[steve]

Steve,

This is the site you need to bookmark.

http://www.michelintruck.com/michelintruck/tires-retreads/load-inflation-tables.jsp

First, go to a truck stop and get each of your axles on a different section of scale and get the weights with your coach loaded with all that you typically carry, full fuel, full water and empty holding tank.

Then set your tire pressures according to the chart linked above for the tire size you have. I doubt if your drive or tag axles will be anywhere near 130 PSI. Your steer depending on tire size is a different story. If you steer tires are 315s you might be in excess of their rated capacity in which case you might want to consider putting the steer axle on a diet.

[Peter]

I would absolutely go to 365’s on the front. Not sure about rear…I would want to see drive and tag weights individually.

[Archived]

Jon,

Next fueling I`ll go to Love`s certified scale & get all axles weighed for recheck. My front really concerns me due to 2- cruiseairs , granite in driver area and @ 300lbs in front bay knowing I`ve driven around for years this way! May very well be upgrading to 365`s ! Will update with results. Thanks guys.

[Larry & Diane]

We replaced our 315s with 365s front and tag only… new shocks … noticed a HUGE difference in the ride with the bigger tires… can’t remember our weights off hand but we were very heavy in the front and I remember it was marginal !!

Diane

[Gerald]

Diane,

Where`d u purchase wheels & tires from & who installed ? Any problems ?

[Bob]

Steve,

I am sure you understand even if you get tires rated for the axle weights (and I agree with all who suggest the upgrade to 365 tires) you are still overweight and that affects your braking, your suspension, and your ability to even raise the coach to the driving height.

Clearly the answer is to reduce the weight if possible, but some things you are not likely to change such as granite flooring so you may have to drive a little more cautiously and be much more careful to not only maintain the tire pressures, but to keep an eye on your brakes to insure they are in perfect operating condition at all times.

[Larry & Diane]

Great advice & future trips will be with even more caution. When the WX breaks I`ll examine all options for weight shedding. I have no trips planned until summer, so got some time. Well, as marketing goes so goes the converter businesses being efficient in this area of safety just to make a $$ .

[Robert]

Steve,

Since the beginning of time some coaches have had excess weight issues. In the early 90’s two converters were exceeding the then axle limit of 14,000 and Prevost came out with a service bulletin to change air bags to a larger size or to add another pair of shocks to minimize jounce or rebound. I can guarantee you that when more of the newer X3 chassis reach the market their 19,000 pound steer axles will be proven inadequate. The marketplace wants well equipped coaches and the converters are not likely to disappoint their customers.

Knowing what you now know gives you an opportunity to explore your options and decide if or how you want to deal with the excess weight. There is a new kid in town just down the road from you, Jeff at East TN Luxury Coach in Vonore that can give you a price on upgrading to the 365s if you consider that as an alternative to having Prevost do it. But even if you do make that change you probably could benefit from reducing as much weight on the steer axle as possible. It would be easy to blame our wives for putting too much stuff in our coaches, but the reality is us guys are guilty when it comes from loading heavy stuff in the front bay.

[needtocamp]

Steve,

The tires came from our local dealer through the FMCA Michelin discount program… details are on here (PC).

The Alcoa wheels came from a guy who bought them for his “project coach” and couldn’t use them. Someone on here probably has a source for the wheels.

We got a lot of our initial info from Kenneth Brewer who experienced a blowout on the front driver’s side which resulted in a lot of body damage to his H. I think it was the drivers side ?! Anyway long story short he replaced his 315s with 365s because of the weight issue on the front of the H series busses.

Hopefully Kenneth will see this and may repost his pictures of the damage. Kenneth was a great help to us with all our questions.

Hope this helps.

Diane

[Archived]

Zmax73,

While we are on this subject, have you seen the video here on PC about experiencing a blowout ?

AL

[Sherry]

I upgraded to 365’s even though I did not have a weight issue. I immediately felt ride improvement (went from 110 to 90 psi) although some here feel it was due to new tires as opposed to size and pressure change.

In any event, I had Prevost do the job. On my XL, it involved new studs, wheels and tires. Done in a couple hours. I obtained new one piece wheel covers from Alcoa directly. I had very minor clearance issues with the undercoating in the wheel wells. My GUESS is that you’ll have no clearance issues on the H (Prevost should know) and you may or may not need new studs. I originally had the right and left studs; I’m guessing yours are hub piloted wheels already with all right thread; but I also needed the studs replaced for addl length, I recall.

[Archived]

Joe,

We felt a ride difference too… quite a big difference … no issues on an H size wise either !!

Diane

[Archived]

Just realize that by upgrading the tires, you are effectively only reducing the tire pressure required to support your weight, in addition to ride and handling improvements of course.

You are still substantially over both your GVWR and axle weight ratings and that issue must be dealt with regardless of tires. You DO NOT want to be involved in a serious accident and have an attorney argue that you were negligently, and knowingly, operating an over loaded vehicle.

Although probably the most robust components in the industry, your brakes, axles and suspension components were designed to handle only so much weight without risking premature failure.

I would take the weight issue very seriously.

[Archived]

Watching this thread with some interest. One thing to remember however is that the rating from the manufacturer is rated at the end of its useful life. Consquently, an 18,500# axle may actually be rated much higher for a considerable amount of time. How much more and for how long…….that’s the $64K question. All I’m saying is let us not raise an unnecessary worry unless someone is grossly overweight.

[Dick]

George?…….As I stated earlier coaches have exceeded the weight limits for as long as I can recall.

Having said that, it doesn’t make it acceptable to exceed those limits. But owners and converter do and that does create some potential for future problems.

I attended the seminar when Bill Campbell, one of the Prevost Car owners at the time gave a scathing talk about exceeding axle weight limits. It was clear he was addressing his comments to the two converters at that time in the very early 90s who routinely built overweight coaches. His reasoning was simple. All the components pre axle were sized for the axle weight rating. He went on to list those components specifically including the Alcoa wheels, tires (120 X 22.5), bearings, brakes, air bags, etc. He made it clear Prevost would not stand behind failures. He had a very impassioned rant and made an impression.

It was after that episode and prior to the next rally that Prevost came out with the “Mae West” air bags which were larger in diameter and could lift more weight at a given pressure, and the double shock set up to minimize jounce.

He never talked about axle weights again and I suspect the converters in question got all over him for his remarks.

But the points he made were true then, and still hold true today. The limits are established by the engineers, and maybe influenced by the DOT certification process. But they are the limits and we who have coaches that exceed those limits just have to deal with them as we see fit, either by ignoring them, striving to meet them, or adjusting driving habits to help compensate for them.