Tire Manufacturers

[padgett]

There have been several threads on tires lately. Must admit I am funny: my preference is to buy American when possible. Sometimes I even pay a little more to do so. Also like to deal with stores in Florida where I can touch the item.

Also I tend to buy quality non-perishables since tend to keep things waaay past their sell-by date. Again pay a little more but with all of the Outlet malls around Orlando having major chains trying to hook tourists, prices are surprisingly low (a Prada outlet opens here next week, already have Cartier, Tiffany's, and Brooks Bros...). Nobody pays retail and if you ask, Florida residents often get an additional discount.

Just as an example, a leather Coach purse "Ashley" (don't ask) F15513 in Mahogany, MSRP $398, Amazon $269.99, eBay BIN - $239-$244, Orlando Coach store about 10 miles from my house $160.30 With guarentee.

For Tires, I usually get either Michelins or BFG (same company, both made in the USA and available at Sam's for the same price (within a dollar or two) as TireRack. Since I only buy when the sales are on, that is $60-$70 off a set of four.

How do I know where they are made ? It is in the DOT label, the first two letters and the codes may be found at the NHTSA site . Uncheck everything except tires and fill in either the code or the mfr.

For example Kumho tires are mde in many places but the DOT code tells all:

KUMHO AND CO., INC.

DOT Y0 Address GOKSUNG-GUN, CHOLLA NAM-DO KOREA

KUMHO TIRE (CHANGCHUN ) CO., INC.

DOT D0 Address CHANGCHUN, JILIN CHINA

KUMHO TIRE (VIETNAM) CO. LTD.

DOT K2 Address BINH DUONG PROVINCE, VIETNAM

KUMHO TIRE CO., INC.

DOT H2 Address GWANGSAN-GU, GWANGJU KOREA

KUMHO TIRE TIANJIN CO., INC.

DOT C0 Address TIANJIN, CHINA

KUMHO TIRE(CHANGCHUN) CO., INC.

DOT FE Address CHANGCHUN, JILIN PROVINCE CHINA

Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chancet.

Edited November 19, 2011 by padgett (see edit history)

[Guest Mc_Reatta]

Just saw where china is manufacturing colored tires. They add dyes to bleached rubber to make many different shades.

So now you can color coordinate or contrast your tires to the body.

Guess it remains to be seen how the will perform and hold up to standard rubber ones.

http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/sc...tion-line.html

Kumho also makes tires that emit colored and scented smoke on burn outs for the drifter crowd!

[Guest Richard D]

As I remember when Michlens Radials were a new item the only place to buy them was Sears. Or is that a false memory?

[padgett]

I first heard of the Michelin X radials in the early sixties. Then they were blamed for sudden breakaway under hard cornering in the wet but were considered superior until the limit was reached. They also had a distinctive tread pattern.

Think that Sears entered the scene in the late sixties about the time they became standard on the Lincoln MK III.

Really dredging but were the early ones known as the X-Stop ? See Coker .

Edited November 21, 2011 by padgett (see edit history)

[wws944]

My memories are similar to Padgetts. Yes, Sears did sell a lot of them. However the first set that I bought, probably around 1974 or so (for my dads '70 Electra), were from a Michelin tire dealer.

IMO, the shift to radial tire technology was one of the undoings of the major tire companies of the era, and cause for much of the buyouts and consolidation that followed in the 1980s and 90s. It took the rest of the industry a good 10-15 years to start to catch up. I can well imagine that Michelin probably held a lot of the 'good' patents and so the others either had to pay royalties or issue FUD about 'sudden breakaway' until they could get their own acts together.

[padgett]

US Mfrs were dragged kicking and screaming into the radial era with a whole raft of "bias-belted" tires and the letter (A-L) size designations. It was the need to maximise MPG that finally triggered the change to full radials with metric (P-metric) sizing.

[Ronnie]

Anyone remember when "Wide Oval" tires were such a hit? That was probably in the mid-late sixties through the mid seventies. They were my favorite tires. They just looked cool... especially with the narrow red or blue stripe on the sidewall.

[padgett]

"Wide Oval" was a Firestone trademark. "Polyglas GT" was Goodyear.

Edited November 21, 2011 by padgett (see edit history)