Tire and weight question.

[Steve Adams]

All,

With our recent issues regarding the hydraulic system I spent a lot of time digging through our owners manuals. I found a tire chart that listed weight vs air pressure. I also found a receipt for work we had done last year at Hendersons with the coach weight on each tire.

To the question;

Front tires rated at 5205 lbs max.
Front weight is 10900 (5400 Right, 5500 Left) per Hendersons.

Previous owner put on new Toyo's (265 75R22.5 14 Ply) about 2 years ago. Should I replace them with a higher rated tire?

Thanks, Steve

[Joel Ashley]

Steve-

I'd find out who installed the tires and try to get them switched out for the correct ones (Les Schwab, maybe?);  they mounted underrated tires for the vehicle and could conceivably be held accountable for any consequences.  Most reputable dealers wouldn't have made such a mistake, and if called on the carpet would resolve the issue for safety's sake and to protect themselves.  But I'd first want to be sure my coach wasn't overloaded per the Beaver axle specs.

-Joel

[Gerald Farris]

Steve,
If your tires are overloaded, they need to be replaced with tires that are adequate for your coach's weight.

When I purchased my 2000 Marquis, it had new Toyo tires that were identical to the OEM tires. When I weighted the coach, I discovered that the tires were overloaded. I went to Les Schwab and traded in my tires (very reasonable exchange) on tires that had a sufficient weight rating.

There are several things that you need to keep in mind when you change tires. First if you change to a larger size, make sure that you have enough clearance for the tire, especially when turning. I spent hours with a tire dimension spec. book and a tape measure to be sure that the larger tires that I wanted would have enough clearance.

Second make sure that you do not have a width problem. Your wheels have to be wide enough for the new tires, and if you change the rear tires, there has to be enough offset to the wheels to allow clearance between the tires. The tire manufacturer's tire spec. book will have all of the tire measurements as well as required wheel width and minimum dual spacing.

Gerald