Tires and shocks

[terance13]

Hi! I own a tire and auto repair store. I sell Michelins and love them to death, but I haven't seen them last very long on RV's...they tend to dry rot a lot...but best ride on the road for sure! Continental's Vanco are very durable but can be expensive! BFGoodrich makes a Commerical TA...I sell tons of them to van owners. A great tire and not too expensive is General's HT...but you will sacrifice some ride comfort. Cooper and Firestone make a good tire but I don't sell many to RV owners. Stay away from any Asian tire...people like the pricing but I've seen too many bad things. Good luck!

[mkguitar]

Hi Terance


you can add valuable perspective with your experience



Living in AZ the sun exposure/ozone does a number on our tires and the DOT 6 years is what we get.


I have had a few sets which didn't go that long on cars/light trucks and thats where sams or costco comes in to take care of warranty
mike

[peteco]

Originally Posted by terance13

Hi! I own a tire and auto repair store. I sell Michelins and love them to death, but I haven't seen them last very long on RV's...they tend to dry rot a lot...but best ride on the road for sure! Continental's Vanco are very durable but can be expensive! BFGoodrich makes a Commerical TA...I sell tons of them to van owners. A great tire and not too expensive is General's HT...but you will sacrifice some ride comfort. Cooper and Firestone make a good tire but I don't sell many to RV owners. Stay away from any Asian tire...people like the pricing but I've seen too many bad things. Good luck!

Great perspective Terance. What is your experience with Bridgestone's, particularly the V-Steel that is OEM on the Chevy Express vans and some Chevy trucks? I am on my 3rd set and I like them, though they ride a little rough.

[terance13]

Hello! While I have visited AZ lots of times, I don't have any experience with tires down your way. I have a friend that owns Community Tire in Phoenix and will check with him. But generally, most manufacturers warranty their tires for 6 years and usually we recommend to our customers swapping them out. But I've seen 10 year old tires that look great.

[terance13]

That's a very durable tire butI my recommendation depends on the application. Generally, I don't recommend them for RVs because of the stiff ride. But if that is not a consideration for you, then I can endorse them.

[booster]

Hey Terance, great information. Have you had any experiences with new Michelin Agilis yet?

[avanti]

Originally Posted by terance13

Hello! While I have visited AZ lots of times, I don't have any experience with tires down your way.

Where you live can really make a difference. Most of my experience is in the northern climes, and based on experience in those regions I never used to take tire age very seriously. Then we got a vacation home in NM. We keep a car there (stored under an awning), and we quickly learned that the story is different in the high desert.

[Jon in AZ]

Very true, and I agree that Michelins seem prone to dry rot. I love 'em otherwise- they wear like iron- and we're on our 6th or 7th set for our daily drivers. We drive lots of miles, so we generally wear them out before the dry rot gets too bad (typically after about 4 years). That would not be true on the Roadtrek.

My experience has been with the Defenders (X and LTX), and the Agilis may include some changes to the rubber compound. Tires on our Roadtrek are 7 years old, so I'll be following the reports.

[terance13]

We just started installing them...mostly on higher end RVs as those owners really don't care about price. But it's really too soon to give you an evaluation. Most likely it will take a year for that.

[Jon in AZ]

...and several years to see how they hold up in the AZ sun.

[terance13]

Are they warranting for mileage or another reason? FYI...Michelin has a very fair warranty program on sidewall "atmospheric weathering" that you get without having to buy any extended coverage. Their mileage warranty is painless too! Some of my best referral sources are customers that bought coverages from the box stores only to find the coverage is free anyway...then they are upset and start bringing their vehicles to us!