Otani tires

[Gnomads]

Has anyone used Otani OH-152’s?

[theroc]

We were recently discussing Otani in another recent forum.

I'll see if I can find a link to it while you're waiting for those who might be using Otani chime in and give you their opinion.


I think it's a very good tire at a very good price. The commercial trucking sector has good things to say about it. It's a Thai company and the tires are coming from a factory there in Thailand. There are an increasing number of commercial truck tires, or tires in general, coming from Thailand and they are gaining a pretty good reputation.






edited to add: I first expressed my opinion on the Otani OH 152 back in Novermeber in this post:

post #3 in Tires, Tires, Tires everywhere

Then I mentioned them again in this post in a thread in February:

post #19 in Motorhome “Economy” Tires

^ read through the posts on that entire thread as it will give you a better insight on just how many choices there are when looking for a good quality tire and not paying Michelin prices ...or even Toyo, Yokohama, Hankook, Firestone, etc. etc. prices.

[bse53]

I was all set to buy Otani tires from my local tire store. We agreed that any date newer than 6 months old was reasonable.
When he called his supplier, they said they couldn't guarantee that and he asked about one year.
They were going to check and get back to him, who said he would let me know.
I didn't hear back from him on Friday, so I'll find out Monday.

They are a good price, so I may have no choice but to accept the year old tires-- or keep looking. I imagine the age actually won't have a great effect, since they won't have been subjected to any uv light.

I bought a 2004 Class A last fall, and we immediately went on a trip to Montana. Turns out the rear tires were 20 years old (orignal tires), and the steer tires were almost 8 years old. We totaled about 1,000 miles on the trip and had no issues, but we're going to replace them before heading out this spring.

[Gnomads]

Originally Posted by bse53

I was all set to buy Otani tires from my local tire store. We agreed that any date newer than 6 months old was reasonable.
When he called his supplier, they said they couldn't guarantee that and he asked about one year.
They were going to check and get back to him, who said he would let me know.
I didn't hear back from him on Friday, so I'll find out Monday.

They are a good price, so I may have no choice but to accept the year old tires-- or keep looking. I imagine the age actually won't have a great effect, since they won't have been subjected to any uv light.

I bought a 2004 Class A last fall, and we immediately went on a trip to Montana. Turns out the rear tires were 20 years old (orignal tires), and the steer tires were almost 8 years old. We totaled about 1,000 miles on the trip and had no issues, but we're going to replace them before heading out this spring.

Let us know how it turns out.

[Dennis C.]

I went to a performance driving school a few years ago at Road Atlanta. We drove cars on the track and also did some exercises on the slalom course and the skid pad. While changing the tires for one of our driving days, the crew found a set of brand new, unmounted tires in the warehouse that were five years old. They hadn’t been exposed to sunlight while in storage.

I had the opportunity to take a run on the slalom course with a set of fresh, brand new tires, and then take a run with the five year old “new” tires. I ran the course in the same car. The tires were the same make, model, and size. The difference between the two sets of tires was dramatic and I could feel it immediately. The five year old tires were much stiffer, and had much less grip. My slalom time was much lower on the new five year old tire.

Obviously a motorhome tire isn’t the same as a performance tire for a sports car. That said, this showed me that tires change with age, even if they’re stored and maintained perfectly. I think about this experience whenever I hear about people driving an RV or a car on older tires. The tread may look good, but that doesn’t mean the tire will perform the way you expect it to perform.

I wouldn’t worry about a new tire that was manufactured less than one year ago. If it’s older than that, I might select another brand or tire.

[Reprobate]

In a tire used on a vehicle where tires usually age out before they wear out, I always shoot for less than 3 months old manufacture date. So far, I have been successful.
Why pay for a tire you have already lost a year on?

[FIRE UP]

Well,
At present, I cannot speak for motorhome tires but, can talk about a car tire on my motorcycle. Yes, I did say a CAR TIRE on a MOTORCYCLE! It's called going to the DARK SIDE when you do that. I've ran a few car tires on my Goldwings and I'm still alive to talk about it. Anyway, my most recent purchase, an Otani EK2000 205 60 16 is working flawlessly and I'm expecting many thousands of miles on it. So far, I'm completely happy with it. I didn't know they made motorhome tires. I'll definitely have to look into those when ours get a bit more mature, about 3-4 years from now.
Scott

P.S. Sorry about the crooked pic folks, my crazy-a$$ phone does that and I always forget on how to correct it.

[bse53]

The tire store I've used over the years was unable to get the Otani tires, so I ended up buying them from Walmart for $181 (245/70-19.5)

Took them to the local Les Schwab. They charged $55/ tire. They added balance beads I'd bought on Amazon.

Haven't taken a trip so I can't say whether they're quieter/smoother. I also ended up replacing all the tires including the spare. Time will tell whether or not it was a good purchase.

[theroc]

Please keep us informed as I'm curious as to the comments and reactions of those who are using them on motorhomes. As I've said, they have a very good reputation in the trucking sector and they may be a good alternative to those RVers wanting a good quality tire that is priced substantially below the well-known brands.

Thanks also for mentioning Les Schwab as I made a comment in another recent thread that at one time --or at some locations-- they discouraged or didn't want to install/mount tires purchased elsewhere ...or at least charged horrendously for the service. So I'm glad to hear what you've reported.

[bse53]

I thought $55 (including stem) was high, but every tire shop in town was charging the same.

Welcome to the world of Motorhomes?

Les Schwab has two stores in our town of 25,000 and one of them is designated the truck tire store-- the other store will install up to 19.5 tires.
The "truck" store still just wrestled the tire off with bars.

The Walmart website said the local store could mount the tires for $17.50. I called the store and they said they didn't do truck tires.

The tires by the way, had a date code of 3322, Which makes them about 9 mo. old.

[theroc]

That price sounds reasonable to me but it's been awhile so I'm not up-to-date on what the charges might be.

I few years ago, a neighbor ordered car tires online and said the installer charged him a bit over $35 per tire so but that was over here on "the coast" i.e. Puget Sound area.

Thanks for the update! Let us know of what you think of the ride and handling when you get the chance.

[bse53]

We've taken a couple of short trips with the Otani tires. I'm not sure whether it's my imagination, but it seems as if the steer tires tend to "squirm". The previous tires were 8 year old Michelin's but I don't remember if they were any different. At that point I had nothing to compare them to.
I would say it seems like I have to apply a fair amount of turn to get the tires to actually turn. The tires are rated for all positions, but I wonder if manufacturers that have specific grade of tires for the steer position have a harder compound.
As I said, this may all be my imagination.
The real question of their value will be in a few years.

[Gnomads]

I got the Otani’s for the rear axel. The ride home was great. Haven’t gone anywhere yet but will let you know

[nautilife]

i just put two on the steering axle. been a little over 200 miles and they feel fine with no noise. now to replace the four on the rear being i had a blowout last night.