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Manfred58sc
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Joined: October 05, 2009
Posts: 3382
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 Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 5:23 pm Post subject: |
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Those look just like my Chinese "Road Claw" (can you stand the hype??). I've run mine about 5 K and lots of off-road time. No issues as of yet. My mechanic warned me "Your going to learn to love Chinese parts". How true
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richparker
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Joined: November 24, 2011
Posts: 6981
Location: Durango, CO
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| Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 6:43 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky |
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^^^Hey Manfred, those tires looked great on our trip.
I see someone posted that the RA08s were discontinued, there are still plenty of choices out there. We need you guys running these China tires, or should I say tires we are not use to seeing here in the states, to give us detailed reviews.  . Thanks!!!
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Busdepot
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richparker
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Joined: November 24, 2011
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Location: Durango, CO
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| Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 9:50 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky |
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Good news! Can you confirm the rumor of these tires being discontinued? If they indeed are so you think you/BD will try to have Hankook produce them special for your company?
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Busdepot
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Joined: March 24, 2004
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| Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 12:12 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky |
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It's been a great run, but yes, the RA08 is discontinued. We still have stock on both sizes, as I said a couple of posts above. Once our inventory is gone that will be it, as there are no more to be had. This is a real shame because in my opinion the RA08 is/was the best overall Bus tire on the market. There isn't much to fill this gap (especially under $100) if you want a good quality all-season highway tire. Most of what's left on the market are either summer-only tires (Yokohama, Continental), have an aggressive off-road tread that isn't the best choice for highway use unless you actually do plan to go off-roading (BFG, Goodyear), or are of unknown/questionable quality (various off-brand Chinese imports). I know I'll be snagging an extra set of the Hankooks to put aside for my own crew cab before they're gone.
As of now there is no replacement here in the U.S. , nor is Hankook interested in doing any custom runs. In some international markets (most notably Australia) they sell the essentially similar RA18, but it's not available in the U.S. as of now. (Remember, the tire must have U.S. DOT labeling molded into the sidewall; Hankook can't just take a foreign-market tire they already make and ship it here.) The situation may change in 2016, and I'll keep you all informed when I learn more, but as of now I'd say grab the RA08's while you can. Even if they do give us the RA18 in a Bus size it's pricier, so best-case is a price increase and worst-case is they decide not to import the 14" Bus sizes at all.
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Globespotter
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DougB
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Joined: January 09, 2007
Posts: 1076
Location: Falls Church, Virginia, USA
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| Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 11:55 am Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky |
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So happy I bought a spare set (mounted on new VW road wheels from BD) when they hit $85 on Amazon a few months ago (free shipping, too). Eager to see what people gravitate to next. :-/
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Kirk
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Joined: December 05, 2003
Posts: 5487
Location: North Texas
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| Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 3:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Tcash wrote: |
If you run those you have to paint your rims black and run without hubcaps.
Tcash |
Someone said black wheels and BFGs? Been runnin mine a long long long time.
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Brian
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Location: Oceanside
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| Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 3:48 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky |
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I love the look of all-terrains on bays. Black is cool, but white shows off the dirt 
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ZachL
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Joined: January 07, 2006
Posts: 34
Location: Austin, TX
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| Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2015 2:58 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky |
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| Just want to say the fear of Chinese tires or calling them "questionable quality" is completely unwarranted. Same goes for many tire brands from Taiwan and other countries in that area. I have run tires from Accelera, Nankang, Achilles, General and Federal with no issues. Some have even seen track time in my GTI, not to mention a ton of canyone/hill country spirited driving. Most of these companies don't have huge R&D departments, but they do license tire technology from the larger name brands. They may not have the absolute latest tire tech, but the Asian tires are no doubt the best value on the market currently. |
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Busdepot
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Joined: March 24, 2004
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| Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2015 8:16 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky |
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| Quote: |
| Just want to say the fear of Chinese tires or calling them "questionable quality" is completely unwarranted. |
The term I actually used (referencing low-end off-brand Chinese tires, not necessarily name-brand tires of Chinese manufacture) was "unknown/questionable" quality. That is a widely held industry opinion of the overall Chinese tire industry at this point in time. For examples see:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/09/chinese-truck-tires-are-no-bargain/index.htm
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2014/05/should-i-buy-tires-made-in-china.html
Tires are not just slabs of rubber, a lot of technology goes into their design. The Consumer Reports article linked above notes that every budget priced Chinese tire they tested placed at the very bottom of their ratings. The second article points out that this includes tires that outwardly look like name brand tires and even copy their tread pattern. Most of them are not licensed, they are just cosmetic knock-offs and nothing more. They may look good but the technology isn't there. You can buy a cheap tablet on the streets of New York that looks almost exactly like an iPad, but it won't perform anything like one. You get what you pay for.
I'm sure there are some decent off-brand Chinese tires out there (that's why I said "unknown/questionable," not "all bad"), but there's also a whole lot of crap. And with none of the companies having been in the US market long enough to establish a track record, there is no reliable way of knowing which is which. Over time as the Chinese tire industry matures, that will certainly change. But until then, as long as the real thing is still under $100 each, why would you chance it?
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ZachL
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Joined: January 07, 2006
Posts: 34
Location: Austin, TX
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| Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2015 11:29 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky |
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| Your comments suggested inferior quality. Neither of the articles you posted test quality; they explicitly say that in the articles. They are merely comparing performance and tread wear. |
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Busdepot
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Joined: March 24, 2004
Posts: 1310
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| Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 5:41 am Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky |
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I'm confused. Like you said, the articles say the tires have worse performance and shorter lifespan. Isn't that synonymous with lower quality? If how well a tire handles and how long it lasts is not a measure of its quality, what is? I think we're splitting hairs here.
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airschooled
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Joined: April 04, 2012
Posts: 12721
Location: on a bike ride somewhere
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| Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 11:24 am Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky |
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| Consumer Reports, linked by BusDepot wrote: |
| Consumer Reports has removed its ratings for the Pegasus Advanta SUV tire originally reported on page 60 of our November issue and online. Although we purchased the tire through normal retail channels, Arizona-based American Pacific Industries (API) notified us that, based on the DOT tire identification code on our tires, the model tested was not produced or distributed by an authorized Pegasus vendor. The “unauthorized” Pegasus tires performed relatively poorly for snow traction and tread life. We have not tested “authorized” Pegasus tires. |
Really? If this is something we have to be aware of when buying tires through retail outlets, then the tires aren't even worth considering to carry my family and me.
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skid1976
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Posts: 32
Location: South Carolina
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| Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 6:12 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky |
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| wanna get some Hanooks for my '76 bus before they are gone. Whats a better choice the 185/14 or the 195/14 for stock rims/suspensions and why ? |
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airschooled
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| Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 6:31 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky |
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| skid1976 wrote: |
| wanna get some Hanooks for my '76 bus before they are gone. Whats a better choice the 185/14 or the 195/14 for stock rims/suspensions and why ? |
Depends on your engine output and gearing. The 195 size rotates 21 time per mile less, so you can do some math to find the speed difference. (Hint, at 3,600 RPM it's about a 1.5 mph difference in an early bay. '76+ with the 091 transaxle, you're looking at just under 2mph difference at that RPM.)
The 195 tires are also D rated, and my 185 (five years old) tires are C rated. If you plan on hauling near max capacity cargo, try the 195 size for that reason.
Just my thoughts…
Robbie
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skid1976
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Location: South Carolina
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| Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 7:11 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky |
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| Was asking more because of height / width difference. Is one better than the other ? Is the 195/14 an advantage in that respect or a disadvantage? Does it matter? |
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Brian
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airschooled
Air-Schooled
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Location: on a bike ride somewhere
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| Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 7:18 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky |
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| skid1976 wrote: |
| Was asking more because of height / width difference. Is one better than the other ? Is the 195/14 an advantage in that respect or a disadvantage? Does it matter? |
Here's the publication from Hankook, regarding their sizes. I didn't realize until now that the 195 tread depth is deeper! 
Robbie
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LivinInnaVWBus
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Joined: October 07, 2013
Posts: 968
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| Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 7:37 pm Post subject: |
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| dwill49965 wrote: |
Here's what I just got for my bus to replace my 8 year old (maybe older) Signet SV820 (185R14C) tires. They gave good service.
These Hercules HSI-S tires were the only 185R14C tires I could get - $87 each! Only downside is that the date code is 26/12, so they are already 3 years old! But with me only putting on 1-2K miles per year (at most) on the bus, they'll do.
The Hancook dealers here couldn't get RA08's, the continental dealers couldn't get Vanco 8's. Canadian Tire advertises Vanco 8s online only - but you have to buy them first, get charged to your credit card, and a couple of days later they send you an email saying they are unavailable. One place tried to get me into BFG AT 195/75R14's, but they were $190 Cdn each, which was way too pricey. I should have bought tires in Maine when I visited Randy a couple of years ago!
Yes, I know these are winter tires, which I was a little leery of, but they'll do fine in the summer in this part of the country.
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My ancient made in Canada Hercules tires lasted over 100k miles, I'm not even close to kidding. I bought the bus with them and have driven them nearly every day for 3+ years. The tread still looks like the day I bought the bus, the only reason I got new tires is because a belt broke inside of one of them... about 10k miles ago - the noise was too much to take. THE best tires I've ever run and I'm saving them until they are too rotted to attempt to mount.
F**king disgusting how well those tires are made.
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