Frequency of Tire Rotation on AI's

[Rig Rat]

The owners manual states that I should rotate the tires on my 2015, 3500 AI every 6 - 8k miles.

I took my AI to a Truck tire center at 8k and they told me since I have the chrome Alcoa rims, the tires are rim specific. Which means each time they are rotated they must dismount all 6 tires and then remount & balance them on their new rims. Total cost @ $200 plus tax each time that is done.

He said that he'd be glad to take my $$ but suggested I rotate them every 20K miles instead.

Would like to know if most of you following the recommended tire rotation schedule of 6 - 8k, or are waiting longer to rotate your tires?

Thanks!

[AWCHIEF]

Sounds fishy to me. I have never heard of trailer tires or wheels being position specific.

[toskeysam]

With the Airstream Interstate Sprinter Van, the rims are not interchangeable in position. You must dismount and remount tire on rims.

[don000]

In my view, manufacturers' rote recommendation to rotate tires is an obsolete carryover from an era when tires were expensive and labor was cheap. I do not rotate, ever, on any on my vehicles. On an AI the effort and expense would be simply ridiculous, likely causing far greater problems than any possible benefit from a slight extension of tread wear.

[Kwils25]

In my opinion, keeping the tires properly inflated and the front end aligned will prolong the useful life of the tires. The cost and hassle of rotating the tires on the Interstate is greater than the benefit derived.

[FishByFly]

E


FishByFly
because I catch fish on a fly...

2017 25' FB Flying Cloud Queen
2010 F250 Lariat
Past: 2005 30' Safari Bunkhouse
Past: 1986 28' Excella Twin

Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

[B00merang]

Funny how no one mentions this and similar unanticipated unique expenses during purchase. One more thing to ask about. jon

[MelGoddard]

Originally Posted by FishByFly

E


FishByFly
because I catch fish on a fly...

2017 25' FB Flying Cloud Queen
2010 F250 Lariat
Past: 2005 30' Safari Bunkhouse
Past: 1986 28' Excella Twin

Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

Is there a question or a comment here??
This post sounds 'fishy'.

Trailer Trash squatting in a Tin Shed.

[jim.waters]

Speaking of tires, my Continentals have 37k on them. They have some wear left, but probably will replace them very soon. Over the years I've had much more experience with Michlins on passenger cars than Continentals. Someone mentioned BF Goodrich on a TV. Any experience or opinions on tread life, road noise, traction in wet and snow, etc?

[rvb]

I have always preferred to not change the rotation direction on a radial tire. I experienced some very squirrely handling on a sports car once after cross rotating radials. I have 2 axles and swap the wheels front to rear on the same side when I grease the hubs. The wheels are already off at that point.

[Boxster1971]

I never rotate the tires on my Interstate. Replaced the original Continentals at 30,000 miles. The fronts were worn on outer edges due to poor alignment and a had a rear dual run flat for some unknown miles thus overloading the other dual tire next to the flat. With four bad tires and a pending trip to Alaska got six new Michelins installed with front end alignment and TPMS. Now with 80,000 miles all tires are wearing evenly.


- - Mike
2013 Lounge EXT on 2012 Sprinter

[jennian]

have my dealer rotate left to right annually when i get it serviced. costs only about $ 60 or 70.

[Lily&Me]

Doug always had our tires replaced with Firestones, and any Firestone dealer in the country will then rotate them for free...I have done the same thing since on my own, and Goodyear, etc, may do the same thing.


Maggie

[Jbray333]

Purchased Michelins at Disco and get them rotated every 7K to keep the road hazzard warranty current. Have been on 10K+ mile trips and had them rotated free out of home state without issue. Checking nitrogen pressures monthly.

[Jbray333]

Not Disco. The big Cost company.

[73shark]

You only have to remount the four tires on the Alcoa wheels as the inner duals are on steel wheels and can be switch side to side.

Recommend having the camber set as close to zero as the spec allows which may require special camber bolts from MB.

Proper inflation, alignment, and balance are the keys to long tread life.

[mineralfarme]

This business about dismounting tires from Wheels to rotate them is ridiculous. The only reason one would have to do that is if you wanted to rotate one of the steel wheels from the rear up to the front and you didn't want the steel wheel 2 show so you have to Dismount a tire and put it on one of the aluminum rims. This would be silly, if course. But thank you to the contributors on this forum for clarifying to me that the Airstream does indeed come with just four aluminum wheels abd two steel wheels. I've never heard of this on any other Sprinter RV. When I noticed it on mine I thought a dealer had ripped me off. Just another cost-saving measure by Airstream.

[Bald Bob]

On a related issue, be very careful when you balance your Alcoa rims. Those rims require special balancing equipment and not all Mercedes dealers or tire sellers can appropriately balance tires on Alcoa rims. With my 2016 AI Grand Tour Ext, the local Mercedes dealer attempted multiple times to balance my rims/tires before giving up and sending me to a truck tire seller/installer. The truck guy gave up after two attempts. Ended up driving two hours to a Mercedes dealer who was appropriately equipped and had employees with the requisite skills and training. The issue: the diameter of the central hole on the Alcoa rims is too large for common balance equipment. Also, be aware that it does happen that your Alcoa rims can be deeply scratched or otherwise cosmetically damaged when the wrong equipment is used in an attempt to balance them.

Another balance issue: who is responsible for balance problems when the AI is relatively new and still under warranty? In my case, I had a severe vibration when the van was originally purchased. With less than 200 miles on the odometer, I took the rig to the local Mercedes dealer. The dealer originally assumed that the drive shafts were out of balance and replaced all three shafts as warranty items. The vibration persisted so the dealer attempted to balance the Alcoa rims. After failing several times, the dealer decided that, since Alcoa rims are not original equipment on Sprinter vans, there was no warranty obligation. So I took the issue to the Airstream central service folks and they said that they had addressed this issue before. Airstream said that they had an understanding with Mercedes whereby Mercedes had agreed that since the Alcoa rims are actually better than original equipment rims, Mercedes would warranty them and that would include balancing. I finally found a Mercedes dealer with the right balancing equipment but they would not honor the Airstream warranty claim. So, I gave up and paid for the balance.

[73shark]

Originally Posted by mineralfarme

This business about dismounting tires from Wheels to rotate them is ridiculous. The only reason one would have to do that is if you wanted to rotate one of the steel wheels from the rear up to the front and you didn't want the steel wheel 2 show so you have to Dismount a tire and put it on one of the aluminum rims. This would be silly, if course. But thank you to the contributors on this forum for clarifying to me that the Airstream does indeed come with just four aluminum wheels abd two steel wheels. I've never heard of this on any other Sprinter RV. When I noticed it on mine I thought a dealer had ripped me off. Just another cost-saving measure by Airstream.

Since the inside surface of the Alcoa wheels isn't polished, one has to dismount/remount/balance if they rotate per the Sprinter manual.

Other Sprinter 3500 based RVs probably use wheel covers. Then they can use steel wheels all-around and no take-down req'd.

[Titus]

I found that the 63 psi recommended on the door pillar plate was too low for getting good wear on the front Continental tires. I had heavy wear on the front outsides and moderate wear on the front insides. Rear tires showed little, and completely even, wear. After 21,000 miles I rotated the tires (both fronts to right rear) and bumped the pressure up to 80 psi. After 6000 miles there was no uneven wear on the front. I then backed it down to 75 psi for the next 5000 miles. Still no uneven wear, but I had them rotated again (both fronts to left rear). I have not had it aligned as more psi seemed to solve my wear problem. Knowing what I do know, I could have got about 45,000 miles out of the Continentals by running them at 75 psi and rotating fronts to one side of rear at 15,000 miles then fronts to other side of rear at 30,000 miles then replacing all 6 at 45,000 miles. We travel about 15,000 miles per year so tire age is not an issue for us.

In about another 5,000 miles I plan to get new Michelin tires - and I'll have to learn all over again about what pressure they seem to like best.