Replacement Tires for a Roadtrek 190 Chevy 3500

[Sensfan-ClassB]

Our second set of Michelin Defender LT245/75R16 tires have timed out. They were amazing tires.
After reading all of the educational Forum tire posts, I am looking for feedback from any RT190 owner(s) who may have successfully switched to another brand of tire (I am not interested in the Agilis Michelins).

 

[youngnretired]

Last year we bought a 2008C210P Roadtrek that came with Firestone Transforce HT2 series tires. I replaced the two old tires with new. Zero issues after 12,000 miles.

I will say that you need to pay close attention to the load codes for the specific tires you want as you order online for them as what I found were various prices for the same tires with different load ratings.

https://www.tires-easy.com/245-75-1...MM05enOkGPEYXzbyDZNh5172uWSsXkxRoC2z4QAvD_BwE

 

[jjrbus]

I would rather chat about TPMS and tire maintenance than tire brand. I will not spend big bucks on tires that are rated for high mileage when my tires will sit in the driveway and rot.

 

[youngnretired]

I agree. Camper tires typically age out before wearing out.

After stopping at a scale at the start of our current trip, I've been thinking about tires that are rated for range F loads, or higher. Something that's greater than 3040lb range E's, but I've not looked for anything while on the road. The rear of our 210 weighed in at 6000lbs, and I'm quite confident one of the rear tires is overloaded. Front weighed 4040lbs and total chassis of 10440lbs, 440lbs over gvcw rating. Oops

 

[Bangorbob]

Just out of curiousity, who has set the official time out rule? Just asking. Are your tires cracked on the side or in the treads?

 

[youngnretired]

I think there's general ideas on ages to replace tires, but also how often the tire is used. Everyday drivers the tires should age longer, but for something that sits, it would age faster. Rubber does dry out and get brittle. I'm planning on replacing a pair of tires every 3 years.

 

[Bangorbob]

Still didn't answer my question. What does the tire mfgr website state? I honetly don't care what people do or doesn't do with their tires. I just ask a question. I've talked to Michelin in the past about their policy. Interesting discussion.

 

[booster]

I have talked to Michelin several times on their age out policies and recommendations. They used to tell me to replace every 6-8 years or earlier if cracking shows either on the side wall or in the tread area. Later they kind of hedged on it with the same replace at 6-8 years but added an "or" have them inspected yearly at a Michelin dealer and replace at 10 years if they pass the inspections. We ran our MS2s to about 8.5 years, but our van stores inside in temp controlled garage so no sun except 5-10 weeks a year while traveling. At that years IIRC they were just starting to show tiny sidewall cracks.

We had the Agilis for only two years and they got worse handling over that time until we changed them out.

We now have Defender LTX MS (current new version) in 265-70-17 as they are available in that size. Gotta like the 370# per tire extra load capacity safety margin with them. The feel just like the old MS2s except maybe a bit better better on the curvy roads.

 

[youngnretired]

From Firestone:

"Tire Service Life

Make sure your tires, including the spare, continue to be regularly inspected after 5 years of service to determine if they can continue in service. Regardless of the tire’s condition or tread depth, it is recommended that tires more than 10 years old be taken out of service and replaced with new tires. REMEMBER TO CHECK YOUR FULL-SIZE OR TEMPORARY SPARE, ALSO. A spare tire over 10 years old may look like a new tire, but it should be replaced. See “Tire
Manufacture Date,” the next section in this manual.

The 10 year period after the date of production is not an indicator of actual service life for any individual tire. Some tires will need to be replaced before 10 years due to conditions such as punctures, impact damage, improper
inflation, overloading, tread wear or other conditions involving use or misuse of the tire."

In essence up to 10 years for a Firestone tire, but when it's only use has been close to max loading, is going to 10 years wise?

 

[Sensfan-ClassB]

Thanks for the feedback.
Has anyone used the Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac?

 

[booster]

Personally, I am a big fan of having more safety factor (headroom) beyond what the tire manufacturers build into our tires. We use oversized tires with the right offset wheels to get there and our factor pretty much doubles from about 12% to 25%. Ours is a Roadtrek 190 with max weight on the left rear at about 2700#. My preference is to have 20% or more factor if at all possible.

210s are the ones that worry me the most on the whole load capacity things, as they seem to have the most issues of the B vans and mostly on the more heavily loaded left rear (a Chevy commonality). The rear axle weight limit on a 2010 is 6080 pounds but if you are at that weight, you are likely rated on the left rear by 100# or more so not only is there no safety factor the tire is negative in that respect.

Tall vehicles like raised roof Bs also put more extreme loading on tires with the rocking and swaying type loads.

I think that everyone should know their individual wheel loads if possible, but it is not a commonly available process to get them, but no van is going to be exactly 50/50 split on the rear so if you are at or near max rated, you probably are over on one side.

Replacing tires more often on a 210 could very well be a good idea, I think. At our loading with higher capacity, I would go 10 years if the tires passed visual inspection, but our MS2s didn't pass visual at 8 years.

 

[booster]

Thanks for the feedback.
Has anyone used the Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac?

Have you looked at the tire by size/type review chart that tire rack has. It rates tires based on actual user reviews and I have found it very useful.

Go to the tire listing and scroll down to "see rating charts for all tires in this category". Here it is for 245-75-16.

Be aware that this will include multiple load ratings most of the time so be sure to read the reviews to see what vehicle the reviewed tires were on if you search by tire size.

Link to chart

If you search by vehicle you get this one which should be only for E rated tires.

Link for Chevy 3500

 

[Sensfan-ClassB]

Thanks Booster. I am leaning toward Wranglers because they have kevlar. Your thoughts?

 

[jjrbus]

There are many things to consider about tires, far too many to answer in a forum! I make it a point to never drive on a low tire, never not even 1 foot and get on the highway at least once a month. RV Tire Safety

 

[booster]

Thanks Booster. I am leaning toward Wranglers because they have kevlar. Your thoughts?

You must be referring to the

Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar​

Tire rack doesn't show that tire in a 245-75-16 in an E rated 120 load index tire, only only in a 111 load index. The wrangler workhorse HT is rated pretty well in the highway tire area. I can't say what the Kevlar would do for things like handling, temps, etc, but they said it is for sidewall and puncture protection, presumably when off road. For a Roadtrek unless a raised 4wd that is always in the rough stuff (the insides would fall apart though in that case) Kevlar might be nice, but probably not on a camper.

Are you off of pavement enough to need offroad all terrain tires? They tend to not handle as well, run hotter, sometimes noisy, and often don't last as long. Of course brands are all different from each other and highway tires. Your Defenders that you liked were highway tires so apples and oranges to an extent.

 

[Sensfan-ClassB]

Thanks. I misread the specs. We don’t off-road, except for the odd routes to/from beaches, remote campsites, etc. Thanks for the explanation. Wranglers won't work for us.
I have found a reputable garage that can sell me five replacement Michelin Defender LTX M/S LT245/75R16 tires. I understand however that Defender R16s are no longer in production, which means that there would be no way to buy replacement tires if needed. I am now asking myself if I like the Defender performance enough to assume this risk.

​

 

[booster]

Thanks. I misread the specs. We don’t off-road, except for the odd routes to/from beaches, remote campsites, etc. Thanks for the explanation. Wranglers won't work for us.
I have found a reputable garage that can sell me five replacement Michelin Defender LTX M/S LT245/75R16 tires. I understand however that Defender R16s are no longer in production, which means that there would be no way to buy replacement tires if needed. I am now asking myself if I like the Defender performance enough to assume this risk.

​

How old are those tires? You could wind up aging out sooner than normal?

Also make sure of the load range on those tires as they still use that description without the LT but only have a 111 load index tire in it, no 120 or load range E.

 

[Roadfossil]

Thanks Booster. I am leaning toward Wranglers because they have kevlar. Your thoughts?

Been running the Goodyear Wrangler Workhorse HT's for 2 1/2 years and 20,000 miles. So far, so good. 13C190P. Bought and installed at Heartland Tire. Previously had Bridgestones. Made too many changes to suspension to get an accurate comparison. The Bridgestones showed little to no wear after 32,000 miles but had aged out (10 years). They were original tires on van from previous owner.

 

[Sensfan-ClassB]

Roadfossil … The Bridgestones showed little to no wear after 32,000 miles but had aged out (10 years).

Which Bridgestones did you have?

 

[Roadfossil]

Roadfossil … The Bridgestones showed little to no wear after 32,000 miles but had aged out (10 years).

Which Bridgestones did you have?

Sorry,just don't remember for sure. AI says Bridgestone Durav

Roadfossil … The Bridgestones showed little to no wear after 32,000 miles but had aged out (10 years).

Which Bridgestones did you have?

Sorry, can't confirm for sure. AI says Bridgestone Duravis.R500 HD. They had a highway tread, not an all terrain.