I saw this post late last year: “Choosing Safe Tire Replacements for my RV: Bridgestone vs. Firestone vs. Goodyear“.
The post indicated “Original Goodyear G670 275/70R22.5, were unavailable.” The front axle load was claimed to be 11,126 lbs. (5,563 lbs. per side). Apparently, a tire salesman suggested the Bridgestone R268 Ecopia™ 265/75R22.5 as an “equivalent” replacement.
What is the problem with that suggestion?
I hope most of you saw the problem at once. There was no mention of load range or inflation required to support the stated load. According to the Goodyear Databook, their 275/70R22.5 is rated for 6,940 lbs. at 125 psi in load range H. The owner of the RV did not provide information from his Certification Label or the GAWR of the RV or the inflation and load range of the OE tires as specified on the label, or an actual scale reading.
The Bridgestone is an LR-H and is rated at 5,205 lbs. at 110 psi max, so clearly should not be considered for this application.
I would also run away from that tire salesperson and maybe even that dealership.
There are many “unknowns” here, but we do know that a majority of Class A RVs have one or more tires in overload based on the thousands of measurements done by RVSEF.com (RV Safety Education Foundation).
Every RV owner should know the “actual’ load on each axle when their RV is ready to travel. It would be advisable to know what alternatives in tire brand, size and load range would be acceptable for their RV. Not every brand, size or load range is always available. Therefore, doing the research BEFORE you need a tire is strongly advised.
Owning a large RV adds extra responsibilities to your life.
There are too many unknowns here for me to make an informed decision on what tire to get as a replacement.
Roger Marble
MORE INFORMATIVE POSTS FROM ROGER
- What you need to consider before changing RV tires
- Balancing RV tires 101, and a reminder about ‘cold’ inflation
- 877,000 vehicles recalled. Why? And why you need to have tires’ full DOT serial number
- How and why to photograph your tire sidewall info
- When to replace tires? Find out here
- Is a tire sidewall ‘bulge’ a sign of a ‘defect’?
- Is this a tire ‘defect’ or driver’s fault?
- ‘Defective’ tires: Just what is the ‘defect’?
- People still erroneously blame ‘defective’ tires for ‘blowouts’
*****
If you have tire questions, check out Roger’s posts on RVtravel.com. There are hundreds of posts covering everything to do with tires.
If you still have a question for Roger after searching the above posts, send your inquiries to him using the form below.
RVT1242
As always, great info Roger, thanks !!
Thank you for sharing the comment and your warning, Roger! My naive behavior is to replace any tires (whether on the RV, personal vehicle, farm truck, tractor, side-by-side, or lawn mower) with whatever brand and size tire was OEM. Thus far, have not found any unavailable or discontinued. Have a great day and safe travels!