Check tire dates before you buy your coach

[GTobey]

OK, so I am one who didn't check my tire date codes before purchasing my new Forza 36G. I did have it aligned before any major miles as the steering was not neutral. I even put a Saf-T-Plus steering stabilizer on it, which helped. I had it aligned before 2K miles by Freightliner in Gaffney. They got it done correctly, and it drives so easily.

Been back to them to have yearly service and recheck, and all is good, with one exception, and it is truly not their problem. I had begun to experience a "singing" in the front tires that would resonate to it's loudest point at 55mph. Noticable from 50 to 60mph, but loudest at 55. Then I noticed the "rivering" effect others were talking about in forums. Pictures included.

I wrote to Michelin, thery have me a case number, (meaningless other than you then have to go to their dealer), so I contacted them to find a truck tire dealer close to me. I took time to take the coach in, discuss the issue with their manager (who was super nice, and empathetic), but told me that the manufacturers will not cover that situation. He went over all the standard denials, from tire pressures, to alignment, to worn out steering components, to bad shocks. I produced documents to dispute each issue showing him that the coach was more than within Freightliner specs to a "T"!

The thing he came up with then was that the date codes of the front tires were "4314" and "0314". My coach was purchased new in August 2017, and had 3 year old tires at that time! So now I will have to replace the front tires with only 29K miles, and have the alignment checked once more! If my tires were to cost more than they did with my FMCA tire program pricing, the wife said we would just have to park it!

Please check, or have someone look at your tires for the codes before you purchase. I missed that expensive detail!