I own a 2001 century. It needs steer tires. I drive long haul. What would be the best tires to put on truck. Was thinking bridgestone. I can get them mounted and installed for under $500 (each) Thanks
Anyone's guess really. Some tires just don't like some trucks/drivers. We have 2 sister trucks that are only a few number off on the VIN's. 1 truck works great with Michelin XZE2+ steers and the only gets irregular tread wear with them, but not with Continetals. We can't find anything wrong or different with the suspension, steering or alignment. They run similar loads/runs, we checked it off to different driving styles. Those trucks also run different drive tires too. One like Goodyears better, the other likes Yokohama or Michelins. One driver is switching to a newer truck, so we're interested to see if the tire issues follow the driver. In our application (car hauling), we have never had any luck with Bridgestone on the steers, but other applications have had good luck with them. Th important thing is to make sure the suspension and steering/alignment are all good, then keep a close eye on how they are wearing.
i have run xza on most of the freightliners i drove,and had really good luck with them. i would appear that they tend to work about as good or better than most steer tires. watch for mild cupping on the outer edges if you run more than 100 lbs of air pressure. run mine at about 95 pounds. pulled 53 dry box 45,000 lbs load 90% of the time. lots of luck with your choice p.s. never run east just to the west
I have the xza3+ and like them a lot. 70000 miles on them and lots of tread left and they have a low rolling resistance for better MPG's. You get what you pay for.
You can't go wrong with Michelin XZA3+ paired with a set of Centramatics on the Steer Axle, it'll be the best investment you'll ever make.
Just got them put on $1120 out the door. Not bad at all! Rode amazingly much much much better than what they took off.
I curious to know if the XZA3 is really worth the 15-20 buxs over the XZE2. I have ran both on a company truck and couldn't tell any difference. Longevity couldn't really compare to a road guy, as a local gas hauler we eat threw tires pretty quick. For some reason a driver steer will be gone with 8-9 32nds left on pass.
Find a good alignment shop and rotate steers more often. A complete suspension steering/steering check is in order. Is there any feathering of the tires? Rub your hand across the tread in both directions, is 1 way smoother? If so, you have a toe problem. If both tires are the same (both are smoother from outide in for example), then it's a toe problem. If they are different, one is smoother on the way in and the other smoother on the way out, then your problem is most likely in the drive axles. When is comes to steer tire feathering, remember: Smoother on the way in = Toe-in Smoother on the way out = Toe-out The same in both directions (no feather) = Just right If the left steer is feathered in the opposite direction as the right, the problem is most likely in the rear. The drives are steering the truck and the driver is unknowingly correcting by steering in the opposite direction to go straight. This is where you get uneven wear on steers. In the case of local deliveries, where you make more right turns than left, tire rotation is more important the long haul, so it should be done more often.
We run xza3 on our trucks but have recently started running american made dayton tires. Not bad after 70k miles and about half the price of Michelins.
