Date: Sat, 7 May 2016 08:22:43 -0700
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: hankook ra-08 copies
In-Reply-To: <8d9b19b2-9740-3042-dc85-f2b57336597e@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
"A real tire"?... Like perhaps 50% of the still new looking used Michelin
tires I've seen come my way recently? <(Sarcastic) With the tread bulges
and separations? I've given up on Michelin..
I don't advocate the Go Form brand or any particular tire from them, just
passing on my own experience with these, in answer to a query.
DH
On May 7, 2016 7:43 AM, "Jon VonOhlsen" <jondvo@gmail.com> wrote:
> The GoForm G520 185 or 195r14 tire has a load index of 86(195) or 88(185),
> or a capacity of about 1250#. I'll stick with a real tire...unless there is
> some other version from Tires Easy.
> Jon
>
>
> On 5/7/2016 8:23 AM, Don Hanson wrote:
>
>> I, too, was skeptical when I bought a pair of these to make it home from
>> the desert one spring...being short of cash, though, I had no choice.
>>
>> They've surprised me by consistently performing just as well as the
>> higher priced tires they claim to have copied... Thanks to Ron for taking
>> the time to look up the back round info.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sat, May 7, 2016 at 6:41 AM, The Bus Depot <vanagon@busdepot.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> what is the name and where can you
>>>> get the chinese copies of the hankook tires?
>>>> Go Form
>>>>
>>> I looked into this claim after it was repeated here several times (by the
>>> same individual, I believe). I also spoke to Hankook about it. The
>>> GoForms
>>> come from a company called Qingdao Gloryred International Trade Company,
>>> whose advertising headline is trade publications is (not kidding) "Sell
>>> cheap tyre." Qingdao Gloryred has no affiliation whatsoever with
>>> Hankook.
>>> Hankook has not shared any technology with them or licensed any
>>> technology
>>> to them. Their claim of using "Hankook technology" is based solely on
>>> the
>>> fact that their technical engineer used to work for Hankook. Given that
>>> employees often change jobs, by that standard almost any company could
>>> claim a connection to any other company. It is not uncommon for
>>> off-brand
>>> Chinese companies to make false claims of affiliation with or endorsement
>>> by name brands in order to lend legitimacy to their products. For example
>>> there are several other off-brand Chinese companies that claim to use
>>> "Michelin technology" but have no actual connection with Michelin. Laws
>>> against false advertising are not the same in China. Interestingly,
>>> these
>>> companies don't make those claims in the U.S., where they would be forced
>>> to retract them immediately.
>>>
>>> Consumer Reports tested several off-brand Chinese tires (although not
>>> GoForms) a couple of years ago and found that they all performed at the
>>> absolute bottom of the pack for safety and for lifespan, even though some
>>> had copied the tread pattern of better known tires. They interviewed
>>> Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, who
>>> explained this disparity by pointing out that “the composition of the
>>> tire
>>> is more important than the mold.” In other words you can make the tread
>>> look the same cosmetically, but if the rubber compound is different,
>>> it's a
>>> different tire. The tires they checked were also "iffy" in other ways,
>>> such
>>> as using counterfeit date codes on the sidewall. Consumer Reports -
>>> whose
>>> goal is to find bargains and "best buys" - concluded by advising its
>>> readers to stick with the name brands, which were actually better
>>> bargains
>>> in the long run even just based on treadwear alone.
>>>
>>> I have not tried the GoForm tire so I can't comment on it specifically.
>>> For all I know it may be a decent cheap tire on its own merits. But it
>>> has
>>> no more connection to a Hankook RA08 than any other cheap Chinese tires
>>> does, except perhaps skin-deep.
>>>
>>> Ron Salmon
>>> The Bus Depot, Inc.
>>> www.busdepot.com
>>>
>>>
>
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