Where To Buy New Bus Tires?

Liberace_Exploded · 09-26-2018, 09:58 PM

I am seeking advice on where members of the group have purchased new tires. Has anyone purchased new tires online and if so, what was your experience long term? My bus is a 1988 Silver Eagle (retired Trailways tour bus) and I also have a 2000 Thomas MVP

Tires size I am seeking:
6 DRIVE TIRES

2 STEER TIRES

Size: 11R/24.5
Seeking 10, 14 or 16 ply tires
10 lug pattern

Also, I am seeking new silver (beautiful) chrome rims all around, both front two and rear six.

Can you direct me to a website? I am located near Portland, Oregon USA.

family wagon · 09-26-2018, 10:14 PM

I just bought a set of tires two weeks ago. Didn't buy online -- I was looking at Hankook DH37 drives in 11R22.5 load range H and found that I could get them from a local shop at a lower price than what was offered online. I'm in the Salt Lake City Utah metro area, the "crossroads of the west," so there are at least a half-dozen commercial tire shops and lots of tires moving through my market. The pricing might compare differently elsewhere.

Liberace_Exploded · 09-26-2018, 10:39 PM

Thanks for the quick reply! I went to a local Les Schwaab today and they quoted me: $3,130.00 for just the six REAR DRIVE tires and another $1,000 give or take for the front STEER tires. I thought it was very steep. Moreover, they offer no warranty for them and told me so beyond a defect from the factory. I always heard good things about Les Schwaab, I can't say I was terribly impressed by that. There wasn't even a mileage rating such as 70,000, 100,000 or anything.

cycle61 · 09-26-2018, 10:47 PM

Les Schwab is pricey, but they're by the book on everything for better or worse. They wouldn't do an alignment on my lifted Subaru, but refunded me, with no receipt, full retail price on a set of chains I bought five years ago and never used. Haven't used them for commercial size stuff. YMMV

cadillackid · 09-27-2018, 08:03 AM

I recently bought a bus in oregon, went ot les schwab and they pretty much jacked me around.. the bus had 9R20 retainer-ring rims.. I started out knowing I needed steer tires.. I asked about replacing them with 22.5's. and they said "dont do it... it messes up the suspension, the brakes, .. yada yada.. so they ordered me in 2 9R20 tires.. "double coin" chinese tires.. tubes, flaps, balance, and install ran me $800 for the 2 steers..

in the meantime I dicovered the inner drives were pretty crappy.. and embarking on a 2500 mile journey I decided to see about replacing those.. back to the shop I go the next day.. different rep. this guys is like "hey you should replace these 20's with 22.5's maybe a 10R22.5. i went 11R22.5.. " hey wait what about my steers.. "oh theyve been mounted, we cant refund you on those.. but yeah you really couldve replaced those no issue.. we do it all the time"..

so I got 4 new double-coin drives. 11R22.5's. I opted for brand new rims instead of used. and was out the door with all hardware for about $1600.

down the road about 50 miles the shake at 50-54 MPH was terrible... I called them up and they said "oh the balance beads take a while to settle in/. keep on driving".. once I wAs up to 56 or so the shake was minimal.. so I proceeded to roll 400 miles down the road...

next day.. shake at 50 like crazy... by this time im far away from mosr les schwab centers so I just drove it home to ohio...

get home and take it to a truck tire center near my house only to be told, there are np beads, there were old old weights.. the balance was WAY OFF.. and oh the right steer rim is bent... easy to see when its on the spin balancer.. we balanced them and things are better but still a bit shaky because of the bent rim...

grrrr. thats my Les-schwab experience... totally glad they are on the west coast and im far east as I dont want to set foot in another one...

my red bus has Samson tires on it. and thus far ive had zero issues with those tires.. no bulges, slipped belts or flats.. they seem to be wearing really evenly.. I'd buy that brand again for sure..

my DEV bus i put uniroyals on which were a bit more than the chinese tires and they are wearing evenly.. though I dont put the miles on that bus I do my red one.

all of my busses were very out of alignment when I got them.. even though they didnt pull to one side or the other.. so I dfeinitely recommend getting an alignment and checking things like king-pins, drag link, and such.. my red bus had terrible king pin bushings.. replacing those makes it drive almost like a new one..

-Christopher

oredigger · 09-27-2018, 10:13 AM

Christopher,

Who in Ohio have you used for tires? Would you go back to them?

Thanks,

cadillackid · 09-27-2018, 10:28 AM

I used Ziegler tires for my dev bus, great service though a tad bit high prices. They sell mainly name brands.

I recently found BestDrive truck tires and they seem real legit , they are the ones who found my balance issues with my newest bus. Didn’t charge me to rebalance my tires .. I’m having them quote me out 2 new rims and steers for that bus. Will see what brands and pricing come back as.

Christopher

Booyah45828 · 09-27-2018, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liberace_Exploded

Thanks for the quick reply! I went to a local Les Schwaab today and they quoted me: $3,130.00 for just the six REAR DRIVE tires and another $1,000 give or take for the front STEER tires. I thought it was very steep. Moreover, they offer no warranty for them and told me so beyond a defect from the factory. I always heard good things about Les Schwaab, I can't say I was terribly impressed by that. There wasn't even a mileage rating such as 70,000, 100,000 or anything.

Tires are all about brands. Name brand tires will run you anywhere from 500 to 750 per tire depending on the model. So 3000 is in the ball park for 6.

I don't know of anybody that offers a warranty for commercial tires. As long as there isn't a factory defect in them that is discovered when they're mounted, your S.O.L. on warranties. There also isn't a mileage rating because the tire on a bus will see a different environment then one on a long haul semi.

You can get cheaper tires for sure. The last time I purchased a set I could buy a ProMeter brand tire for 325. But I wasn't about to sell that to someone in good conscience.

My bus has firestone steers with goodyear recaps. If you're looking to save money, maybe recapped tires are something for you to look at. Just know that some people have issues with them coming apart.

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