I have a 2002 BB TC2000 29ft bus. It was originally Las Vegas school district and ran mostly a city route.
It came with 255/70r22.5 tires.
These tires are now 7 years old and show signs or their age, though the tread is fine.
The fronts have already been replaced with virgin steer tires in the same size.
Im looking to replace the rear's with a slightly larger size and something cheaper than virgin tires.
I'm, looking at these right here, which look like a decent deal on a set of 4 retreads.
https://classifieds.ksl.com/listing/60544043
The size is 295/75/r22.5
cost is $170 per tire.
My reason for going to a larger tires size is to help reduce my cruising engine RPM.
Currently 2300rpm @ 62mph, and 2500 at my max governed speed of 67.
With these tires I'll drop it down to 2100 at cruising speed 62mph, and bump up my max speed by about 6.3 mph, also nice for occasional passing.
So my understanding is they will fit the rim, but clearance to the body is going to be tight.
The tire size calculator gave me this information when I compared both tire size options.
Size 1Size 2
Diameter
36.6"
39.9"
+9%
Width
10"
11.6"
+16%
Sidewall
7"
8.7"
+24.3%
Circum.
114.8"
125.4"
+9%
Revs/Mile
552
505
-47
The good news is I have air bag suspension, and an adjustable rod with which I can bring the front or rear up a few inches to make sure that during driving the tires dont make contact with any part of the body.
But when the bus isn't driving, and the air suspension settles, which it does after a week or so of sitting, the rear tires will infact touch the inside of the wheelwell. When I dropped my air bags and measured with the current wheels on there, I had 1 inch from the top of the tire to the body, and with the 3.3" larger tires I will need 1.65 inches above the tire. So that means that about half an inch of tire would be compressed and in contact with the wheel arch.
Do you think this is a problem?
Should I stay with the dinky little tires?
I dont mind the speed I cruise at. I get between 9.5-10.5 mpg as it is now.
My uphill / mountain climbing capability is amazing. Stays in OD and pulls most grades at 55.
I would hope to see even a bit of mpg improvement, but really im most interested in these because they are a good price.