. We made the purchase through FMCA's program and saved over $1,000. on six tires. We would gladly share the name of the dealer we used here in Maine, they also have facilities in other New England states.

[dickandlois]

I have run both tires and really like the XZE's for the steer tires. They track better in my opinion and when I pinned down Michelin; they said that because of the tread and sidewall design there might be less swimming or wander issues.

I run the XRV's on the rear and have had no real issues with them. The biggest problem has been me cutting down 2 of them over the years. Sometimes those curbs jump sideways !!

Rich.

[wallychoate]

I have one 4 year old XZE255/80r22.5 on the front left of my Journey and five 10 year old XRV255/80r22.5 with serious cracks and almost worn out at 75,000 miles. The deepest crack is at the age label "2303" is .100" deep and a nickle easily sticks into the the crack. Michelin states if cracks are over .062" deep the tires should be replaced. Based on reading this forum I will buy five new XZE's. Thanks for all the input.

[rga48]

I recently replaced my original XZA3 275/80R22.5 with XZE's. I can not tell you how much safer I feel! I feel that the XZA3 contributed to a severe under-steer problem. This was most noticeable on a downhill turn to the right with the road slopping right to left. The coach would change a whole lane before I could comfortably get it back under control. This provided many heart stopping moments especially for an unfortunate couple on a motorcycle. I originally thought it was my air leveling system and had the senors checked but they were found to be working properly. Now that I have changed tires the problem is gone. The only issue I had was that my 90 psi rear tire pressure (based on four corner weight) was too soft and was causing rear tire sidewall to flex in heavy crosswinds. I increased pressure to 100 psi and solved the problem.

[mandalay40f]

Just curious if there is any noticeable difference in smoothness the straight highway cruise mode. I'm running the XZA3 275 80R22.5 LRH for seven years and they are a very smooth ride but some noticeable tuck when on down hill curves. I'm ready for new tires due to side wall cracking this year. If the XZE's give more stability in the turns without noticeable change in straight cruising ride I would consider the change. Using the same chassis on a Mandalay 40F coach.

[Briarhopper]

mandalay40f

Welcome. I don't have personal experience with either. Per Michelin's specs, The XZA line is a highway tire and the XZE line is regional. Regional tires usually have tougher corners and sidewalls, so depending on the application, may ride stiffer. If loaded down, may not notice much difference. YOu coudl use the seacrh function on this forum and search for both and probably find a lot of commentary on both tires.

Yourself and prior post mention downhill steer issues. The XZA has more of a flat tread, which I imagine may not be as forgiving on steering at speed if everything is not just right. I am curious if you tried different air pressure to see if you could improve the handling????

Stuart

[desertdeals69]

A good lead-in for my shameless product promotion of the year: the folks at Temp Gun have been wonderful to me, just sent us a new unit and carrying case gratis only because my ten year old PE-1* was showing an error code none of us could figure out.

This is the perfect tool for RV'ers interested in taking tire safety to the next level: on hourly safety stops, I "shoot" all the tires and brakes. Heat buildup is a harbinger of tire pressures that are low for the load. A 120F max tire temp affirms correct inflation regardless of tables, axle-end weights, etc. The curative effect of just a few psi in response to an elevated temp is impressive.

* Purchased for doing aircraft fabric repair, where precise iron calibration is a matter of life and death. Well... ugly fabric versus a decent job. I'd begun using it when we started RV'ing and found it to be the perfect solution for temp-sensing on the road, flawlessly accurate and not much bigger than a Bic lighter. One-button operation, auto-shutoff, no contact with the sensed surface and $30 price make it a best value.

I use Tire Minder monitoring system and it gives me constant pressure and temperature as I drive down the road. Also includes the toad.

[sundancev]

Have run both XRV and XZE over the last 169,000 miles.

No problems with either and certainly no wear issues with either-- always replaced because of age, not wear.

Current ones are 255/80R22.5 XZE's and are 7 years old, with a little over 50,000 miles. Yes, they are very well cared for and checked annually. No problems of any kind and LOTS of tread left. Will surely replace these because of age issues as well.

But, I will point out that just yesterday in inspected a coach whose 5 year old tires were totally shot. They stored their coach outside in the high desert with no tire covers, and the sidewalls of all exterior tires were badly checked.

There is NO XX number of months and you need to replace them. As quoted by Michelin, IF, repeat IF tires are well cared for (proper inflation, never overloaded, protected from UV light when not on the road, no harmful products used on them, etc) beginning at 5 years they need to be inspected by a tire professional annually and absolutely replaced at 10 years.

Brett

Brett: You continue to be a wonderful voice of reason and source of knowledge for FMCA members. Thank you again for serving us all so well.

Now to my current question relative to tires. 3.5 years ago and some 60,000 miles I installed 6 new Michelin 255/80 R22.5 XRV LRG on my 39' Fleetwood Providence DP. While going through Black Hills last Summer I noticed a thumping and checked my tires. Discovered some deep wear areas in right front caused by wheel bearing gone bad. I had difficulty buying Michelin tires as previously installed and Goodyear Truck Tire dealer in SD told me he could install 2 Goodyear G661/HSA tires 265/75 R22.5 LRG which should give me the same service.

We are now in Florida getting ready to go on the road again and want to replace the other four tires. Would you suggest staying with the Goodyear tires since we have two practically brand new ones on the front using same size 265/75 R22.5 or should we go back to Michelin 255/80 R22.5. The Goodyear tires do seem to have more tread than I remember the new Michelin tires having which makes sense with them being truck tires.

I have heard the discussion concerning XRV tires being easier riding and having more sun protection than truck tires. Also understand RV tires are normally expected to have less tread life due to normal habits of RV tires needing replacement due to age rather than tread loss. Due to our three years of extensive travel we have been the exception and have actually worn a good deal of tread due to number of miles traveled. Not sure we will do another 60,000 miles in next three years but we could it if our money holds out (Thank you Federal Reserve) and our 70's are as healthy as our 60's. We are very diligent about checking tire pressure every day before traveling. That being said I should have been more diligent about checking for unusual wear on each individual tire.

Thanks in advance.

Paul

[wolfe10]

Paul,

There is no compelling reason to have the same brand/tread pattern on one axle vs the other EXCEPT in the event that you want to rotate the tires. But, all tires on an axle MUST have the same tire and tread.

As far as tread depth, it is a trade-off. The deeper the tread, the more tire SQUIRM you have. There is also a very small MPG penalty, as some energy applied to the tires does not translate to the road. If no alignment or other issues, even the shallower tread depths should last well more than 60,000 miles.

[sundancev]

Paul,

There is no compelling reason to have the same brand/tread pattern on one axle vs the other EXCEPT in the event that you want to rotate the tires. But, all tires on an axle MUST have the same tire and tread.

As far as tread depth, it is a trade-off. The deeper the tread, the more tire SQUIRM you have. There is also a very small MPG penalty, as some energy applied to the tires does not translate to the road. If no alignment or other issues, even the shallower tread depths should last well more than 60,000 miles.

Thanks for that Brett. I was thinking of keeping the truck tires on starboard rear and putting two of the new Michelins on front and two of the new Michelins on port rear. Your message mentioned not mixing axles and I sort of thought the rear axle contained two sets of dual wheels. Am I over-reading what you mean by axles or are there more than two axles (one in the front for both front wheels and two in the back for each side.) I had previously read we should never mix two different tires i.e. when I bought the new tire for starboard front I bought a second one for port front so they would be the same. Likewise if I move the two front to a rear position, I would move both to the same side in the dually position. Sorry to belabor the point.

[tireman9]

Paul,

The reason for wanting the same tire(s) on each end of an axle is to try and keep the vehicle response to steering & braking input the same so the vehicle turns Right & Left the same and under braking doesn't dive right or left.

Obviously the fronts are more important than dual rears for these characteristics.

When we move to the rear of an RV we have duals to consider. Unlike cars, handling of dual rears is less important IMO than ensuring we don't have a tire failure due to unbalanced loading.

Here we need to look first at the pair of tires on one end. Of primary importance is matching the rolling radius of the two tires that work together to hold up that end of the axle. Now accurately measuring rolling radius is a challenge if you don't have a tire measurement lab available. However you can confirm that the tires are "close enough" by measuring the inflated Circumference. If the OC is within 3/4" you are good to go. If the difference is greater than 3/4" you need to find a better match.

When I rotated the tires on my Class-C I ended up matching two pair for the duals based on OC measurement. Each pair matched at about 1/2" OC variation. The remaining two tires went on the front. Now I admit that all my tires are same brand & size and the wear on the two fronts was different by about 3/32" of tread wear and one was new so the OC was different based on tire growth.

I have not noted a difference in steering response but have (luckily) not had to do any emergency braking but feel the vehicle response will be acceptable.

I think that as long as you #1 match the fronts by brand, design and similar tread depth and #2 ensure you match each pair of duals by brand, design and OC you should be OK to go.

Hope this clears up any confusion.

[dickandlois]

Thanks for the information on the OC difference tolerance for the rear duel's.

The fact that most roads have a crown, that can very with every mile of road and how that effects the ware of the tires has been on my mind for sometime.

I have always wondered to what extent the crown of a road effected tire ware from inner and outer pairs. Knowing that the outside circumference of 3/4in. can be tolerated kind of puts the question to rest.

Rich.

[sundancev]

Paul,

The reason for wanting the same tire(s) on each end of an axle is to try and keep the vehicle response to steering & braking input the same so the vehicle turns Right & Left the same and under braking doesn't dive right or left.

Obviously the fronts are more important than dual rears for these characteristics.

When we move to the rear of an RV we have duals to consider. Unlike cars, handling of dual rears is less important IMO than ensuring we don't have a tire failure due to unbalanced loading.

Here we need to look first at the pair of tires on one end. Of primary importance is matching the rolling radius of the two tires that work together to hold up that end of the axle. Now accurately measuring rolling radius is a challenge if you don't have a tire measurement lab available. However you can confirm that the tires are "close enough" by measuring the inflated Circumference. If the OC is within 3/4" you are good to go. If the difference is greater than 3/4" you need to find a better match.

When I rotated the tires on my Class-C I ended up matching two pair for the duals based on OC measurement. Each pair matched at about 1/2" OC variation. The remaining two tires went on the front. Now I admit that all my tires are same brand & size and the wear on the two fronts was different by about 3/32" of tread wear and one was new so the OC was different based on tire growth.

I have not noted a difference in steering response but have (luckily) not had to do any emergency braking but feel the vehicle response will be acceptable.

I think that as long as you #1 match the fronts by brand, design and similar tread depth and #2 ensure you match each pair of duals by brand, design and OC you should be OK to go.

Hope this clears up any confusion.

Thank you for the explanation. Sure helps understanding of the issue. Based on this I will stay with same tires I had installed on front. Not worth taking a chance on having excess wear or other problem. Also appears from this forum discussion Goodyear tires now compete quality wise with Michelin.

[joeshallbe]

Good forum! Answered a lot of my questions.

I purchased a 2011 Tiffin Allegro Bus in Dec of 2014 from an RV dealer. It came with 2 new steer tires by Michelin 295/80R22.5 XRV series.Purchased in Nov 2014. The Tag axles are Michelin 295/80R22.5 ???series and new in jun2011 (original tires) they appear to be OK! The drive axles have 4 Michelin 295/80R22.5 and I think they are original. They show even wear but only have about 1/4" of tread. The coach has a total of48K miles.

I would like to put on 4 new drive axle tires. When I look around I cannot find many 295/80R22.5 but lots of 295/75R22.5 and some dealers say "Well 80 or 75 all the same" I don't understand? Also can you think of any reason why my drive tire are worn down so far in only 48K miles? (I do not do wheelies!!) Lastly some dealers who have Michelin,Toyo and Yokohama,Bridgestone tires say they are all the same when used on drive axles except for price.

What are your thoughts?

[wayne77590]

Look at this: Tire Size Calculator

[manholt]

Joe. Welcome to the Forum!

2 things come to mind.

Your coach is a 2011. What year is your chassis? Also, your DOT number on the side off each tire, gives the month and year of manufacturing! Check the side wall off your drive and tag tires. Any cracks? Hairline fractures? If there is, then you need new ones. Don't go by wear (as you would in a car), go by age. I suspect yours are 6 + years old and you should change them every 6 or 7 years!

Big DP's are not cheap to maintain!

Stay safe.

Carl

[tireman9]

Joe.

A quick review leads me to believe that the XRV 295/80R22.5 size is a discontinued item as it does not show up in the on the Michelin web site for the XR applications.

This reinforces the question of the real age of the two tires you have on your coach.

I did find two items in the 295/80R22.5 size in the Load Inflation table page. The XZA2 Energy in LR-H & LR-J The Specifications show an OD of 41.3

I didn't find a 295/75R22.5 in the Michelin line but looking at Bridgestone and comparing their 295/80R22.5 LR-H R268 has an OD of 41.6 and their 295/75R22.5 LR-G has an OD of 40.3.

These two tires have Max load capacities of 7,830 @ 125 and 6,175 @ 110 receptively so are not "all the same" Clearly you now know more about tires than your tire dealer.

Now before you can move forward you have some homework to do.

1. Confirm the size, Load range and design for all your current tires.

2. Learn and record the full DOT serial, including the 4 digit Date Code at the end of the serial

3. Get your RV weighed. Ideally this means the actual load on the end of each axle. Michelin, Goodyear and Bridgestone all have published information on how to do the calculations, but if you can't do that at least the individual load on each axle

Let us know what you learn and then we can provide a more informed suggestion for your next action.

[jleamont]

Joe, whichever tire you decide to go with make sure you have the correct size and load range installed, follow the chassis manufacture label in your coach for tire size and load range, not the tire dealers idea of "it will fit and be OK" recommendation. Your coach has the same tire size as mine I suspect it has a heavy steer axle which is often overlooked...or as it was in my unit when we purchased it last year used. My selling dealer and truck tire center both missed this and installed 295/75R22.5 tires on all positions that were over loaded on my Steer axle.

I have no problems with the Firestone FS560 on the drive position but when you step back you can see the difference from having the correct size on the steer vs. the drive. I just might install the correct tires next year and sell the ones on the drive axle so the coach has the correct stance. I had them install Michelin XZA2 Energy on the steer axle.

Here is the link

http://community.fmca.com/topic/7807-incorrect-tire-weight-rating-on-steer-tires/

Good luck

[manholt]

Tireman.

You mentioned deeper tread=lower mpg. That explains what I have tried to figure out for a year now. I had all 8 tires replaced in Oregon after Redmond rally last year.

I was running XRV's to Redmond and got the new XZE's. My mpg was 7.2 and now it's 6.5. I blamed it on the mountains, but had the same on the coast.

BUBBA! I agree with you! I like peace off mind and there are so many other things going on that I don't need to loose a quarter of the coach on a tire going out! I have seen and experienced $20K+ of fiberglass damage. Also in OR last year saw a headless woman, due to a tread separation!

Brett. I'm surprised that you, who advocates replacing tires at 5-7 years, are unsure if you will change them after 7 years!???

Carl

[wolfe10]

Brett. I'm surprised that you, who advocates replacing tires at 5-7 years, are unsure if you will change them after 7 years!???

Carl

Carl,

I have never believed in a specific time at which a tire goes from OK to "got to replace".

I strongly believe that how we treat tires has an effect on their safe life.

The tires on our coach are "babied":

Never under inflated/over loaded.

Always covered if outdoor for more than 2 days

Coach stored indoors when not on the road (on plywood to isolate from concrete).

Carefully inspected by a REALLY picky guy each time it goes in the storage facility.