Went today to get a tire quote

[crocus]

Herk, I think it is you who needs to 'cool your jets', as you are dead wrong about the Maxxis tires. I could care less what all of your internet surfing "research" tells you, my tires are not made in China.
And I don't need to post a picture just to satisfy you, as my word is worth more than a picture.

[Herk7769]

Shut down and cooling...


Caveat Lector

[SaskCampers]

Originally Posted by herk7769

John,

As I stated on numerous occasions "NOT ALL MARATHONS ARE MADE IN CHINA" Some are made in Gadsden Alabama. I also do not care WHERE they are made; but WHO did the quality assurance on them.

If Goodyear (or Michelin, or whoever) has their name on them THEY, as well as the DoT, did the QC on the plant. Some goofy name tire was most likely only spot checked by the DOT.

Wasn't disputing your point Herk. As we had discussed quite some time ago on my Marathons no need to look for a code. They clearly say made in China. And they have been ok other than the 6 punctures I have had, but I live on dirt roads and the 6 flats in 2 years does not compare to the 13 flats in 15 months I had with my Wrangler tires on my 04 Ram 4x4.

[wmtire]

Last I knew, Maxxis name tires were made by Cheng Shin Rubber (but they may be one and the same company). I think they have plants in Taiwan, China, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Now what I don't know, is if all these plants manufacture trailer tires.

Just posting this for informational purposes.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by TheSasks

Wasn't disputing your point Herk. As we had discussed quite some time ago on my Marathons no need to look for a code. They clearly say made in China. And they have been ok other than the 6 punctures I have had, but I live on dirt roads and the 6 flats in 2 years does not compare to the 13 flats in 15 months I had with my Wrangler tires on my 04 Ram 4x4.

Marathons are made in several locations; worldwide. If you search that database and use Goodyear as the manufacturer; there are 15 hits from Canada to Indonesia. China is included in that list.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by wmtire

Last I knew, Maxxis name tires were made by Cheng Shin Rubber (but they may be one and the same company). I think they have plants in Taiwan, China, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Now what I don't know, is if all these plants manufacture trailer tires.

Just posting this for informational purposes.

If you own maxxis tires; check the manufacturer's code and let us know what plant made them. Now I am curious...

Manufacturer NameCHENG SHIN RUBBER (TIANJIN DAFENG) IND. CO., LTD.DOT0RAddressTIANJIN,
CHINA
Manufacturer NameCHENG SHIN RUBBER (VIETNAM) IND. CO., LTD.DOT5NAddressNHON TRACH, DONG NAI
VIETNAM
Manufacturer NameCHENG SHIN RUBBER (XIAMEN)DOT7FAddressXIAMEN SEZ,
CHINA
Manufacturer NameCHENG SHIN RUBBER IND. CO. LTD.DOTUYAddressTA TSUN, CHANG-HWA
TAIWAN

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by herk7769

If you search that database and use Goodyear as the manufacturer; there are 15 hits from Canada to Indonesia. China is included in that list.

Herk, when searching by that database, it doesn't take into account the tires that are "farmed out" by Goodyear (and other tire companies). It only lists the plants that Goodyear owns..........but not necessarily the plants that Goodyear pays to make tires for them, and put the Goodyear name on the tire.

All Goodyear tires don't necessarily come out of a Goodyear factory. This holds true for many brands. I know personally that Hankook Tire manufactures some BF Goodrich and Uniroyals, for Michelin.

[Rugged Brown]

Clarification: Is the location of the tire manufacturer an issue of quality or patriotism. I have bought a lot of US made products that are junk and China made products that are quality. Just saying.

[trudinator]

Originally Posted by Rugged Brown

Clarification: Is the location of the tire manufacturer an issue of quality or patriotism. I have bought a lot of US made products that are junk and China made products that are quality. Just saying.

I think there are pretty many people on these forums who connotate anything with China = junk. I think there are always two sides to every story. Some people have had issues with their Chinese tires, some people have not. Same with Concertone; some people have had issues, others have not. I'm not rushing out to replace the tires on my TT because they may have been made in China.

[TURBS]

got 6 lovely years out of my "china" tires with not one flat or blow out hmmmm .
honestly I thought when I traded it the tires still looked good for 6 years .

[Nigels]

Originally Posted by herk7769

Not all Marathons are made in China. The only way to tell where tires are made is to look at the tire codes.

My Marathons have a DoT code of MD (Alabama; US of A)

Here is how you tell:

DOT Codes

Note: ALL Maxxis are made in China.
There are some Pirelli's made in China as well.

I see there's more than one Chinese tire manufacturer then

Interesting list though, thanks for that Lou, I just checked our tires here in Portugal, we have German Goodyears, French Continentals and Chinese Hankooks, not sure what we have in Canada, will have to wait till April to check.

[youroo]

Originally Posted by wmtire

Herk, when searching by that database, it doesn't take into account the tires that are "farmed out" by Goodyear (and other tire companies). It only lists the plants that Goodyear owns..........but not necessarily the plants that Goodyear pays to make tires for them, and put the Goodyear name on the tire.

All Goodyear tires don't necessarily come out of a Goodyear factory. This holds true for many brands. I know personally that Hankook Tire manufactures some BF Goodrich and Uniroyals, for Michelin.

Boy that is good to know,can we get our (Free) tire gauge from them instead of (Hankook? Youroo!!

[MtnGuy]

OK, I gotta chime in on this post concerning Chinese tire “quality”.

Soon after buying our Surveyor in Sept. 2008, I started taking the tires in for balancing, as well as getting metal stems installed for my TPMS. Some took ~4oz. of weight, but no big deal, as some of that could have been in the wheel. I took the spare for balancing, and the 1st place said it didn’t balance correctly, but they got it the best they could. I got a 2nd opinion from another shop, and they said they balancing that was done was about as good as it gets since the tire was out of round. So I took the tire to a Goodyear dealer. The counter man took the tire back, came back and told me that the tire was out of round, but they couldn’t adjust it because the tread was down to 5/32nds. Knowing that I had seen the new tire “paint strip” on the tire and I had never put this tire on the ground, we both viewed the tire and he showed me the 5/32nd measurement. I showed him the paint strip and new tire nobbies on the tread on the opposite side of the tire. The tread on that side measured in at 9/32nds. He called 1 of the installers over to look at the tire, and his comment was something on the line of “Oh yeah, the Chinese manufacturers had been known to ‘buff’ their tires when they came off of the line out of round”……I hope this guy got to keep his job after blurting that out. The counter man called Goodyear, and they denied the claim because of the 5/32nd measurement, even though he explained the situation. He told me he would check with the area Goodyear rep to see what could be done, but didn’t give me much hope. A few days later, the counter man called and said Goodyear had agreed to giving me a new tire………I think they were afraid of me going to the NTSB and BBB with this problem…….which I told the counter man “I guess that was my next step”. I had a little remorse about being “bought out” with a new tire, but notifying the NTSB was questionable, since the tire was probably not anymore dangerous than other Chinese tires…….other than shaking all of the screws out of my camper if I ever had to use it. And since they eventually made good on the tire, I really had no reason to go to the BBB.

I have no proof that the Chinese factory did the buffing on the tire, other than what the installer stated was alleged knowledge among the tire industry. This tire had gone through 3, maybe 4 companies before it got to me…..depending on whether Lippert or Forest River installs the tires. But since travel trailer tires are seldom balanced before it reaches the consumer, I seriously doubt that Lippert, Forest River, or the dealer would even know that was out of round. But……it is very suspicious that this tire ended up as a spare and not on the road. In thinking about that, I wonder if Goodyear offers these faulty tires to trailer manufacturers with a deep discount as “spares only” ?? Just speculating there.

And BTW, I did check the tire code, and it was manufactured in Weihai , China.

In all fairness, I will say that I have not yet had a blowout with either Carlisle or Goodyear trailer tires with about 12,000 miles of travel over the last 6 years with 2 different trailers. But when it comes to replacing my tires (probably this year), I am going to buy Canadian or USA made Goodyears if possible. For me, I just want to send a message, however small that is, that we need the jobs here in North America, and not across the Pacific. If enough people request North American made tires, maybe the big tire names will finally get the picture.

I will now get off of my soapbox.

[SaskCampers]

See, that is the thing. The only thing I am going by here is a few complaints about the Duro tires. I have nothing against the Chineese mfg. It is as I have previously stated, they build to any price point you want them to. For example the networks I designed and maintain are run solely with Cisco enterprise network equipment costing upward of 22k per 48 port switch. These switches are all made in China and they a beautiful thing to behold (us network people are impressed by the strangest things) So I have no reason to believe they cannot produce a quality tire product. Our Duro's over the last 2 years have been prefect, always within a couple degrees of each other and the pressure is always within a lb all around. I keep covers on them when the trailer sits at home so they do not get UV damaged and they are always on boards when sitting at home. Should I worry, I mean really should I? Probably not but it is something I always consider and try to weigh the cost vs the what if. Maybe i should just go with my initial gut feeling and install steel liners on top of the factory steel ones and call it a day for another year. Who knows, I still have time to decide. BTW our V-Lite has a GVWR of 8750 and the tires are rated at 2150 so x4 equals 8600 + the tongue weight of about 800 lbs so 9400lbs and in reality we probably run closer to 8300 to 8500 on the road anyway. That in my mind would give us a cushion of well over 800lbs safety margin tire wise.

[crocus]

"That in my mind would give us a cushion of well over 800lbs safety margin tire wise."
==========================
I didn't feel that a 10% "safety margin" was quite enough, and why I went with D-rated tires. The extra cost was minimal, but I have a huge safety margin now.

[rotorhead1250]

I'm in need of 5 new 14" tires and am a loss as to what brand to purchase. Tires always seem to be a sore spot or should I say a highley debated subject weather its for cars, truck or RV's.
Anyway, I honistly don't know what to do here other than I would like to get away from an ST and go to LT because of highway speed restriction of the ST at 65. Is my thinking correct that an LT should bump my speeds up to 70 (for gaining momentum on the downhill run).

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by rotorhead1250

I'm in need of 5 new 14" tires and am a loss as to what brand to purchase. Tires always seem to be a sore spot or should I say a highley debated subject weather its for cars, truck or RV's.
Anyway, I honistly don't know what to do here other than I would like to get away from an ST and go to LT because of highway speed restriction of the ST at 65. Is my thinking correct that an LT should bump my speeds up to 70 (for gaining momentum on the downhill run).

There is a lot more difference between an ST tire and an LT tire besides speed.
Here is some light reading:

RV Safety & Education Foundation

Understanding Trailer Tire Sizes

[Herk7769]

Spent the last 3 days tracking down information on Maxxis tires.
Learned a LOT and I was sure I might be appologizing to Crocus.

Alas, it was not to be.

While the Administrative Offices of Maxxis International are located in Suwanee, GA, USA; none (as in not any) of their tires are made in the US.

This can be confirmed by anyone who would like to check by talking to them directly at 678-407-6700. (My contact was Shawn)

Countries of origin for Maxxis tires of ALL types (including ST) are Germany (surprise add), Taiwan, Canada (also surprise add), Mainland China, Japan, and Vietnam. Not one tire has ever been made in the USA.

[pbrackney]

FYI:I was researching tires as well. Stopped in at our local Camping World and they were offering the Goodyear Marathons 225/75R15 Class D tires for $123 per tire including install and warranty. That seems to be a good deal to me.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by pbrackney

FYI:I was researching tires as well. Stopped in at our local Camping World and they were offering the Goodyear Marathons 225/75R15 Class D tires for $123 per tire including install and warranty. That seems to be a good deal to me.

Have to check my receipts, but it sounds right to me.