Anyone have a recommendation on tires for Barth? Some folks have told me that Michelins have poor sidewalls while others rave about them.

I love Michelins but do tire of paying that price. I have noticed on several forums I haunt
people are getting good prices and good service
from Continental tires and giving them rave reviews.

Tire preferences.....About the easiest way to start a forum foodfight Richard!

Put me in the Michelin column (albeit 14 & 16 inchers))....Used them my entire adult life on everything that rolls, NEVER had a defect/warranty issue. Good prices (even w/ freight) are at TireRack. I ordered two steer tires online at noon yesterday and UPS dropped them off at my house at 10am this morning.....

Can't vouch for warranty adjustments & complaint resolution.....Never had to use it......

We have six Michelins on our Barth. About 15k miles on the steer tires and about 12k on the rears. Not a problem so far and they don't show any appreciable wear.
The ride is good but I don't have much to compare them with because we got away with some pretty old Sumos before one blew out near Wilcox Arizona. It was on the rear and so I had four Michelins put on to match the pair of fronts we had mounted here at home the summer before.
They averaged out at about $450.00 a tire with tax.
Don

Richard,
You have a Service Tire Truck Center (www.sttc.com) somewhere close by in Mass. I highly recommend them for anyone between Mass and Virginia, especially along the 95 corridor. Fact is, they are good for tire service work if your in that area and have a problem. (Unless you can get ahold of Bill NY in his area. ) But check their price and service agreement on Michelin's. Got a good deal compared to others on 6 last year. That is all that has ever been on Barth II.
I did put a new set of Sumitomo's on Barth I. But they were 19.5's and my tire guy convinced me that I do not have to put expensive tires on for my use. As we all know, if you don't use the coach, the tires will age well before they wear. So I saved 25-30% and they are still doing well on that Barth 4 years later.

I'm putting Michelins XRV on the Breakaway, 225x70x19.5. Using the FMCA national account, they are $351 plus about $1 federal excise tax. Service tire is in the program and they will cost another $50 per tire for spin balance, mount and state tax. Six tires, $2400

Only blow out i have ever had was a Michelin on a one ton van going down a hill with a deep ravine on my right. Not a fun time.....kept it on the road but it could have turned out real bad. When we got our MCI bus it had 2 Goodyears on the front, 2 Dunlops on the left rear and 2 Michelins on the right rear.....wanna guess which ones were cracked and ready to blow???

Should have added that i replaced the back 4 with Goodyears. The Dunlops were in very good shape but i don't like running mixed brands of tires. I have run a lot of different brands of tires on my cars and trucks but i keep coming back to Goodyears as i seem to get more miles out of them than any of the others.

I just put 6 Toyos on last week replacing the 10 year old ones that were on the coach when I bought it
The sidewalls and tread looked good on 4 of them so I gave them to a neighbor for his boat trailer
Will be heading down to Washington State for 5 days and will see how they ride.
Michelins were similar in cost but opted for the Toyos

Neil

What is the rule of thumb on how many years you can go before the tires should be replaced if the Barth is just getting minimum use?

My Toyo tires are 6 years old but look like new. I attribute that to low miles and the Barth being stored in an aircraft hanger (2) for almost all of that time. I think some of it is age and most of it how they have been cared for. Leaving them out in the elements not covered and allowing the air pressure to drop shortens their life and contributes to side wall cracking. If you keep the air pressure up the snuff, you decrease the flexing and surface area for cracking and checking. Keeping them out of the sun (cover) keeps the affects from the sun at bay. IMHO.

Too many factors to consider for a hard & fast rule Corco....Usually, pressure neglect, ultraviolet & ozone will take its toll long before treadwear is a consideration. For me (4k mi/yr), I plan on rear dual replacement at about 7-8 yrs, depending on condition. Steer tires get replaced every five years maximum regardless of condition....I figure the folks on board with me are entitled to that....Even with a Steer-Safe installed, don't EVER want to face a sudden blow-out up front

I also have heard that driving the tires once a month and getting them warmed up releases some sort of chemicals in the rubber that helps with longevity. Don't know or understand the specifics of this, but that's what I've been told.
Jim