gladiator tires

My understanding is that all the Maxxis ST tires are manufactured in Thailand.

And let's not confuse PRC with ROC.

The problem tires from 'China' seem to come from PRC - only.

Tim

agreed, Went into the warehouse to visual inspect the tire I was about to purchase. I'm confident with my purchase, and happy with the product.

Campinfan wrote:


I will continue to buy American stuff when I can. Just put new Cooper tires on my truck...made in USA. And they were cheaper than the foreign junk.

You may already have "Foreign Junk"..;)

Check your tires for country of origin.
Some mfg in USA - some mfg at "CCT".

Either way, Cooper probably won't be made in the USA much longer - in fact it was almost gone - lock, stock, and barrel to India Tire mfg Apollo - but Cooper's Chinese partner Chengshan (Shandong) Tire Company balked at the Apollo takeover and went on strike & locked out Cooper mgmt.

Strike caused major losses for Cooper..:(

It's known as "CCT" for Cooper Chengshan Tire.

Apollo is suing Cooper.

However, apparently Cooper has a separate billion dollar tire mfg facility in China.

Google: "Cooper and Chinese partner Extend Deadline" -
that will get you to Modern Tire Dealer with lots of related links for additional articles at the bottom of the page.

And/or simply Google: Cooper Tire Chinese Partner.

Kinda like an ongoing soap opera - you need to find the latest episode to get "caught up"!..:W

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Campinfan wrote:


and hence the problem with Chinese stuff...I firmly believe they do it on purpose so they can put US manufacturing out of business.

There is no problem with "Chinese stuff". (won't go into dog food, LOL!)

The Chinese are very capable of mfg anything to the desired specs.

Ex: As in other countries, Michelin has two mfg facilities in Mainland China (the PRC).

Most major tire companies don't want their name on ST tires.
Bad karma with name recognition when they fail!..:(

One in particular had major ST failures -and still does- when their tires were mfg in the USA.
The tires fault or the owner's fault?
Doesn't matter - still bad karma for the brand name.


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GoPackGo wrote:

Get rid of the TowMax for sure.
I switched to Maxxis M8008.
Not made in China, And have a very good reputation.

"Not made in China".

Cheng Shin Rubber Company (Maxxis) originated and is headquartered in The Republic of China (ROC).
Previously known as Formosa - and also Taiwan.

Cheng Shin Rubber Company (Maxxis) manufactures tires in:
The Republic of China (ROC) = Taiwan.
Thailand.
Vietnam.
And also at two mfg facilities in the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Soooo - are your tires mfg in "China"?..:@.

If so - which "China"..:h.. - or maybe Vietnam or Thailand?..:h

The country of origin code on the tires should tell..;)

Maxxis -10th largest tire mgr in the world - does have a good reputation..:C

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I had put Coopers on a 1997 F350 Dually and put 20,000 miles on them before I sold the truck. They were wearing good and no problems.

Ken

and hence the problem with Chinese stuff...I firmly believe they do it on purpose so they can put US manufacturing out of business, then by the time everyone knows what junk they make,there are no alternatives. I believe they call it "dumping". They do it with tires, kids toys, dog food, etc...Remember the recent dog food issues...there have been more than one recently. Latest I think was chicken jerky treats for dogs.

I will continue to buy American stuff when I can. Just put new Cooper tires on my truck...made in USA. And they were cheaper than the foreign junk.

2oldman wrote:
Search gladiator

Yeah -
search a bit further than the "glitzy" Gladiator site (link) posted by "TXiceman"..:R..:S

In the 2007 news release (Rubber News dot com), the API (American pacific Industries) CEO refused to disclose the name of the Chinese tire manufacturing plant in Quindao, China.

More recently.....(July 2014 - Modern Tire Dealer)...

*ILLEGAL* GLADIATOR LT and ST TIRES FAIL CUSTOMS

Can you say, "Buyer Beware"??

Those tires could have been.......YOURS !!..:S

On edit: (in the linked article) -
"These were contraband tires shipped to the US illegally", says Jeff Krietzamn. CEO of API. "They never cleared customs, they were scrap tires, we don't even know where they came from".

Kinda like one of those cop shows - when the cop gets permission to search the car of the guy he just pulled over.

"Who do the drugs under the front seat belong to?"
(Who do these tires in the shipping container belong to?)

A. "Not me. Somebody must have left them there".

"But they're under the *your* seat!"
(But the shipping container was shipped to you).

A. "Not mine! I don't know how they got there"..:R

Hmmmmm .....maybe they came from the same "undisclosed" mfg plant in China - the same plant the CEO referenced in 2007?
Guess he *still* doesn't know where they come from after seven (7) years, ROTFL..:B

Maybe it's just me - but I'll pass on API's Gladiators..:W


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I believe it's been stated here in the past that Sailun has good QA in place, which may be why they end up with a better reputation.

The problem is figuring out which tires are good and which are not.

We've had a Gladiator brand made in the USA around here for many years sold mostly from farm and ranch stores/grain elevator's/small town tire stores/etc. I have no idea if the tire in question is made in china or the house brand from a USA tire manufacture.

There are some very good P and LT tires from china/korea and other rim countries as evident by the all steel carcass Sailun S637 LT235/85-16 G tire @3750 lb/110 psi.

IMO most folks that have had issues with china made ST tires may be of the opinion that all china made tires (P and LT) are junk which simply isn't the case.