Tires problems, dry rot stress cracks

[Ecomike]

I bet its the rubber they are using. There are a few posts over on bobistheoilguy.com about similar issues. They are all Michelin tires, particularly the Michelin all-terrain tire for light trucks.

I know BFG ATs are also famous for dry rot. Mine are a little over 1 year old and look fine, but I will be watching them closely.

There didn't seem to be any pattern to the cracking, like cars that sit vs. those daily driven or cars that are garaged vs. those that spend their life outside. :dunno:

I've had good luck with Cooper tires, so if my BFGs start cracking I will probably go back to Coopers.

Yes, they are the worst. There is post about a guy that worked for them, and tried to stop them from using used tire rubber in a recycling process on new tires, and they fired him, so he sued them, he went broke and never was able to stop it. Now according to him we have rppidly dry rotting tires that fail way too soon.

Seems that the problem started with Michelin, and is worst with them, but they bought Uniroyal and BFGoodrich not long ago, and now their latest tires are doing it to. Not a coincidence IMHO. But now I am seeing some signs (all be it slower) of the same problem starting in the tread area on my newest Goodyear's. So am starting to wonder who still makes a good tire, they will back up? I am seeing tire rot about 6-8 years sooner than I use to see.

Tell me more about Cooper tires please?

I am going to take a full inventory of mine, including the codes that tell when and where they were made. I will be filling NTSB reports on them this week.

 

[Ecomike]

I used to work for discount back in HS. They are a christian owned company, and really take making the customer happy to heart. When I worked there we gave away a few new tires to single mothers etc, that had no money but badly needed a new tire. They figure that customer loyalty is ultimately better for the bottom line. YMMV

No issues with my 3 year old BFG KM2's here. Hope you get it sorted

Check the low spots between the treads, the gap area for early signs of the cracking, that is were I am seeing the early warning signs in tires barely a year old to less than a year old now.

 

[Jeepguy03]

Cooper tires is one of the last remaining USA tire manufacturers as far as I know. My dad ran them for years on his '87 XJ and '99 WJ without issue. My buddy had a set of them on his '01 Ranger for 4 years and 60k before he sold it and never had any issues. Cooper also makes a few "no-name" brands. They make Mastercraft tires. I had some Mastercraft Courser MSRs before my BFGs and they were a good tire. A bit noisy, but that was because they are a snow tire and can be studded.

Who owns Firestone? They have come out with some good tires recently, particularly the Destination A/T. I believe they are owned by Bridgestone.

Its a shame about Michelin, they used to be a good name. I'm all for recycling, but I'd recycle the rubber in a different way.

 

[Ecomike]

Cooper tires is one of the last remaining USA tire manufacturers as far as I know. My dad ran them for years on his '87 XJ and '99 WJ without issue. My buddy had a set of them on his '01 Ranger for 4 years and 60k before he sold it and never had any issues. Cooper also makes a few "no-name" brands. They make Mastercraft tires. I had some Mastercraft Courser MSRs before my BFGs and they were a good tire. A bit noisy, but that was because they are a snow tire and can be studded.

Who owns Firestone? They have come out with some good tires recently, particularly the Destination A/T. I believe they are owned by Bridgestone.

Its a shame about Michelin, they used to be a good name. I'm all for recycling, but I'd recycle the rubber in a different way.

Back in the K-Mart days, I was told that Kelly-Springfield made most of the private label tires. Not sure what you mean by last of the US tire companies, Uniroyal and BFG still make tires in the USA, and I think Goodyear does too, they (Uniroyal and BFG) are just owned by Michelin (which is French?) now.

But I do wonder how many of the US name brand tires are actually made in the US now.

 

[Ecomike]

Cooper and Goodyear tire companies started out as American manufacturers and have stayed that way to some extent. Goodyear is now an international company, but its world headquarters remain in Akron, Ohio. It also owns the Kelly Springfield and Dunlop brands. Cooper manufactures tires in Ohio and Georgia; Goodyear in Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Oklahoma, Tennessee, New York and Kansas. Denman Tire, founded in 1919, is based in Ohio.

Gotta love WIKI!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tire_companies

http://www.tundraheadquarters.com/blog/2011/03/30/which-tires-made-in-usa/

Tires are in a similar boat. Major players in the tire industry that are headquartered outside of the United States include Michelin, Continental, Yokohama and Bridgestone, but each of these companies also manufactures tires within American borders. Many of these U.S. soil tire plants were acquired as part of brand buyouts, such as Michelin’s purchase of Uniroyal-Goodrich and Bridgestone’s acquisition of Firestone. Even Yokohama has a plant in Virginia, giving an American dimension to its primarily Japanese operations.
The question is, which tires are made in the USA?
Homegrown tire makers Goodyear and Cooper are still operating extensive factories in the United States. These two conglomerates also own a number of sub-brands that are marketed as independent, including Dunlop and Kelly Springfield.

 

[Ecomike]

Finding an American-made tire is no longer as simple as memorizing a list of U.S.-based manufacturers – the realities of the global economy have created a diaspora of tire production facilities around the world. If buying an American-made tire is important to you, then you will most likely have to look past brand names and use the DOT coding system to ensure that the tires you are interested in were actually built within U.S. borders.

 

[Ecomike]

I may need to start shopping for Israeli or German tires if I want quality anymore, LOL:

Major Global Tire Companies

• Michelin is the world's largest manufacturer of tires for vehicles from bicycles to the space shuttle. The French company purchased the American firm Uniroyal-Goodrich company in 1989. In the United States, it manufactures tires in Alabama, North and South Carolina and Arkansas. Bridgestone, a Japanese company bought out Firestone, another company with American roots, in 1998 and makes tires in North and South Carolina, Ohio, Illinois and Tennessee.
  
  

Other International Companies

• Continental Tire, a subsidiary of a German company, makes tires in five states: Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas and Illinois. General Tires are now made by Continental. Yokohama, another Japanese multinational, manufactures tires in Virginia.
  
  

 

[weebur]

Always had good luck with Discount tire.

Maybe try some of those covers like RV's use if the vehicle is to be sitting for a long time?

I've bought several tires from Discount Tire in the past...good prices and service. The other day I had my daughter's SUV in there for new tires and spotted my Walmart Goodyear Wranglers on display. It's the first time I've seen them in any place other than Walmart. The sales guy confirmed that they are the same tires that Walmart sells.

My three-year old Walmart Goodyear Wranglers are holding up fine and have no cracks or any signs of defects. They're good in snow and on icy roads (mine are siped though).