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Old 08-19-2019, 02:33 PM   #1
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Tires, 11/R22.5

Help. Ordering all new tires for my International RE.



I'm thinking these for the rear:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Milestar-...146L/780528949


And these for the front:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Firestone...Tire/864952495


I'm in NH and do need some level of traction in snow, off road / etc. Hoping for a max budget of around 350 per tire, may be willing to go up for the fronts based on merit. Any recommendations?

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Old 08-19-2019, 02:40 PM   #2
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I would get more of highway thread for the steers, bit of smoother ride something like the Yokohama Ry617 right there at Walmart.

Personally if it was my bus I would spend a little bit on the steers, a good name brand tire and run retreads on the back.
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Old 08-19-2019, 02:45 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bigskypc50 View Post
I would get more of highway thread for the steers, bit of smoother ride something like the Yokohama Ry617 right there at Walmart.

Personally if it was my bus I would spend a little bit on the steers, a good name brand tire and run retreads on the back.
Firestone and other brands make a steer only tire that has a heat relief groove on the outer edge. You're going to want this for performance and long wear characteristics. They're about $400 each. The ones here will wear right out from weight and heat.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Yokohama-...R22-5/47407519

note the groove on the edge of the tire. This provides superior heat transfer to the air and prevents premature wear. You can use cheapy tires on the back no problem.
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Old 08-19-2019, 04:34 PM   #4
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How many skoolie tires will wear out from mileage as opposed to age?

Let's say the tire is warranteed at 70,000 miles. Over the 6-year life of the tire, you would need to drive AT LEAST 11,666 miles a year. Each year that would be more than:
$3500+/year in fuel (10mpg @ $3/gallon)
200-300 hours of driving a year
2+ round trips from New York to LA or 5 round trips from New York to Miami
A whole lot of maintenance

Is the heat groove to increase the mileage life of tires necessary for a skoolie?
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Old 08-19-2019, 06:18 PM   #5
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Thanks for the feedback thusfar.



Didn't seem like there were any objections to my choice of rears...
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Milestar-...146L/780528949


And I guess the top contender for fronts is this one:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Yokohama-...Tires/47407515


I don't plan on doing a lot of snow driving, but I do not want to be helpless when it is snowing. Some noise is acceptable of course, but most important to me is traction for when I'm off pavement, on snow or in the rain.


Maybe it'd be wise to carry a spare front wheel?



In a year or two I'll be traveling, that's when the noise will hit back, but if it means I can reach more off road locations or avoid getting stuck, I'll take it. I intend to visit several midwestern states to find suitable land, so there'll be 10k-15k miles in there, but for the most part I'll be moving around town, parking off road and boon docking.
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Old 08-19-2019, 06:47 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kazetsukai View Post
Thanks for the feedback thusfar.



Didn't seem like there were any objections to my choice of rears...
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Milestar-...146L/780528949


And I guess the top contender for fronts is this one:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Yokohama-...Tires/47407515


I don't plan on doing a lot of snow driving, but I do not want to be helpless when it is snowing. Some noise is acceptable of course, but most important to me is traction for when I'm off pavement, on snow or in the rain.


Maybe it'd be wise to carry a spare front wheel?



In a year or two I'll be traveling, that's when the noise will hit back, but if it means I can reach more off road locations or avoid getting stuck, I'll take it. I intend to visit several midwestern states to find suitable land, so there'll be 10k-15k miles in there, but for the most part I'll be moving around town, parking off road and boon docking.
Big nobby tires are useless on the front of a bus. I forget mine is 30,000 lbs a lot. That's going to limit the "off road" places you can take it without sinking in the dirt. A plain on steer tire with a heat relief groove will do fine. If you have a blowout on a drive tire you're probably screwed so a spare won't help much. If my FE gets a flat or blow out on the front it's going to drag the oil pan and it's all over.
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Old 08-20-2019, 05:35 AM   #7
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Having a spare for a full sized bus is a major commitment, the rim and tire are huge and very very heavy and you need to be able to brake lose 500ft lbs lugs. My spare tire is a some cash and my road side plan, and also checking tire PSI at every single stop start and end of day along with wheel lube other fluids etc
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Old 08-20-2019, 08:31 AM   #8
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I don't ever like to use "no-name" tires. I've seen too many issues with them. So get something different then the milestars for the rear.

The firestones you've chose for the front are a drive tire. I'm not saying you can't run them as steers, but I'd advise against it. They'll wear really badly and have a good chance of scalloping the edge of the tread.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bigskypc50 View Post
Personally if it was my bus I would spend a little bit on the steers, a good name brand tire and run retreads on the back.
This is what I did. Firestone fs591 on the front steers, and some goodyear recaps on the rears.

If you do use recaps, make sure you get good ones that used the newest carcasses. You won't have issues with recaps as long as they're made right, and like someone previously pointed out, most skoolie tires will die of age, neglect, and accidents versus mileage.
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Old 08-20-2019, 03:33 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CMORGANSKOOL View Post
Big nobby tires are useless on the front of a bus. I forget mine is 30,000 lbs a lot. That's going to limit the "off road" places you can take it without sinking in the dirt. A plain on steer tire with a heat relief groove will do fine. If you have a blowout on a drive tire you're probably screwed so a spare won't help much. If my FE gets a flat or blow out on the front it's going to drag the oil pan and it's all over.


80% of your braking is done with your front wheels - I can only see problems with what are called steer tires on the front when trying to stop, or even steer on snow covered or ice covered roads, especially at intersections where the ice has been polished by countless start and stops - I fully intend to have snow tires on all 4 corners of my rig - I've driven enough loaded trucks, from one ton crew cabs up when I had to decelerate to shift enough weight onto the front wheels to have enough traction to turn on a normal highway curve - most of the trucks were not over loaded, some were virtually empty - you can bet the new paint job on your bus that with 'steer tires' on ice, touching the brakes with the smallest pressure at all, will see you sliding off the road at icy intersections - a tip when driving with an automatic, is to kick your transmission into neutral when stopping at a light or stop sign - on ice, your front wheels will lock up and lose steering before you apply enough pressure for the back wheels to stop pushing the truck/bus/car ahead
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Old 08-21-2019, 10:45 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sleddgracer View Post
80% of your braking is done with your front wheels
Maybe on a car or pick up truck that might be the case.

On a full sized bus, the rear brakes are larger and do more work then the fronts. That's true with most semi and straight trucks as well.

You don't need to pull the wheels and drums off to see this, just look at the difference between air brake chamber sizes. The fronts will be a type 12,15 or maybe a 20 while the rears are usually a type 30 minimum.

Let alone the shoe size on the rear brakes are bigger then the front.

Typically, there is more weight on the back of a bus/semi/straight truck then there is on the front, so most of the braking performance will come from there.
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Old 08-21-2019, 12:44 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Booyah45828 View Post
Maybe on a car or pick up truck that might be the case.

On a full sized bus, the rear brakes are larger and do more work then the fronts. That's true with most semi and straight trucks as well.

You don't need to pull the wheels and drums off to see this, just look at the difference between air brake chamber sizes. The fronts will be a type 12,15 or maybe a 20 while the rears are usually a type 30 minimum.

Let alone the shoe size on the rear brakes are bigger then the front.

Typically, there is more weight on the back of a bus/semi/straight truck then there is on the front, so most of the braking performance will come from there.
This is correct^
With buses the rear wheels do the majority of the braking.
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