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Tires: New Kid on the block from Hankook.(Vantra RA18)


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10 hours ago, Derek up North said:

" Nexen (Woosung), Signet, Atlas, Roadstone, Jupiter, Rodian, all the same SV-820"

 

Here is what made the choice for me.  I know the culture and work ethic in Korea.  The problem I have with Chinese manufacturer's is the "best price" mentality that is pervasive.  Companies, including ones I've worked for, struggle with this.  Quality output is a continual battle.  You can get them to make really great products but it is not inherent in their business culture. 

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When I was working in Korea I was continually amazed at the number of over loaded Mazda "Bongo" trucks staggering down the road. I don't mean Toy RV overloaded either. Didn't see many along side the road with flats.

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When I was working in China, I saw so many scooters; there's a transportation caste there: cars , electric scooters and bicycles. they overload bicycles to the extreme as well as the scooters and cars.  I am assuming they are all Chinese tires...they seemed to take the abuse just fine.

Edited by Totem
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1 hour ago, Totem said:

When I was working in China, I saw so many scooters; there's a transportation caste there: cars , electric scooters and bicycles. they overload bicycles to the extreme as well as the scooters and cars.  I am assuming they are all Chinese tires...they seemed to take the abuse just fine.

I put new Chinese tires on my wife's 1992 VW Jetta diesel.  They were 29$ each, shipped to my door and I could not resist trying.  A friend of mine who owns a tire place warned me how "all Chinese tires are junk and cannot be balanced."  Well, I mounted them myself with my own tire machine and then took them to his place to "try to balance."  Believe it or not - all four were in perfect balance with no weights needed.  We drove on rocky gravel and dirt roads for 4 years with them and zero problems. Sold the Jetta last year when we moved out of NY. I know, for sure, that some Chinese tires are excellent. Problem is - figuring out how to know before buying.   

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  • 1 month later...

I notice they are also in P195 size.  My current rig had (very old) Continental P195 when I bought it.  Blew a tire AND  the spare away from home, could only get RA08's in P185 so put those on front to get home then had to match size replacing the rest.  But I did like the ride on the 195's better than the 185's.

Is there reason other than slightly higher cost to avoid the P195's?

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You might have liked the old tire's ride because they were passenger car tires (designated by the 'P'). The 195R14 8-ply (Load Rand D) will most likely NOT give the same comfort with stiffer side walls. And you also don't need the extra load carrying capacity.

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when I bought my motor home in 2012, I have Nankang tire on it. The tire have some plastic finish on the side wall. One day after 2 hour ride, the  right rear inside tire blew out. It broke my floor ,gas line etc .Now I have continental vanco 2 tire. they are best tire than Nankang.

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3 hours ago, steeve said:

when I bought my motor home in 2012, I have Nankang tire on it. The tire have some plastic finish on the side wall. One day after 2 hour ride, the  right rear inside tire blew out. It broke my floor ,gas line etc .Now I have continental vanco 2 tire. they are best tire than Nankang.

god damn... my warrior has "TRIANGLE" tires on it, lmao... never heard of such cheap chinese crap before.  Such an awful name for a tire company...

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I have and will buy the nexen sv820 and out here in the west it was I think rebranded the thunderer road ranger  and sold in the 450 stores of Les SHUAB. one thing   if the west biggest tire outfit or any good outfit anywhere has much trouble with a tire  or a company they dump them. they don't want it . don't know if firestone ever learned that.

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  • 10 months later...

Until recently, the best price for the RA18 was (I think) $70 on Amazon.com but they seem to have jumped to $100 (the same as Walmart shows them). Now, the lowest price I've noticed is from Simpletire.com @ ~$64 (plus shipping).

https://simpletire.com/hankook-185-r14-2001939-tires

EDIT. Just noticed on the SimpleTire website that they've got 'Free Shipping' to US. and installers (like TireRack).

However, for some reason, the Hankooks AREN'T Free Shipping! Unfair!! :)

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45 minutes ago, Derek up North said:

Until recently, the best price for the RA18 was (I think) $70 on Amazon.com but they seem to have jumped to $100 (the same as Walmart shows them). Now, the lowest price I've noticed is from Simpletire.com @ ~$64 (plus shipping).

https://simpletire.com/hankook-185-r14-2001939-tires

I too have found simpletire.com seems to win the buy your own tires cheapest cost award, however unless you are mounting, road force balancing and installing them yourself its pretty hard to beat the big box stores like Belle Tire; who will do all that plus install them for less than simple tire will sell you them delivered.

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