Tires Revisited

[Durandetto]

Well the sailun 14 ply are made in China. Every single car and light truck tire made in China is complete garbage. Also the sailun is harder to get. I'll stick with Carlisle or Hercules. Not trying to tell people what to buy I'm just sharing my experience with Chinese tires in general. I try to stick with US made tires for most everything I own.

[notanlines]

It appears that this horse has been led to water….

[NH_Bulldog]

Originally Posted by Durandetto

Well the sailun 14 ply are made in China. Every single car and light truck tire made in China is complete garbage. Also the sailun is harder to get. I'll stick with Carlisle or Hercules. Not trying to tell people what to buy I'm just sharing my experience with Chinese tires in general. I try to stick with US made tires for most everything I own.

I have had more recalls and more issues with US made tires than ones that were manufactured in other countries. While I will always look first to "Made in the USA", there is no guarantee that doing so will give you the best product for your intended use. The fact is that every tire manufacturer has at least one plant in China that is producing tires under their recognized brand name for sale in the US market, including Hercules/Cooper, Carlisle, Goodyear, Firestone, Michelin and more.

If you are dead-set against non-US tires, the ONLY way to know for certain is to look at the Plant Code molded into the sidewall of the physical tire in your hands. Even then, just because it says USA doesn't mean it will not fail prematurely, especially if overloaded, underinflated, or subjected to conditions beyond it's designed capability.

[Nankipoo]

I just got another Carlisle in an F rating to put on it. The spare was an F since they accidentally sent me an F when I ordered the set of five originally. I put both F's on the rear axles. When jacking them up to change, the side that had that bad tire on it seemed heavier than the other side. I'm going to check with the local trucking companies and grain places to see if they have some of those scales that will weigh each wheel. I really want to know the individual weights.

[jxnbbl]

Originally Posted by Durandetto

Well the sailun 14 ply are made in China. Every single car and light truck tire made in China is complete garbage. Also the sailun is harder to get. I'll stick with Carlisle or Hercules. Not trying to tell people what to buy I'm just sharing my experience with Chinese tires in general. I try to stick with US made tires for most everything I own.

Just wanted you to know that that Carlisle are made in China too... I think it has more to do with the tire manufacturer/process/materials than the location.

[NH_Bulldog]

To be precise:
"CARLISLE TIRE & WHEEL CO. LTD. MEIXIAN, GUANGDONG, CHINA"

[sourdough]

As one might expect, China is the largest producer of tires in the world and the largest number of tire plants. There are many manufacturers that use these plants and LOTS of brands that come from them. As noted in post #25 how the tires are made ie; compounds, process, molds and most importantly who specs those things along with oversight of the process is what is critical. Some are good but most are questionable. The failures I found (before I stopped trying to pinpoint where these failure came from) were from the same province - Shandong - and the same plant but I do not remember that code.

[NH_Bulldog]

Interesting figures about Shandong Province (like a state here in the the US), there are 204 US DOT registered tire plants in that province (nearly 25% of the world's tire plants), with 83 of them in the city of Qingdao alone (can you imagine?). Also, China as a whole accounts for nearly 50% of tire plants in the world.

[JRTJH]

Interestingly, check this out:

ME: Are any Michelin tires made in China?

GOOGLE: Michelin's first Chinese manufacturing company, Michelin Shenyang Tire Co., Ltd., was established in 1995. In 2013, Michelin built a new, modern factory in Shenyang's Economic and Technological Development Zone. The plant has the capacity to produce over 12 million tires annually.

Note, that Michelin (as with Carlisle) is that THEY (Michelin and Carlisle) built tire plants in China. Both of them supervise manufacturing in THEIR tire plants and both, Michelin and Carlisle, maintain the quality of the tires coming out of those plants...

The difference between them and "china bombs" ???? CHINA (not a US tire manufacturing company) controls the quality of tires that come from a chinese owned and operated tire plant and those tires are "branded with whatever brand is needed" for distribution to a tire distributor (NOT A TIRE MANUFACTURER) in the USA. That difference, tire manufacturers producing tires in china vs china distributing tires to the US market through distributors and wholesale brokers, is the major factor in tires built in china.

It's the "HANDS ON APPROACH" to operating a quality plant in a location with cheap labor versus bulk buying of inferior products at a cheap price by US distributors..... As usual, YMMV, but this is what I believe is happening...

[workinonit]

I certainly don't intend to sidetrack a thread but what I need to know is relevant to this conversation. My Alpine has 4 REAL China Bombs....HiSpeed. I can't imagine Keystone installing these at the factory but I'm relatively certain the tires were not changed. Unless the dealer did an ole switcheroo on me. These are 129/M and G rated. Anyone ever even heard of them. I don't see much about them on the net except a place or two. Wondering if I need to get them off and get some top of the line China Bombs on there or maybe even a USA made tire if I can find one. Sorry, just being facetious.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by workinonit

I certainly don't intend to sidetrack a thread but what I need to know is relevant to this conversation. My Alpine has 4 REAL China Bombs....HiSpeed. I can't imagine Keystone installing these at the factory but I'm relatively certain the tires were not changed. Unless the dealer did an ole switcheroo on me. These are 129/M and G rated. Anyone ever even heard of them. I don't see much about them on the net except a place or two. Wondering if I need to get them off and get some top of the line China Bombs on there or maybe even a USA made tire if I can find one. Sorry, just being facetious.

I can't find a thing on HiSpeed tires. Is that how the name is on the side of the tire and/or does it have some other designator? I suspect it's as has been discussed; one of those China bombs that is interchangeable with Trailer Kings, Hi Run etc. that come from a Chinese ran plant and a mold with interchangeable brands on it. IMO I wouldn't run them on something as heavy as an Alpine. When I go into a locally owned (or regional) tire store I don't recognize half the brands they advertise because they're the "cheap" tires that come from those cheap plants and they come up with a new tire line name seemingly daily which is then picked up by some distributor here to try to sell.

[workinonit]

Man, after a second look HiSpeed is actually HiSpec. I do find them but only see it in the size and ratings that I have. I still think I want to get something different on there.
In defense of my mistake I am going in for cataract surgery Wednesday.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by workinonit

Man, after a second look HiSpeed is actually HiSpec. I do find them but only see it in the size and ratings that I have. I still think I want to get something different on there.
In defense of my mistake I am going in for cataract surgery Wednesday.

Ahh, HiSpec. Yes, they have been around a while. I consider them China bombs, others may have their own opinions. I would still replace them. Cataract surgery - btdt. Be sure and use the drops....I had to take lots of drops, all kinds of drops for 56 days. Hopefully yours will be shorter. I assume you're having the lens replaced? If so be aware there is a significant difference between the "close vision", "far vision" and "all visions" lenses so choose wisely.

[workinonit]

Interesting. I wasn't offered a choice in bionic lenses.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by workinonit

Interesting. I wasn't offered a choice in bionic lenses.

Don't want to sidetrack things too far but below is a link that explains the various lenses. I chose the "distance" lens because I'd never been able to see "out yonder". It's a pain having to get used to have glasses to read or do close work. My Dr. said the lenses that try to blend both near and far generated a lot of complaints from his patients so guess I'm glad I got what I did. Good luck.

https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/ca...close%20vision.

[JRTJH]

I had my first cataract surgery (left eye) on Thursday (two days ago). Thursday night, Friday morning were TERRIBLE with a feeling that someone had thrown a bucket of sand into my eye. Followup checkup Friday afternoon I could see nothing on the eye chart. My doctor said that's OK, things will improve. This morning, 48 hours after surgery, I could see with my left eye better than before surgery and this evening, I'm typing this without glasses and I'm able to see both near and far with my left eye.

I opted for the toric distance vision lens. It is intended to correct for astigmatism and to give me good distance vision. Already I can see distance better than I could before the surgery. I am just over 48 hours out from the surgery. My near vision is "barely OK" but he said it should improve enough that I can drive and see the dash without glasses but I would need "cheaters" to do things requiring close up vision, such as reading the newspaper, tying flies or hooks, working with small objects such as doing model building, etc.

As for the drops, there is a new procedure where they can instill a steroid treatment during surgery and eliminate the need for eye drops post operatively.

All that said, Medicare only pays for the standard intraocular lens implants. Most people will still need glasses for distance, mid range and near vision with the standard implant. The specialty lenses are not covered by medicare, so there is an additional charge for them. In most cases, the charge is about $2000-2500 per eye for surgeon's fees and for the increased cost of the lens. In my case, the cost was $1900 for surgeon's fees and $425 for the lens. Total $2325 for one eye. The surgeon's fees include the additional testing and measurements for which strength lens and how it is installed to correct for both vision prescriptions and for astigmatism correction.

My DW had both eyes done several years ago with the toric lenses. She uses reading glasses for near vision and has "perfect mid range and distance vision without glasses. She was "disappointed that I wouldn't need eye drops" as she was looking forward to tormenting me 4 times daily with that squirt bottle.... I'm very happy that drops are no longer needed, at least in my surgery.

If you opted for "what medicare pays for" then you are getting the basic lens and will probably need glasses for all ranges of vision after surgery.

Whatever you choose, good luck with the surgery and with hopefully no need for drops after the implants are installed.

[wiredgeorge]

HiSpec has been making OEM camper wheels for some time and had their own line of tires. The company has been subsumed by Dexter who has been around a lot longer and makes quite a few things found under an RV. I put Dexter axles under a Forest River toy hauler I owned a number of years ago. They have a store in San Antonio, btw but don't see tires on that store's website.

https://www.dextergroup.com/products/

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

I had my first cataract surgery (left eye) on Thursday (two days ago). Thursday night, Friday morning were TERRIBLE with a feeling that someone had thrown a bucket of sand into my eye. Followup checkup Friday afternoon I could see nothing on the eye chart. My doctor said that's OK, things will improve. This morning, 48 hours after surgery, I could see with my left eye better than before surgery and this evening, I'm typing this without glasses and I'm able to see both near and far with my left eye.

I opted for the toric distance vision lens. It is intended to correct for astigmatism and to give me good distance vision. Already I can see distance better than I could before the surgery. I am just over 48 hours out from the surgery. My near vision is "barely OK" but he said it should improve enough that I can drive and see the dash without glasses but I would need "cheaters" to do things requiring close up vision, such as reading the newspaper, tying flies or hooks, working with small objects such as doing model building, etc.

As for the drops, there is a new procedure where they can instill a steroid treatment during surgery and eliminate the need for eye drops post operatively.

All that said, Medicare only pays for the standard intraocular lens implants. Most people will still need glasses for distance, mid range and near vision with the standard implant. The specialty lenses are not covered by medicare, so there is an additional charge for them. In most cases, the charge is about $2000-2500 per eye for surgeon's fees and for the increased cost of the lens. In my case, the cost was $1900 for surgeon's fees and $425 for the lens. Total $2325 for one eye. The surgeon's fees include the additional testing and measurements for which strength lens and how it is installed to correct for both vision prescriptions and for astigmatism correction.

My DW had both eyes done several years ago with the toric lenses. She uses reading glasses for near vision and has "perfect mid range and distance vision without glasses. She was "disappointed that I wouldn't need eye drops" as she was looking forward to tormenting me 4 times daily with that squirt bottle.... I'm very happy that drops are no longer needed, at least in my surgery.

If you opted for "what medicare pays for" then you are getting the basic lens and will probably need glasses for all ranges of vision after surgery.

Whatever you choose, good luck with the surgery and with hopefully no need for drops after the implants are installed.

I chose the "far" lenses because I've never been able to see "far" and I drive LOTS of miles. I'm happy with that decision but aggravated that I've been able to see and read up close all my life so a big change. On the other hand I've had to wear glasses all my life and no longer do unless for up close stuff. I wasn't told about Medicare payments for any of them because it's not an issue. The issue was vision and what I could/would be able to use and be comfortable with and the least adaptation I would have to do. I was offered services from 3 different surgeons but none offered a "non drop" solution so that is neat.....or just the reality of living in rural America.