Buying Car Tires
Comments
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Um, if you have a Dunlop tire, it's not made here. Yeah, it's owned by Goodyear but the Goodyear/Dunlop joint venture is headquartered in Brussels and Luxembourg. The Dunlop name is actually owned by Sumitomo, a Japanese company, who sells the Dunlop brand in the Asian markets.
If you have a specialty, vintage or antique Dunlop tire it's made in Birmingham, England and if you have a passenger or light truck tire, it's probably from Slovenia, Poland or China. I do believe the commercial truck tires are made in France. I'm not 100% sure on that part.Expert Moron Extraordinaire
You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you! -
I love my Korean tires.
I don't read the newsssspaperssss because dey aaaallllllllll...... have ugly print.
Living Room: B&K Reference 5 S2 / Parasound HCA-1000A / Emotiva XDA-2 / Pioneer BDP-51FD / Paradigm 11se MKiii
Desk: Schiit Magni 2 Uber / Schiit Modi 2 Uber / ISK HD9999
Office: Schiit Magni 2 Uber / Schiit Modi 2 Uber / Dynaco SCA-80Q / Paradigm Legend V.3
HT: Denon AVR-X3400H / Sony UBP-X700 / RT16 / CS350LS / RT7 / SVS PB1000 -
I just don't feel confident that they're being primarily motivated to do a good job. That's why I preferred to get a recommendation for a good privately owned, independent installer close to home.
It's tire mounting, not rocket science. It's a pretty simple task, you might be over thinking this a bit. -
It's tire mounting, not rocket science. It's a pretty simple task, you might be over thinking this a bit.
Brake cleaner and a lighter FTW!I don't read the newsssspaperssss because dey aaaallllllllll...... have ugly print.
Living Room: B&K Reference 5 S2 / Parasound HCA-1000A / Emotiva XDA-2 / Pioneer BDP-51FD / Paradigm 11se MKiii
Desk: Schiit Magni 2 Uber / Schiit Modi 2 Uber / ISK HD9999
Office: Schiit Magni 2 Uber / Schiit Modi 2 Uber / Dynaco SCA-80Q / Paradigm Legend V.3
HT: Denon AVR-X3400H / Sony UBP-X700 / RT16 / CS350LS / RT7 / SVS PB1000 -
Um, if you have a Dunlop tire, it's not made here.
Then why are they stamped with "Made in the USA" on the sidewalls?
Actually I just looked again, they really say "Made in U.S.A." -
It's tire mounting, not rocket science. It's a pretty simple task, you might be over thinking this a bit.
Well if you have nice new rims I've seen some of those places do a complete hack job and scratch the **** out of stuff. So, while the actual task is not rocket science finding someone who actually cares is a good idea.
So I don't see any over thinking on his part.
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul! -
It's not the tire mounting per se I've been "shopping around" for, it's the balancing and alignment.It's tire mounting, not rocket science. It's a pretty simple task, you might be over thinking this a bit.
For the former, I hate it when you get the car back after balancing and it's not done right. I don't like to waste the time to go back and argue with some guy that it wasn't done right in the first place. Also a consideration for alloy wheels is that I insist on having the hidden weights for these (not the clip on the rim type). This car has steel rims, so it's not an issue this time.
For the latter, unless the car is obviously pulling to one side, by the time you notice the alignment is off, you have already got uneven wear and premature loss of tread.
Maybe I am causing a bit of a storm in a tea cup though! Maybe these things have improved so much in ten years that nobody makes mistakes any more.Alea jacta est! -
Now that would really piss me off big time if it happened on the other car or truck (alloy rims). You're right, though, I want somebody who knows what they're doing, has experience doing it, and cares if it's done right or not, rather than getting the car in and out of the shop as fast as possible.... I've seen some of those places do a complete hack job and scratch the **** out of stuff. So, while the actual task is not rocket science finding someone who actually cares is a good idea. ...Alea jacta est! -
What I really like is a tire shop that air wrenches the crap out of your lug nuts so they are over torqued to the point of being dangerous, plus nearly impossible to get off by hand if you should ever need to mount the spare.
That's super-awesome! -
Really good pricing indeed: a little less than what I paid (maybe $10 in total, with shipping), and almost $30 per tire less than average web prices, including Discount Tire's official website (rahter than the eBay store, which I used). Another place that had similar pricing ($52 per tire, plus $10.25 shipping), but did not currently have four available was http://www.vulcantire.com/index.html. Tire Rack doesn't seem to sell Falken, and their shipping as a little extra, but as I stated earlier: I only chose Falken because it was recommended by Consumer Reports.I always buy tires from www.tires-easy.com. They have your Falkens for 53.80 ea. plus shipping. ...
Wow, I should have posted this thread before I bought! There are lot's of good options to choose from, it seems.Alea jacta est! -
Then why are they stamped with "Made in the USA" on the sidewalls?
Actually I just looked again, they really say "Made in U.S.A."
That's odd.Expert Moron Extraordinaire
You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you! -
Time for a little update. So, the Falken Ziex arrived safely from the Discount Tire Direct eBay store, and I had them installed by the local independent shop:
- Valve stems: $2
- Computer Balancing: $10
- Removal and mouting: $7
- Disposal Fee: $2.25
I didn't even have to wait all day. I made an appointment, and when I arrived twenty minutes late, they had started on another vehicle, so they promptly took the other vehicle out of the bay, and got to work immediately. I thought that was very considerate, since I was late. The car was ready when I returned about an hour or so later.
The tires themselves seem very good for the average user driving normally, and mostly an improvement so far on the Goodyear Eagle LS. My only complaint, in fact, is that on some of the cement surfaces we have here the car feels like it's floating or something. There's only one stretch of the 134 where it does this, with no corners either, but I've never felt this before, and it doesn't seem very safe. You find yourself continually making slight adjustments on the steering wheel that just don't feel like normal driving.Alea jacta est! -
^ How trashed were your old tires and what were they?I don't read the newsssspaperssss because dey aaaallllllllll...... have ugly print.
Living Room: B&K Reference 5 S2 / Parasound HCA-1000A / Emotiva XDA-2 / Pioneer BDP-51FD / Paradigm 11se MKiii
Desk: Schiit Magni 2 Uber / Schiit Modi 2 Uber / ISK HD9999
Office: Schiit Magni 2 Uber / Schiit Modi 2 Uber / Dynaco SCA-80Q / Paradigm Legend V.3
HT: Denon AVR-X3400H / Sony UBP-X700 / RT16 / CS350LS / RT7 / SVS PB1000 -
They were worn down to within about 1mm of the TWI, but otherwise not trashed. They were OEM, so 6.5 years old, which is the age of the car.concealer404 wrote: »^ How trashed were your old tires and what were they?
Good Year Eagle LS, 195/65 R15.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Eagle+LS&partnum=965HR5LS&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yesAlea jacta est! -
They were worn down to within about 1mm of the TWI, but otherwise not trashed. They were OEM, so 6.5 years old, which is the age of the car.
Good Year Eagle LS, 195/65 R15.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Eagle+LS&partnum=965HR5LS&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes
What you're probably feeling is the irregularities or "groove pattern" moving your car around on it's own now that you actually have decent traction again. Everytime i've bought new tires and my old ones were hardened, or worn out, i've experienced the same.I don't read the newsssspaperssss because dey aaaallllllllll...... have ugly print.
Living Room: B&K Reference 5 S2 / Parasound HCA-1000A / Emotiva XDA-2 / Pioneer BDP-51FD / Paradigm 11se MKiii
Desk: Schiit Magni 2 Uber / Schiit Modi 2 Uber / ISK HD9999
Office: Schiit Magni 2 Uber / Schiit Modi 2 Uber / Dynaco SCA-80Q / Paradigm Legend V.3
HT: Denon AVR-X3400H / Sony UBP-X700 / RT16 / CS350LS / RT7 / SVS PB1000 -
concealer404 wrote: »What you're probably feeling is the irregularities or "groove pattern" moving your car around on it's own now that you actually have decent traction again. Everytime i've bought new tires and my old ones were hardened, or worn out, i've experienced the same.
Plus it's going to take a few miles for the lubricants they use to release the tire from the mold to wear off completely.
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul! -
concealer404 wrote: »What you're probably feeling is the irregularities or "groove pattern" moving your car around on it's own now that you actually have decent traction again. Everytime i've bought new tires and my old ones were hardened, or worn out, i've experienced the same.
Good to know! I'll not worry about it then (not that I was, but it was a concern).Plus it's going to take a few miles for the lubricants they use to release the tire from the mold to wear off completely.
H9
One other thing: I heard a noise this weekend, like gravel stuck in the tread, so I got out and checked, and found there was great big piece of metal something stuck right in the center of one rear tire. It doesn't look even shaped enough to be a normal (round) nail head, but maybe it's some great hefty speciality nail or something. I did not get road hazard warranty, since I would have used it only once in the past ten years or more. Anyway, I phoned up Discount Tire Direct, and explained what had happened and they told me:
1) Take the car to their authorized installer, and they will repair it for free.
2) If it cannot be repaired, they will allow me to buy warranty coverage for $8 per tire, even though it's one month since the purchase, and then replace it for free.
How's that for service? Seems like better than good to me.Alea jacta est! -
A bit of a contrary experience. Last time my civic needed new tires I took it down to Costco and grabbed some entry level michelins for about $50/tire. The balancing job they did is the most perfect I've ever felt in a car; same with the alignment. I don't know if it was just that particular installer, luck, or they actually train their techs, but I will be going back there for the next set of tires.
And the tires aren't half bad either. They certainly have more grip than the car knows what to do with! -
A bit of a contrary experience. Last time my civic needed new tires I took it down to Costco and grabbed some entry level michelins for about $50/tire. The balancing job they did is the most perfect I've ever felt in a car; same with the alignment. I don't know if it was just that particular installer, luck, or they actually train their techs, but I will be going back there for the next set of tires.
And the tires aren't half bad either. They certainly have more grip than the car knows what to do with!
I believe you got a good technician/installer who was in a good mood and not distracted. As a former service manager for Cadillac, I can assure you that even the best techs sometimes do **** work when something is up in their little world.
That's a great deal BTW."The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it." Neil deGrasse Tyson. -
Just my 2 cents, but I also have done Tire Rack for the last 5 sets of tire purchases. Tires shipped to my home. I throw them in the trunk of my car. Then go to any mechanic who mounts, balances, and disposes of the old tires for $15-$20 each tire. Total cost figuring installation and shipping usually ends up being about $75 less (total) than what any local tire store would charge.
I feel sorry for the FedEx guy though.
