THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR!

THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR!
Your Ad here
Be sure to sign up for the weekly RV Travel Newsletter, published continuously every Saturday since 2001. NOTE By subscribing to RVTravel you will get info on the newest post on RV Tire Safety too
. Click here.
Huge RV parts & accessories store!
You have never seen so many RV parts and accessories in one place! And, Wow! Check out those low prices! Click to shop or browse!

Friday, April 19, 2019

Tire Brand Confusion. This info may help Who makes it where?

QUOTE from RV owner on a forum

"I called the tire place (they do commercial truck tires) last week to order the Sumitomo tires, but I then asked him about Firestone FS561 tires, and then he said he’s been selling a lot of Dayton D520S for RVs and that they are a Firestone/Bridgestone owned company. I told him I’d do some research and am just more confused the more I look at tires"


Not sure about the confusion on where a tire is made or by which company. A quick Google search such as "who owns Sumitomo tire"  can get you background information as found HERE.

The where it is made can be answered by reading the first two characters of the DOT serial and then checking HERE.


Michelin. Bridgestone & Goodyear ( The BIG 3) all own a number of brand names. This is like GM owns Chevy, Cadilac, GMC, etc The engineers that design one brand may have designed a different brand last year but generally have the same or similar list of rubber compounds to choose from. Many times a single plant may make two or more brands using the same equipment.  Part of the difference is brand positioning or image in the focus (longer wear or softer ride or better mud traction).

Do you think Chevy uses different bolts when they put a car together than Cadilac? They probably even have the same suppliers making similar components such as tires or power steering pumps. Cadilac has an "image" of a better ride so may choose more expensive and better-performing shocks but the Chevy Corvette engineers would select firmer shocks.  Does this make one "brand" better than another? No, they have different target markets.

Same for tires. Bridgestone wants "Hi-Tech" & Premium image for tires with the Bridgestone name on the sidewall. Firestone brand is aimed at Mid-America solid performance at a reasonable cost, while Dayton is aimed at a "value" image.  The expected wear is slightly different for the 3 brands, so is the price.

I see no reason to not consider the Dayton brand if you were considering the Firestone brand.   The same would apply if you were considering Fulda vs Dunlop as both brands are owned by Goodyear. Michelin owns BFG brand

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks for your comment. We look at each one before posting to keep away the spammers.