[mycbarnes]

Others have posted that for them and their front axle tires they have used Michelin 305/75R24.5 tires in place of a 11R24.5 on the front axle only. The use of the 305/75 gives a little more load rating without having to move to a different wheel and associated wheel stud issues. The Michelin 305/75R24.5 XDA 5 is "J" load rated and 18 ply. I have had zero luck finding these tires, even called Michelin North America. So my question is has anyone purchased a 305/75R24.5 recently? If so where and were they Michelin or other? The Michelin 305/75R24.5 lists for about $1,200 each and if they are this hard to find I am hesitant to upgrade. Thanks

[Fulltiming]

That is a big problem. I ran the 305/75R24.5 fronts for about 5 years. When I went to replace them, I was told they were on National Backorder and could give me no idea of when they might be available. I unfortunately had to switch back to the standard 11R24.5 fronts. If I could find them, I would switch back to the 305's in a heartbeat. I really enjoyed them.

[mycbarnes]

Thanks Michael. When I called Michelin North America it took awhile for him to even find what I was talking about. The product literature gives a catalog number of 30987 for a XDA 5+. He found none in inventory under that number. He did find one tire under a older series, but it would have to have been made years ago and sitting. There are 8 New old stock Goodyear 305/75R24.5 on ebay, but they are date coded from 2014. So that's useless to me and I am not sure that they are "J" rated. Plus I am not a Goodyear fan with this use. Continental may have made the tire for awhile, but no luck yet with them either. I think it's important to remember that higher speeds risk the casing and the inflation pressure is important to heat from loading. I check my tires with an infrared thermometer at every stop, it's quick as I don't have the confidence to just beat them like the truckers do. I'll keep looking this week, but I am probably going to just get the best Michelin 11R24.5 I can and I don't drive fast anyway.

[Fulltiming]

The date code issue is real. I bought my first set of Michelin 305/75R24.5 tires from a tire store that was able to get them in less than a week. When they were ended their life, I bought the last pair that Newell had. They had been in the store room for several years. They held up well and I used them for almost 5 years but deterioration in the form of sidewall cracking set in suddenly and I had to replace them with urgency. That is when I discovered that no more were to be found. I did check other brands in that sizes but the ones I found were meant for local service and had a speed rating of 55 mph which is useless for motorcoaches. I have been told that the 11R24.5 Goodyear tires hold up well even if slightly overloaded. I would use top of the line tires if using 11R24.5 and always use the H rated tires. I have seen G rated tires on 1990's Newells and that isn't good, especially on the front. I use H all the way around with a speed rating of 75 mph. I try to avoid driving over about 68 due to tire issues, especially in hot weather. As you drive IH-10 in west Texas, the speed limit is 80 and the roads are littered with tire threads and carcasses from trucks overrunning the rated limits of their tires. With the damage that can be done to a Newell due to a blowout, even if you are able to retain control, I want to try to avoid blowouts.