I just called the shop and found out how much my new steering tires were. Grand total ended up being about $450. The reason I bring this up is because I'm just curious what everyone elses experience has been like.
My bus had 10.00R20 split daytons on it. I think I got the last vehicle made in the United States with split rims
Now here's the real kicker...I took off the radials and put on a set of bias plys.
So then...what gives, right? Here's my justification. My split rims were in fantastic shape. New 11R22.5 one piece rims would have cost $80 each (and not matched in color...not that rustoleum doesn't can the cure for that) plus $25 for mountinga tubeless tire. My split rims were free, but cost me $90 to get the mounting done (it actually took the shop 3.5 hours. I guess split rims in good shape not only don't explode, but are hard to get apart period). Obviously the split rims were a cheaper option, eeven after buying new tubes and flappers since they were apart.
The split rims also allowed me to go ahead and run bias ply tires with tubes. Why did I want bias ply tires when radials offer far better road manners, heat resistance, and life? Because radials are expensive! I could have run caps in the front legally with RV plates, but that doesn't mean it's any safe. I just could not justify paying twice as much for radials as bias ply tires when I'm so sure the tires will dry rot off before they wear off. I might be right, I might be wrong....time will tell. Besides...I'm used to the road manners of bias ply tires since I've had super swampers under my truck for as long as I can remember. If I can handle driving a little Toyota pickup on super swampers from Minnesota to the Oregon coast and back in a week, I think I can handle them on the bus.
As a side note...my tires have a typical highway grooved pattern, but have some really neat side wall lugs. I've never seen tires like that before, but I haven't seen many bias ply tires on buses and trucks before either so I would imagine it would just be an added benefit of the sidewall characteristics of a bias ply tire.
So then...here's the real meet and potatos of my longwinded post:
What size, type, and brand of tires is everyone else running?
How much does everyone else pay for tires and mounting?
Anyone else have any thoughts on this? I know I took a different approach, but I figure I can justify it somehow.