E-450 Cupping tires - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

Orca · 08-04-2007, 11:07

Hi;

I have a 2004 E-450 V10, camper 23 feet long.

I had to replace the front tires after 34,445 Kms (21,400 miles). I bought new MichelinX, had an alignment done and now I've got cupping on my front tires. Odo is 65,413 Kms (40,600 miles). So the new tires only have about 31,000Kms (19,000miles). Tire tread is 12/32 on both tires.

Is this normal: i.e. to only get 33,000Kms (20,000 miles) on these tires before having to replace them for whatever reason? Rear original Michelin X tires are still excellent with 9:11/32 and 11:9/32 tread left.

I noticed the problem about 1000Kms (600 miles) ago when I started to get steering wheel shake at about 85 to 95 Km/h ( 50 to 60 mph). I was in the Yukon .. beautiful place .. but scary place to have a break-down :-))

What causes cupping? How do I prevent this?

Thanks, Orca

**360ci** · 11-12-2007, 21:19

heavy duty modified vehicles have their issues. No one that makes LT truck tires for HD vehicles has any warranties for this reason. I did maintenance on a small fleet of E450 24 seat vans. Tires lasted a bit longer than yours but they still cupped on 3 of the 4 vans within 50 000 kms. I think it has to do with how the weight is distributed on the chassis. WIth you having a motorhome there is a lot more weight on the front axle. Nothing the vehicle can't legally handle of course. Balancing won't always help as half an ounce here or there is nothing since there's a good pound or so of force difference for the tires to cup that early. I order the Michelin LTX tires for their slightly better durability.

Uncle Rice · 02-22-2008, 16:14

Keep an eye on side to side weight distribution too. I've got a van modified into a bus with a side mounted wheelchair lift. It eats front tires every 20,000 miles. I generally tell them to put something inexpensive on it as expensive high grade tire don't last very long either and even cheap tires stay together well for 20,000 miles.

1FUN4RD · 02-24-2008, 14:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orca

Hi;

I have a 2004 E-450 V10, camper 23 feet long.

I had to replace the front tires after 34,445 Kms (21,400 miles). I bought new MichelinX, had an alignment done and now I've got cupping on my front tires. Odo is 65,413 Kms (40,600 miles). So the new tires only have about 31,000Kms (19,000miles). Tire tread is 12/32 on both tires.

Is this normal: i.e. to only get 33,000Kms (20,000 miles) on these tires before having to replace them for whatever reason? Rear original Michelin X tires are still excellent with 9:11/32 and 11:9/32 tread left.

I noticed the problem about 1000Kms (600 miles) ago when I started to get steering wheel shake at about 85 to 95 Km/h ( 50 to 60 mph). I was in the Yukon .. beautiful place .. but scary place to have a break-down :-))

What causes cupping? How do I prevent this?

Thanks, Orca

1st thing that would greatly improve the life of the tires would be to have them rotated every 7000 miles.