Am I the only one?

A little story I will share. I have Double Coin on the Back Toyos on the Front. Was getting ready to go to the foot hills of NC 1st part of this month, checked the tires the rear had small cracks the front none visible, I had al ready checked for tires local No body but me I said I will wait until I get back to get tires, got about 40 miles from my destination had a blow out on the rear inside, I left the MH up there to get a few things taken care, but I will get tires before I come back already ordered them, the age on the tires was about 6-1/2 years old maybe 3 months difference from the fronts and rears . Roy

Sully2 wrote:

SooperDaddy wrote:
Seems that the almost legendary problems that were constantly discussed on this Forum over the past years regarding "China Bomb Tires" have largely disappeared!

:C

The importers and manufacturers finally rolled up there sleeves and insisted on actully increasing QC! What a novel concept!

Can those be recapped?.....:B

Just put in a tube and be on your way.

I gulp when I say it but I'm really starting to appreciate cheap Chinese stuff. Harbor Freight tools has drastically improved in quality for cheap prices. Chinese tires have very much improved. Also their "kit" motorcycles and mopeds have REALLY come a long way.

(2k for a new chopper with lots of chrome - not bad at all)

Wrong Lane wrote:
You may want to check where the Coopers were manufactured. Cooper owns plants in many countries and some Cooper tires sold in North America are manufactured in China.

There is a portion of the DOT code that identifies the manufacturing location. A Google search will provide a chart and explain how to read the code.

Not knocking Chinese tires as I run them myself (Hercules - owned by Cooper)

The "Mesa" brand tires I bought from Tire Kingdom have "Made in USA" molded into the sidewalls and the molded in DOT manufacturer/plant code is "UP", which the NHTSA lookup site lists as Cooper Tire, Findlay, Ohio.

For all those you buy america only better look at the manufacturer code to see where the particular tire is made EXAMPLE for all you Michelin folks:
MICHELIN - OKAMOTO TIRE CORPORATION JAPAN ED
MICHELIN (NIGERIA) LTD. NIGERIA C1
MICHELIN KOREA TIRE COMPANY, LTD. KOREA K0
MICHELIN NORTH AMERICA (CANADA), INC. CANADA B3
MICHELIN NORTH AMERICA (CANADA), INC. CANADA HN
MICHELIN NORTH AMERICA (CANADA), INC. CANADA M5
MICHELIN NORTH AMERICA, INC. USA 4M
MICHELIN NORTH AMERICA, INC. USA B6
MICHELIN NORTH AMERICA, INC. USA B7
MICHELIN NORTH AMERICA, INC. USA B9
MICHELIN NORTH AMERICA, INC. USA M3
MICHELIN REIFENWERKE, A.G. GERMANY FT
MICHELIN REIFENWERKE, A.G. GERMANY FU
MICHELIN REIFENWERKE, A.G. GERMANY FV
MICHELIN REIFENWERKE, A.G. GERMANY FW
MICHELIN SHENYANG TIRE CO., LTD. CHINA 7V
MICHELIN SIAM CO., LTD. THAILAND 0C
MICHELIN TYRE COMPANY, LTD. SCOTLAND F1
MICHELIN TYRE COMPANY, LTD. IRELAND HJ
MICHELIN TYRE COMPANY, LTD. ENGLAND HK
MICHELIN TYRE COMPANY, LTD. ENGLAND HL
MICHELIN TYRE COMPANY, LTD. ENGLAND HM
Mine are Hankook made in Korea code 5M.
There's the link www.tire-information-world.com/dot-company.html
DOT CODE for Companies

You may want to check where the Coopers were manufactured. Cooper owns plants in many countries and some Cooper tires sold in North America are manufactured in China.

There is a portion of the DOT code that identifies the manufacturing location. A Google search will provide a chart and explain how to read the code.

Not knocking Chinese tires as I run them myself (Hercules - owned by Cooper)

I was planning to replace the "Runway" brand Chinese made tires that were installed on our coach in 2008 this year, due to tread wear and age, and was considering another set of Runways for the price and satisfaction with them. On our trip north from Florida however, I had to replace two tires in Georgia on a Sunday afternoon after getting caught up in the debris from an accident that blew one tire and badly cut another. A helpful tow truck driver that stopped by while I was changing the blown tire made a couple of phone calls and directed me to a Tire Kingdom store nearby that had two of the right size tires in stock, and was able to mount them as soon as we got there.

The tires they installed were "Mesa" brand, made by Cooper in Ohio with "4913" date codes, and my out the door cost with mounting, taxes, etc., was just about the same as the Chinese made Runways with shipping, mounting, etc. The only downside, sort of, is that the nearest Tire Kingdom store where we are now in upstate NY is in Williston, VT, about 4 hours away. I say "sort of", because we've already decided to make a 3-4 day trip of it, and stay at a nice campground about 20 minutes away from the tire store while we get the other tires replaced and tour the area. At least I won't have to worry about riding on "China Bombs" anymore... Oh wait, I haven't been worrying about it, they've served us well...

So - 1400 miles a few weeks ago, then 700 more this weekend and I still think I made the right tire choice. The coach rides MUCH better than it ever did with the Goodyear tires.

Good luck.

unionman wrote:
If hankooks are not made in China why is it stamped on the side.

Some are, some are not. The last set I looked at were from Korea.