Check tires before buying - THOR 28Z

boggsy64 · 06-09-2021, 03:01 PM

I bought a 2014 THOR 28Z from a dealer about 2.5hrs from me. The unit is really nice with only 5,500 miles. First time I looked it over and drove it was cold weather and kind of overcast. I glanced at the tires and saw Michelin and thought no more about them.
Good quality tire, low miles, no problem. Well went up to take delivery and a bright sunny day. Right off the bat noticed dry rot and extensive cracking. Instead of driving it home I'm having the tires replaced. I will never drive on tires that bad and these were bad. Cracking on all the sidewalls and circumferential cracks from sidewall to tread all the way around.
I am very disappointed in Michelin tires. I have had older tires but never saw this bad. Unfortunately I did not notice on first look around. I could have gotten them replaced as part of the deal. Since I didnt see it, the dealer had no sympathy and out of my pocket.

Could go into a debate about dealer ethics. They acted like they were surprised and did not notice the tires either. I think they are full of S... and sure they dinged the trade in for bad tires.

**EA37TS** · 06-09-2021, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boggsy64

I bought a 2014 THOR 28Z from a dealer about 2.5hrs from me. The unit is really nice with only 5,500 miles. First time I looked it over and drove it was cold weather and kind of overcast. I glanced at the tires and saw Michelin and thought no more about them.
Good quality tire, low miles, no problem. Well went up to take delivery and a bright sunny day. Right off the bat noticed dry rot and extensive cracking. Instead of driving it home I'm having the tires replaced. I will never drive on tires that bad and these were bad. Cracking on all the sidewalls and circumferential cracks from sidewall to tread all the way around.
I am very disappointed in Michelin tires. I have had older tires but never saw this bad. Unfortunately I did not notice on first look around. I could have gotten them replaced as part of the deal. Since I didnt see it, the dealer had no sympathy and out of my pocket.

Could go into a debate about dealer ethics. They acted like they were surprised and did not notice the tires either. I think they are full of S... and sure they dinged the trade in for bad tires.

You bought a 7 year old used motorhome. Did you check the DOT dates codes on the tires? Nobody to blame but yourself. Michelin states that after 5 years the tires should be checked by a professional every year.

dkoldman · 06-09-2021, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boggsy64

Could go into a debate about dealer ethics. They acted like they were surprised and did not notice the tires either. I think they are full of S... and sure they dinged the trade in for bad tires.

What did you expect the Dealer(s) to do? Put brand new tires on every Used Vehicle or Motorhome they sell? Normally when you buy Used you sign to buy As Is. If there is something like tires, paint or other defect you call it out during your negotiation. I have Bridgestone's on my Motorcycle that says to replace every 5 years, it does not matter how they look.

I think you are doing the right thing in buying new tires; but maybe you are being a tad unreasonable on Michelin and Dealer. Think about it. Say you looked at it with that detail before you purchased (and you should have). Michelin would say the tire is out of warranty and needs to replaced. So you tell the Dealer, you will not buy unless you get new tires. You may not have the RV or the dealer may have discounted the price some more? But you mad at Dealer because of what exactly

Since you bought a Used RV (As - Is), I would be worried about other things that you may not have noticed during the PDI.

Good luck

Note: You get to select the tire you wish you to put on. Every prospective owner may prefer a different type of tire. I would verify what the OEM tire was just to ensure before I replaced.

**16ACE27** · 06-09-2021, 04:06 PM

So now you know that tires will almost certainly age out before they wear out on a motorhome. Some say replace the tires every 6 or 7 years regardless of visible condition; your tires were well past that guidance.

So enjoy the peace of mind of riding on new tires and go enjoy the adventures in your "new to you" motorhome!

chunker21 · 06-09-2021, 04:48 PM

Just to pile on, that 14 Thor is probably on a 13 chassis and the tires probably date from late 12 to early 13. Now you are in the 8-9 year old range.

ducksface · 06-09-2021, 05:03 PM

Rvchecklist app.
Disallows any excuse for pdi, pretrip, trip, setup, teardown, storage.

Sooooo......tiring.....

With the RV parks full of entitled/oblivious people who didn't do a pdi, I'm not looking forward to meeting most of them. The good news is their whining and cussing might be enough to drown out the train noise.

I hope the mobile repair guys make a FORTUNE off of the no-pdi crowd.

Op,
Dont buy cheap tires. Go as expensive/well made of commercial tires as you can.

Judge · 06-09-2021, 05:09 PM

^^^^^^

I may have to change my shorts after that right on target comment!

halfprice · 06-09-2021, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkoldman

What did you expect the Dealer(s) to do? Put brand new tires on every Used Vehicle or Motorhome they sell? Normally when you buy Used you sign to buy As Is. If there is something like tires, paint or other defect you call it out during your negotiation. I have Bridgestone's on my Motorcycle that says to replace every 5 years, it does not matter how they look.

I think you are doing the right thing in buying new tires; but maybe you are being a tad unreasonable on Michelin and Dealer. Think about it. Say you looked at it with that detail before you purchased (and you should have). Michelin would say the tire is out of warranty and needs to replaced. So you tell the Dealer, you will not buy unless you get new tires. You may not have the RV or the dealer may have discounted the price some more? But you mad at Dealer because of what exactly

Since you bought a Used RV (As - Is), I would be worried about other things that you may not have noticed during the PDI.

Good luck

Note: You get to select the tire you wish you to put on. Every prospective owner may prefer a different type of tire. I would verify what the OEM tire was just to ensure before I replaced.

I might disagree a bit on part of this. A dealer by law should sell a vehicle that is safe. That includes tires

Imo they should have lowered the trade value to allow for new tires

Jerry

ador · 06-09-2021, 05:26 PM

If I was buying a used RV (or any used vehicle), I would have definitely checked the DOT stamp on the side wall. If the tires needed replacement, I would have asked the dealer to lower the asking price or I would have asked them to replace the tires (as part of the negotiation).

When I traded my 2015 Class C last year (November 2020), part of the dealership questionnaire was the age of the tires. Question specifically asked "Are the tires the Original Tires"? The dealership knows the condition of the tires of the RV they are taking in and selling out.

To the OP, at least you will now have a set of brand new tires. Enjoy the RV.

Judge · 06-09-2021, 05:32 PM

To the OP....

Do yourself a favor and upgrade the tires to a commercial rated tire. The stock LT tires are not meant to carry the weight of a caoch full-time. Light Ttuck tires have higher weight ratings but assume the load in the truck is temportary. It is likely the stock tires were also at their carry limites anyway when a motorhome 25' or longer is put on an E-Series Chassis with stock tires.

The first upgrade most Class C owners should do is replacing the stock LT tires with a commercial rated tire.

Here is some good reading for you.....

https://www.goodyear.com/en-US/learn...e-c-type-tires

dkoldman · 06-09-2021, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by halfprice

I might disagree a bit on part of this. A dealer by law should sell a vehicle that is safe. That includes tires

Imo they should have lowered the trade value to allow for new tires

Jerry

If given by law the Dealer must sell if safe; then by same law they could not sell for a lowered value if truly deemed unsafe? The question becomes how do you define if it is safe? One could argue if a vehicle can't past Inspection; it is NOT safe, but many vehicles fail or can't pass an Inspection are sold every day. I would think that if the Used vehicle had a valid Inspection sticker the Dealer would have some recourse because if tires were unsafe, the Inspection should have failed. Regardless, when buying used especially if no current Inspection, Buyer has to know it is As Is. It is not illegal to buy, or for a dealer to sell a broken down jalopy

I agree that if Buyer had noticed tires, it could have been part of negotiation, but as far as we know; the Dealer may have already knocked the price down to account for diminished valued of the tires? At the same time, I think it unreasonable for a Used Motor Vehicle Buyer to expect the Use Motor Vehicle Dealer to list out every thing that may deemed wrong or possibly considered unsafe in the mind of a prospective Buyer before a sale (especially tires). Besides being clean, the engine starting, and the AC working, the tires may be the only thing that my wife will look to verify before she is ready to buy. You buy a 7 year old RV, you should NOT be surprised tires are 7 years old. IMO anyways.

dkoldman · 06-09-2021, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judge

To the OP....

Do yourself a favor and upgrade the tires to a commercial rated tire. The stock LT tires are not meant to carry the weight of a caoch full-time. Light Ttuck tires have higher weight ratings but assume the load in the truck is temportary. It is likely the stock tires were also at their carry limites anyway when a motorhome 25' or longer is put on an E-Series Chassis with stock tires.

The first upgrade most Class C owners should do is replacing the stock LT tires with a commercial rated tire.

Here is some good reading for you.....

https://www.goodyear.com/en-US/learn...e-c-type-tires

X Million & 2

This is great opportunity to get best tires possible. 7 Years is very young for the rest of the RV

boggsy64 · 06-09-2021, 07:52 PM

Yes it was my fault. Totally my fault to not inspect them closely. Already said that.
I previously bought a used Class A. Total newbie at that time and AFTER the deal the dealer threw in a set of goodyear tires. Could have let me just drive off oblivious.
I cannot imagine the dealer or anyone would let someone drive off with tires in the shape mine are in. I would not sell an RV to someone with tires like that. New set is coming in around $1,000 for Firestone Transforce HT2 so not a big deal.

Muggs · 06-09-2021, 08:23 PM

I have 2016 Vegas, Michelin tires dated 03/2015. Just replaced after x-mas as tiny cracks started to show. I replaced with heavier rated commercial tires. Time is killer with tires. The only tires I actually wear out anymore are drag slicks on racecar. Just replaced SUV tires due to dry rot with less than 20k miles, they wrre made early 2011.

Chateau_Nomad · 06-10-2021, 03:42 AM

Buying a used car is easy for tires... mileage almost always has killed the tread in four years. Motorhomes, motorcycles and antique cars are exceptions. You might slide to 10 years with a light weight antique car or motorcycle... but I would not trust Motorhome tires beyond 5 - 6 years when buying a used unit, or maybe 7 years if you're the original owner. When you factor in the weight and extra heat generated by it - that dry rot will bite you. Not worth the risk.

P.S. I forgot to mention lawn tractor tires, but the missus prefers to ride the tractor, so ... flat tire?? I didn't realize those tires were THAT old!! 😂

standerson · 06-11-2021, 04:01 PM

Our 2015 Chateau had Michelin LT tires with 5K on them. Looked great but they were mde in June of 2014.

First thing we did was put a set of Nexen commercial tires on it. Not worth the risk using old tires.

BASSMAN · 06-16-2021, 07:33 PM

When you guys refer to a commercial grade tire what are you referring to? tires have a load rating and my 2017 Axis came with 10 Ply Load Range E, not sure how high of a load range you are going to able to go on a 16 inch wheel, the Stock Michelin tires on my coach started coming apart after 16,000 miles and I replaced them with Goodyears and they are also a load range E, wile on the subject of tires I had the dealer throw in a spare tire and wheel when I bought my coach, wile doing an air check before a trip I noticed a separation of the tread on one of the rear tires, had a bulge all the way across, went to change out the tire and the spare would not fit, the dealer took 3 weeks to get the rim and told me it was different then the E-450 Van, the wheel they got was wrong and I got back with them and took in the wheel, tire, contract to buy new and the due bill for the tire and wheel, I bought the coach back in Feb of 2017 and guess what, they made good on it, they had to go to Ford using the Vin number and the wheel has a list price of around $625.00, the circle diameter of the lug holes is smaller than the E-450 van and there is a slight difference in offset, if you have bought a used wheel or one on line after market you might want to pop the wheel cover off the front and turn the wheel around and see if it will go on the 1/2 inch or so of the lug bolts sticking out, I got lucky and caught the bad tire before I hit the road and thought I hit the jack pot when the selling dealer said they would take care if it, they tried to give me a new tire with the wheel and I had to explain the wheel was the problem and you do not owe me a tire

standerson · 06-16-2021, 08:27 PM

We replaced the Michelin LT tires on our 28Z with Nexen Rodian CT8 HL. They are E rated tires, 10ply tires. Not sure how much better you can go for load range than these.

When we took a trip from OH to NC, we both noticed how much better the Thor rode. Well, as good as a box on wheels can.

boggsy64 · 06-16-2021, 10:42 PM

I finally got my 28Z and the new Firestone Transforce HT2 tires and it rode home like a dream. Love the class C experience after our old Class A on chevy P30 chassis. That 1998 class A only had 6,000 miles when I bought it two years ago but rode like a brick on a stick!
This class C is a dream. Love the firestones so far. Load rating E ten ply. I guess that is standard unless you go with "commercial" tires?

JimDebOklahoma · 06-17-2021, 01:44 AM

Wow! We bought a 2014 28z with 2700 miles on it. Did the same thing you did. Brand new tires practically. Two weeks ago had an inside rear dual shred.

Thank goodness I had insisted that the dealer give us a new spare when we bought it since it didn’t have one.

We were close to Goodland KS on a Saturday morning and the farmers Co-Op changed it for us and on down the road we went.

After a closer look, yes, new tires are getting put on in the immediate future. Weather checked all the way around.

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