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Topic: Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN (Read 5 times) previous topic - next topic
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Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN
Yahoo Message Number: 99634
I would like to thank each of you for your prompt replies to my post.
After reading your reponses I called the dealership and asked the manager to check the date code on the tire he just took off my rig.  I was shocked that the date was May *2004*.  We picked up the rig in April 2007.  We never thought to check the date codes on the *new* tires.   The tires are now almost 5 years old and since that is the life span, I am sure we will be replacing them all.
 ****NOTE TO FILE:  When picking up your NEW rig from the mothership, check the date code on all tires before leaving the parking lot.

Ed Gaffney and a '06 LD named Tara that needs new tires
Re: Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN
Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 99639
When you  bought your rig you should have received warranty paperwork about your tires.
 I think that your warranty would start when you took possession. Check your paperwork. You may be due some compensation from the tire manufacturer.
 You bought a brand new rig.  Your should have the initial life of new tires.  If necessary, maybe Steve Newton at LD will go to bat for you.

Ken in San Diego
Re: Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN
Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 99656
I

Quote
was shocked that the date was May *2004*.  We picked up the rig in April 2007.  We never thought to check the date codes on the *new* tires.  The tires are now almost 5 years old and since that is the life span, I am sure we will be replacing them all.
Don't be quite that hasty, Ed.  The Michelin RV tire site that was referenced earlier in this string said that one should have tires inspected at 5 years, and annually thereafter, by a tire specialist.
Michelin's "must replace" (by age alone) date was TEN years, not 5.
Yours might be good to go.  -- Jon
(Former) ‘06 TK “Albatross.” And (former) Vespa 250.   Alas, no more; both are gone.😕 Great memories remain! 😄
Re: Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN
Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 99658
Quote
Don't be quite that hasty, Ed.  The Michelin RV tire site that was referenced earlier in this string said that one should have tires inspected at 5 years, and annually thereafter, by a tire specialist.
Michelin's "must replace" (by age alone) date was TEN years, not 5.
Yours might be good to go.  -- Jon

Other than he's already been told that the tires have dry rot.
 The 10 years *might* be OK for an automobile, but considering the amount of damage a blowout can do to an RV (in many cases, more than a brand new set of tires would cost), I'd replace them after 5 to 6 years.  YMMV.

Linda Hylton http://map.datastormusers.com/user1.cfm?user=1167 http://earl-linda.blogspot.com/
Linda Hylton
Re: Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN
Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 99661
"rv_mates"
 I was shocked that the date was May *2004*.  We picked up the rig in April 2007.  We never thought to check the date codes on the *new* tires.   The tires are now almost 5 years old and since that is the life span, I am sure we will be replacing them all.

"Jon & Loni"  wrote:

Don't be quite that hasty, Ed.  The Michelin RV tire site that was referenced earlier in this string said that one should have tires inspected at 5 years, and annually thereafter, by a tire specialist.
Michelin's "must replace" (by age alone) date was TEN years, not 5.
Yours might be good to go.

Jon, you're referring to this Michelin "RV Tire Life" guide?

www.michelinrvtires.com/assets/pdf/TB-Service-Life-for-RV-Tires.pdf

Just offering a few additional comments on RV tire life on our Lazy Daze motorhomes...while tire age is definitely one very important criterion in judging when to replace your rig's tires, it's not the only determining factor.  Numbers can be very arbitrary; sometime along the line, "replace after 5 years" became the standard, but even this number is variable. Some RV tires should be replaced after only a couple of years, and some may serve safely for a few more years; *IMO*, how long the tire is safe and/or when to replace it/them depends a great deal on the following factors:

1.  Does the rig owner know the manufacture date of the tires on the  rig, or, if not, how to read the manufacturing date code?  
2.  Are the original tires high quality and the  *use application*  correct?  (Running "cheap", poor quality original tires, using a "D"  load range tire instead of an "E" load range when indicated, etc.  (I  believe that selecting a OEM-sized tire with *all-steel* construction  for the 27' and 31' is advisable, but YMMV.)  
3.  Have the tires been overloaded?  (IOW, is the motorhome within  weight specs as shown by a four-corner rig weighing?)  
4.  Have the tires been consistently inflated to correct pressures *as  determined by the weight of the motorhome*?  
5.  Have the tires been inspected regularly for cracking,  checking, "alligatoring", bulges, heat blistering, nicks, gouges, and  any other "wear signs" in/on the *sidewalls* and tread?  (A thorough  examination includes *all* the tires' sidewalls; you will have to get  under the rig with a strong flashlight and look carefully at all the  tire sidewall surfaces unless your trusted, knowlegeable mechanic or  tire guy can get your LD up on a rack and do a complete inspection from  that angle.)  
6.  Have the tires been kept covered and "protected" (as much as  possible) from UV and ozone damage when the rig is "sitting"?  (If you  choose to use a "tire dressing", I suggest "303 Protectant.")  
7.  Have the treads been inspected to check for abnormal/premature wear
 patterns which could indicate the need for a front end alignment or other service?
 I do the tire inspections on my rig, but I'm not a very trusting person when it comes to "tire guys"; you may be.  After you (or a tire guy whom you trust) consider the tires' manufacturing dates, judge the tires' conditions per the suggestions above, and do a thorough inspection of all the tires, *including the spare* (remember to air the spare to max pressure; you can adjust this if/when you need to), you can decide whether to buy new tires; if there's *any doubt at all* about the tires' conditions or safety, it's best to replace all 6 at one time. This way, you can specify the manufacturing date window that's acceptable to you to get a "matched set".  (FWIW, I have always followed the listed "factors" above, but replaced the original Michelin LTX M/S tires on my 2003 23.5' at about 35000 miles and 3 1/2 years due to some "minor" sidewall surface cracking.

As ever, YMMV.

Joan
2003 TK has a new home
Re: Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN
Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 99673
Quote
Don't be quite that hasty, Ed.  The Michelin RV tire site that was referenced earlier in this string said that one should have tires inspected at 5 years, and annually thereafter, by a tire
specialist.
 
Quote
Michelin's "must replace" (by age alone) date was TEN years, not

5.

Quote
Yours might be good to go.  -- Jon


Other than he's already been told that the tires have dry rot.

The 10 years *might* be OK for an automobile, but considering the
amount of
 
Quote
damage a blowout can do to an RV (in many cases, more than a brand
new set
 
Quote
of tires would cost), I'd replace them after 5 to 6 years.  YMMV.

Linda Hylton http://map.datastormusers.com/user1.cfm?user=1167 http://earl-linda.blogspot.com/
OK  I give up... what is YMMV ??
Re: Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN
Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 99679
We have a 2007 27RB, 7800 miles, picked up 10/2007 Michelin tires with 0707 date code. All 4 visible tires exhibit cracking. I took the rig to Discount Tire yesterday for inspection. Michelin will give me 95% of cost applied to the purchase of new tires. Discount will charge $15 per tire for install. I am going this route. If I have the same trouble with this set, I'll look for another tire.

Tim
Re: Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN
Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 99680
"All 4 visible tires exhibit cracking."

Tim
 Michelin's RV tire guide states that cracking less than 1/32" in depth is OK. Cracking from 1/32" -1/32" is iffy and over 2/32" requires replacement.
http://www.michelinrvtires.com/michelinrv/toolbox/reference- material.jsp  Or http://tinyurl.com/3y4ao7

Nowhere in Michelin's does it state that RV tires needs replacement every 5-6 years, instead they say 10 years is the maximum life.
Anyone have an idea where the 5-6 year tire replacement thing came from? Is this some type of urban myth or has another tire manufacturer made this recommendation?
 I would prefer to change the tires a year or two early if that means avoiding the serious damage a blown tire can do. A rear blowout can do thousands of dollars in damage or cause an accident.

Larry
Larry
2003 23.5' Front Lounge, since new.  Previously 1983 22' Front Lounge.
Tow vehicles  2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 2001 Jeep Cherokee
Photo Collection: Lazy Daze
Re: Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN
Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 99681
Quote
"All 4 visible tires exhibit cracking."

Tim
 Michelin's RV tire guide states that cracking less than 1/32" in depth is OK. Cracking from 1/32" -1/32" is iffy and over 2/32" requires replacement.
Yup, the guy at Discount said the same thing. The front tires definitely were 1/6th deep. He said sun was probably the culprit. I explained, the rig lives in a garage. He also offered that tires need to be under 'normal' stress while rolling to get the internal chemicals in motion and circulated throughout the entire tire. Nothing worse than just sitting.
Re: Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN
Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 99683
I think the operative word here is "maximum life".
The actual life depends on how much regular use the tire gets. Some folks have had 6 or 7 year old tires self-destruct, and, considering how much damage a blow-out can cause, have decided to use 5 or 6 years as a safe life.

700 bucks for a new set or tires, a year of so early, is somewhat cheaper than $7000 for body repairs, even though part of the $7000 is covered by insurance.

ron
Re: Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN
Reply #11 –
Yahoo Message Number: 99686
I just visited the rig to change out the mirror and checked the dating on our tires.  They all were dated 01/06.  Our rig is an '06 model, delivered in March of '07, so they had a year+ of age at time of delivery.  That seems at the limit of being reasonable, but nothing to get exercised about.  We now have 12,000 miles on them.  They don't display any cracking yet, despite the rig being stored outdoors in SoCal and with no covers on the wheels.  I do take it out fairly religiously every two weeks for a half hour of exercise.  Perhaps that's all they need to keep the juices flowing.  YMMV.  -- Jon
(Former) ‘06 TK “Albatross.” And (former) Vespa 250.   Alas, no more; both are gone.😕 Great memories remain! 😄
Re: Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN
Reply #12 –
Yahoo Message Number: 99687
so they had a year+ of age at time of

Quote
delivery.
Our tires were 9.5 months old when we took delivery in 04/08.
19,000+ miles to date. Very good condition so far.

Ed
Re: Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN
Reply #13 –
Yahoo Message Number: 99688
Quote
"...and checked the dating on our tires."
-- Jon

Jon
 When I seen your post I went out to check my tires. The date was 11/04.
That indicates they were manufactured in the eleventh week of 2004 or the third week of March '04.
 Since I took delivery of my '04 30'IB in October of that year the tires were then about seven months old, not too shabby!

Steve S.
Lazy Bones & Jiggs
Steve S.
Lazy Bones & Cedar
2004 30'IB (Island Bed)
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery
Live for the day!
Re: Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN
Reply #14 –
Yahoo Message Number: 99689
The front tires on our 2008 24' FD show a 2607 date code, but I can't decipher the outer rears. There is an embossed box with all sorts of small numbers in it. The border is twice as tall as the rest of the DOT numbers. Has anyone seen that kind of date code? I'm going to crawl under tomorrow and try to read the inners. I went on the Michelin web site and they show the DOT number and letter codes just like they appear on the front tires. The rears are the same tire but with that weird marking. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Larry
Larry in Monument, CO
2008 24' FD
Re: Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN
Reply #15 –
Yahoo Message Number: 99690
Quote
The front tires on our 2008 24' FD show a 2607 date code, but I can't decipher the outer rears.
Many tires only have the date code on one side.  I suspect that the date on your outer rear tires is on the side facing the inner tire and it is likely that the date on the inner tires is on the side facing the outer tires.
That makes it a challenge to read them.

Monti

Monument, CO
Re: Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN
Reply #16 –
Yahoo Message Number: 99691
Thanks, Monti. That was on the agenda for tomorrow when I crawl under the rig to look. by the way, we must be neighbors. I live in Monument, Co, as well. Do you have a blue Lazy Daze?

Larry
Larry in Monument, CO
2008 24' FD
Re: Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN
Reply #17 –
Yahoo Message Number: 99693
Quote
Thanks, Monti. That was on the agenda for tomorrow when I crawl under the rig to look. by the way, we must be neighbors. I live in Monument, Co, as well. Do you have a blue Lazy Daze?
Larry,

I tried sending you a PM but it was rejected.

Yes, we have a blue MB.  Send me a PM and I'll provide more info.

Monti
Re: Average Life Span of a Michelin Tire on an RV - AGAIN
Reply #18 –
Yahoo Message Number: 99695
Monti,

I usually don't check my Yahoo email, so it was deactivated. I reactivated it, so it should work now.

Larry
Larry in Monument, CO
2008 24' FD