mci5c tires

[christopher]

i need to replace my steer tires on my mci 5c.
anyone recommend brand and [b]model number[/b].
i am looking for a tire that wil give a smooth ride
'thanx
chris
mci5c

[PP]

Chris,
Try doing a search on here. There has been a lot of discussions about tires, prices, preferences, etc. It seems that there is a tire in every price range that someone will like. I prefer Michelin XZA.
Good luck, Will

[Gary '79 5C]

I have the Michelins XZA and think the ride is excellent. First bus and first set of tires so I may not have a qualified opinion.
But I can not imagine a better ride, minimum noise, tracks straight, never a problem.

In my opinion, Mich's are many times worth the money, IF you run them to limit of wear. Mine will be replaced due to age, not wear. I will hesitate to spend the money, not sure of my second selection, BF Goodrich's maybe. I would not consider take-offs. I do not have a good source for take-offs, if I did I might reconsider.

I probably would replace my steers with Mich's, despite the cost. I have never been disappointed with them.

Good Luck & Good Day,

Gary

[luvrbus]

Chris, depending on how much you use your bus what tire to buy you don't want to pay the price of a  Michelin to set and crack and they are known for that.
Lot's of good tires on the market beside Michelins.I have owned only 1 set of Michelins for my bus and had side wall problems and Michlen would not warranty the tire.FWIW I have a friend in the heavy haul trucking bussines if he buys a new truck equipped with Michelins he pays extra to have different tires installed.
Go with any major tire manufacture that has a  good price you won't have any regrets tires are like ice cream they come in all different flavors and prices.BTW I run Toyo tires 12r x22.5 and have for 12 years and never had a problem  on a 40,000 lb bus plus they have a nice soft ride  good luck

[cody]

I've got bridgestones and yokohamas, they seem to do a good job but the bus came with them all new on it when I bought it, long story lol.

[John316]

We have Michelin XZA's on our bus, and love them. We put enough miles on every year, that I wanted a good tire.

Also, we carry a fully mounted spare with us, since our bus is 12R 22.5. The common one is 11R 22.5, and we can have a hard time finding the 12R's. Most tire places don't stock those.

Now did I tell you about the time that we needed two new tag tires, and we were in Flagstaff AZ? The Lord directed us (I won't say that it was luck, because it was just too big of a coincidence.) to the only tire shop in that part of the state, that had 12R's in stock (at least the owner said that they were the only ones that carried them). I won't bore you with the details, but needless to say that if we have a flat, we would have had a tough time finding another tire.

God bless,

John

[luvrbus]

John316, someone started the myth about 12R 22.5 being hard to find running the tire size for over 20 years I never found it true maybe truck stops don't carry the size.
I blew one of my Michelins in a small town in Idaho (McCall) the tire shop there had 4 in stock.I buy new tires every 4 or 5 years in Oregon and Lewis Bros always have the size in stock.Tires need to be used not sitting I put a least 10,000 miles a year on my bus.     good luck

[Old4103]

Since the majority of the loads I carried on my semi were OD loads, some of which weighed well over 150,000 pounds, I wanted the biggest tire I could get with the best ease of access. For over 25 years I ran 12R22.5's and never had a problem getting them on the road in any state or province.

Dallas

[John316]

Luvr,

Thanks for your post. I just was stating our experience. Even here when we were getting new drives, the tire shop (which is huge, and in a big city), only a couple 12R 22.5's. They had to special order our tires. My point is that the 12R isn't near as common as the 11R. We can get tire service anywhere, we just can't get a 12R as readily. We just can't be down for a while, waiting on a tire. That is why we just carry our own. YMMV.

We also travel a lot more that 10k miles every year, so our choice of tires might be different if we traveled less. I agree, I wouldn't want to sink that much $$$ into tires, to see them rot.

We also carry extra studs with us. Bus studs are different (at least for ours), and I don't want to end up with a broken stud stranded who knows where.

God bless,

John

[christopher]

Everyone,
thanks for the replies.
i got a price today for goodyear g149's for $326.00 +5% sales tax.
i wont put 20k mile on them over the next 10 years.
are thes good tires?
thanks
chris
mci5c

[uncle ned]

just got a price on Hankook al07 LH steer tires for 339.39

have some on the rear of one of my 04s and they run good. think i will try them my.
" michilens" have cracked bad.

uncle ned

[PP]

After losing a set of Michys to the sun on my 1 ton with less than 40K miles on them, the ones on the bus never see the light of day except when they're going down the road and so far they are weathering well. I keep them black with UV inhibitor and covered whenever we're parked for more than the night. Next time I will look into Toyos just for the price, Will

[Ed Hackenbruch]

Only hi speed blow out i have ever had was a Michelin on a van we had. Just lucky that i did not end up at the bottom of a 50 ft. deep gully that was beside me.  When i got the bus it had 2 Michelins on it that were junk. Replaced them so now i have Goodyears all around. I have tried different tires on cars and trucks for 40 years and always have had the best luck with Goodyears.

[TomC]

Well Ed-you're one of the very few that actually like or have had good luck with Goodyears.  I used to use Dunlops on my truck, until Goodyear bought them, and my professional tire man of over 30 years in the business will not carry ANY Goodyear products.  Just because you had a blow out in your van many years ago with a Michelin, is like saying you won't buy a Ford because they made the Edsel-or won't buy a Chevrolet because they made the Vega.  Michelin has been and probably always will be the for runner of tire technology-so much so that most other tire manufacturers sit back and watch to see if the new tire that Michelin has brought out will work, then when it does, they bring out they're version of it.  I have Michelin 11R-24.5 XZE 16 ply tires and am very pleased with them. I would suggest those over the XZA since the XZE is a regional tire with reinforced sidewalls and with the 16 ply version, have rock ejection technology to prevent rock pounding on the tread.  XZA's have thinner sidewalls (hence perhaps a better ride) so sidewall damage from kissing a curb is more likely.  Actually, for our type of light mileage use, any DOT approved tire would work well. Good Luck, TomC

[Ed Hackenbruch]

Well Tom, the blow out was only 6 years ago which i do not consider to be "many years ago".  And what can i say? i have always gotten my monies worth out of the Goodyears so until/unless something changes i will stick with them.  The great thing is we have a lot tires to choose from instead of being limited to just one or two brands.  Each to his own.