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Michelin XPS Rib

Twisted Steel Performance said:
It's time for tires on the dually, has anyone run the Michelin XPS Rib tire, I'm going with them in size 245/75/16.
I don't off road and only tow a 25ft camper so highway use is what I wanted...
I didn't go through discount tire but this is the tire I'm going with...
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I really like Michelin tires, I have had great service out of them. No experience with the rib tires your talking about.

Right now I'm running Michelin LTX AT2's on my 2006 2500HD.
 

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I am running XPS on my 5th wheel RV. My RV made the new Good Year Endurance ST tires cry "Uncle!" in less than a year. After good service life, 7 years, from normal Michelin LT's. The XPS RIB have the usual Michelin sidewall cracking is starting on them now. Maybe some other brands have less cracking by rumors I read. I have the scale weight of the RV and pickup: GY is NOTHING to write home about other than better than Red Commie China Bombs.

Pics of the GY ST tread cracking... And shallow tread is prone to cuts failing a tire inspection.

rv4.jpg

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I would look at the inflation/weight tables and see if you can air the "steel casings" they have down like normal LT's or to at least a decent unloaded ride. If you plan on running unloaded at all.

The last 25' to the camping spot you may want the XPS "Traction" Vs. the "helpless" RIB. I had a unexpected "Snow Day" close the freeway to a camping spot in Arizona this year. I still had to pay the night I wasn't there. I wouldn't have gone even if they didn't close the freeway due to the weather anyway esp. with the RIB tire that I consider a summer tire only.
 
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Just now reading this on the Goodyear Endurance tires. I had a set put on our camper rims last week since one of the original tires blew out while sitting in the driveway. I guess I'll get to see how they do. Recommended brand was chinese so I opted for these since they're made in the USA.

How many years on your XPS, @WarWagon ?

I thought they were a good choice for my budget and in a pinch, but after reading your post, I'm questioning. To date, we camp for one week per year. The rest of the time, the camper sits in a building.
 
I just seen this post, tried opening the discount tire link and was greeted with a message that apparently Discount tire is being bought out by tire rack dot com??

everyone in the past that I have talked to have always praised anything from Michelin up until just the other day where I have now heard from two people that they are loosing their grip starting to go down hill on quality.
 
The tires above are 31” tall and around 8” wide. If you guys can fit a 36” tall 12.5” wide tire…

Don’t know if this is practical for most people but her goes:
The Goodyear MT (mud terrain) tires from hmmwv & hmmwv trailers might be an option for some folks. 37x 12.50 x 16.5. Actual height is 36 when tread half worn.

A nice advantage of these is useable life. The military set a standard that they can be stored 10 years outside- mounted or unmounted, vertical or horizontal stacked.
Then after the 10 years the 5 year useable life starts. So buying via the date code is a key. This is done by extremely high amounts of sulfur in the mix. I spoke to the guy at Goodyear, Maylon Carroll manager over tires for the DOD/military some years back and this was some of the info he shared.

The military sells them off in bulk and multiple companies resell them. Some with and some without rims & runflat/beadlocks. Brand new tread runs around $300 but half tread goes for 50 or 60. Half worn tread on these is still ridiculously more than a new regular tire. The rims are 8 lug and fit where chevy rims would but have a deep offset. Some folks modify the rim for it (rims are usually $50) others just order white spoke 16.5 rims without the offset.

If using the 12 bolt rims the weight rating is 3,850 lbs each. If using the 24 bolt rim rating is 4,540 lbs each.

Running these tires on hummer/hmmwv they last around 40,000 miles from new to end of legal tread. That with 7,500lbs rig on them. I never heard of anyone actually wearing out a set on the trailers.

Outside of the size drawback (or advantage if your trailer is an offroad camper) these two piece wheels with the runflats in and tire weighs a ridiculous 165lbs. Remove the runflat and it is about 100lbs. The tire itself is same basic weight as any other tire this size. Also the MT tires are a bias tire. So if you sit around a year then tow- it will have a flat spot for the first mile will shake you a lot, then go back to normal.
 
Am just now seeing this as well.

For the SOB RWD CC LWB dually, I went with Michelin Agilis Crossclimate all around. Thought about the XPS ribbed for the rear, but backed away as I was not confident it would do as well if I had to drive in wet snow. The Crossclimate is working very well on all terrain (no snow experience yet) and is just as sure-footed on softer dirt as a 4x4. For fun, I also upgraded to Centramatic during the last tire change.


For the TT, I ditched the OE 15" wheels and went with 16" to get into a LT tire. ST tires really are trash in comparison to LT. Sure, ST's are supposedly rated for turn-out and the LT's are not, but that is not enough of a reason for me to stick with the outdated ST tech.

Do not know about GY E's current reputation. It was great when it originally came out, but had faded by the time COVID arrived to the point where people wanted better. Admit that I stopped following the RV crowd's conversations around the time of COVID as it was too much like trying to have an adult conversation with a few who actually could converse, but then the pre-schoolers had to try and dominate. Or, perhaps some of those boomers had too much time on their hands and needed their meds re-adjusted. Whatever... So take my inputs here for what they are worth.

To the question of running larger wheels in limited space wheel housings, stepping up from a 15" to 16" is just 1/2" in terms of reduction in clearance to the wheel well (and 1" to the other tire in a multi-axle setup). Chances are good that this is an easy step-up for the OE 15". Put another way, if I could go from 15" to 16" on my low-rider TT, it is likely that anybody can.

Once in the 16" wheel, the tire options allow getting out of the ST limitations. Bonus is getting into the Load E range for better safety margin in case of losing one wheel on a multi-axle setup. No better satisfaction than throwing a wheel, collecting it from the opposite side of the road, confidently limping home, and then confidently limping to the repair shop for repairs without concern of whether the surviving tires are struggling. Ask me how I know 😉

I am currently running Sumitomo Encounter HT's on the TT. From a time perspective they are holding up very well. Cannot speak to tread wear as we have only put ~600 miles on the tires since we bought them just before COVID. At this rate, they might get to 2K miles before ageing-out.

For the folks with high clearance TT's / 5-ers, stepping up to wheel sizes which get to a Load G tire is turning into a popular option. While increasing tires size for Load G class comes with additional weight, there is an offset from reduction in rotational parasitic drag at the hub.
 
SnowDrift said:
How many years on your XPS, @WarWagon ?
Click to expand...

About 6 years. Have the RV weighed and it's not at max weight or over. The 15" tires were upgraded to 16" LT's, Defender LTX, by the original owner. They were 7 years old when I replaced them due to sidewall cracking and age.

Just about any LT tire is night and day better than a ST tire. The XPS is one step above "any" LT.

Twisted Steel Performance said:
XPS rib is made in a 15" rim size
Click to expand...

Only 16" size.

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what's the average lifespan on travel trailer tires considering the trailer sits up for months at a time with the tires on the ground? I had a buddy of mine tell me it's best to replace them every two years or so because of that reason.

a little off topic but still on tires.... when we had taken the TT out to the coast for its maiden voyage since we has acquired it, My daughter was also heading out in her car a little ways behind us. on her way she has a blow out on a new yokahama she got from discount tire a couple months back. where they were at there was not a discount tire near by so they ended up having to purchase a new one from Walmart. fast forward to when she took the dismounted tire to have it warrantied, we found out that it's been said from other walmart tire customers that if anyone other than walmart does anything to a tire from them it voids all warranty. that includes flat repair and all. since then I happened to be in a sams club and while I was there I stopped by their tire department to inquire some info. they did confirm this but that only walmarts do this to folks. Sams clubs are the same as discount tire. they don't care if the tire has been dismounted in the case my daughter had gotten into having no choice. They even said that if something like that happens and we end up having to fork out for a new tire to get back to them, they'd refund the cost plus replace the bad tire! I thought that was intresting. the guy at sams said that the only thing that would void warranty is if a can of "fix-a-flat" is used in the tire.
 
IIRC, the manufacturer sometimes has notes on the lifespan hidden in their disclaimers. Some have public narrative on the topic. But, generally it is no more than 5 years for tires with a good reputation if they get little use. 7 years if the tires get regular use. This is also the case for auto and OTR.

2 years seems a bit short, but if they are 3'rd world cheap-o's with QC issues, 2 years is probably a good plan.

Regarding Wally and its offshoot's policy, Yes, they both are a little funny when it comes to tires. Last I checked, they would not either sell or mount a tire other than OE. So, if looking to get a different tread width, different sidewall height, or purchased a larger wheel size, neither company will make the sale or touch the non-OE tires. Another thing to watch is that both will try to sell the 'bargain' deal which might cost less up-front, but not last as long. My wife fell for this trick despite me telling her exactly which tire to get. Now I'll have to get her new tires in 20K miles for the 'bargain' tires versus the ones which go for 40K miles on her car and only would have cost ~$40 more per tire :(
 
JayTheCPA said:
but if they are 3'rd world cheap-o's with QC issues
Click to expand...

Just get them off NOW!

Or as the couple that got a brand new RV found out on their maiden voyage a Red Communist China ST tire can do over $8,000 of damage to an RV as it comes apart and rips off the plumbing including the LP plumbing. Oh yeah, that was Ruined Vacation! Also insurance claim fun.

They were brave enough to come over and admit to me my recommendation to replace them immediately when they got the RV home new from the dealer was correct, but, the cost of new tires would have eliminated the budget for the trip.

General recommendations for age, but, also have your tires inspected by a qualified tire person often.
 
WarWagon said:
Just get them off NOW!

Or as the couple that got a brand new RV found out on their maiden voyage a Red Communist China ST tire can do over $8,000 of damage to an RV as it comes apart and rips off the plumbing including the LP plumbing. Oh yeah, that was Ruined Vacation! Also insurance claim fun.

They were brave enough to come over and admit to me my recommendation to replace them immediately when they got the RV home new from the dealer was correct, but, the cost of new tires would have eliminated the budget for the trip.

General recommendations for age, but, also have your tires inspected by a qualified tire person often.
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I've heard it's also a good idea to block them up to keep the weight off the tires
 
That’s something I’ve wondered about too. Blocking up the tires on an rv that’s already high off the ground. Doing this on ours would probably require a ladder or taller set of steps to get in lol
 
Usually just off the ground when not in use. Some of the bigger motorhomes have jacks on the corners and a hydraulic pump to raise them until it is level but not usually doing it where all tires are off.

On my campers I just had the jack stand type to get it level, but it still had tires sitting on the ground.
When using these type- make sure to add the jack stands:
 
That is pretty slick. Would need a pretty flat surface and stones would likely be out.

Handiest part would be that if a guy needed to move the trailer temporarily, he wouldn't have a bunch of time in jacking and unblocking just to reset it.
 
There is a lot of version of that. Semi trailers use them. For parking your trailer a long time and having tires off the ground. When it’s time to go just hook up and pull forward.
 
I have seen these before but am scared of them. thinking of "if I pull too far forward". where I keep it stored is on uneven ground in the yard so I would need a base or one of those that is wide enough not to sink.

I found out that the scissor jacks at the 4 corners aren't designed to lift the trailer but only to stabilize it. I happen to be in walmart and spotted a set of jack stands that had the tee handle and a worm gear made for RV's I was thinking of getting some of those and remove the scissor jacks off the frame since I bent one in the back as it drug the ground. I figure those can lift the trailer.
 
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