Flat Tires And Breakdowns

[Gary D]

It always pay to check you tires whenever you come back to your vehicle, We went on a road trip to Hundred Islands and stopped at Alaminos for a Jollibee. We got back in the van and drove off and the driver was struggling a bit but he pushed on for a kilometer complaining about the steering. I suggested we stop and have a look and sure enough we had a flat. Luckily there just happened to be this very helpful guy on a motorbike who knew just the place to get it fixed, I hadn't noticed the vulcanising shop across the road, so I change the spare, the driver had no idea how to do this, and off we went to this garage some distance away. Of course the tire was now no good but no puncture so we needed a new tire. I've often wondered how that tire got flat whist we were in the Jolibee and how this guy was just in the right place to help us out.

[OnMyWay]

2 hours ago, banyanman said:

I wasn't impressed with Yokohama when I had them on my Nissan Navara. I got 30k out of the original set (can't remember what brand they were). Replaced them with Yokohama but they lasted only 25k. Then replaced those with Bridgestone and again only got 25k. I'm now on the fourth set which are Maxxis. I've done 95k in total and the Maxxis tyres look less than half worn, so I think I may get 30k+ out of those. And the ride is noticeably better than the previous three brands. (I do a fair amount of driving on dirt roads, so others may get better mileage than me). And so far - touch wood - no flats with the Maxxis tyres.

Wow, you are hard on tires!  You mean kilometers, right?  E.g., 25K kilometers?  Yes, your off road must be adding a lot of wear and tear.  I'm guessing you are running more of an off road tire than I need as well.

I have the original Bridgestone Duellers on my Trailblazer.  Rarely go off the pavement and I have 45k KM on them now.  Tread depth is getting low and one abnormal wear on one side.  My Trailblazer Club buddies say that 40-50 k is about average for these tires.

There is not much in the way of tire reviews here in the Philippines so I try to find the particular tire on TireRack.com in the U.S., and read the reviews.  Of the SUV tires that fit my size there on TireRack, the Yokohama G056 is rated 20th out of 49 and the price is much lower than the top rated ones.  And most people are getting at least 50k MILES on them.  I also like my local Yokohama dealer so I think I will give them a try this time.  I'm having them do most of my maintenance now.

 

[banyanman]

2 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

Wow, you are hard on tires!  You mean kilometers, right?  E.g., 25K kilometers?  Yes, your off road must be adding a lot of wear and tear.  I'm guessing you are running more of an off road tire than I need as well.

Yes, 25,000 kilometers. I think it's more a case of the road being hard on my tyres than me being hard on them. The condition of the roads in San Mateo where I live is as bad as anywhere in the Philippines (many potholes and rough edges) and part of the access road to where we live is dirt because of a legal dispute between the DPWH and a local landowner which has been the subject of legal action for about 12 years now. So it's not so much my off-roading as the traveling to and from home every day. The first three sets of tyres were street tyres but the ones I have on now are 'semi off-road'.

[JJReyes]

3 hours ago, banyanman said:

Yes, 25,000 kilometers. I think it's more a case of the road being hard on my tyres than me being hard on them. The condition of the roads in San Mateo where I live is as bad as anywhere in the Philippines (many potholes and rough edges) and part of the access road to where we live is dirt because of a legal dispute between the DPWH and a local landowner which has been the subject of legal action for about 12 years now. So it's not so much my off-roading as the traveling to and from home every day. The first three sets of tyres were street tyres but the ones I have on now are 'semi off-road'.

The tires manufactured in the Philippines are inferior. They tend to last 25,000 to 50,000 kilometers before needing replacement.  It's the raw materials used. Those manufactured in other countries are much better quality.

My first set was Continental which is standard for Mercedes Benz Euro (engine, chassis and tires are imported into Canada where the RV interior and exterior are manufactured). Unfortunately, Continental tires are now made in one of the East European countries and not as good as the former German ones. Mine wore off after 40,000 miles. The replacement are Bridgestone (USA). After 60,000 miles, they still look good and may last another 20,000 miles. 

 

 

[OnMyWay]

3 hours ago, JJReyes said:

The tires manufactured in the Philippines are inferior. They tend to last 25,000 to 50,000 kilometers before needing replacement.  It's the raw materials used. Those manufactured in other countries are much better quality.

My first set was Continental which is standard for Mercedes Benz Euro (engine, chassis and tires are imported into Canada where the RV interior and exterior are manufactured). Unfortunately, Continental tires are now made in one of the East European countries and not as good as the former German ones. Mine wore off after 40,000 miles. The replacement are Bridgestone (USA). After 60,000 miles, they still look good and may last another 20,000 miles. 

 

 

I was going to ask a question about this in my last post but I was tired and forgot.

The Yokohama tire I am interested in is the Geolander G056.  I'm fairly certain it is manufactured in the Clark Freeport.  Yokohama has a website for that facility:

http://www.ytpi.com/home/

Nice to see good jobs for Filipinos there along with Japanese technology and culture.

The website says the Clark facility is the only Yokohama tire manufacturing facility outside of Japan, so I assume tires sold in the U.S. are manufactured in Japan.

Do you think the G056 manufactured in Clark is inferior to the G056 manufactured in Japan?

PH:

http://www.yokohamatire.ph/products/suv/geolandar-g056/

US:

https://www.yokohamatire.com/tires/geolandar-h-t-g056

[JJReyes]

Manufacturing in an Export Processing Zone Authority or Freeport Zone means that 90% of the finished product is for export. The manufacturer is permitted to important all equipment, machinery and supplies on a duty free basis. The local component added is the labor.  

10% can be sold to the local market including "seconds" which may include imperfections but they are still good. Therefore, the Yokohama tires you purchased should be "Export Quality" if they came from a Freeport Zone plant. Whether these tires are sold in the United States is a separate issue. Possibly, they are for cars sold in other countries.

Interesting anecdote. Japanese manufactured cars sold in the United States are 400 pounds heavier than the same identical car sold in Japan. Reason is US standards are different requiring seals to prevent premature rusting and resistance to all weather conditions from high desert heat to cold climate. 

 

[jpbago]

3 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

The website says the Clark facility is the only Yokohama tire manufacturing facility outside of Japan, so I assume tires sold in the U.S. are manufactured in Japan.

The DOT code will tell you the factory that the tire was made at just in front of the date of manufacture.

DOT code: All tires for use in the USA have the DOT code, as required by the Department of Transportation (DOT). It specifies the company, factory, mold, batch, and date of production

[Dave Hounddriver]

3 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

Do you think the G056 manufactured in Clark is inferior to the G056 manufactured in Japan?

I would bet on it.  Anything manufactured for the Philippine market, is inferior to the stuff they manufacture for export.  Yes, its just my opinion but have you tried Cadbury's chocolate in Philippines?  It looks the same as the stuff in England or Canada until you taste it.  Just one example but it seems to be a common theme.

[OnMyWay]

41 minutes ago, jpbago said:

The DOT code will tell you the factory that the tire was made at just in front of the date of manufacture.

DOT code: All tires for use in the USA have the DOT code, as required by the Department of Transportation (DOT). It specifies the company, factory, mold, batch, and date of production

I would guess that most tires have the DOT code now, even if not destined for the U.S. market.  I found a list of plants:

http://www.harriger.com/tire2.htm

And my current bridgestones were made at a Bridgestone plant in Thailand, first week of 2014.  My 2014 Chevy Trailblazer was built in Thailand.

I think I will ask to see the Yokohamas before I buy them.  Months ago someone had recommended to check the manufacturing date when buying new tires, to avoid getting old stock.  Yokohama Clark is 4U and I would think they would have fresh stock around, but my tire is not a common size (265/60 R18) so you never know.