Today I had six new Michelin tires put on my Regency. On the drive home I thought I was driving a new coach. Previously my coach would vibrate severely while traveling between 35 and 45 mph. There was a constant vibration at all speeds and it seems like I could feel every pebble on the road. Now there is no difference at any speed and there is nearly no vibration at all. The ride is so much smoother it is hard to believe.

I purchased this coach in 2009 and have not gone on many trips but have done a lot of upgrading. Now that we are ready to travel more I decided it was time to get new tires. From the documentation I could find it appears that the rear tires were seven years old and the front were eleven years old. New tires were overdue.

I got my invoice from Michelin/FMCA for my new tires today, total cost was 3530.63. Here is a copy of the invoice.

Does your bill reflect the Florida Recycle fee of $1.00 for each tire, the cost to mount and balance, and $195 scrap labor fee? I looked and can not find any state fee for scrap labor and it looks like you paid twice for the work you got? Am I missing something? (Texas has no scrap fees for tires).
Merry Christmas

I believe the $195 was state sales tax, and the disposal fee was 54 bucks, 9 per tire. A little more reasonable, but still a gouge.

The $195 was indeed the Florida sales tax. Since the facility where I purchased the tires is a permitted waste tire collection facility and the tires must be cut up that the fee is for the labor to do the cutting. The balancing fee $186 (31 per tire) is what surprised me. The following information was retrieved from the web.

Florida
Florida's waste tire management program provides for the regulation of waste tire storage, collection, transport, processing, recycling, reuse, and disposal through permitting and registration programs. The state estimates that 195,000 tons of waste tires are generated annually from automobiles, light trucks, medium trucks, and larger tires. Florida's Waste Tire Abatement Program provides for identification, evaluation, and clean up of waste tire sites.
Before Florida’s waste tire management program was implemented in 1989, almost all waste tires in the state were landfilled or stockpiled. Starting in 1989, tires had to be cut or shredded into at least 8 pieces prior to landfill disposal, thereby encouraging development of alternative uses. An increasing percentage of tire shreds have been diverted to a broad range of constructive applications. Approximately 17 million (87%) of the 19.5 million waste tires generated in Florida in 2002 were beneficially used.
Florida’s crumb rubber markets include asphalt modification, playground/sports surfacing, soil modification/cover, and molded products. The Florida Department of Transportation consumes almost 9,000 tons of crumb rubber annually as part of the interlayer, friction course, and crack sealants used in roadway construction and maintenance. Manufacturing crumb rubber for this market consumes about 1.5 million tires. Florida is the only state that specifies rubber modified asphalt for friction course pavement on all state-maintained roads.
Playground surfacing, both loose-filled and poured-in-place, is also a significant use of crumb rubber in Florida. For a time, state grants supported up to 50% of crumb rubber purchase costs associated with surfacing materials intended to enhance safety and accessibility of playgrounds. After completion of the grant program, innovative athletic fields utilizing crumb rubber within artificial turf surfaces increased significantly, resulting in continuing growth of crumb rubber in the total sports and safety surface markets. Crumb rubber is also used for soil modification to decrease compaction and enhance drainage on sports fields and other high-traffic grassed areas. Florida producers have also increased sales of crumb rubber to regional manufacturers of molded rubber products, such as tiles and mats. See the SOS-Final 2007 (PDF: 8 pp, 322 KB) for detailed information on scrap tire markets in Florida.
For additional information on scrap tire management in Florida, visit Florida's Waste Tire Management Web site.
State Contact: Laren O'Connor
Phone Number: 850-245-8756
Email Address: lauren.oconnor@dep.state.fl.us
Retrieved from the web address: http://www.epa.gov/region4/rcr...te_links.htm#florida

Lance, I believe the belts in the tires go bad with age. Earlier in the year, I started driving a Tahoe that had been sitting for several years. Had things to do like R&R gas tank, replace fuel pump assy clean tank, have engine flushed before putting in newoil. the tires looked new but were 5 or 6 years old. I took them in for balancing. They were fine for a few days and got bad again at speed. Took them back and they rebalanced them again. They were fine again and then got really bad as to vibration. Finally threw in the towel and bought new ones and it rides like a new truck.

Tom Taylor

I still have not been able to find definitive answers to two questions.
1. Does sitting too long make tires "square", do they get a flat spot that won't go away?
2. Is sitting on concrete bad for tires?

1. The theory probably dates back to when tires had cross-bias nylon cord (and to some extent, rayon). They would "take a set", in some case overnight, so the thumping had to be endured for e few miles.

Modern cords are much less susceptible, although some people are convinced they'll still take a set if sitting for a long time (duration unspecified). It's a good idea, however, to run a vehicle occasionally to exercise the preservative chemicals in the tires.

2. It's not the concrete that's the issue - it's chemicals such as oil, grease, or other compounds that may soak into the concrete that can damage the tires. But it can't hurt to park on a piece of wood or metal, even if the concrete is clean. I wouldn't use plastic, because some outgas for some time.

OTOH, most garage floors are concrete, and folks park vehicles in there all the time.

The worst enemies of tires are heat and UV.

[/QUOTE]
(oriental strand board) [/QUOTE]

Kevin, I got a kick out of that. I think you mean ORIENTED strand board, where the flakes of wood are ORIENTED vs. early Wafer Board with random layering.

On the other hand, is is getting more and more difficult to find things, even building materials, that are not ORIENTAL (made in China).

I wouldn't park on OSB (or any flakeboard or particleboard for that matter), because the glue joints are exposed. Many waterproof glues, such as resorcinal, contain formaldehyde or other nasty stuff. Heat ranges you mention would have no effect.

I don't park on anything special - my coach sits on crushed limerock, and both the truck and car enjoy concrete.

IMHO, unless a vehicle is idled for months at a time, no special tire platforms are necessary; if I were storing one for that long, I'd jack it off the ground.

When we head north for the summer i put all of the vehicles up on jack stands.(even my utility trailer). I get them just an inch off of the floor so that in case of a major earthquake they won't have far to fall. I think that taking the weight off of the tires and wheel bearings is a good thing if they are going to be sitting for long periods. May not make a difference but i figure it can't hurt.

I park my coach on a concrete pad next to our home. We had the pad poured just for the coach and I put in a 50 amp service for it as well. Due to this being Florida and the copious amount of rain we get the pad is sloped for drainage from the house. To counteract the slope have pads made from 2 x 12 pressure treated lumber. The right rear tires stay on the concrete; the left rear tires go on one layer of wood; the right front tire goes on two layers of wood; and the left front goes on three layers. The layers are screwed together with decking screws that are recessed and the whole stack is tapered so I can drive up onto them.

From some of the comments being made I now wonder if the pressure treating could be a problem. As for the sitting still my wife and I have decided to take many day trips to various places in Florida since we are now retired. Maybe even some two or three day trips.

Thanks to all who have been contributing to this discussion.

Lance

You seem to have gotten a good price on the tires but I am curious about the size which is noted in the bill as "266/80R 22.5"--- I presume this is a typo!
Bud

Somewhere, I've read that some of the chemicals in concrete can leach into the tires causing damage. We put plastic pads underneath all of our tires.

The 266 is indeed an error, it should be 255. When I was still working we would call that "checker bait". Good catch!