What's the deal with tires these days?

T. Erdelyi

T. Erdelyi

Joined
Feb 3, 2001
Messages
32,359
I just replaced the rear tires on my 2000 Explorer, the truck has 100,000 miles on it, the suspensions in perfect shape, the truck's never been hit, I've had it up on the lift and it's perfect underneath.

Still I've had 2 tires from the same manufacturer pop a belt, not only me but my buddy has a Taurus and had the same problem with another tire manufacturer, I can remember when steel belted radials were rare on a car, (that's how long ago I started drivin') I rarely remember hearin' about belts shiftin' or poppin' once they became standard on cars.

Hell I used to run tires till the belts started to break through and never had this problem, (yea, I know real safe but back then it went like this with my money, beer or tires, beer or tires, hell the tires ain't flat and I got no beer so the clear winner here was the beer.:) :thumbup:)

Now all of a sudden in the last year I've heard 7 other people besides myself have the same complaint and even the guy that did my tires said he's noticed an increase in the same complaint.

Are most tires bein' made elsewhere and I'm just bein' ignorant of that fact or is the QC at the tire plants bein' ignored by the workers?

Anyone else been havin' this problem?
 
I would think where it is made would make a difference and suspect that many recognized name may now be made in China. Also there is an issue this days with long term storage of tires after manufacture with some degradation occurring in storage.
 
What brands? I have noticed that cheaper tires wear out quickly negating the cost savings. You save a few bucks at the time of purchase, but you lose it when you end up back at the tire dealer.
 
you have to pay for quality. the wife and i drive a 1999 gmc sierra 1/4 ton 4wd it cost us 1200 bucks for a new set.
the last set was the same except it was 6 yrs ago and cost $800. with the price of oil so goes tires...
regardles, cheap tires don't last... if your buying from china/mexico. well, what do you expect?
 
I inherited a car from my mother-in-law when she died (sounds like the start of a joke). Being a retiree on a limited income she bought cheap tires. The brand names were Triangle, Dark Horse, and Blackstone! I think the treads were probably going to last a long time but they had almost zero wet weather grip. OK, the ESP & ABS keep you out of the scenery but I was going to get seizures from the light flashing on rainy days. Replaced them Goodrich Sport T/As all round, Much better.

As to the OP's problem, are your local roads worse for potholes these days? Seems to be an area of cost cutting and I suspect harder on tires.
 
don't know where you live, but a rain tire down here is very high on the list.... my 03 Explorer Sport (2 door) has 120K on it... I change tires about every 45K or sooner if I feel any hydroplaning.... get really good service from Cooper tires...
 
After burning through the factory Goodyear's and a set of Michelin, I've finally settled on Toyo's for my Honda Element. Mine are the Open Country model and they wear like iron. I'm very happy with them. Mostly Pirrelli's and Hoosier's on the "fun" cars.
 
I've seen some brand new Hankook tires come apart on new F150 company vehicles. My wife has a newer Focus with Kumho's ( another Ford factory installed Korean made tire) and they're pretty much shot at 30K miles. They sound like someone is beating on a rubber raft when crossing bridge expansion joints too. Absolute crap.

On my last three vehicles I've run Kelly Navigators or Navigator Golds and love 'em. I got 60K out of my last set. They aren't performance tires by any stretch of the word but they work fine in snow rain and Michigan's pot hole covered highways. They're quiet and I've yet to have one fail.
 
These were Michelins, don't misunderstand me these tires probably had 40,000+ miles on it, it's just that it seems odd that this has happened more than I can remember in the recent past. maybe I just never noticed the belts shiftin' or poppin' in the past cause I drove old cars that had old wore out suspensions, or I drove little 4 cylinder gas savers where the light cars didn't test the strength of the belts.

I'm not a fan of cheap tires, I know ya get what ya pay for.
 
Sounds environmental to me. I have a set of Chinese Kuhmo's and they are impossible to balance. They go out of round easy as well. They'll be my last. It's back to BFG/AT's for my truck and hi-end Michelins on my car.
 
Hankook ? While Hankook makes various tires and some are top of the line they also make junk !! My F-150 came with terrible tires , so bad I threw them out ! My mechanics said that other car makers are doing similar things .They save a few bucks by putting on junk tires. The only thing that separates you from disaster are brakes and tires so I want them top quality ! Shame on Ford.
 
T. Erdelyi said:
These were Michelins, don't misunderstand me these tires probably had 40,000+ miles on it, it's just that it seems odd that this has happened more than I can remember in the recent past. maybe I just never noticed the belts shiftin' or poppin' in the past cause I drove old cars that had old wore out suspensions, or I drove little 4 cylinder gas savers where the light cars didn't test the strength of the belts.

I'm not a fan of cheap tires, I know ya get what ya pay for.
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Assuming that they weren't LT's(light truck tires have no mileage guarantee), it sounds like you were in for some compensation. Michelin stands by their products, and they would surely pro-rate their tires.:thumbup:
 
slapper said:
Assuming that they weren't LT's(light truck tires have no mileage guarantee), it sounds like you were in for some compensation. Michelin stands by their products, and they would surely pro-rate their tires.:thumbup:
Click to expand...

I'll have to ask my buddy on Monday maybe I can get something back.
 
T. Erdelyi said:
I'll have to ask my buddy on Monday maybe I can get something back.
Click to expand...

You should, Michelin charges a premium for...you guessed it premium tires. They should definately last as long as they say they will(their name rides on it).
 
I have been driving for 40 years now and have noticed the same thing - newer tires are junk. I ran Michelins on the previous car and had balance problems, leaks, and they easily punctured. 15 years ago I had a one week old, new steel belted radial tire detonate into shards while driving down a highway. There was absolutely nothing on the road. In addition is the brutal cost of new rubber nowadays.
 
For quite a few years I have been using Toyos. I have an 02 Dodge 2500 4x4 x-cab with the Cummins diesel that I bought new. I had a set of Toyo Open Country's on it. They had a little over 40,000 miles on them, and still had tread left, unfortunately I put a stick through the sidewall. The guy at the tire shop told me they usually don't see that good of mileage on the type of truck I have. I keep em rotated and check the air pressure regularly...

It now has a set of Toyo M-55's on it. Great tires, and I don't have to worry about putting anything through the sidewall again. They are tough.

Toyos are one of the best tires on big trucks too. Never had any seperation, and they wear great.

I got a little side tracked, but back to your original post, I really don't know why new tires would be having these issues. For what they charge for the damn things, they should hold together. I guess like everything else, they are cutting corners. Tires are not a good place to cut corners though
 
I got the mfg mileage estimate on my Goodyears -60k? I forgot. I think the key is rotating the tires and proper air pressure. Also, those people with full size spares should use them in the rotation. Doing that I was able to buy new tires at 85K.

If you, think about the cost; tires are not a place to save money and sacrifice safety. If a tire last 60K and costs $140 = $2.33/1,000 miles
 
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