David,
I have Michelin LTX A/T LT245/75 R16 tires on my '94 Dodge Ram pickup
4X4. I've had them about 18 months now. 10k+ miles on them and they
still look new. I'm anticipating 40k+ minimum before I need
replacement. I run them at 75psi all around, and 80psi on the rear
when towing.
My configuration is an 11 foot cabover camper, plus either a 16' car
trailer with 2000# Sunbeam Alpine (plus about 300# of spares) or a 23'
Bayliner cabin cruiser. In either configuration I've got at least
8000#, probably more, supported by the truck tires.
Prior to the Michelin's I used Big 'O' tires (M+S, 6 ply rating),
which are made by Kelly Springfield. I had one on the right rear
explode a couple years ago while towing the boat. That did almost
$3000.00 damage to the truck. I replaced all 4 tires, and within 5000
miles was experiencing blistering of the sidewalls and tread
separation. I replaced all four with a different Big 'O' (again, M+S,
6 ply rating) and experienced the same blistering and tread
separation. To say the least, I wasn't a happy camper (sic)!
Thus far, the Michelin's have been "bulletproof"!!
Carl
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Bondon" <david.bondon@mindspring.com>
To: <JWoesvra@aol.com>; <NeotoyRick@aol.com>;
<vintage-race@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2001 6:38 AM
Subject: Re: Tow Vehicle Tires
: Rick, Jack, et al,
:
: I just put six new Michelins on my truck about a month ago. I don't
have the
: numbers in front of me but they were the top of the line and
specified for
: this truck (GMC Dooley) for towing.
:
: Boy was I shocked! I couldn't keep the truck between the white lines
(yes we
: did a full reallignnment) on the way home! I had set the tire
pressures at
: 55 all around which is the way I ran the previous set of Michelins
for 8
: years on the same truck. After raising the pressures to 65 it
stabilized
: some what. Towing with the Sprite in the nose of the trailer and no
second
: car (read that lots of weight on the ball) it is barely acceptable
regarding
: tracking and steering response.
:
: The Michelin is definately a different tire than the ones I took
off.
: Different not Better! The tread design uses a series of blocks on
the outer
: edge in stead of the continous tread of the old outer edges. Also
the side
: wall bulge is much larger (at 65 pounds) suggesting that the
sidewall design
: is more compromised for ride than optimized for towing.
:
: I am going to try more pressure for VIR in July when we will take
two cars.
:
: But beware this is not the old tire we are used to!
:
: Any one else experience this behavior?
:
: SuperDave
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