China Tire Bomb or How I learned to tell where a tire was made

[tyler811]

Slow day at work and looking into new tires for the truck, 2014 Ram Tradesman 6 cylinder diesel, as we are heading out for 1300 mile trip to the southwest soon. After spending much of the time reading I am getting Michelin - X LT A/S.

I thought I would post this as it kinda covers two things, truck towing tires and exactly what tires are made in the US of A. as China Bombs are often a discussion in RV forums.

Tires Made in USA: American and Foreign Brands
https://www.utires.com/articles/tire...oreign-brands/

Tire DOT Plant Codes – Sorted by Plant Code
Tire DOT Plant Codes – Sorted by Plant Code - Tire Safety Group

Best Tires for pulling trailers
Brand: LT tires are best choice for trailer-towing truck - StarTribune.com

Quick and Easy Guide to Load Ratings
https://blog.tirerack.com/blog/bens-...o-load-ratings

What you need to know before you tow: Choosing the right tires for your towing vehicle.
https://gotire.com/2015/04/06/what-y...owing-vehicle/

Hope this helps someone out and if you would like add anything, feel free to share

[tuffr2]

Thanks for doing all that research. Good information for sure.

[60sumtin]

[tyler811]

Originally Posted by 60sumtin

Umm does this mean you like to abuse animals? Or your just being rude

[Bob_C]

Tire stuff has been beat to death....but, thanks for the info....a lot of newbees haven't a clue about tires.....

[VernDiesel]

I take it you picked one of the Michelin LTXs? What made you pick that over the Defender? What size?

[wa8yxm]

Just a one word comment:

Thanks

[tyler811]

Originally Posted by VernDiesel

I take it you picked one of the Michelin LTXs? What made you pick that over the Defender? What size?

It seems a toss up between the two. This is from the Michelin people.
"Michelin XLT A/S: Treadlife (10/10), Fuel Econ (9/10), Off Road (6/10), Braking (7/10), Comfort (9/10)
Michelin Defender LTX M/S: Treadlife (10/10), Fuel Econ (8/10), Off Road (7/10), Braking (8/10), Comfort (8/10)"

Size would be 265/70R17 however now I am reading about Michelin tires dry rotting long before the tread life is gone. Splits in the side wall or cracks in the tread are never good.

[VernDiesel]

I tow TTs & boats daily from Mfgs to dealerships with my Ram ED 425,000. So I go through a lot of tires as hitch towing is especially hard on drive tires due to the weight & push. I’ve had bang for the buck best luck with German made General Grabber HTS 60. Also an all season HWY. And similar height at 31.9” to stock 17s at 31.6. (275/55/20 Same as GM Ford and MY 19 Ram half tons use.)

At this size it’s $50 per tire cheaper than Defenders more for LTX. Warranty 65k compared to 70k for Defenders/LTX. I wanted to try a set of the Defenders anyway to see it they are worth the extra money. But see that Tire Rack no longer lists them with an XL load rating like the Grabbers in this size. I wasn’t impressed with SL (standard load) Good Year Wrangler SRAs that came stock for daily towing. But on a balanced load (setting up the axle weights) the pros have not out weighed the cons useing the same tire but in an E load 265/60/20. So XL load range has been the right middle ground for me and I’m hesitant to leave it to try the Denders/LTXs in this size.

[wandering1]

Originally Posted by tyler811

Slow day at work and looking into new tires for the truck, 2014 Ram Tradesman 6 cylinder diesel, as we are heading out for 1300 mile trip to the southwest soon. After spending much of the time reading I am getting Michelin - X LT A/S.

I thought I would post this as it kinda covers two things, truck towing tires and exactly what tires are made in the US of A. as China Bombs are often a discussion in RV forums.

Tires Made in USA: American and Foreign Brands
https://www.utires.com/articles/tire...oreign-brands/

Tire DOT Plant Codes – Sorted by Plant Code
Tire DOT Plant Codes – Sorted by Plant Code - Tire Safety Group

Best Tires for pulling trailers
Brand: LT tires are best choice for trailer-towing truck - StarTribune.com

Quick and Easy Guide to Load Ratings
https://blog.tirerack.com/blog/bens-...o-load-ratings

What you need to know before you tow: Choosing the right tires for your towing vehicle.
https://gotire.com/2015/04/06/what-y...owing-vehicle/

Hope this helps someone out and if you would like add anything, feel free to share

China tire bomb is as great way to say you dont know what the problem was that caused your tire to blow out. Foreign made tires have to meet the same DOT standards as domestic made tires.

[Bigdogboogie]

How about if I just prefer to buy only those products made in my own country if at all possible?

[barmcd]

I've removed several posts because they wandered from tires for RVing into trade and government policy, both topics which are not permitted at iRV2. Please stay on topic.