New Steer Axle Tires?

[GlenCoombe]

Well it's time for new front tires.

Has anyone any recent stories, deals or ideas?

19.5 x 8's on it at present.

Thanks for chiming in.

[Alumatube]

NO LONGMARCH!!! NO NO NOOOOO!!!!

We got new ones all the way around on our 310 recently, and spent an awful lot of time and money balancing and checking to find out that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM WAS OUT OF ROUND.

We went with Toyos instead and the difference was AMAZING. I want to say it was about $1500 total for six of them (about $1,000 for the Longmarches). We are very happy with them. If you need specs I can try to get down there and check.

Susan

[guy99]

I put 225's on my fronts. They are wider. A little smaller circumference but that didn't seem important. Stayed with 19.5 x 8 on the rear to avoid changing the gearing. I put on michelins - made a big difference in the ride - who knows if its worth the $. Six tires ~ $2,000 with mount and balance.

[Mike Leary]

I've run Toyos & they're nice tires. Switched to Goodyear G 647 RSS 8R 19.5 years ago,
would not run any other brand or type. Get around 80K out of them. Be sure you guys
have the front end aligned every few years & the bearings checked. I've been told wider
tires increase bearing wear. Consider the spare junk and should only be used to limp to
a tire store; I know this by the hard way.

[GlenCoombe]

Thanks for the replies to date. I'm leaning toward the Goodyears as I have a GY dealer here in Sumter.

That and some tire covers. AS the coach is now a lawn ornament and I'm not using it in my day to day business travel it needs to have the tires screened from the sun.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by GlenCoombe

Thanks for the replies to date. I'm leaning toward the Goodyears as I have a GY dealer here in Sumter.

That and some tire covers. AS the coach is now a lawn ornament and I'm not using it in my day to day business travel it needs to have the tires screened from the sun.

I put Goodyear G159's (I'll check the motorhome next time I visit my friend) on an Argosy motor home, and they are wearing very well. 8Rx19.5's, and they are holding up very well. He'll be putting more on the rear over the winter. The theory is to replace them in pairs. Put the new ones on the front, then next year, put two more on the front, and move the old front tires to the right rear, then next year two more on the front, those two on the left rear, so every 3 years the tires are replaced, and not busting the budget.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by overlander63

I put Goodyear G159's (I'll check the motorhome next time I visit my friend) on an Argosy motor home, and they are wearing very well. 8Rx19.5's,

Terry, I thought the Argosy motorhomes used 8.75x16.5 tires? That's what our 1974 20' Argosy motorhome came with.

Brad

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Terry, I thought the Argosy motorhomes used 8.75x16.5 tires? That's what our 1974 20' Argosy motorhome came with.

Brad

The smaller units used the 16 and 16.5 inch wheel/tire assemblies, but the bigger ones, and the smaller ones that came with the 454 have the 19.5's. That may be an upgrade you would want to consider for your little Argosy, you'll be carrying and hauling a lot more than Airstream thought you would be. Bigger tires are available with a higher load rating, IIRC the 19.5's are available in load range F.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by GlenCoombe

Thanks for the replies to date. I'm leaning toward the Goodyears as I have a GY dealer here in Sumter.

Hi, I used to have a "Mac Tools" truck built on a P-30 chassis with 19.5 wheels. I bought it with Michellins on it and they were great. My next set were Bridgestone; I felt that they were too hard. On a hard stop, you couldn't hear any tire noise, but you could see black marks on the street. My last set were Goodyears and they were just as good as the Michellins. I always did a six tire rotation to keep everything as even as possible. I would move the front tires to the right rear, [crossing them so they would turn in the same direction] I would move the right rear wheels to the left rear, and I would move the left rear wheels to the front. [crossing them so they would turn in the same direction] This also kept them all matched in pairs and wear size. My truck had six steel wheels so it wasn't too hard to do. Those with the fancy, miss matched, wheels, [typical example] two steel wheels for the inner rear, two polished aluminum dished wheels for the outer rear, and two polished aluminum convex wheels for the front made it difficult to do a proper rotation because all of the tires have to be dismounted and then remounted to their new proper wheel. Therefore most people with the fancy wheels never rotate their tires.