Tire ???

rzrgade

Active VIP Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2008
Messages
7,580
Reaction score
14,760
Location
West of Toronto
A little late in the season but an interesting ? None the less .
Chinese tires ( off shore too ?) Whats the deal, are there good ones ? All crap ?
All over the place ? I just put a set on the wife's car 668$ installed . Chev dealer quoted me 1740 $ ( yes that # is correct) tire shops from 900ish to 1400+....
For a variety of tires , off shore to trendy big names .
What a HUGE range in prices , in fact ridiculous! I have run Chinese bobcat tires / trailer tires / atv tires etc ...
Most were good , a few crap .. But for the price , very satisfied.
Can some one explain to me how a set of very similar tires can cost almost double to triple as much ?
Is there that much mark up ?
Just curious , more than anything ...
Thoughts ...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

takethebounce

Active VIP Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2008
Messages
5,193
Reaction score
8,750
Location
calgary
Who wouldn't trust Chinese branded tires to get their loved ones home safely...


But honestly I wouldn't put Chinese rubber on my bicycle. I am sure there are one or two which are good brands but I have yet to see one wear well. I would much sooner throw on a set of cheap Hercules tires (made by cooper in the US) or something from Korea like hankooks or kumho than Chinese.
 

sirkdev

Active VIP Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2008
Messages
3,142
Reaction score
5,000
Location
Stony Plain
A guy I work with is on his 3rd set of muteki trail hogs and loves them. 2/3 the price of duratracs. Another guy I know did not even make it home and all 4 of his muteki's had visual defects like blisters and separation. I think quality can be hit or miss for sure. How lucky are you today...
 

rzrgade

Active VIP Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2008
Messages
7,580
Reaction score
14,760
Location
West of Toronto
It seems that way ... Though my skid steer tires have been great


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

takethebounce

Active VIP Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2008
Messages
5,193
Reaction score
8,750
Location
calgary
The hercules tires I have on my motorhome are made in china not the usa.

Are they stamped as such? I know the last Hercules specialty tires I had came with a 3 year warranty and were made in the US. Cooper tires owns them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

drew562

Active VIP Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2008
Messages
4,898
Reaction score
18,924
Location
edmonton
This fall I bought a set of 35" chino mud/Snow tires. Forget the name. $1100 for all 4. They couldn't be balanced. 5 times they tried. Returned them for a full refund and bought some toyo's for double the price. They Balanced perfect first time
 

Stompin Tom

Active VIP Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2009
Messages
3,787
Reaction score
8,136
Location
BC
Are they stamped as such? I know the last Hercules specialty tires I had came with a 3 year warranty and were made in the US. Cooper tires owns them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Hercules are now made in china, owned by cooper, branded as such, but manufactured in china.
 

Stompin Tom

Active VIP Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2009
Messages
3,787
Reaction score
8,136
Location
BC
the biggest thing I notice with china built tires is the rubber compounding sucks. For the most part they are on about par with hockey pucks. They do not invest any money into R&D, they copy and build to the lowest common denominator.

Things like bobcat tires, low use trailer tires, situations where compounding isnt a big deal they seem fine, their quality of manufacturing is getting a little better. There are china built brands that are better than others but as a whole they are still a bottom tier tire.
 

team dirt

Active VIP Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2008
Messages
2,078
Reaction score
5,443
Location
brooks ab/seymour arm
Website
www.sledseymourarm.ca
I was looking at the Chinese winters for the wife's SUV but decided against them. Just couldn't bring myself to put those on her vehicle. I ended up putting on Nokian hakapellita 8's. Their factory studded and had great reviews. So far they have been great.
 

Stompin Tom

Active VIP Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2009
Messages
3,787
Reaction score
8,136
Location
BC
Who wouldn't trust Chinese branded tires to get their loved ones home safely...


But honestly I wouldn't put Chinese rubber on my bicycle. I am sure there are one or two which are good brands but I have yet to see one wear well. I would much sooner throw on a set of cheap Hercules tires (made by cooper in the US) or something from Korea like hankooks or kumho than Chinese.
When the Koreans came into the market they were thought of the same as the chinese now, but they got better and are now a decent tire but not cheap anymore. Hercules is one of the better chinese built tires, but non the less still chinese.
 

Stompin Tom

Active VIP Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2009
Messages
3,787
Reaction score
8,136
Location
BC
A little late in the season but an interesting ? None the less .
Chinese tires ( off shore too ?) Whats the deal, are there good ones ? All crap ?
All over the place ? I just put a set on the wife's car 668$ installed . Chev dealer quoted me 1740 $ ( yes that # is correct) tire shops from 900ish to 1400+....
For a variety of tires , off shore to trendy big names .
What a HUGE range in prices , in fact ridiculous! I have run Chinese bobcat tires / trailer tires / atv tires etc ...
Most were good , a few crap .. But for the price , very satisfied.
Can some one explain to me how a set of very similar tires can cost almost double to triple as much ?
Is there that much mark up ?
Just curious , more than anything ...
Thoughts ...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

the price difference comes down to a few things, first quality of manufacturing. The Chinese dont spend to much money on quality assurance, spit them out and warranty more. 2nd is the quality of the raw materials. The Chinese are not know for buying the best of raw materials, they will go pretty low down the pole to save money. Third is R&D, when is the last time the Chinese have brought out an original product? Almost everything they do is a copy cat product, they run pretty much the same compounding in everything, basically one cake batter used in every recipe. Last is marketing, they simply spend no money on it. Warehousing? Virtually no cost, they sell container load to dealers, direct ship, no middle men.

Simply you get what your pay for. If your comfortable running the lowest end tire on the market in exchange for the lowest price, then they are great. I use some in industrial applications and have Chinese brand tires on a couple of my trailers, but personal and work vehicles, I prefer a better quality tire.
 

rzrgade

Active VIP Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2008
Messages
7,580
Reaction score
14,760
Location
West of Toronto
It seems that as with most Chinese stuff there are different levels of quality...
Know which are good and bad is the hard part ...
I think most people would be surprised to find out how many brand name tires are made in China .
It's all about the standards the company sticks too..,
But I agree with Tom , they are a cheaper alternative.
The part that blows me away is the price difference is getting insane ...
That and the quality of Chinese stuff ( not all) increases pretty fast . They cheat & steal ideas , and it speeds up the process in a hurry it would appear....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Stompin Tom

Active VIP Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2009
Messages
3,787
Reaction score
8,136
Location
BC
It seems that as with most Chinese stuff there are different levels of quality...
Know which are good and bad is the hard part ...
I think most people would be surprised to find out how many brand name tires are made in China .
It's all about the standards the company sticks too..,
But I agree with Tom , they are a cheaper alternative.
The part that blows me away is the price difference is getting insane ...
That and the quality of Chinese stuff ( not all) increases pretty fast . They cheat & steal ideas , and it speeds up the process in a hurry it would appear....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

When you say "brand name" are you implying Bridgestone, Firestone, Goodyear or Mastercraft, Hercules, Riken?
 

Stompin Tom

Active VIP Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2009
Messages
3,787
Reaction score
8,136
Location
BC
It seems that as with most Chinese stuff there are different levels of quality...
Know which are good and bad is the hard part ...
I think most people would be surprised to find out how many brand name tires are made in China .
It's all about the standards the company sticks too..,
But I agree with Tom , they are a cheaper alternative.
The part that blows me away is the price difference is getting insane ...
That and the quality of Chinese stuff ( not all) increases pretty fast . They cheat & steal ideas , and it speeds up the process in a hurry it would appear....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

One last point on offshore tires, it may be hard to believe but dealer profit margins are usually best on the cheaper tires. On a Chinese tire end user dealers are usually running on about a 30-40% markup, where as with with big names, Bridgestone, Micheline it is much harder to get into the 20-30% range. One of the main reasons the mom and pop tire stores are pushing the offshore (Chinese) brands so hard.
 

sirkdev

Active VIP Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2008
Messages
3,142
Reaction score
5,000
Location
Stony Plain
It seems that as with most Chinese stuff there are different levels of quality...
Know which are good and bad is the hard part ...
I think most people would be surprised to find out how many brand name tires are made in China .
It's all about the standards the company sticks too..,
But I agree with Tom , they are a cheaper alternative.
The part that blows me away is the price difference is getting insane ...
That and the quality of Chinese stuff ( not all) increases pretty fast . They cheat & steal ideas , and it speeds up the process in a hurry it would appear....



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

i agree with your thoughts. I have excellent luck with Toyos no matter the variation but the price..makes you think about going cheap
 

Cdnfireman

Active VIP Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2012
Messages
2,726
Reaction score
9,527
Location
Alberta
I've never found going cheap n anything pays off in the long run. Doesn't mean that you have to get top of the line either, but usually the cheap stuff is cheap for a reason. I've never thrown a tool across the shop because it was GOOD quality...
 

Cyle

Active VIP Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
7,171
Reaction score
4,722
Location
edmonton
I don't buy the whole everything from china is crap, there are plenty of well known brands that make garbage tires, it's in the specific brand. Everyone praises toyo's, ran them for part of a winter, i'd rather have had hockey pucks they were complete garbage, would never put another toyo tire on anything. My one truck I bought with trail guides on them, guessing they are no name (at least i've never heard of them) they are the best mud AT i've ever had, very good on snow and ice, i'd buy a set in a second. Been trying to track down a place that sells them as I got one damaged in the sidewall, but no luck.
 
Top Bottom