Visit our Popular Forums

Bluto · 10-08-2016, 07:32 AM

Hello Phoenix,
I've had my xps ribs on my 27' Classic for a couple of years and have about 18,000 on them with no problems to this point. I have driven at high speeds for hours, and they do not seem to heat up like other tires (less squirm because of steel sidewalls). I use them on my TV also and have for years (20 + yrs). Smooth ride on my TV so I figure the trailer is getting a smooth ride too. They seem to last forever. The best tire I ever used and to me worth the $$$.

dznf0g · 10-09-2016, 01:29 PM

Well, I already completed the poll, but had a Michelin ltx failure Fri night. Not the tire's fault. HUGE, full lane pothole at a truck stop entrance where big rigs have eaten up the pavement bed. Just happened to notice it while putting my tpms sensors back on.

SuperTrouper · 10-09-2016, 01:54 PM

No catastrophic separation or torn aluminum though from the pictures. Looks pretty contained.

Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

interstateflyer · 10-09-2016, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dznf0g

Well, I already completed the poll, but had a Michelin ltx failure Fri night. Not the tire's fault. HUGE, full lane pothole at a truck stop entrance where big rigs have eaten up the pavement bed. Just happened to notice it while putting my tpms sensors back on.

The pictures don't really seem to show failure. What exactly happened to the tire. Sidewall failure?

dznf0g · 10-09-2016, 02:49 PM

Pics don't show it well. Look at the third one. Right above the "M", you can see a dark diagonal wrinkle in the sidewall. I caught the edge of the pothole and tore the fabric. It then ran up under the tread. About half the diameter of the tire has the tread rounded and bulged out. Also, the tread block groves at the shoulder are supposed to be pretty perpendicular to the tread face. They are slipped to about 30* around about a quarter of the diameter. Busted and slipped belts. I was lucky to make the 100 or so miles to my destination.

Bruce B · 10-09-2016, 03:51 PM

Ok,
We switched to Michelin LTX M/S2's 3 years ago when I still ran my auto repair business. I was hesitant to switch from the Marathons initially as we have a fairly heavy 16' International Serenity that I have added weight to over the years. I'm sure that we are at or near our 4300 pound GVWR when we travel and I wondered how the Michelins would hold up at or just beyond their maximum load capacity. In the end, after suffering 2 separate incidences of Marathons going "out of round" I decided that we'd try them and monitor them with an internally-mounted-sensor TPMS system by Dill. This not only gives us pressure monitoring but temperature.
In the past 25,000 to 30,000 miles of towing, the Michelin tires have been perfect.
I no longer own the Hunter Road Force balancer (retired, sold everything but my toolboxs) so I can't easily check them for runout (Road Force) the way I could but the tires look new.
We are about to embark on a trip around the US this winter/spring and I wonder if we should simply replace them as a matter of preventative maintenance.
Not sure what we will decide...
I will endeavor to weigh the Bambi to see just how fat it is these days...maybe this week. That may impact my decision.
Bruce

dznf0g · 10-09-2016, 04:17 PM

I don't know if age had any responsibility for my issue, but they are 5 1/2 years old. But the impact I experienced may have busted a brand new tire. They have been perfect up to this point.

dznf0g · 10-09-2016, 04:29 PM

Also, I should mention, this tire had previously been patched and plugged not terribly far from the impact area.

interstateflyer · 10-09-2016, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dznf0g

Also, I should mention, this tire had previously been patched and plugged not terribly far from the impact area.

Hmmmm.......5 1/2 years old and previously plugged and patched in the failed area.

With all due respect why did you even waste our time?

dznf0g · 10-09-2016, 06:30 PM

Because OP wants data.

**Rocinante** · 10-11-2016, 04:09 PM

Our ST tires did not fail us, but given their age it was time for new ones.
Rather than put more money down that particular hole, we decided to make a new one, buying 16" Sendel T-03 wheels and the Michelin 16" LTX-M/S2 tires.

Phoenix · 03-08-2017, 03:17 AM

We replaced our six-year-old XPS Ribs today. They had 50,000 miles on them and would have gone 100,000 miles or more, if we had been able to cover more ground before weather-checking and age caught up with them. In fact, there was 11/32" of tread remaining (new tire tread depth is 14/32"). We probably could have gotten another year or two out of them; but with our longer annual roadtrips since retirement, I didn't think it was worth the risk.

The new XPS Ribs were made in Germany, like the first ones we bought in January 2011; and one is about six months old, and the other is four. Surprisingly, Discount Tire's $245 price (per tire) dropped $35 since 2011.

I have commented several times that the XPS Rib is about as close to bulletproof as regular tires get, with a one-ply steel casing and three additional steel belts under the tread. Well, when the tire tech took one of the old Ribs off of the wheel, it had a nail in it that was worn down flush with the surface of the tread; AND the nail had not penetrated the inner tire lining. All he did was pull the nail out! We're saving this loose tire as an extra spare for an upcoming roadtrip to Alaska; and the other mounted XPS Rib replaced our previous spare, which was a 10-year-old, 15" Carlisle ST tire left over from our Bambi's failure-prone ST days.

Hopefully, we'll be able to wear off more rubber from these "Energizer Bunny" tires before they are replaced in 2023.

Note: In the past six years, we did absolutely nothing to the old XPS Ribs, except add about 5 psi to each tire every year, in the spring. Before switching to 16" wheels and XPS Ribs, we were constantly worried about ST tire failures on the road. In my opinion, the extra $100 per tire is like tire insurance; and $200 in six years is nothing compared to the $450 for roadside assistance, $800 in Airstream wheel well repairs, and $500 in replacement ST tires during the six years before we switched to XPS Ribs.

Moflash · 03-08-2017, 07:40 PM

50,000 plus miles on Ribs with zero issues in all weather conditions and temperatures.When the time comes it will be Ribs again for our 28ft International.Filled with nitrogen and have never had to add any for 3 years now.67psi cold.

Phoenix · 04-14-2017, 01:24 AM

Note: See link below for discussion thread initiated by AirForums member "Blkmagikca", which contains details and photos of a Michelin LTX MS/2 tread separation failure.

Tread Separation on Michelin LTX225/75R16(E) M+S2