It's time for new tires... before the trip South for Winter

[David T. Richelderfer]

My research locally in Hermiston, Oregon (295/80R22.5, 16 ply, mounted & balanced, H rating) per tire:

Les Schwab          Toyo              $546.06
       "                   Bridgestone    $777.15
       "                   Michelin          $943.16

Commercial Tire    Yokohama       $550.42
            "               Bridgestone    $669.74

Hagerman             Yokohama      $500.11
       "                    Michelin          $866.00

Tire Factory            Goldway         $428.65     (18 ply, J rating)
(Firestone)

Obviously, the Goldway is tempting due to price and higher load rating.  But I define the Yokohama and Goldway as Tier 3 tires... or worse.  I would define the Toyo as a Tier 2... and I do not want to go lower than a Tier 2.  Soooo... in the next week or so, baring a revelation, I will likely order up a 5-pack of Toyos from Les Schwabs.  I put new 315/80R22.5 Dunlops on the front last year, and two years ago I damaged and replaced an outside dual.

[Edward Buker]

David,

I moved from Michelin XZA2 Energy Tires to Toyo M144s due to price. I would not call a Toyo tire a tier 2 tire, they are engineered in Japan and made in Japan which has excellent engineering and quality control skills. They weigh about the same physically which says they have the same amount of material in them. They are rated at 80MPH and carry similar loads. The Michelins were made in Germany.  The Toyos have just a touch stiffer ride but that stiffer sidewall provides a little more stability in tracking and steering so it is a tradeoff.

I would say there is no fundamental reason to call them a tier 2 tire. If they were made in China, Korea, or Vietnam then I would put them down the list as a tier 2 because of where they are sourced. I'm very careful regarding tires and this is just my two cents...

Later Ed

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Dave, Ed,
Please define the"tier" ratings for those of us that are tire selection novices.
Thx, Steve

[Joel Ashley]

Dave, is that L.Schwab Michelin price FMCA program?  I thought I'd go down to Junction City's Les Scwab (aka Bob Dickman Tire Center) for tires this fall, as they are about as experienced with motor homes as anyone.  They participate in the FMCA Michelin thing, but Toyos seem well-reviewed and available at the same place as you note.

Joel

[David T. Richelderfer]

Ed - This is what I found on defining the word "tier" regarding tires.  It's not tightly defined, but this is copied and pasted from this link:

http://www.moderntiredealer.com/channel/retailing/article/story/2013/11/what-is-a-tier-two-tire-tier-three.aspx

"1. Tier One is made up of the major tire companies’ premium brands. “They carry the highest price tags and have the highest profit margins for the manufacturers.” Examples: Bridgestone, Goodyear and Michelin.

"2. Tier Two is made up of the tire companies’ mid-market brands. “The marketing effort for these tires is not as extensive as for Tier One tires.” Examples: Firestone, Dunlop, BFGoodrich, Continental, Yokohama and Toyo.

"3. Tier Three is made up of “value” brand tires. “These tires are marketed to consumers who are more concerned with price than a brand name.” They also have the lowest profit margins. Examples: GT Radial, Runway, Primewell, Douglas and Riken."


No, Joel, I have not looked into the FMCA-Michelin buying program for this purchase.  I tried looking into it two years ago when I replaced that one damaged tire, but never figured out how to access it.  Anyways, the buying program would have to be available to my Les Schwab's or better yet, to my golf friend's truck shop, Brad Hagerman.  Relative to my Les Schwab's the buying program would have to save me $400 per tire, and to Hagerman's the buying program would have to save me over $300 per tire.  I doubt that much savings is in the buying program, but I don't know that for sure.  Perhaps someone can clue me in on how to access that buying program.

[LaMonte Monnell]

I replaced the 10 year old Goodyear's with the Toyo's as soon as I bought the coach. The little bit I drove on the Goodyears I wasn't impressed , but when I first drove on the Toyo's I could tell a major improvement right away.

LaMonte

[Dick Simonis]

David, thanks for clearing up the tiers which I hadn't seen before.  Interesting is that the tiers have nothing to do with quality but profit and how much is spent on marketing.

I put Hankook tires on my PT which I guess falls into the tier 3 category.  However, if there was a "satisfaction tier" they would be in tier 1.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Dave,
Ditto Dick's thanks re tiers.
Steve

[Dan n Lisa Lund]

I just put a set of Toyo's on the front of our Marquis in July. After a trip to Yellowstone and about 2600 miles later I can say that I love them. They are an excellent tire at an excellent price. I took off Michelins that were causing the coach to pull to the right. New Toyo's corrected that problem and now the coach goes down the road as straight as a string. I am very pleased!  Just my 2 cents.

[Edward Buker]

David,

Thanks for sharing the article and the rankings by the author. If they ranked these tires using data by quality and failure rate the results might be quite different, hard for us to know. It is good that beaver owners are sharing their tire history, it helps everyone.

Later Ed

[Bryan Beamon]

David we just replaced our Goodyear G670 with Michelin xza2
295-80r-22.5 through  the FMCA advantage  program, phone #1-888-532-6435. The price is $663 plus install and balance. We have used this program at Kaiser Brake and Alignment 541-344-5887. The reason we switched to the Michelin tires was the added tred depth and customer reviews. Also note most oem's use the Michelin tires

[David T. Richelderfer]

$663 for Michelin is still $120 more than for Toyo at my Les Schwab's, and the Toyo price includes mounting and balancing.  That would make the total difference, including mounting and balancing, upwards of $175 per tire.

It's becoming more likely I will go with Toyo tires at my Les Schwab store... especially since every opinion here on the Forum has been positive regarding Toyo tires.

[Jerry Carr]

HI Dave

I know the Michelin cost $120 more than for Toyo. I would like to add my two cents at times you get comfort knowing that you have done all you can to be safe. I don't like to take any chance with tires and run the Michelin I know I could save but IO learned many years ago youget what you pay for Schwab is not a national chain you can get support for Michelin everywhere.

I am sure the toyo tires are good we have member that use them but we have many member that also run the Michelin rubber.

I am sure3 both would do the job I just like the blanket of the brand.

[David T. Richelderfer]

No, Jerry, it's closer to $175 difference per tire, not $120.  For a set of five tires that would be about $875 difference.

[Glenn Perkins]

David, thanks for clearing up the tiers which I hadn't seen before.  Interesting is that the tiers have nothing to do with quality but profit and how much is spent on marketing.

I put Hankook tires on my PT which I guess falls into the tier 3 category.  However, if there was a "satisfaction tier" they would be in tier 1.

Let me jump in on this discussion.  I had several sets of Toyos on our 99 Marquis and then on a trip across country about 10 yrs ago, pulled into a tire dealer on the FL panhandle due to weird wear on the Toyos and purchased a set of Kumho (korean) tires which last me much better than any of the Toyos and handled just fine.  About 3 years ago now, I was In Las Vegas and could not find the Kumho's so based on Forum endorsement, opted for the Hankook (korean) A112 tires which have performed just as well as the Kumho's and certainly WAY better than the Toyos.  Have about 30K miles on this set (170K total miles) and going strong.

No question that Michelin's are fine tires ... have them on my Jeep and Pickup ... and I know that others have had good results with Toyo's ... just not me.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it.