Tires and shocks

[GallenH]

So here's my story. Went on the road Sunday heading to Yosemite for 6 days. Had a tread separation on passenger rear tire traveling from Phoenix to Kingman. Luckily DOT Road Assistance came by and put on my spare which got us to Las Vegas with little delay. Got a new tire at DT and was on the road by 9am the next morning.

Existing tires were Michelin LTX and were 5 years old. I want to replace all 4 and move the Cooper I bought at DT to the spare location.

I went back and searched the forum. I know the Defenders are no longer made. I did find some comments on the Michelin Agillis. Good replacement? Comments? Alternatives?

Also. Thinking about replacing the front shocks at the same time. I've heard positive things about Bilstein. How do I find out WHICH Bilsteins are appropriate for a 1997 Pleasure Way on a Dodge 3500 chassis? Call PW? Or Bilstein. And are there any of you out there who have a RV of this vintage who might suggest alternatives to Bilstein.

BTW: First Covid and then the fires caused Yosemite to cancel/refund reservations. That made our trip possible as you could book in. We tried in the past and could never get a site even with both of us sitting at separate computers hitting the "BOOK" button at exactly the reservation time. When we got there the pass in was open but closed the next day, then reopened.
Campgrounds were full but I suspect the lodges were underbooked because the village area looked like a ghost town........relative to normal. We did several hikes only encountering 2-6 people along the way. Smoke was not an issue. Good photos with blue sky.

[markopolo]

Bilstein search tool: https://cart.bilsteinus.com/results?...71808285898584

[wny-pat]

Michelin Agillis get fantastic reviews on Tire Rack. Some say the Bilsteins cause a really rough ride in the rear of the vehicle.

[rowiebowie]

I'm very impressed by my Koni FSD's. But then, I went from worn-out stock shocks to new ones, so almost any brand would have been an improvement.

The Koni's are very expensive. But I chose them specifically because they are not gas-charged. I suspect the initial harshness of some shocks is due to being gas-charged and resistant to compression over mild road impacts. The Koni's compressed so easily out of the box, that I initially worried they'd be way too soft for my heavily loaded Chevy Express 3500. But they control all motions very well with no secondary bounce.

[GallenH]

So I'm confused (not unusual)

Tire rack still lists Defenders although they only list 3 in stock. Discount Tire has a few also. But wouldn't these already be a year or so old? When did they stop production?

2nd confusion:

There appear to be 2 different Agilis tires (as booster pointed out a while back). Does anyone know the difference between the Agilis "Crossclimate" and the Agilis "LTX"????

3rd confusion:

There's also a "LTX A/T 2." What's that? My guess would be more heavy duty for off road......but noisier on normal roads. But I'm guessing.

Agilis Crossclimate = $212.00
Agilis LTX = $223.00
LTX A/T = $228.00

I need to make a reasonably rapid decision as I have reservations at the Grand Canyon starting on the 19th so ANY help//sage advice would be MOST appreciated.

Thanks! Glenn

[mkguitar]

Glenn, sorry to hear that


I wrote up my impressions of the crossclimate on my 2006 chev 3500 pleasure way lexor ( on a 2005 chev chassis)


https://www.classbforum.com/forums/f...ons-10460.html


I use bilstein 4600 series shocks on my van- finding the part numbers was hard on the bilstein site- I searched for bilsteins on amazon and then came up with the "these fit your vehicle"- then searched for best price ( tire rack I think)


I punched in 1996 Dodge B3500 van and amazon says:


Bilstein 24-014014 B6 4600 Shock Absorber- $114





https://www.amazon.com/Bilstein-24-0...96+Dodge+B3500


Rear:
Bilstein 24-184670 B6 4600 Series



Mike

[GallenH]

Thanks Mike. I read your evaluation of the Agilis and was able to go back to it yesterday before my OP. So, it looks like you are happy with the tires which is great. Did you get the Agilis Crossfires or the Agilis LTX?

I appreciate the shock info. Honestly I'm always confused on vehicle specific items. Do I have a B3500 or a 3500 Ram? I'm guessing the former. But my Pleasure Way is alot heavier than the spec van, so I'm never sure. Once I did find a site where the pull down menu gave me 3500 and the next pulldown menu the "van/wagon" option which is the truest tech description of the van itself. But that's rare.

Anyways, I'm greatful for your help/advice.

best.glenn

[mkguitar]

Agilis cross climates is what I got in May





DT pricematched costco and had in stock ( costco did not)


Mike

[markopolo]

On Bistein's site the Ram 3500 is a pickup truck because you get to choose extended cab 4WD etc.

The B3500 is a van. There's one choice for rear shocks and two choices for front shocks. Next, you need to know GVW. One of the shocks offered is for GVWR up to 8300lbs and the other for over 8300lbs.

Same questions here (MK helped out there also): https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/f...d/29332389.cfm

note poster who mentioned this:

I did however find a Dodge sticker under the hood saying the van has a 4000 lb front axle rating.

If your van also has the 4000lb rated axle then the 24-014014 shock info says it's for that axle. Also, if it's a maxi van then 3500 maxi vans gvw is 8510lbs or 9000lbs so that's the same 24-014014 shock.

[mkguitar]

our "non cookie cutter" vans don't easily show up on parts searches for a "typical" van application



it's good to ask questions and double check
Mike

[GallenH]

Thanks to all responders. I'm going to call around tomorrow to costco and DT to query availability and price on the agilis crossclimate. As I mentioned earlier, we're going up to the GC on the 19th for a few days and then at the beginning of November to Utah. It will be good to have new tires on for those trips. I'll deal with the shocks later.

thanksagain.glenn

[wny-pat]

It may come down to what they have in stock, or in their warehouse.

[mkguitar]

I had mine done at DT at cave creek and E Bell Rd
I called locations to find shop which had 4 in stock that day and that's how I ended up at that location
( I had to make an emergency run to MT, I didn;t have time to wait)


They knew where/how to position the 4 x floor jacks and once started the job took under an hour.


They didn;t secure the wheels covers and I had to turn around 100' out.


but all in all a good experience-



costco isn;t good at searching inventory in other stores- some years ago I ordered a tire for spare and it took 10 days for it to come in from out-of -state... during that period I found the chandler store had gobs of them in stock..my store could have just sent me there...


mike

[GallenH]

I had DT put on 4 of the Michelin Agilis Crossclimate tires this morning. In my brief drive home they felt fine and don't seem any noisier than the Ms I replaced. But I will report back after going to the Grand Canyon with some impressions. So far so good.

Thanks to Mike for his comments about price-matching. I took in an ad from Costco and they matched it. The matching amount discounted on my receipt was $180.

Post Covid beer debt to Mike.

glenn

[Hivetool]

I’ve got about 1000 miles on my CC tires now. They are more quiet than the BF Goodrich tires I had but, they have poorer handling. I have a 2001 Dodge Popular Roadtrek. These tires are much more floaty than the Goodrich. Not a real relaxing drive. Minor steering corrections causes sway I didn’t have before. I have Bilsteins, airbags, wheel spacers and a steering stabilizer, and all new front end parts and bushings. I do not really like these tires. I bought them because of all the positive reviews. I hope you have better luck.

[mechmike10]

I believe the Michelin LTX designation means the tire is a light truck tire rather than a passenger car tire. We have a 2016 extended body Sprinter chassis. It calls for a Load Range E tire, which is considered a light truck tire. When we replaced the OEM Contis, we used Michelin Defender LTX tires to get a Load Range E tire. Similarly, before the Class B, we owned a small travel trailer which we towed with a Toyota 4Runner. On the Toyota we ran Michelin LTX M/S 2s, the predecessor to the Defender LTX.

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by Hivetool

I’ve got about 1000 miles on my CC tires now. They are more quiet than the BF Goodrich tires I had but, they have poorer handling. I have a 2001 Dodge Popular Roadtrek. These tires are much more floaty than the Goodrich. Not a real relaxing drive. Minor steering corrections causes sway I didn’t have before. I have Bilsteins, airbags, wheel spacers and a steering stabilizer, and all new front end parts and bushings. I do not really like these tires. I bought them because of all the positive reviews. I hope you have better luck.

Welcome to the forum Hivetool!

You've encountered the problem with reviews. I generally follow them for lack of a better way to prejudge products. But for every 9 people you really, really love an item, there is one who really, really hates it. You might fall into the latter category.

But, try playing with tire pressures before giving up on correcting the floaty feeling. If that doesn't work, see if your tire shop has a satisfaction guarantee. Maybe they will let you trade them in for your old brand.

[Hivetool]

Hi,
Yes, fair enough. I did vary the tire pressure from 80 rear-65 front to 78/63. It did make a difference. Some improvement. I had taken them back to the tire shop and called Michelin too. I’ll to to reduce the pressures even more to see if there is added handling Benefit. I’m not a whiner. If it wasn’t happening, I would not post about. With all the suspension upgrades I’ve done, I’m very tuned in to how my van handles before and after upgrades. Thanks for the pressure suggestion. I will let more air out and see if that helps. What puzzles me is, why am I the only one who noticed this floaty issue w the new CC Michelin’s?

[GallenH]

Just an observation. My 1997 PW on the Dodge 3500 chassis has a sort-of-full time power steering. Whenever I get home and drive my 2007 Rav4 it feels like the Rav has manual steering. That's how light the feel is on the Dodge. So, unlike more modern vehicles, when you're traveling at, say 65mph, the steering remains light. I tried upping the front tires to 60 and 65psi but it worsened the light feeling. I now keep mine at around 57. Try lowering yours and see if you don't get improvement.

[mkguitar]

Originally Posted by Hivetool

the only one who noticed this floaty issue w the new CC Michelin’s?

my van was "kinda floaty" with the old tires -also at about 80/55-60



I accept this as normal given the weight and profile ( and age/wear) of my vehicle.


def alot more solid at 65 than 75- and we tend to 2 lane roads rather than interstates when we can so lower speeds



I am going to take a look at tightening up my steering box to remove some play


Mike