Tire Recommendation

[DRich]

It's time for new tires before my winter trip to AZ. I have a 2012 Roadtrek 170 with 38,000 miles. Would appreciate recommendations for the tires I should get. Thanks.

[jjrbus]

Originally Posted by DRich

It's time for new tires before my winter trip to AZ. I have a 2012 Roadtrek 170 with 38,000 miles. Would appreciate recommendations for the tires I should get. Thanks.

When tire experts discuss tires they do not look for best brand, they look for best tire for application. I will not run a bunch of miles every year so I do not spend money on a high mileage tire that is going to sit in my driveway and rot before it wears out. I am also anal about tire maintenance so look for tires with a long life. Almost all of my miles are in nice weather on highways so I want a highway tire not all terrain or weather.

I found a super sale on Bridgestone V-steel rib, 265. Bridgestone recommends replacing at 10 years, I do not think I will get that many years out of them, possible.

I would much rather chat about TPMS and being religious about tire pressure, exercising tires regularly and never driving even 10 feet on a low tire!

https://www.rvtiresafety.net/

[KurtFranz]

After much research I decided on a set of Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 3 tires which were on sale at Costco.

These tires needed to be ordered online, and to be certain that they could be installed on my van I spoke to the tire center manager at Costco prior to placing my order. I explained to him that this was a camper and that there were tanks and additional hardware on the undercarriage, and I showed him the exact jacking points as these would need to be installed using a floor jack. No issues at all, the manager already knew that these would need to be installed with a floor jack due to the model of the van and the weight.

I have made two trips between Florida and Ohio and several weekend trips since purchasing these tires. I think they are just fine, smooth nice quiet ride and tread that is a bit aggressive for traveling on dirt roads when necessary.

Here are a few pics of the tires:

[peteco]

Originally Posted by KurtFranz

After much research I decided on a set of Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 3 tires which were on sale at Costco.

I have made two trips between Florida and Ohio and several weekend trips since purchasing these tires. I think they are just fine, smooth nice quiet ride and tread that is a bit aggressive for traveling on dirt roads when necessary.

What tires did you have before? Have you noticed any effect on gas mileage?

[jjrbus]

What is the DOT date code on the tires?? With supply chain issues age of tire is unlikely to be an issue but never know.

[DRich]

Originally Posted by peteco

What tires did you have before? Have you noticed any effect on gas mileage?

I don't know what tires these are. They were on when I bought it a few years ago. The guy I have do maintenance pointed out some cracks forming so that's why I'm going to replace them.

[DRich]

Originally Posted by jjrbus

What is the DOT date code on the tires?? With supply chain issues age of tire is unlikely to be an issue but never know.

I don't know. I'm replacing because of cracking that was pointed out to me. They may even be original tires.

[KurtFranz]

I had B.F. Goodrich Commercial TA tires which were over 6 years old and were showing some dry rot on the sidewalls.

No difference in MPG - the same old 16 MPG highway 11-12 mpg in the city

[Beachlife]

I bought Goodyear wranglers from Tire Kingdom, at a good price and they are very good on noise and smooth ride. The company will match price and I got a $50 rebate. I have seen the Michelin Argils, and a few other brands recommended by a lot of Class B owners. Costco is good and BJ's in Florida. Shop and find out who will match, but there are some things like rotation and alignment to remember. Best wishes Beachbiker

[booster]

I think on this forum the Michelin Agilis has been the go to tire for a very large percent of the new tire purchasers, including us.

[N147JK]

Originally Posted by booster

I think on this forum the Michelin Agilis has been the go to tire for a very large percent of the new tire purchasers, including us.

I have 2 trips now (8000 miles) on a set of these. Great tires - van drives like new, nice and quiet. But I'm worried about the tread wear I see. It's still a little early, but the tread seems to be wearing surprisingly fast.

[GroupB]

I have bought many brands and models of tires over the years. The usual situation for me has been that when a tire reaches the end of its service life, that model has been discontinued. The search starts over to find a “good” tire.

My past experiences with Michelin have not been good, but no experience with current offerings. Over time, I became a fan of Cooper Tire.

I replaced the tires on my Roadtrek 2 years ago with Cooper Discoverer HT3. Happy with handling, ride comfort, and lack of road noise with 12,000 miles so far. Time will tell for durability and whether or not they will be still be available.

[peteco]

Originally Posted by GroupB

I have bought many brands and models of tires over the years. The usual situation for me has been that when a tire reaches the end of its service life, that model has been discontinued. The search starts over to find a “good” tire.

I have kept using the OEM Bridgestone V-Steel tires since they have worked fine for me, meet all specs, and have been available for a good price when I needed them. Also, keeps my spare tire the same model, though I do exchange the old spare with one of the tires I am replacing so it doesn't get too old.

The V-Steel has been around for a long time, as apparently GM still uses it on their Express vans, and possibly still some base model trucks.

[jjrbus]

Originally Posted by peteco

I have kept using the OEM Bridgestone V-Steel tires since they have worked fine for me, meet all specs, and have been available for a good price when I needed them. Also, keeps my spare tire the same model, though I do exchange the old spare with one of the tires I am replacing so it doesn't get too old.

The V-Steel has been around for a long time, as apparently GM still uses it on their Express vans, and possibly still some base model trucks.

When I bought the Bridgestone V-Steel for my 02 Roadtrek I was surprised to learn they were the OE tire for the van

[booster]

I just ran across something pretty odd, I think.


I went to Tire Rack to check and see what sizes the V steels come in these days and as expected it was just the 245-5-16 size.


While I was there I looked at the ratings chart for that size and the 265-75-16 tires we use.


What I saw was that the Agilis had slid down a few places in the ratings although still good.


What was a big surprise was the top rated tire which was the Michelin Defender, in both sizes, both load range E.


When we bought our Agilis tires a few years ago we were told the Defenders were gone in load range E and Agilis was the only choice.



Something must have changed in the last few years, like maybe customer complaints or whatever.



We had had MS2s at the time, which was very similar to the Defender and it's precurser, and really liked them and had intended to get the basically identical Defenders. We couldn't get them and needed to change to Agilis.


Ours have about 12K miles on them now and we also see a bit more wear than the nearly unwearing MS2s which finally aged out. Ours will probably last until they are at age life, but probably will be close depending on how many long trips we take. They still handle very well but do run a bit hotter than the MS2s, but not a whole lot. I tend to set the cool pressure a couple of psi lower to compensate for the pressure gain.

[DRich]

Thanks for all the recommendations.

The faster tread wear on the Agilis and slippage in ratings is a concern so I think I'll rule that one out.

At this point I guess the Bridgestone V-Steel and Cooper Discoverer HT3 sound like good options.

[booster]

Originally Posted by DRich

Thanks for all the recommendations.

The faster tread wear on the Agilis and slippage in ratings is a concern so I think I'll rule that one out.

At this point I guess the Bridgestone V-Steel and Cooper Discoverer HT3 sound like good options.

You may want to go to tirerack.com and look at the ratings as they have them for nearly all the options, along with reviews from users. I find it very useful. That is where the slippage information came from.

[DRich]

Originally Posted by booster

You may want to go to tirerack.com and look at the ratings as they have them for nearly all the options, along with reviews from users. I find it very useful. That is where the slippage information came from.

Thanks. I'll check it out.

[booster]

Originally Posted by DRich

Thanks. I'll check it out.

When you go to the site, it can be a bit of a learning curve where to find the best information.


In general I do it this way.


Go to products and then select find by size. In most cases 245-75-16 for Bs that aren't dualies.


When the list opens open up on a new screen, scroll down the left side and click on "load range" and then check the box for load range E.


This will give the same looking listing, but only for the E rated tires.


You can then select any tire by clicking on it and going to its listing page.


On the page, when you scroll down you will see links for a few things and usually also an overall ranking and reviews.


There is also a link that says "see rating charts for tires in this category" so you can go to that page. Not all the tires are in the chart so you may need to interpret where the others would be based on their individual ratings.


The V Steels are not in the chart (and are now called 265s) but the Coopers are.

[DRich]

I've been comparing at tire rack.

My current tires are Bridgestone Duravis R500HD.
The number 1 ranked tired in 245/75/16 size is the Michelin Defender.
The other 2 tires I'm comparing are the Agilis Crossclimate and the Firestone Destination LE3 and both of these have the same rank. All three are higher ranked than my current tires and consumer recommended.

My current tires and the Agilis have a 3042 lb. maximum load and 80 psi tire pressure. The Defender and Destination have a 2043 lb max load and 44 psi tire pressure.

My question is would changing to a lower load and tire pressure be a problem?