New Tires for the Monty

[RKassl]

Thank you!

[Wrenchtraveller]

I was all set to change out my Mission 235/80 10 ply rating tires that came on my 06 Montana because they are made in China. I had a flat that ruined the one tire so I brought the new tire into a good tire place and he said there is nothing wrong with them so I will give them a chance.

If they give me problems I will go to 235/85 10 ply LT Michelins and those are a tire I trust as I have overloaded them on many occasions over the years. I really feel that is all the tire you need and some trailers came with LT tires. Tires that steer overloaded pickups are subject to all kinds of stress and I feel they will work well for me on a Fiver.

[Garin1]

RKassl, Your piece of mind is the most important thing. 2000.00 or 3000.00 dollars to prevent an accident that might save a forty thousand dollar rv is a good investment. The recent problems with the Tacoma tires,and I found this also on another rv forum, was a certain batch lot that had a defective sidewall. This has since been addressed and corrected. There are many things that can lead to tire failure (pressure,overload,road hazard,etc) and if upgrading makes you more comfortable then go for it. Aside from the professional truck driver I don't think there is a group out there that puts more miles on their units then RV'rs
God Bless and safe camping

[stiles watson]

I really doubt that folks will go back and read the earlier discussion. Additionally, my experience is just my experience.

Last summer I had two blowouts within a period of three days,one on the front axle and one on the rear axle on the opposite side. Both these blowouts caused body damage to my Monty. The tires had less than ten thousand miles on them in a span of less than two years. The tires were checked for proper pressure prior to embarking and were set at 80 psi, the recommended tire pressure. The travel speed was 55 to 60 mph. There were no road hazards that we could find or identify. The first blowout occurred just a little over 100 miles into the trip and the second occurred within the first fifty miles from the embarkation point. The day was hot, but not that hot.

Upon inspection of the tires after the incident, there was no evidence that the tires had been cut or broken due to impact with any object. All evidence pointed to the tires having just simply failed. That put me into a "lets find a better way" mode. I did an intensive study of the whole tire, pressure, plies, ratings, rims, et al. My conclusion was that the E-rated, 10 ply tire was marginally adequate for the Montana. Because my plans called for fulltiming, I chose to upgrade to an F-rated, 14 ply tire designed for hauling heavy loads and use on trailers. I inflate them to 100 psi.

Every person must do what they feel comfortable and safe with in making tire decisions. I would not presume to impose what I think on others or try to win some kind of argument. I feel safer and more comfortable with the decision I arrived at through gathering as much information as was available to me. Happy RVing...

[Wrenchtraveller]

Stiles, If I had experienced what you did with your tires I probably would have done the same thing you did. Were the tires that failed on you the Tacomas?

One more observation I would make is that now Montana uses the same tire right across the Montana line so the smaller 2955RL gets the same tires as the largest model which will easily put another half ton on each axle. The Keystone website shows the model specs back a few years and in 03 the 2955RL
had a slightly higher GVWR than the 06 and came with only 15" D rating tires.

In fact if you read the specs between the model years there is no rhyme or reason how weight ratings go up and down and in fact an 06 Cougar model with a higher GVWR than my Montana still comes with only D rating tires so you really wonder what the folks at Keystone are doing when it comes to choosing tires for specific models.

[richfaa]

I to have a concern on the 'tire issue" I agree with the earlier poster who stated that the E rated 10 ply tires on the Montana where marganally adequate for the Montana.They are "By spec's adequate" My guess is that Montana may have had a law suit on improper tire size.Noting the piles of tires and rims outside the Montana factory on our tour last summer my guess is that the tires are or have been chosen by who had the lowest bid .My tire guy says the Mission e rated 10ply tire is indeed "adequate," just,and if it were his camper he would have 14ply F rated heavy duty tires on it.Just like the ones on his very large boat trailer. We will not be doing a lot of long or high speed trips for at least the first year of ownership so we will keep a eye on the OEM tires and upgrade when we travel more.I would do whatever I felt needed to be done and would spare no expense to insure the safety of myself and family.

[dsprik]

I was at a show a few weeks ago, and it was explained to me that each individual division of Keystone has a great deal of autonomy. In other other words, they ALL have different set of engineers and assorted decision makers that have absolutely no connection to any other brand/division (Montana vs Cougar vs Everest vs Raptor, etc - for instance). The design team for one has noting to do with the design team of another division. I'm not clear if this is so with the Montana - Mountaineer "by Montana" relationship, though.

So, this means that the tire one division choses will have absolutely no input/impact on any other division's decision.

*On Edit~ As an aside: I did go up to a Keystone Raptor dealer and asked if they had brought any Montanas. That was a naive question on my part. He looked at me like I had stabbed him in the back. He said, "we don't have anything to do with Montana's - we're a Raptor dealer." Kinda like going into a Chevy dealership and asking where their Cadillac STSs were. Dumb question. You can imagine the look you would get.

[Bill Frisbee]

Has anyone ever checked the "backspacing" on the stock rims installed as OE on the 2005/06 Montanas?

[RKassl]

What are you talking about?

[Bill Frisbee]

RKassl ...

Backspace on a wheel is the vertical distance from the inside rim to the "plate" that is flush to the drum when the lug nuts are tightened. (If you take a wheel without the tire mounted and lay a straight edge across the side of the rim that is "inside" when installed on the vehicle and then measure the distance from the straight edge down into the wheel to the plate where holes for the lugs are drilled - I am sure there is a technical term that I do not know - that is backspace.) On a typical automobile wheel, the backspace is approximately 5". Wheels with a shorter backspace (say 3.5 or 4 inches) push the tire further away from the vehicle (commonly seen on Jeeps and other vehicles modified for off-road use); wheels with a longer backspace (say 5 to 6 inches) pull the tire closer to the vehicle. Wheels that are not made for a specific vehicle (e.g., wheels made specifically for Montana RVs) often come with different backspace dimensions. The clearance for tires appears to be pretty tight on the Monty. If I am going to replace the stock Tacomas on my coach with Goodyear G614 RSTs, I will also need to buy wheels/rims that will handle inflation pressures up to 110 psi. I want to make certain that I buy wheels with the correct backspace. Would hate to spend all that money and then find that the wheels/tires do not fit properly in the wheel wells because the rims have the wrong backspace.

Bill

[stiles watson]

If my memory serves me, the oem tires on my Monty were Generals. I think Generals are made by Continental. There are only a few tire makers, but they market under an array of brand names. My decision was not a brand-of-tire decision. It was a size decision based on the carrying capacity and characteristics of the different number of plies.

Anybody's 10-ply tire is rated for a load factor range. The Montanas are at the upper end of that range which is why I said it is "marginally adequate" for the Monty. The F-rated, 14 ply tire is not a tire I would put on my truck because it is not designed for the kinds of forces used in steering. It is a trailer tire designed for trailers and, at different pressures, can handle varying amounts of load. There is a significant safety margin when employed on a Montana or any other trailer of similar weight.

One of my sources of information was a country tire man whose reputation is his bread and butter with the truckers and farmers in his small rural domain. I asked him what kind of tires did the farmers put on their gooseneck trailers to haul the heavy equipment, like tractors, bull dozers, and back hoes. These rural folk are protecting items of greater dollar value and greater weight than most travel trailers. They may be farm boys, but they ain't stupid. I also talked to some of his customers while I was waiting and they reinforced his evaluations.

[padredw]

As my friend Stiles has said, "my experience is just my experience" and experience is still the best teacher. Since the tires on my Montana are now 4 years old, I have decided to replace them. I must have been fortunate that our Montana was equiped with Maxxis tires when we bought it (new). My experience of four years and 40,000 miles gives me great confidence to replace these tires with exactly the same configuration. I have today ordered four new Maxxis ST tires for less than $400. My dealer will put them on Thursday or Friday.

I can only hope that all my MOC friends will be as well served by whatever they chose as I have been. (And as I hope to be in the future!)

[sreigle]

You would think Goodyear would be a good brand but we've had a lot of trouble with the Goodyear Marathon trailer tires that came on our Montana. I've heard people with Michelin trailer tires have had a lot of trouble too. I've been hearing that for years. I'm about to replace the tires on our Montana. I stopped at a couple of tire stores last week. At one I asked what is the biggest seller for fifthwheels. Remember, this is snowbird country, the Rio Grande Valley. I was shown a BF Goodrich Commercial tire in our size. I've been so happy with the BF Goodrich tires on my truck as well as BFG tires we've used in the past that I'm going with BFG for the Montana. On March 4th I'll take it down and have a set of four BF Goodrich Commercial tires mounted, balanced, new high pressure stems, etc., for $426 and change, plus tax. I found Sam's Club has them in stock. I hope they are as good as those on my truck have been.

[padredw]

My new tires on on and ready for the trip down to the Valley this next week. In spite of all, the best testimony I can give is that the Maxxis tires which came on our Montana four years ago served us so well that we replaced them EXACTLY. Four new tires for less than $400. Replaced only because at four years it was a good time for added security for the RV, never felt any lack of security for us human passengers.