I am writing this because I have never bought motorhome tires and it is not an everyday experience. Spending $3,600 on something that isn't even fun is traumatic! It is a little long, but my guess is many who might read this have not done it either. Maybe my long story will help some and entertain others!
Depending on where you get advice we should do it every 5 to 10 years, whether we want to or not. My tires were 7 years old, had 80,000 miles on them, looked good to me and had lots of tread left. They were Goodyear LHS 295/80R 22.5, were made in Germany and (I think) were intended as “transit” tires because they don’t have very many diesel pusher motorhomes in Europe. And, except for some 2004 Beavers, they are never seen on motorhomes.
The Les Schwab in Junction City was near the Harrisburg Beaver Rally last week. There was also a Monaco Rally somewhere nearby. Thinking there might be a “rally special”, I phoned two weeks ago for a quote. The reply for 6 tires was a suggestion for ether Bridgestone R250 at $3010.14 or Michelin XZA-2 at $3555.06. It included spin balancing of the steering axle tires. The price was about $800 less than I got from a Les Schwab near Tacoma. Sales tax was part of that because Oregon doesn’t have any. I had planned on getting Goodyear G670s because they are so common on Beavers that were delivered from the factory (except for a lot of Monterey’s in 2004 that got the German bus tires). I had planned on checking with Wingfoot, but never did.
Picking tires is hard, especially if you search the internet. Everybody has stories both good and bad. I decided it would be either Michelin or Goodyear because they are so common on large motorhomes. I shopped the price a little bit, but when I found what seemed reasonable at the Junction City Les Schwab, I stuck with that. My personal experience with car tires at Schwab has been fantastic.
The Junction City Les Schwab is actually a “Bob Dickman Tire Center”. I’m not sure how that works but they have developed a motorhome specialty. My contact there was Paul Kintigh who has the title of “RV & Tire Monitoring Specialist”. He was a sponsor and conducted a seminar at the Harrisburg Rally. They have an RV specific website at
www.dickmantires.com.
Hoping for a “perfect experience”, I didn’t get it. I know I can be a “picky” consumer, especially when it comes to my motorhome. So, in fairness, maybe Bob Dickman Tire didn’t have a chance!
I had phoned earlier to get the first appointment on Monday morning so I could get to Tacoma at a reasonable hour. I was asked to be there at 8:30 am. I asked if I should camp in their parking lot to ensure the first appointment. I was told no, and that I should have no worries if I was there at 8:30. Two rigs camped there and one pulled in around 8 am. I was forth in line and had to wait. My wife will tell you that I don’t wait well, so we were off to a bad start.
I ordered the “Dually” valve stems ($120) to eliminate the flexible valve extensions as a failure point. One of my old extensions had chaffed through the stainless braded sleeve. They had run out of the rubber donut that fits my wheels so Paul carved one as an attempt at a custom fit. Which they don’t very well. I’m supposed to get the right ones in the mail, but by then I will be on a road trip through Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. I will have to watch them and hope they won’t be an issue.
Based on the “Michelin Inflation Charts for RV Usage” that is online AND provided to me by Dickman Tire, my new tires should be inflated to 90 psi in the back and 100 psi in the front, based on actual, known weights. That would support 22,060 pounds on the rear axle and 13,540 on the front. I thought a little extra might be a good idea so I asked for 95 psi in the back and 105 in front. According to the Michelin chart, that allows for as much as 23,020 on the back axle and 14,080 on the front. I was told the tires would be inflated to 120 psi, no matter what!
Under Kay Toolsen, the Monterey was having a weight issue in 2003. My motorhome was delivered overweight! At the time I was too motorhome stupid to understand that it should have been weighed before we signed the deal. That was the first of many motorhome lessons!
We bought a 2004 Monterey built in the summer of 2003. It was one of the first that came with 295 tires to carry the “over” weight and one of the last that came with a 20,000 pound rear axle. The data plate had not been updated to reflect the upgrade from 275 tires, so it listed the required tire pressure at 120 psi. Apparently, the 275s needed all air they could get! Although I never checked anyone’s data plate, the Toolsen engineering team “solved” the weight issue by installing 23,000 pound rear axles a few serial numbers later than mine and included a revised data plate. (The limit on federal roads is supposed to 20,000 for trucks. Some say RVs don’t have to comply with truck rules. I don’t know, but I think it varies by state.)
At 120 psi in all of the new Michelins, my motorhome could weigh 43,440 pounds and not stress the tires. My motorhome weighs about 10,000 less than that!
I tried to insist that the tires be inflated to what I wanted, as determined by the charts. The result was the manager of the store, Jon Edwards, felt compelled to lecture me on tire safety. He insisted that for the last five years tires have been inflated to what is on the manufacturer’s data plate because only the manufacturers’ engineers know what it should be. After they were done putting on my new tires, I drove one block, parked and let out a bunch of air in all six tires. They are now at 95 in back and 105 in front, which is exactly where I ran the Goodyears for 80,000 miles with a perfect wear pattern.
I’ve had a Pressure Pro on for several years. Dickman Tire Center sells them. So I expected the sensors to be handled properly. I didn’t check before I left. As I drove out of town, the right front was not giving me a reading. I pulled into a rest stop an hour later and discovered they lost the tiny gasket that depresses the valve stem. They are mailing me a new gasket/depressor.
There is not a lot of wheel well clearance to remove the rear wheels. The Dickman installation crew seemed to think I was supposed to lift the coach for them with the leveling jacks. Beaver didn’t give me jacks long enough to do that. I can barely get it level! Instead they started putting hydraulic bottle jacks in various places including under the left rear leveling jack pad. They got the tires changed, removed all the jacks except the one under the leveling pad. It was stuck! It took what looked like the “junior skinny kid” 10 minutes to get under the motorhome, get the pressure off and the jack out. When he finally did, the motorhome would not sit level. Using the rock flap as a guide, the right side was about 2 inches higher than the left. I asked and received permission to slide under and look for anything bent on the leveling valves. They looked OK. Deflating the airbags completely and then restarting the engine seemed to “reset” the leveling system.
I don’t really know, but it seemed to me they had jacked it up wrong. Their procedure seemed to be to raise the tire with an axle jack and then move the wheel well out of the way with another jack under the frame somewhere. They sell a lot of motorhome tires so they should know how to jack one up without confusing the leveling system.
For a year or so I’ve had trouble with the ABS sensor unplugging itself. Beaver had wrapped the wire around (what I think is called) the trailing arm in a way that the connecter was nearly out of reach and didn’t leave enough slack. The tie wrap holding it there was out of reach. About every three months I would have to crawl under and reconnect the sensor. With the wheels removed, Dickman’s tech was very happy to clip the tie wrap and allow the extra slack needed. They didn’t charge for that much appreciated service.
I’m glad it’s over! I have new, properly inflated tires that make expansion joints a near pleasure compared to the German bus tires that Beaver installed. Paul and the Dickman Tire crew tried very hard to make me as happy as they, and the tire pressure lawyers, could. As I said, I am a picky customer that hates it when other people fiddle with my motorhome. Any other tires store would have probably been worse!
If you need tires, email Paul Kintigh at pkintigh@dickmantires.com. Please tell him I sent you. With luck he will still be there when I need another set of tires in 7 years.
