# RV tyres



## Superk (Aug 22, 2005)

It's time to replace the original 245/70R19.5 GoodYear G159's on the RV as they are at least 5 years old (who knows how long they were in Fords before they went on the chassis or how long they sat at Holiday Rambler) and there seems to be a bit of a bulge on one wall and we had a blowout this year. 

But what to get choice seems very limited because of the size (most trucks are 22.5) and the price range very wide. Can't get GoodYear RV tyres but can get truck tyres that have correct load and speed rating as well as KUMHO (who?), Hankook, or Cooper. Anyone had a good tyre buying experience?


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## 88792 (May 9, 2005)

Have you tried any of the Rv agents, especially Gold Rv as they tend to be a service centre rather than a dealer, see goldmotorservice.co.uk. When I needed a tyre for mine after a blowout I was ab;e to order a tyre thru my local tyre dealer, it was a Michelin not a Goodyear though. Was able to obtain one in France when another tyre blew, again the dealer had to order it from the main depot. Hope this helps.


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## 88927 (May 10, 2005)

Our Rockwood is fitted with 19.5 Michelins.... They seem fine and as yet I have not had to think about replacing them, so cannot advise to much.
Kumho, Cooper and Hankook are secondary brand names I believe... I cannot remember who owns which but they are all owned by big brand tyre companies and certainly I have used Kumho performance tyres (not on an RV :lol: :lol: ) and they were terrific.

Good luck and maybe you can let us know how you get on

Keith


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## damondunc (Feb 14, 2006)

*19.5'' RV tyres*

Hi folks,
245/70r19.5 tyres are available over here as a standard size tyre,as opposed to225/70r19.5 which are a US size only. Most tyre dealers should be able to supply 245's but be careful you must also take into account the load index of the tyre. The load index is marked on the sidewall of the tyre you can replace your tyres with ones having the same index or higher but NEVER go down an index. The index will be marked as a single letter, ie F,G,H etc.the higher the index the greater the load the tyre can carry. Also it's easy to tell how old your tyres are: look on the sidewall for a DOT stamp(marked on one sidewall only) at the end of this series of numbers and letters you will see a 3 or 4 digit code, for example 229 or 2004 the first two numbers denote week of manufacture and the 3rd and 4th the year 229 means week 22, 1999 and 2004 means week 20, 2004. If your code is 2401 or lower (week 24, 2001) you are living on borrowed time, maximum recommended age is five years. You normally get what you pay for with tyres michelin, being the most expensive giving long life and good handling, however there are plenty of cheaper makes available namely cooper (available from sinton tyres), which will do a perfectly adequate job. The only real way to prolong tyre life is to get some tyre covers and keep them out of the sunlight. Hope this doesn't confuse you too much, I used to be a tyre company manager! If you want to know any more about tyre covers pm me. Happy treading Duncan.


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## Superk (Aug 22, 2005)

Thanks for the replies.

We have been using tyre covers.

Still phoning around and being offered KUMHO, HANKOOK, GOODYEAR and CONTINENTAL all of which are truck tyres but do have the correct load and speed ratings. Some have different tyres for the front, steering wheels and the rear drive wheels. KUMHO and HANKOOK are said to be budget tyres but very good. CONTINENTAL and GOODYEAR premium brands. Right now the GOODYEARS are almost worryingly cheap.

COOPER tyres from Sinton are the most expensive and they offer them as specialist RV tyres "you don't want to put truck tyres on your RV". But if you go to COOPER's US website the same tyres are recommended for regional trucks, pick up and deliveries and RV's never get a mention so I'm far from convinced on this one.


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## zaskar (Jun 6, 2005)

Superk said:


> Thanks for the replies.
> 
> We have been using tyre covers.
> 
> Still phoning around and being offered KUMHO, HANKOOK, GOODYEAR and CONTINENTAL .


PLEASE post you results! 

I've had 2 blowout now (both rear/inner- always the way I believe) and have replaced them with Coppers form Sinton. Both Coopers are now on the front and have definately improved the roadholding over the original Michelins. Whether thats because of the make or simply because it's newer rubber i don't know.
Reason i used Cooper/Sinton is that that's ALL I could find after a good trawl on the net and the phone! I found things like Khumo, etc on the web but couldn't find ANY UK/European stockist.
ALL the dealers were useless. Sinton are, at least, very helpfull.
The Michelin XZA's ar now replaced with XRV's but at over 300+ each, Sinton dropped Michelin which personally I recon was probably a good move.


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## Superk (Aug 22, 2005)

Going to be away for a few days so will make decision next week.

Status so far for 6 tyres:

Michelins XZE2 £1480.05 incl fitting
Cooper £1352.82 PLUS FITTING
Continentals HSR1 & HDR £1198.5 incl fitting
Bridgestone £1163.28 PLUS FITTING
Hankook all rounders £987 PLUS FITTING
Kumho KRS03 £951 incl fitting
Goodyear RHS £775.50 incl fitting


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## zaskar (Jun 6, 2005)

Superk said:


> Status so far for 6 tyres:


Sorry, perhaps I wasn't specific enough  
Could you please supply stockist details for your results.

Cheers.


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## 88927 (May 10, 2005)

Why are the tyres specially for RV's????? Sales speak I think....

You are driving a truck chassis with a shed bolted onto it :lol: :lol: :lol: 
In my opinion the Chevy chassis is a 7.5 ton truck and any pretence by a tyre salesman that it is any other is a laugh......

Regarding the year codes I have the following:
Rear = DOT B6 12 1AOX 391
Front = DOT B7 12 1ACX 124

The tyres are Michelin X 8R 19.5 XZA

Any advice on the age of these as I cannot see that they could be wekk 39 1991 (5 years before the RV was built???) and week 12 1994 (1 year before the RV was built???).

If my tyres are 15 odd years old then I guess I need to know who quoted you for those Goodyears :wink: :wink: :wink: 

Thanks guys

Keith


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## damondunc (Feb 14, 2006)

Hi Keith,
It would appear that your tyres are as old as you fear, I've attached a photo of a typical date stamp giving a manufacture date of week 13 2002, just to make sure send a photo of yours and I will double check it.
Cheers Duncan.


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## 88927 (May 10, 2005)

Hi Duncan
Thanks for that.....
I have attached a couple of pics, but from your description I think I already know the answer mate :roll: :roll: :roll: 


Many thanks

Keith


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## damondunc (Feb 14, 2006)

*Date stamp*

Hi Kands
Have just seen your pics and it confirms date is correct,sorry but they are a tad passed there sell by date.

P.S did you get 2nd list i sent you ref service ?

Regards Duncan


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## 88927 (May 10, 2005)

Thanks for that Duncan 8O 8O 8O 
Well I did post a few days ago saying that all the major spending was done.... Tempted fate there didn't I?
I am going to get some quotes for replacements and I will let you know how I get on...
I just asked my wife if we had a response from you and she has told me that we did...... Always the last to know :lol: :lol: :lol: 
I will have a look at it when I get some more time, and we will get back to you mate...... I am sure I will have some more questions :wink: :wink: Sorry for not getting back before but i am given the mushroom treatment here :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: 

Keith


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## Superk (Aug 22, 2005)

As final follow up (I notice my allocation of posts dries up after two more) today I had 4 Goodyear RHS tyres fitted to the rears.

The quote for the Goodyears seems to be a misquote at £110 + VAT but they honoured it however they only had four steering tyres and were unwilling to get more as they are a big trucking depot and buy container loads and don't see the demand for these. In case your wondering about the cheap deal I checked these are 2006 tyres.

Looking at the tyres that came off after 22,000 miles showed a reasonable tread but some sidewall cracking. One of the front tyres has sidewall bulge. A Hankook tyre that had been carried as a spare for three years and then run for just 2,000 miles also showed cracking.

Communication with Goodyears technical department recommended the RHS as a replacement and provided full technical data including load/pressure tables. The RHS carries twice the load of the original G159's and current US G670RV's.

I am having two RHS tyres fitted elswhere to the front but the cost has rocketed to £187 + VAT fitting included.

There has been a lot of chat in the US on the need to change tyres after 5 years with some horror stories of what can happen check this thread for more info:

Woodalls

I feel a lot better with the new tyres on.

Good luck to all.


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