Penny-wise and pound-foolish

TexasBorderDude · October 28, 2013, 10:37:44 AM

This past August I blew a right front tire and CoachNet sent the service truck (a great value CoachNet is). I just didn't want to spend so much for new steer tires, so I agreed to buy an unknown (to me at least) Wanli Chinese tire at $450/copy. I was really pissed when the DOT date was 18 mos. old, but I just swallowed hard and came the last 200 miles on in. Well I've gotten ready to head out again and found a bubble in the sidewall of my new tire. Couldn't find anything on the internet for Wanli but did see that Les Schwab Tires in Dallas carried Wanli passenger tires, so I called 'em. The kid on the phone is still laughing. He said "You know this is Dallas, Oregon... not Dallas, Texas right?"

Ok, today I got the guy I bought them from and it took him a while to find someone nearby that could get a replacement tire from Wanli. I'll have to pay for the new tire and mounting, etc and then they'll see what kind of a refund they will allow on a 65 day old, 200 mile tire.

So I asked him what he could do about changing to Toyo or something I have confidence in. He said if I'd drive back to Kerrville, he'd put the Toyo's on for the original difference (about $220) Which I thought was a great deal and will head out tomorrow.

Long and short of it is although we hate to spend any more than necessary, you do get what you pay for (at most!) Seen it here with folks trying to save money on inverters, etc. only to find they are dealing with non-factory authorized resellers who can't provide warranty. Kinda like these tires. Get the best deal you can, but go with the known quantity.

saddleup · October 28, 2013, 10:44:02 AM

And who knowes what type of oil them chinese use to make there tires...

luvrbus · October 28, 2013, 11:03:21 AM

Coffee told him not to buy that tire and he didn't listen

Dave5Cs · October 28, 2013, 11:31:15 AM

But ya know Doyle I saved over 1,100.00 on that inverter and I still after all is said and done thank you to Brandon for putting it up. I think I could get it fixed for that if needed and if the issue was forced I think Magnum would come around.

Now a bubble on a tire that could be life threatening if it blew and I like Toyo's also so Ya done good!...

Dave5Cs

TexasBorderDude · October 28, 2013, 11:58:21 AM

Clifford, when will I ever learn to listen to my better-half!

Hell, if I'd learned that, I might still be married

Dave, thanks for the encouraging words. I'm glad it worked out for you and saving money is never a bad thing!

Yep, just one front blowout at 70 is plenty for me.

Dave5Cs · October 28, 2013, 02:40:33 PM

Doyle Your 70?

Dave5Cs from Galaxy S III

TexasBorderDude · October 28, 2013, 03:07:54 PM

Soon, but 70 mph, heart-rate 185!

Lin · October 28, 2013, 06:05:58 PM

I did not find many reviews on Wanli commercial tires, but they seem to have been around a while. I would be curious to find out if they have a lot of such failures or you just got lucky. I am sure that, based on price, they must be inferior to the premium brands, they still may be okay for our use. I bought a couple of cheaper Chinese tires a couple of years ago for drives and have not had any problem yet.

TexasBorderDude · October 28, 2013, 06:22:01 PM

Lin, I spent a good deal of time on Saturday googling Wanli tires. They are a major state run Chinese outfit but apparently very little market penetration in the US.

Found this in one of the sports car forums

'Wanli makes great tires. They come on Ferrari's, AMG Mercedes, BMW's, Porsche's, and Aston Martins from the factory."

Someone had a great sense of humor. I think the guy that sold me the tires was talked into stocking a couple by his jobber (18 month DOT date) and hadn't had any real experience with them. Any way it's on to Toyo and greener pastures.

niles500 · October 28, 2013, 07:20:41 PM

Wanli is the Chinese spelling of Pirelli

B_K · October 29, 2013, 08:21:14 AM

Wanli have been around the US for a while and the tire guy we used to use up in Union City was pushing them for a while.
I know he pushed them for at least 2 yrs before we moved and have no idea if he still is on not that was over 3 yrs ago.

I ran a set on the drives of 1 of our buses for a while. They did fine and ran out til they were wore out w/no problems. (I didn't trust them for steer tires, but looking back on the service they gave me on the drives I suppose they'
d been fine!)

BK

TomC · October 29, 2013, 09:04:42 AM

As I've said before, tires are much more then big round rubber black things that rotate. The tires are what holds the bus up and more importantly, is the traction between the tire and street. Michelin makes over 50 different truck tire models for various applications. Please get the proper tire for your bus and bite the bullet and pay the premium for the best, name brand tires. Good Luck, TomC

TexasBorderDude · October 29, 2013, 09:26:13 AM

I probably would run this one on a drive or bogie... but NOT the steer. Will get the Toyo's if I can limp back the 200 miles to get 'em changed out.

belfert · October 29, 2013, 09:37:43 AM

Quote from: TomC on October 29, 2013, 09:04:42 AM
As I've said before, tires are much more then big round rubber black things that rotate. The tires are what holds the bus up and more importantly, is the traction between the tire and street. Michelin makes over 50 different truck tire models for various applications. Please get the proper tire for your bus and bite the bullet and pay the premium for the best, name brand tires. Good Luck, TomC

Would you care to explain what a "proper tire" for a bus is? To me, if I need a tire for my front axle the proper tire would be a regional (or long haul) 11R24.5 tire that is all position or steer. If I need a tire for the drive axle I have a few more choices as I can use an all position or a drive tire and drive tires can have a few different tread patterns.

Wanli is a brand name, is it not? It is the name of a brand just like Toyo, Goodyear, Michelin, and all the rest. Is it a brand name I would use? Probably not. Goodyear has a really bad name in the ST trailer tire market and the #1 recommendation for ST trailer tires is usually Maxxis made in Thailand.

Tire problems can happen on any brand.

twostick · October 29, 2013, 08:29:18 PM

If it was me, I would buy the best steer tire I could afford. If the budget won't go for a premium brand like a Michelin, Bridgestone or Goodyear, I would at least spring for a Firestone, Dunlop or maybe a Toyo. Drives I would have less of a problem running second string tires but any of those off/unheard of brands I would tend to stay away from. Reliability is pretty much unknown and they by and large have horrible rolling resistance numbers which means whatever you save in purchase price you will likely spend in extra fuel burnt and then some.

No such thing as cheap tires.

Kevin