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michelin 365 tires
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I know I was in the minority when I liked having 315 tires all around on my previous coach. At the time availability of 365 tires was not one of my concerns. When the mad rush occurred and everyone was adding 365 tires to their coaches my concern was in the event of a tire failure the ability to pull a tire from anywhere on the coach and put it anywhere, then use an odd sized tire if need be on one of the tags was no longer an option..
I did that once and I didn’t lose hardly any time. 315 tires are not that common either, but any comparable size on the tag will get the job done.
I now have the 365 tires and I still think it sucks to have two different size tires, but as the need for steer axle capacities increases I see no alternative. Put a 365 from the tag to the steer, and even though the 365 wheel is over 10″ a 315 will work on it for the short term, but in addition to getting a 365, keep in mind a 315 is not stocked everywhere.
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” keep in mind a 315 is not stocked everywhere. “
Bingo. I have had 2 blowouts; front left, and right tag. In the first case, near Winslow AZ., we waited until the tow truck operator could locate ANY 315, and ended with a new one, off-brand (can’t remember who, but I’d seen the name before over the years), which I used only to get us back to Ft. Worth. The second time, 2 years later in NM, maybe 1 to 2 hours west of Albuquerque, we waited from about 2 pm until sunset to have a new one located and the tow truck operator send another unit to pick it up and bring to us on the side of the road. Back to Ft. Worth where we had the rest of the 315s replaced and the coach realigned again.
Don’t bet on easily finding and having delivered a Michelin 315, let alone a 365.
My two cents, again.
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In our seminars we take great pains to discuss tires in a pre-trip inspection. For the most part our tires are reliable but when one goes bad the consequences are disproportionate to the cost of a tire replacement, to say nothing of the inconvenience.
Before leaving home it is important to have a clear understanding of your options if a tire goes bad. NONE of the options or choices are good unless you happen to be very lucky and find one at the local tire dealer.
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Jon,
I am interested if anyone has discussed this with Prevost at any level higher than a local service center? Seems like this could be a really bad deal for the Prevost Brand. If I am Mr. Mark or anyone that has just paid for a new coach or really anyone with 365’s and there are 0 available…. That seems like Prevost should get involved. Is it crazy to have a group of us that run 365’s chip in and have a couple of these on hand at a Central Spot that could be shipped out in an emergency. Sure seems like something Prevost would do? What if your running Entertainers they don’t have time to deal with all this….
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Tires (365’s) are available most anytime at Prevost, no problem, but the price will be painful.
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Before we criticize Prevost for selecting the 365 tires, keep in mind we asked for it.
Not specifically, but by wanting coaches bigger and better and with more features. My 40 footer was 41,000 pounds, the 97 was 46,000, and the current 2 slide coach is 53,000. The jump from the 40 to 45 shows the weight was almost proportional to the length. But the current 2006 has slides which add weight, plus a lot more heavier features. I have an 18,000# front axle which happens to be the limit for 315 tires. The X3 has a 19,000 pound axle and that exceeds the 315 weight limits.
Then lets not forget the rush of owners who switched out their 315 tires for 365. My point is simple in that Prevost is responding to the market. For what it is worth in this month’s FMCA magazine a Foretravel is featured and it has 365 steer tires so Prevost owners are not in an exclusive group that should have a plan to deal with an unexpected failure of a tire. If any tire on our coaches fails we have a problem because neither 315 or 365 is sitting on the shelf in almost all instances.
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Tires are 2012 , Pressure checked daily , Solve tire avalibilty will buy 365s and 315s and stock in warehouse ready to ship when needed Michelin can’t keep in stock and supply there customers so I guess we are on our own very unfortunate .
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This is an issue for which there may be no correct solution.
My first coach used 120/22.5 tires which were rare because trucks used 110/22.5 and were going to 295 tires. So I carried a spare mounted on an aluminum rim, polished on both sides. No matter what position tire got a flat, I carried not only my spare, but the jack and torque multiplier so I could change the tire.
The only problem was I never used the spare and while it probably would have been OK in a pinch, it was way past 10 years old when I sold the coach with it still sitting in the bay/
So here I am along with a lot of others faced with a problem. First, even if i wanted to carry a spare, I would have to carry two of them. I don’t have the room. Keeping one somewhere to ship to me is not the answer because as time ticks away, so does the remaining life of the tire(s). I think the answer lies with Prevost or a company that has take-offs or some tire distributor that is willing to hold and ship 365 or 315 tires.
Then we are faced with the time to get the tires. If the tires are not at each Prevost location for example, but just at one location, we would be looking at days before we get delivery. Who has a solution?
No matter how well we care for tires, they are the one part of our coaches that are always subject to failure for a variety of reasons such as debris on the road.
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How long has the tire shortage gone on? Is it temporary? Or will it be long term? The Prevost shops across the country would seem to be the logical places to “stash” tires to be used as single replacements. They could regularly cycle the “stash tires” as they replace tires during the normal course of business.
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I keep a full set of tires new every year at my shop four 315s and four 365s for this reason just in case something happens to mine, I change mine about every two years
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The tire shortages are sporadic. At least they have been.
With such a limited market it is unrealistic to believe there is inventory around the country. The only company I know of that can help us is Prevost because they buy cheaper than anyone at OEM prices, they replace them at their service centers and can justify keeping a few earmarked for owners at each of their locations.
If 2200 of us sent them emails to that effect, maybe, just maybe that might happen. But then again I am waiting for the crapco mirror issue to be resolved along with using the Dura-lite CACs as original equipment.
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