Budget but decent tires

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by TonyMac

I ordered my Hercules H-902 22.5s from SimpleTire.com. First you go to your local tire shops and ask for installation prices (Les Schwab won in my case).

Around here the Les Schwabs won't mount a tire they didn't sell

[SilverBob]

Originally Posted by wingnuts

I keep reading China bombs on here but haven't seen much to support it.

That's very true and you probably won't see anything to support it. Most of what you read is second/third/fourth hand stories about someone's cousin's neighbor's bartender's brother-in-law who wrecked his motorhome because the Chinese tire blew out with no warning!

I did a LOT of research before I bought Samson tires for our motorhome. I couldn't find a single reported case of one failing in service. I put a set on 4 years ago and haven't looked back. In 24,000 miles, I've never had any problems whatsoever.

After I bought them, I did hear from a gentleman on this forum who experienced sidewall cracking on his Samson GL283s. He also reported that he took them back to the dealer and Samson gave him a refund in short order. I know more than a few Michelin users who only wish they'd gotten that type of customer service.

[Bob_C]

There are plenty of posts and threads about the problems with Chinese manif. tires....

[325BH]

Originally Posted by SilverBob

That's very true and you probably won't see anything to support it. Most of what you read is second/third/fourth hand stories about someone's cousin's neighbor's bartender's brother-in-law who wrecked his motorhome because the Chinese tire blew out with no warning!

If you think the reports of Chinese ST failures is not real, you are either in denial or not paying attention.

Everything I have read about failures is from the folks that had the failure.

The number of folks ditching ST tires for LT tires is pretty legendary.

[1bigmess]

Originally Posted by 325BH

Everything I have read about failures is from the folks that had the failure.

Have you read anything from folks that haven't had any failures?

[SilverBob]

OK, let me clarify. I'm talking about motorhome tires. I'm very aware of the well documented failure rate of the Chinese "ST" tires a few years ago. There's a reason they're called "Blow-Max".

That said, people like to paint with a very broad brush. There are dozens of tire menufacturers in China. Just because one or two might make junk, doesn't mean they're all junk. Do your homework. I wouldn't buy a tire I'd never heard of, no matter where it was made. Similarly, I don't have any problem recommending Samson, Hercules or Double Coin for motorhome use.

[TonyMac]

Originally Posted by bob caldwell

There are plenty of posts and threads about the problems with Chinese manif. tires....

Ok, I'll bite. Name 12. "Plenty" should be more than 12, but if not, name 6 posts or threads about the problems with Chinese manif. tires.

[TonyMac]

Originally Posted by Mr_D

Around here the Les Schwabs won't mount a tire they didn't sell

Maybe, these are mostly franchises and each is run by its local owner. Mine in Utah would, but another tire store down the road would not, and he was the only one who would not. I surveyed 6 local tire shops, 1 would not mount tires not purchased there, 5 quoted me a price, Les Schwab was the best.

So, I drive in with my flat in the trunk. Will they fix a tire I didn't buy there? if the answer is no, you're at a lousy tire shop, go elsewhere.

[onlakegaston]

When I purchased our 2004 motorhome in 2013 it had Samson GL283s all around and they were new. We have driven on those tires for over 30,000 miles and the only problem that we had was an alignment issue and had to replace the steer tires after our trip to Alaska. The steers were replaced with Samson GL283s. I have not had any problems with the tires themselves and will continue running down the road with them.

Jim

[Bob_C]

Originally Posted by TonyMac

Ok, I'll bite. Name 12. "Plenty" should be more than 12, but if not, name 6 posts or threads about the problems with Chinese manif. tires.

I don't need to justify my statement to you, but.....Forest River Forum is full of Chins Bomb issues....

[wingnuts]

Did a bit of searching for China bomb,

Seems like the only tire called China bomb are the castle Rock 10 ply st tire, what's funny is most changed out to what others are calling China bombs (Sailun made in china) and have great results...[emoji2]

[SilverBob]

Originally Posted by bob caldwell

.....Forest River Forum is full of Chins Bomb issues....

I just spent an hour reading back through the 15 most recent pages of the Forest River Owners' Forum (back to 8/28/2015). I didn't see a single post about tire failures of any kind. Maybe you could point me in the right direction?

[BigBillSD]

Tires are like a religion. Everyone is right that theirs are best. Marketing is king. If the company's marketing is great, so are the tires.

You can be pretty confident if someone was selling inadequate tires you would know. So if you have heard of them and someone you've talked to has used them and liked them, then they are probably as good as any other tire out there. It's all marketing, and if you don't understand that you may need higher doses of your medications to allow a greater understanding of how capitalism works.

The Firestone debacle comes to mine in regards to the inadequate tire realm

For the past 30 years I have always bought car & truck tires based on an out the door pricing theory. I called most of the dealers in town and give them a size and weight range for the vehicle and asked for the best out the door price for tires for that vehicle. Each time it usually a ended with a different tire vendor and manufacturer for new tires on my vehicle. Never had an issue with the tires bought. The first time I tried it, I had seen So Cal Discount tires billboards about 4 tires for $100 back in the late 1980's. I went into one of their stores and said I wanted that deal for my F-150. The sales guys exact words were, "sir, those are entry level tires" My response to him was "What does that mean, are you saying should not do hot laps over at Willow Springs Raceway with them"?
He was stumped at that response, he only new what the marketing slicks told him to say. Those "entry level" tires went double the miles that the Bridge Stones which came with the truck gave me. I have never looked back. If you can sell the tires in the the USA (they have a DOT mark). Then if you pay more, you can tell everyone you paid more for your tires.

The marketing says you are good!

-Bill

[BRex45]

Glory, LingLong or DongFeng, a Hyundai subsidiary.