Tire sizes/weight carrying capacity

[Steve Adams]

It will be impossible for me not to exceed the axle load ratings. The data plate lists the front axle capacity as 10400 lbs. When we had the coach weighed at Hendersons the front end without us in it was 10400. Same issue in the rear as the left rear is already at max capacity with just a few days worth of clothes and food. When this chassis was built they must have taken whatever they had laying around to build it and the engineer who designed it must not have bothered to figure out how much things were going to weigh.

Just about the only thing I can do is upgrade the tires. And we love the coach. It has its problems but I suppose every coach has something that isn't just quite right. So we've decided to live with it's short comings and just keep smiling.

I do appreciate the feedback so keep it coming.

Thanks, Steve

[Gerald Farris]

Steve,
The Michelin tires sound like they will correct your overloaded tire problem, and Michelin tires are noted for their ride quality, so I do not think that you will notice a deterioration in your ride with the 16 ply rated Michelins.

As for as the Counterbalance to run inside the tires, I personally am not a fan of anything to run inside of the tire, although there are a lot of supporters for the product. I  have my front tires spin balanced when they are installed, and have had no vibration problems with the four different sets of tires that I have had in the 11 years that I have been driving two different Beaver coaches.  

Gerald

[Gil_Johnson]

Steve,

Tires are installed to support the anticipated load up to the axle's maximum weight rating.  Axle ratings are not determined by the tire's capacity.  The placard should indicate the lower of the tire capacity or axle capacity.  In 2003 they increased the capacity to 12,800 for the front and 19K for the rear.  You may want to see if your axles are actually rated at these numbers or more but were limited by the tires installed at the time.  The problem with your rear axle is somewhat expected given it's a 40-footer with a single rear axle.  That's the main reason I have a 42-footer with a tag axle.  I only needed a 40-footer, but I know most 40-footers have very little rear axle cacapity left for personal stuff.

Gil
08 Contessa 42

[Gerald Farris]

Steve,
The axle rating is calculated so that it does not exceed it's lowest rated component. In most cases on 1995 to 2005 model motorhomes, that component is the the tires. If you add up the load rating on your present tires, it will probably equal to your axle load rating. If this is the case, your axle and brakes may have a higher load rating than your tires do, so increasing the tire capacity will increase the axle capacity.

However that is hard to prove in case you have an accident caused by suspected overloading and someone can prove that your axle weight was higher than the listed axle weight rating for your coach. My 2000 Marquis exceeds the weight ratings that Beaver published for it on three of it's four wheel locations although none of my tires are overloaded because I changed to a higher capacity tire than Beaver originally installed on the coach. The 2002 Marquis had a higher weight rated front axle than my coach does, but the axles and brakes are identical, the only difference between the two coaches axles is the tires.

Gerald

[Steve Adams]

Thanks everyone.

Gerald, the tires available right now are 18 ply. Will there be an apprecialbe difference between the ride quality over a 16 ply tire?

Thanks again, Steve

[Gerald Farris]

Steve,
I do not think that you will notice enough difference in the ride between the 18 ply rated Michelins and the tires that you are running now to be objectionable, they may even ride better. However the 18 ply will be a little more expensive than a 16 ply if it is available in that size and assuming that it has a high enough load capacity although the ride will not be appreciably harder.

The bottom line is that we have a very limited number of choices in tires that will fit our coaches that have the load capacity that we need. The peace of mind that you will have by knowing that your tires are no longer overloaded will more that offset any concerns about ride quality. A blow-out is much worse than a little harder ride. If the 18 ply rated Michelins are your best choice to prevent being overloaded, I would have installed them yesterday.  
 
Gerald  

[Joel Ashley]

Some great advice proffered here, once again as usual, Steve.  My only addition would be that if Les Schwab installs your new Michelins, I'd be sure that particular store is using the best available computerized balance machine available within the company.  And keep taking the coach back if vibration exists.  

Our coach had vibration issues right out of the gate at Bend when new.  BCS techs discovered a couple of issues in the front suspension, fixed them, and then sent it down the road to the Redmond Les Schwab (their usual alignment and balance resource) for checking.  Les Schwab rebalanced the front wheels, but some vibration was still evident.

The Bend Goodyear dealer alerted me to an issue Monaco had with Goodyear tires, supposedly out-of-round, but actually mismounted by Monaco.  Goodyear had me take the coach to their Portland Service Center where they have state-of-the-art balance capability.  They found the tires not mismounted nor out-of-round, but the Les Schwab balance way out of whack;  they removed the unnecessary oversized lead, and rebalanced the front wheels for me for $75.  Unfortunately the coach has had to remain parked since, but the 20 mile jaunt home from Goodyear revealed no noticeable vibration, and we look forward to our first full trip with a coach that finally floats down the road as "smooth as a Cadillac", as we used to say.

As much as I've had several decades of good results with Les Schwab sales and service at stores from Clackamas to Twin Falls, I offer the above word of caution.  That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

-Joel

[MarcRodstein]

I replaced my factory-installed Goodyears after 4 years due to excessive river wear and a catastrophic front tire failure. I wnet with with Michelin Energy XZA2 in the same size. I much prefer the Michelins XA2's, I think they are a great tire. But they are a bit larger in diameter and began to rub away my wheel well liner. So against my wishes, I went back to Goodyears on the front. Watch the width and diameter and be sure that you have room for whatever new tires you buy.

When I installed the new tires I used Dynabeads (www.innovativebalancing.com) and I love the smooth balance ride they give. Follow their online instructions to a T and you will love the result. I plan to install Dynabeads on my car at the next tire change.

As for tire pressure monitoring system, I have had Pressure Pro for 7 years and I would not drive without it. It has been fabulous and trouble-free. And twice it warned me of a tire leak on my tow car. If I hadn't had those warnings, I could have run into big trouble. I am a believer. There may be other good tire pressure monitors around, but Pressure Pro has been nothing but great for me.

Marc, Wellington FL
2003 Beaver Monterey 40' triple slide
2010 Lincoln MKT toad
Unified Tow Brake

[Larry Fisk]

I also had my tires replaced by Les With the Michelins. They recommended only balancing the front and went on to say that balancing the rear tires is not normally done so they only did the front. As I said this was their suggestion, I just went with what they suggested.

[Larry Fisk]

I might add that I have noticed zero problems from only balancing the front and we are very happy with the Michelins.

[Steve Adams]

Well I pulled the trigger. Have an appointment next Tuesday to have 6 new Michelins installed along with a check up on the rear brakes. I'm looking forward to smooth sailing!

Thanks everyone for your advice. I really appreciated the input.

Steve

[LarryNCarolynShirk]

Steve,


When Les Schwab installed my Michelins 3 years ago, they used a balancing product called Equal.  It is a powder in a paper bag that disintegrates to disperse the power inside the tire.  Every time you start the tires rolling, they re-balance.  It feels like all the tires are perfectly balanced to me.   They may have changed brands to Counterbalance.

Larry

[Steve Adams]

We got our new tires mounted on Tuesday in Hillsboro, OR then went to Ridgefield, WA for a chassis service, oil change, transynd conversion and generaor service. Wednesday we picked it up and loaded out. This morning we left Portland and stopped at 7 Feathers resort for the night.

What a difference the tires have made! Most of the wander is gone and what was a chore has become routine. Neither of us feel the ride is any different than before though the difference to me in just the ease of driving is well worth the the money we paid. We did opt to have the Counteract installed instead of the computer balance. Les made a mistake and put it in all the tires though we told them to only do the front tires so we got some free product! I think the jury is still out on the counteract. I front end seems to act the same as before so I'm not sure if the small vibrations I'm feeling are tire or road induced. Regardless, it is no worse than before.

Hopefully we can take a bit of time off from repairs and enjoy ourselves.

Thanks again to everyone for their help.

Steve