tires------again

[George Lowry]

Jeff,
My experience with the Michelins has been completely different from
what you must have experienced. My first experience with the Michelin
was about thirty years ago. I had a pair of the Michelin tires which
failed twice in five years. IOW, the original pair was replaced under
warranty and that pair was replaced again all within five years.

What is remarkable is that I had a pair of Sears tires that were made
by michelin that I had purchased a year before the Michelins and they
ran with NO problems. Perhaps Sears had a higher standard for a tire
that bore their name than Michelin did.

My last experience with Michelin was last year. The WL we has bought
has the Michelins on it and they may have been abused, I don't know.
The previous owner owned a trucking company so I would think he would
be knowledgeable about proper tire care. However, as we were
traveling north on I-5 at approximately 55 mph (which is the speed
limit when towing) the right tag tire shredded. Not a simple blowout.

The damage from a tire failure can be substantial. I figure I got off
easy with approx. $500 - 1,000 of damage. It could have easily gone
into the thousands of dollars to the possibility of complete loss.
Good tires are cheap insurance.

Perhaps in your neck of the woods, Michelin has a good sales program,
but as I have surveyed trucks and buses on the west coast, I have seen
more Toyos than Michelins on the road. This is my first time with the
Toyo and so far it has driven as well and rides as smooth as the
Michelins that were on the coach. I just know that I will never have
another Michelin on ANY vehicle that I own. YMMV.

When you are dealing only with the older, lighter MH's, I guess you
don't need the stronger tires, but when you get to 50,000# and more, I
want the extra safety. I have been averaging over 15,000 miles in my
motor coach for the last ten years and when we get rid of the farm,
expect to be putting on more. I don't trust Michelins.

There are a lot of AMERICAN made tires out there that are as good or
better than anything made in France. I prefer to support our own
companies when possible. Take a look at Cooper, Kelly-Springfield and
others...

George


Why would you need a "stronger" sidewall? Driving through
construction sites with a load of gravel? City bus service rubbing
curbs? Stiffer/thicker is not always better. In fact from an
engineering standpoint, the flex/strain has to be distributed over as
large an area as possible for good tire service. The
Michelin's "soft" sidewall flexes over its entire surface avoiding
the stress-riser effect of a stiff sidewall which will flex more at
the tread/sidewall junction where a "zipper failure" is so very
common.

Jeff

> --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, George Lowry
> wrote:
>
>>Dan,
>>
>>I paid only $2700 for 8 Toyo 12R22.5 tires that were brand new -
>>manufacture date less than a month old. And the Toyo has a
>
> stronger
>
>>side wall than the Michelin...<<snip>>
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