Problems I had with both Michelin Hydroedge and the Copntinentals
with cracking started on sidewall but extended to tread grooves
before I removed them.
That combined with an apparent hardening of tread compound - hard
to describe but it was noticeable particularly on shoulder. Think
fingernail test - I did not have a Durometer at the time to
measure Shore Hardness, but if you have dealt with race tires it
is something you notice.
And on continentals on both truck and trailer, there was some
tread chunking out.
Edward Mills
Antique Tractors 1930-1960
Antique Cars 1960-1985
On 9/26/2016 10:30 AM, John Grady
wrote:
Interpreting side
wall cracks correctly is for sure a big mystery, Better if
not there, but if a cause of failures, there would be a
widespread recall??? I have had two sidewall failures at
speed, properly inflated tires, Firestone and Kuhmo. (sp?)
; the sidewalls looked ok, no noticeable cracking. The
failures were along the tire curve / circumference
direction, not radially outward ( cracks can sometimes seem
to be radial?) . I have never had a failure of any kind in
Michelins going back to when Sears sold them..First set I
bought was on a new 68 charger after one year. I bought it
because of the steel belted construction. Are they still
steel?? , I do not know. Did not like the narrow tread look
then, on Charger, compared to the wide oval then in vogue ,
but OEM tires on Charger were 15-20k items. Michelin went
twice that at least, I was driving a lot in my job then, on
highways. . I agree, sidewall cracks disturbing to see. One
would , however, expect tire guys ( Michelin dealer) to know
the issue. Maybe it is outer “good looking” skin, many more
inner plies? They cannot tell you it is ok , if a known
malady, and then have a failure? Huge liability. I do not
know enough to say anything concrete on this. But I have had
maybe 20 sets of Michelins with no issues . None.
I believe that
general lack of weights , and long life, show excellent
quality control / excellent conceptual engineering/ good
materials. Why they command a premium. Conversely I got
barely 15k out of Goodyear Eagles on 300CD Mercedes; lots of
talk about “misalignment”, led to two replacement sets , two
alignments ( Mercedes does not sell you misaligned cars ,
=my .02. ) . same deal, the two more sets, partial warrantee
, wore out. Edges took on scalloped appearance, why I
believed misalignment at first. .Did not change alignment,
put on Michelins, 3X the life. No scalloping . That made
decision easy going ahead.
Insert a quarter on
sidewall crack is clearly a totally dumb statement. Plenty
of those around. They do judge tread wear with features on
coins somehow.
I have a couple friends that have bought
aftermarket replacement Michelin tires based on thier good
reputation in the past. Both have been very disappointed
that their sidewalls are cracking in very noticeable ways
that is disturbing after only a year of use. When they took
them back to their Michelin dealers, they refused to replace
them and said the cracks would have to open up large enough
to be able to insert a quarter in them before they would
replace them. They maintained that the cracks didn't affect
safety. So I am a little uneasy going with Michelins even
on my 1997 Chrysler Concorde as I was planning on doing
soon. Now I don't know what I will use.
On Sat, Sep 24, 2016 at 11:58 AM, John
Grady jkg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[Chrysler300] <Chrysler300-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I
had a hard time twice with cooper tires; one new
set in particular circa 2010 was the root cause
of an elusive 60 + vibration that was chased for
a year , thought to be hub and drum run out ,
balance etc . " tires are fine" Changed
everything , eventually even spindles . (
diagnosed as "bent spindle" ? in desperation .
Tires were balanced ok , ran in the machine ok ,
but one day I noticed on my own (!) the front of
car moving up and down slightly while driving
very slow . Tires were out of round , (!!!!),
all of them !! but apparently can be still
balanced ?? . Coopers were / used to be
reasonable tires ( state police used them ,
might have been made in mass way back) but I
think now just a brand name bought by someone in
Asia . Beware . Check roundness if a dance
starts .
Just
me --and I do not like the black wall look , but
I stay Michelin now , for cars I drive , except
"restored 300 " where look matters a lot .
Michelins Worth every cent . Never had a problem
; usually need no weights . Perfect tires .
Outlast other tires 2x, ( especially Goodyear
best high end.. Michelin literally go 3x Eagles
)!so not such a bad deal !! Keeping tail intact
is job 1 . Diamond back was supposed to add
white walls to Michelin carcass ? Rumored ?
Did
you find that physical tire size place on net ?
Even Michelin does not tell you the detailed
full physical sizes of their tires , drives me
crazy . Only listed by cars they fit ---in their
own data base . Dumb .
I
too hear good things about Hankook and Nitto .
Had ? Sp Kuhmo ? Side wall failure at speed ;
Firestone too . Do not need this .
According to the
Cooper Tire internet site, there are several
sizes of the Trendsetter still made in
whitewall, including the P235/75R15. You might
check the site for a dealer near you or just
have your dealer double check. Ditto the
Mastercraft AS-IV and several other
Trendsetter clones made by Cooper. Just make
sure the date code is fresh as there are not
that many whitewalls sold.
Having said that, a
more direct answer to your question about the
Hankook, I like them and have had no issues
with them in the P215/75R14, P225/75R15 or
P235/75R15 narrow whitewall sizes. The
P235/75R15 Hankook Optimo H724 are also extra
load (XL = 108S = 2183 lb) vs most others
including the Cooper which are 105S = 2028 lb
rating. At a given pressure, load ratings are
same, but you can run the XL tires at higher
pressure if needed.
The H724 are
slightly taller but my recollection is the
Coopers and Mastercrafts tend to run on the
small side compared to older tire
specifications. The P235/75R15 H724 shows at
28.9 in OD with 9.3 Section Width and 5.8
Tread Width on a 6.5 inch rim. The Cooper
Trendsetter SE shows 28.65 in OD with 9.1
Section Width and 5.9 Tread Width on 6.5 inch
rim.
Don't know how much
of a hurry you are in, but best prices I have
found are Discount Tire on eBay - they
generally have a $50 to $100 rebate and free
shipping around holidays, but even without
sale, they are comparable to Amazon.com
and cheaper than dealers. This assumes you can
get mounted locally.
The Hankooks I have
gotten from both Amazon and Discount Tire have
been fresh - some made in Korea - others in
Indonesia. Best price I have gotten (after
rebate) is in $60-70 per tire range - or
$80-85 without rebate.
I don't think you
will go wrong either way just stay away from
the Chinese made tires.
Best, Ed
Edward
Mills Antique Tractors 1930-1960 Antique
Cars 1960-1985
I
have a set of 10 year old Coopers
with less than 4K miles on them
on my H.
Cooper
no longer produces the "Trendsetter"
narrow white wall in the 235/75R/15
size.
Hankook
does - anyone had experience with
them?
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Posted by: EMills_ATC <millserat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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