my expierence with chinese truck tyres!

[Master ACiD]

my 97 dodge ram 2500 cummins diesel truck needs new tyres in the rear. the current tyres which are michelin xps rib are aewsome tyres, i dont have a single complaint on them.
http://www.michelinman.com/construction/xps_rib/30.html
but they are expensive, at $230 a piece from walmart. they are a heavy truck tyre with a load range E (over 3000lbs per tyre at 80psi.)

i was looking around on ebay and found a set of geo-trac load range E tyres in my size that has comparible specs to the michelnis. the only questionable problem was they were made in china, but the price of $80 each was too good to pass up. i made an order and installed them myself.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=66474&item=260092951498
finst impression were that the sidewalls seemed thinner and more flexible compared to the michelins but maybe that is because my michelins are old. driving around with no trailer and no load in the bed, the tyres were fantastic. once i added a load of a 500lb motorcycle in the bed, all the sudden the truck wanders all over the highway and i had to adtively fight to keep it tracking straight. it felt like a tractor trailer was continuely passing me and blowing me around. so i jacked up the air pressure to the max on the sidewall (80psi). this helped out some but i still had to fight the truck. i didnt feel safe going over 55mph. when i added my 7000lb gvwr (1700lb actual) car hauling trailer and a (2900lbs actual) car to the load, i didnt feel safe going over 45mph because the truck wanted to violently go off the road or into oncomming traffic.

with my old michenlins i could do 85-90 all day long with this same load, and using a lesser tyre pressure to boot. so tomorrow i am going to walmart to buy $500 worth of rear tyres for my truck.
i called the chinese tyre dealer today and i got the run around from the salesman. i told him im not interested in a changeout, i just want a refund. they are suppose to call me back before 4:30. if i dont get a call back within 2 days ill issue a chargeback with visa. no big deal because visa will take care of me.
but my lesson is learned about buying chinese tyres.
these things felt like bias ply!
hey maybe they were?

 

[rpn453]

Did you only install two? Maybe you had a tire mismatch problem like me:

http://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/s...true#Post775565

 

[bretfraz]

Well if that don't prove the ol' saw, "ya get whatcha pay for", I don't know what does.

At least you gave it a shot. Now you know. Thanks for the info, it helps us all out.

 

[alreadygone]

Had you installed 4, there most likely wouldn't have been a problem. Many extremely good tires will have that problem when run with Michelin.

Bob

 

[Master ACiD]

ive NEVER heard of extreme swaying issues on any vehicle when you use 2 sets of 2 tyres.
come to think of it my full size spare is a cooper and as much as i dislike cooper, it doesnt have any swaying issues when used as a temporary replacment for one of the michelins like when i have a flat or something. even fully loaded with a slide in camper, the car haulind trailer and a car on the trailer.
this truck was just all over the road with the chinese tyres.

you know what else, i think these new chinese tyres weighed less than my worn out michenlins. ill confirm this when i get home from walmart and compare their weight to my old michelins which i still have.

 

[Thatwouldbegreat]

Our experience with other Chinese made automotive products is that they are amazingly cheap, look quite good, and the quality is still very poor.

We looked at the extensive Chinese vendor displays at Automechanika Frankfurt in Germany last Fall and the depth and extent of their product offerings is quite incredible.

The country is really aggressive in its expansion into this industry, and the low costs are really tempting....but many of the parts are still junk or very low quality.

 

[alreadygone]

Master acid,

Had I thought you had heard of different brands causing sway,,,,,,I wouldn't have mentioned it. Lots of oddities noticed in 35 years of fixing, rotating, selling, balancing,vulcanizing,and occasionally cursing tires. It's ALL I've ever done in my time in the workforce.

Bob

 

[PandaBear]

I had a set of 4 Chinese tires on my corolla (Wynnstar Phaser R23) that are T rated, 400 trendwear, traction A, and temperature A.

After running about 65k miles on these mostly on highway, they are wearing out alright. The center still have some trends, but the sides are almost bald (in fact legally bald). The dry traction is still very good but the wet traction is starting to go. Not a good tire for cornering and is noisy unless you rotate them every 5k.

I consider this tire better than the Goodyear Invicta (low rolling resistance) it replaced and it take the abuse of front camber problem well. It doesn't grip as well as some H rated rubber like Dunlop SPA2 I have had before, but it is not all that bad.

They are cheap if you absolutely have to save every penny, but consider tires like Sumitomo HTR 200 only cost $45 pre-mount-pre-shipping, I would rather buy something nicer next time around.

IMO they are better than the Brazillian S rated tire I have seen on my friend's car.