Need Tires
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 2,099
Likes: 47
From: Minneapolis MN
Norm's Tire Sales. Total price mounted, balanced, out the door = $1264.71
Last edited by Cool Runnings; Sep 4, 2017 at 03:00 PM.
Pro
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 656
Likes: 79
From: Jackson Wisconsin
Tire rack has Riken Raptors for $86 per tire for a 275/40-17. Riken is a Chinese made (what isn't) company. Its owned by Michelin. So are they made to Michelin standards or to the Chinese standards? I guess that's the gamble. Most tire companies have a branch in China. They get pretty good reviews and look great. I may give them a try.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 2,069
Likes: 262
From: Park Ridge New Jersey
Tire rack has Riken Raptors for $86 per tire for a 275/40-17. Riken is a Chinese made (what isn't) company. Its owned by Michelin. So are they made to Michelin standards or to the Chinese standards? I guess that's the gamble. Most tire companies have a branch in China. They get pretty good reviews and look great. I may give them a try.
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 28,432
Likes: 3,285
From: Hartford WI
Tire rack has Riken Raptors for $86 per tire for a 275/40-17. Riken is a Chinese made (what isn't) company. Its owned by Michelin. So are they made to Michelin standards or to the Chinese standards? I guess that's the gamble. Most tire companies have a branch in China. They get pretty good reviews and look great. I may give them a try.
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 28,432
Likes: 3,285
From: Hartford WI
Pro
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 656
Likes: 79
From: Jackson Wisconsin
That said, my Dunlops are made in Taiwan, my Bridgestones came from Singapore and Kumo's were made in Korea. The brake rotors for my Chevy were purchased together, one was made in India the other in Taiwan. Sorry to say just about everything is made in the country with the lowest labor factor. I just took delivery of an aftermarket exhaust for my cycle. The company is in the UK. The product is from their plant in China. The manufacturing is first class. Perfect welds, high quality finish, perfect fit. Cost was 1/4 to 1/8 any competitive product. Some years ago I purchased tires from JC Penny, their private label brand made by BF Goodrich. According to the local tire supplier "the manufacturer uses the highest standards for their own product, BF Goodrich" yet Penney claims they took the best brand and added their higher standards on top of theirs. Bottom line, you roll the dice and take your chances. Tires, like everything else, follow the dollar. Regarding tire failures from poor manufacturing; this can happen with any tire. The most recent tire defects are from strong well established companies. Most tire failures are a result of abuses like tire pressure too low or bruising the tire and not seeing the damage. For now the only US choices are Cooper and Goodyear and some of their tires are made in other countries. The entire tire industry has become a global market.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 292
Likes: 39
From: San Anselmo California
The BFG G-Force A/S can be had for around $800 'out the door' if available in your size. I really am very impressed with mine on both my Trans Am and C4. The BFG's have been on my T/A for 3 years and about 26k miles and on my C4 for just over a year and 3k miles. Good ride, impressive cornering, and "Made In USA" is just a bonus.
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Brett Foote
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 28,432
Likes: 3,285
From: Hartford WI
Sorry to say just about everything is made in the country with the lowest labor factor.
I just took delivery of an aftermarket exhaust for my cycle. The company is in the UK. The product is from their plant in China. The manufacturing is first class. Perfect welds, high quality finish, perfect fit. Cost was 1/4 to 1/8 any competitive product.
Some years ago I purchased tires from JC Penny, their private label brand made by BF Goodrich. According to the local tire supplier "the manufacturer uses the highest standards for their own product, BF Goodrich" yet Penney claims they took the best brand and added their higher standards on top of theirs.
Bottom line, you roll the dice and take your chances. Tires, like everything else, follow the dollar. Regarding tire failures from poor manufacturing; this can happen with any tire. The most recent tire defects are from strong well established companies. Most tire failures are a result of abuses like tire pressure too low or bruising the tire and not seeing the damage.
For now the only US choices are Cooper and Goodyear and some of their tires are made in other countries. The entire tire industry has become a global market.
I just took delivery of an aftermarket exhaust for my cycle. The company is in the UK. The product is from their plant in China. The manufacturing is first class. Perfect welds, high quality finish, perfect fit. Cost was 1/4 to 1/8 any competitive product.
Some years ago I purchased tires from JC Penny, their private label brand made by BF Goodrich. According to the local tire supplier "the manufacturer uses the highest standards for their own product, BF Goodrich" yet Penney claims they took the best brand and added their higher standards on top of theirs.
Bottom line, you roll the dice and take your chances. Tires, like everything else, follow the dollar. Regarding tire failures from poor manufacturing; this can happen with any tire. The most recent tire defects are from strong well established companies. Most tire failures are a result of abuses like tire pressure too low or bruising the tire and not seeing the damage.
For now the only US choices are Cooper and Goodyear and some of their tires are made in other countries. The entire tire industry has become a global market.
IMO, it is about the specifications that WE, THE USER, says we are willing to accept which translates to what the vendor tells the maker in Timbukthree to make it to.
Anybody can say anything. If you can't prove you have better standards, you don't. Show me both spec sheets. As my math teachers used to say "No working, no credit". It is that simple.
Tire failure due to user error don't count. I mean, I cannot ensure you do what you are supposed to do. You fill it with hydrogen and it blows up, that is on you. OTOH, if you have too many failures that are manufacturing defect, I'll pass.
I don't buy products solely because they are US made. All things being EQUAL, I'll buy a US made product. If another country makes a better product, I'll buy it.
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 28,432
Likes: 3,285
From: Hartford WI
https://www.usatoday.com/story/trave...ess/564940001/
THIS is why we have crap products flourish. We talk the talk but we can't walk the walk.
There are skeptics, though, and not just because startup costs and risks would be so high. A business model like that of the old Midwest Express, which assumes fliers would be willing to pay more for a higher level of service, might need to be re-thought in today's travel environment, said Peter Belobaba, director of the Global Airline Industry Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"Over and over and over again, people say they’d be willing to pay more for more leg room ... they’d be willing to pay more for better service, and over and over and over again, it has been shown that they are lying," Belobaba said.
"Over and over and over again, people say they’d be willing to pay more for more leg room ... they’d be willing to pay more for better service, and over and over and over again, it has been shown that they are lying," Belobaba said.