"El-Cheapo" tires part II -- done!

[PlayItForwrd]

So I went ahead a bit the bullet. But before I did, I did some more shopping and checking around, which took a few days. And dy the time I'd decided to buy, as Murphy's law would have it, they only had four of the six tires I needed.

As noted in the first thread, I decided to go with the best deal I could find, which were Samson's, 275-70R 22.5's As noted above, they only had 4, and couldn't get more till early June. We're going on a short trip over Memorial, so that wouldn't work. What they COULD get me were a pair of Sumitomo's, same size, and supposed to be better than the Samsons. Ok, I've never heard of them, but I'll believe ya! They were $90 more per tire, but still much less than the $250+ more for the NEXT best tires, so I told 'em to put 'em up front...

Out with the old:




--and in with the new!




I really like the extra width of the 70 series tire. A shot of the Samson--




And up front, a shot of the Sumitomo--




--if you look real hard, right under the logo on the Sumitomo, it says "MADE IN JAPAN"... to be honest, I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but if this tire is make anything like my cell phone, TV, etc, I'm not going to worry much !

Another shot of my new steers--



--and my new drivers. Note there is NO danger of those tires ever touching each other...




===================

As for my 10 mile test ride, I'm right happy. Based on what I've heard, I was expecting our not-so-smooth back roads to resemble driving over cannonballs, but not so. They put 100psi in the tires, which I figure is a bit much, but the ride up front is nice, actually seems more supple than before. The ride in back is hard to judge since I'm 30' away, but it for sure isn't any worse. Steering and overall "feel" is WAY better. It tracks better, and doesn't seem to squish so much while turning. Since we bought it, I've had a distinct "thump" from the left front tire, that is all gone now (which I expected), the ride up front is dead smooth, like it should be.

So the ride is at least equal and maybe a snick better, to my butt anyway, tracking and road-feel are definitely better than before. 4 tires at $330 and 2 tires @ $420, total cost with tax, $2377.86. Pretty good chunk o' change, but piece of mind is worth it...

Next weekend we'll be putting down about 450 miles, that should be a good test drive! I'll be sure to check back.

[Gary RVRoamer]

Sumitomo is a major tire brand but not well known in the US cause they don't do much with passenger car tires.

[W4MBG]

i am on my second set of sumis on my honda insight. very good tire. i have hit pavement edges from construction that jammed my head into the roof, no tire issues.

[stink]

Nice tires. Just a note, the 70 in the size is the aspect ratio for the tire hight. The 275 is the tread width in Milimeters. so the sidewall hieght would be 70% of the treadwidth of 275 mm. If you went with a 275/85/22.5 the tire would be taller and the same treadwidth. Hope this helps

[clyon51]

I have sumis on my rig which are 6 yrs old. Still look great.

[RustyJC]

Sumitomo is a major Japanese tire maker. I'd feel more confident with those tires than the Samsons, personally. Congratulations and many safe miles.

Rusty

[Steve N Sal]

Great looking tires and hope you get many miles out of them. I'm sure you'll feel a lot better with the new rubber under you. Have a great rving season.

[Patrol 65]

Thanks for the pictures. I am planning to put Samsons on my unit in the next 2 weeks and have never seen a picture of these tires. I am impressed, they look real good. My old tires don't look half as used as yours but they are 6 and 7 years old and I will be hitting the highway in June and don't want to risk a blow out.

[TxRVMan]

I will need new kicks before our Daytona trip next February, so I want to stay close to this thread...we are more "weekenders" than "longhaulers" so I am interested how the value/lesser known brand tires perform...thanks for the pics! I use Yokohamas on my truck and have been very happy with them, so Japanese tires don't concern me at all.

[PlayItForwrd]

Originally Posted by stink

Nice tires. Just a note, the 70 in the size is the aspect ratio for the tire hight. The 275 is the tread width in Milimeters. so the sidewall hieght would be 70% of the treadwidth of 275 mm. If you went with a 275/85/22.5 the tire would be taller and the same treadwidth. Hope this helps

Thanks for refreshing my memory! My brain is still back in high school, when talking 75's, 70's and 60 series tires, the lower number always meant "wider". Guess is still does to a point, but you are correct!

[TXiceman]

Weh have had Sumitomo tires on two of my wife's cars and never had an issue. Never heard of Samson. Where are they made?

One place I do not cut corners is tires and brakes. I want to best I can afford.

Ken

[clyon51]

Originally Posted by TxRVMan

I will need new kicks before our Daytona trip next February

Daytona in Feb? Bike Week?

[Perry White]

Don't feel bad, my Michelins say made in Spain.

[bluepill]

Sumitomo built Dunlop tires for many years. (see wikipedia for details). I sold hundreds of them from 1990 onward, and had almost zero problems. A few sets of D60A2 Dunlops wore too quickly (less than 30 K miles) and they stood behind their 50K treadwear warranty.