Tires

[birdog1960]

birdog - ease up. I'm sorry you had a bad experience. I have substantial knowledge about tire technology - it goes beyond TireRack info and proceeds to things like slip angle, rubber hysteresis, compounding, tribology, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

 

I'm not a lay person - I know the business and the technology. I worked in Process Engineering and Materials, and corrosion control. I fought battles with the money people and stylists over tires. Some tread designs pick up the little road stones, then over time fling them onto and into the fenders and rocker boxes that I worked to protect. The battle of engineers vs. stylists re wide tires and lousy compounding and tread design continues today.

 

The OP asked for help from our membership, and said that replacement tires and the choices out there was not within his ken. Fair questions. I responded, as did others. He mentioned the area where he lived. His vehicle, its' age. I made a recommendation, and mentioned TireRack as a useful source of information, as well as price. Several other poster also spoke well of that business.

 

Were Virgil living in Alabama, or lives in Minnesota, I might have made different recommendations.

 

We must not fight.

not fighting. I honestly think there are reasons to avoid Chinese tires (actually there are at least 450,000 reasons as that's the number of the biggest recall) especially house brands and I think the op should be aware of this before making a choice. But I am more than a little irked at tire rack for selling chinese house brand tires that their vp of marketing states (in the msnbc article that I cited) he wouldn't want on a car traveling behind him. I find this topic interesting outside my own experience as well as it involves protectionism, tariffs, unions (Steel workers represent US tire workers and us regulatory agencies-NHSTA). So, as someone with insight into the industry how do you feel about Chinese tires safety in general or branded vs nonbranded? (btw,the nonbranded tires origin is often not disclosed by dealers) There's a chance your Kumho's came from there as they have a plant there. In my opinion it may well be that the branded Chinese made tires are as good as those made anywhere (especially Michelin, given their reported excellent quality control) but why take a chance?

[ExiledInIllinois]

EEI - probably time to take it out and give it a look-over. They carry a lot of pressure. Yours might need a top-up. Be sure to check the valve core to see if it needs snugging up.

 

 

Thanks... I usually try and check them once or twice a year... Even lower the tire and keep the mech lubed under the car.

 

About the Chinese tires... Many Hankooks are made in China. I had to get the high performance ones because the Chyrsler I have uses 19" wheels... The Optimos I bought were made in Japan.