Tires again - sorry

I'm buying new tires soon. Like in the next couple weeks. The dealer is so out of the question, it's not even on the list of places to go. I found a local place that will do it for nearly $1000 cheaper. My only question is about the brand. It's an off brand used for big rigs and is rated more heavey duty than what I have now. They are going to put steering tires on the front and driving tires on the back due to where I live most of the year.

Any issues with off brand tires that anyone has seen? These guys put A LOT of tires on and know there stuff, just wanted to get other peoples opinions before I commited to them.

What's the brand?  Just because they don't make car tires doesn't make them an "Off Brand".

Jeff

What brand of tires are you talking about????

Sorry. I didn't realize I left the brand out. It's called Double Coin. Nothing special. Just plain tires. They look pretty much like the Goddyears I have on there now, only with a whole lot more tread 

Suggest you do a search for previous threads on these... likely going to be dozens of folks jumping in to reccommend you stay away from the Chinese tires....

One other thing to watch for is the age of the tires. They may look brand new, but may have been sitting on their rack for a few years.

Bill

The tires are the only thing between you and the road.  Why would you want to skimp on something as important as that?

I would be concerned about the so called warranty that they provide. If you go through their list of reasons a bad tire would not be covered, you pretty much cover every reason a tire would go bad and therefore have no warranty. Just like everything else; made in China, not sayin bad thing, just sayin!

Say what they will, but I believe if you Maintain tire pressures per what is stamped in the steel wheels, not the tire, as per a tire person in business since the 50's. I have a set of 10 ply rated-China made tires and they have been on the motor home since April 2005, kept them rotated every 5,000 miles ,about 2 year intervals. They show no sign of dry rot or giving out. I will replace them come Jan. 2012, just to be a little cautionary. So, I am against the norm, I am at the whipping post! Go for it! Irover

The pressure stamped on the wheel is the maximum inflation pressure that the wheel can withstand and is completely unrelated to the maximum inflation pressure of the tire, which is also unrelated to the proper inflation pressure for the actual, weighed, load on the tire.  All those numbers have a purpose, but only the manufacturers load table value for a known load on a tire is to be used for inflation purposes.  The others are all maximums, not to be exceeded.

I will take the advice of a man who has been in the tire business since the 50's.  My original wheel are rated  65 psi, which originally had C rated tires of 205/75r/16 tires. I now have the same size but a 10 ply rated tire with inflation @ 85psi, which wouldn't be safe for a 65 psi wheel. Like I said, my point was Made in China tires versus USA made as per what the OP asked. They have lasted with proper care. Thank You! Irover

I've been trying to do some research online before commiting to these. I'm not a China person and I'm always kinda leary about where it's made. I've also bought a bunch of things made in the good ol' USA that have crapped out in just a couple uses, so I know where it's made doesn't always mean quality. I do know that the China tires will cost me 1700 for 6 installed and the Goodyears will cost me 2700 for 6 installed. There aren't too many places where I'm at right now that can do large tires and I'm pretty limited. I could probably get the place that quoted me the cheaper tires to possibly order some Mich. or something better if everyone really thought it was a bad idea. I'm pretty anal about my stuff and keep anything made of rubber coated in 303 and the tires always have covers on them when sitting.

See if you can get a price on Toyo Tires. I and three of my friends have been running them for two years now and really like the ride and low maintenance.

I got six Toyo M154 22.5 tires for a little over $1800.00 form a local dealer here in Albuquerque. I found one had lost pressure over the winter, down to 50 lbs and called the guy. He sent a truck to my house and found one of the stems was leaking, hard stem not rubber, fixed the tire on the spot and didn't charge me for the call.

I'm pleased with the service and the performance of the Toyo Tires.

When I bought I looked at Double Coin but the price was nearly the same and I just felt more comfortable with a recognizeable name.

I put 8 on last summer and so far so good. I'll let you know in another 4 years how my experience was with them. 

You can use the search feature here to read all kinds of opinions on tires. Read enough and you'll discover there are people that don't trust Michelin tires. 

Chris;

You didn't give much information, but then your actual question was regarding 'off-brand' tires, with the ones you're looking at as Chinese-made. There are a lot of different considerations when selecting a tire and cost / where they are made are only two of them. One concern I would have if they aren't a common brand would be if you had a blow-out or a puncture that caused enough damage that it needed replacement, can you readily obtain one on the road? Myself, I'm not a fan of mixing tire brands, or even tire models, on my MH or passenger vehicle. A few months back, while I really only needed to replace the two front tires, I went with six, since I was switching from the Michelin XRV to the XZE.

While others here might not be a fan of Michelin, I've run Michelin's on my RV's and passenger vehicles for many, many years, and have never had a blow-out or failure, or even a flat. When replacing the last set on my MH, I looked at three different name-brands, and one Chinese brand sold by Les Schwab Tires, and those were less expensive overall. I went with what I knew had been good to me, Michelin. For all I know, the Chinese brand could be as good, or even better than the Michelin's... or not, and I didn't want to be sitting off the highway with a failed tire, thinking 'I saved how much when I bought these' and 'where the heck am I going to get a matching replacement?'

The 'best' tire is like talking about which gasoline brand is the best... ask six different people, and you'll probably get six different answers.

Very good points to look at. I don't live where I'm buying the tires. I'm just here for a stop over hanging with my parents. The terrane I drive on is pretty rough with high mountain passes, snow and unpaved roads. Yep...I take my 36ft class A over unpaved roads. There's no choice in this to get where I need to be. I went over a 8000ft pass on the continental divide last fall that involve 5mph driving for 6 miles in the worst snow and I have ever seen while driving. It left my toad encased in ice that had to be chipped away before I could open the door to unhook it. This is not an every day thing, but is part of what i need to drive in on occasion. By the way, I have several gray hairs that I didn't have before that night 

I'm going to go to the tire shop and talk to them about it tomorrow. He said I should put steering tires on the front because I drive in the snow, but I'm thinking going with a brand I know would be better.

Does anyone have Toyo or Hercules tires. I stopped by the tire place and the only other brands he had to offer were Toyo steering tires and the Hurcules for drive tires. He insists this is how I need to have them on the RV. Any more thoughts? Thanks!

in2adventure said:

Does anyone have Toyo or Hercules tires. I stopped by the tire place and the only other brands he had to offer were Toyo steering tires and the Hurcules for drive tires. He insists this is how I need to have them on the RV. Any more thoughts? Thanks!

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If that's all he has I guess he would insist that's you need!..I agree with Richard about buying a brand u can get anywhere. I plan on getting 6 Hankook tires for my toyota RV because I can get 1 replaced at any Sears auto center. I'm not buying the 6 there cause I can get a better price thru tireseasy.com...but if I need to buy a replacement I know Sears has them.

I've been looking at that site and the prices are pretty good. They have a local place they recommend that can install them too. If I can Hankook at Sears, that might be the way to go. I've also read a ton of good things about the brand on other sites. Is there a style/type you are buying?

I notice on the site there are two 19.5 Hankook tires. One looks like a beefy tread (DH01), obviously drive tires and one looks like what I have now (AH11), I'd assume the steering tires. Would it make more sence to make all the tires the same or do what the shop guys said and have drive and steering tires put on? I can't rotate the tires very well if i do it his way.

The final decision is a set of Kelly tires installed at a local truck dealer place. Cheapest price so far, good quality tires I can get anywhere and the service is awesome. Getting them installed near the end of the week