Hercules Tires

[mysecondjoy]

Although my 15" Goodyear Marathon's have not yet failed, they have some visual signs to be very concerned about. After reading this forum as well as other sources it appears the options for replacement are: Marathons, Carlisles, Towmasters, Hercules and Michelin LT tires. From what I read, the first choice would have been the Michelin's, however the tire well clearance was pretty close comparing the 235 to the 225. I was introduced to Hercules which made me pause. First of all, they are the same size as the present tire; then 10 ply with an E rating. My research to date has not discovered anything objectionable. Has anyone had experience with this brand - good or bad - for me to consider. I am told my 7,300 GVRW should allow the PSI to be 65ish rather than the 80LB max.
John Dibble
2008 Safari 28

[r carl]

If the Hercules tires are made in china they are junk like the rest of the stuff made there.

[SteveH]

I've not used the Hercules tires, or heard of them before for that matter, but I've had two sets of Towmasters, have a set now, and have not had troubles with them. From what I've witnessed of friend's troubles with Carlisle's and Marathon's, I would not have them on my trailer.

[edglenn]

I just bought a set of 10 ply ST225/75R15 Commodores, load range E, for $116.00 each, from Big O Tires. They assured me the tires were made in the Phillipines, not China. 12 month warranty on them.
Can't find anything on the net about them either, but the tire guys told me they hadn't had any warranty/returns.
I'll see how they hold up.
Hope I didn't get snookered.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by r carl

If the Hercules tires are made in china they are junk like the rest of the stuff made there.

Everything made in NY, CA and TX is also junk.

Bob

[r carl]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

Everything made in NY, CA and TX is also junk.

Bob

Is thate true Steve?

[eubank]

I don't take the made-in-China thing too seriously. They'll make anything you want, from cheap to expensive (in terms of both price and quality), though if it's going to be expensive anyway, it seems that some of the companies that order up these products then choose to have them built elsewhere.

We have Hercules tires on our Airstream. Big ol' bias ply things. As usual, they usually begin to rot in the NM sun before we get that many miles on them. That's when I recycle them over to our gravel trailer (same size wheels) and wear them out. They're kind of hard to get to hold air (tubes recommended) and to balance (Centramatics recommended), though that may as much a function of our wheels as of the tires themselves.


Lynn

[handn]

I installed Michelin P 235 R 75 15 LTX XL on my 2004 25 Safari. There is little difference in the size of these tires compared to the ST 225 R 15 factory tires. There is plenty of wheel well clearance for even a do it yourself tire change which I had to do when I ran over a screw.
I travel in hot weather and blew up lots of ST tires of various brands all over the sun belt.
Good Year Marathons and all the no names I purchased at various small town tire stores are of the same dubious quality.
The bottom line is that all will fail driven at freeway speeds (65 mph or under) at 100 + temperature. ST tires are rated at 100 degrees max.
I did have slightly better luck with Maxxis E's. A set lasted three years before I replaced all of them due to a tread seperation of one tire.
E rated tires inflated to 75 pounds made my trailer ride like an oxcart and hobby horsed even my stiffly sprung Excursion over whoop de doos.
My Michelins are extra load, each tire carries over 2000 pounds. My trailer's gvw is 6300 lbs (300 on the hitch) so I have plenty of capacity. There is still sufficient capacity for a 7300 gvw trailer.
I can now travel at 70 mph in 100 degree + weather all day with safety. At 50 lbs inflation the ride is much smoother.
Cost was 140 per tire, not much more than ST tires.

[edglenn]

Hmmm.... I didn't know 235's would fit easliy in the wheel wells. That's why I stayed with 225's, which are no longer available in "LT"'s.
I would have preferred truck tires over trailer tire, for all the obvious reasons. Maybe I'll try them next time.
Does anyone know if there's a clearance issue on mid 60's Overlanders with 235's?

[mysecondjoy]

Isn't this whole tire thing crazy? We are forced to chose our tires from what we determine to be the best of the bad choices. On Monday I am going to go with blind faith and install the Hercules on my Silver Manatee. I just added Centramatics which should help (or not hurt) and I am going to install metal valves. In my mind, I take the fact that there are few bad experiences reported to be a good thing. It was a toss up between Towmasters and Hurcules. Hercules won the flip of the coin without any convincing facts to support the decision. Not the way I normally do business!
My thought at present is to reduce the tire pressure from the 80 LB Max. to 65 LB due to the approx. 1,800 - 1,900 weight per wheel (without a reduction for the tungue weight). Are there any recommendations on my tire pressure thoughts?
Thanks,
John Dibble
2008 Safari 28

[barts]

I also have been quite happy with Michelin 15" LTX tires on the Tin Pickle.

- Bart

[r carl]

Originally Posted by mysecondjoy

Isn't this whole tire thing crazy? We are forced to chose our tires from what we determine to be the best of the bad choices. On Monday I am going to go with blind faith and install the Hercules on my Silver Manatee. I just added Centramatics which should help (or not hurt) and I am going to install metal valves. In my mind, I take the fact that there are few bad experiences reported to be a good thing. It was a toss up between Towmasters and Hurcules. Hercules won the flip of the coin without any convincing facts to support the decision. Not the way I normally do business!
My thought at present is to reduce the tire pressure from the 80 LB Max. to 65 LB due to the approx. 1,800 - 1,900 weight per wheel (without a reduction for the tungue weight). Are there any recommendations on my tire pressure thoughts?
Thanks,
John Dibble
2008 Safari 28

The only thing crazy is putting a cheap tire on an airstream that you love. Just put on these tires if they will fit, they are a high quality japanese LT tire that looks good on an older trailer.
Yokohama RY215

[edglenn]

So, if a LOT of RV owners seem to be having difficulty finding good quality tires to put on their Airstreams and wanting to avoid using utility trailer tires, then why isn't there a tire manufacturer catering to this demographic? Why should we have to go to "LT" tires?
RV's, especially Airstreams, are a good market. Why aren't the tire companies jumping through hoops to get our business?
It's not like the economy is so great that they can ignore a good market potential.
Am I missing something?

[ROBERT CROSS]

I'm tyre'd of this...

Bob

[r carl]

Originally Posted by edglenn

So, if a LOT of RV owners seem to be having difficulty finding good quality tires to put on their Airstreams and wanting to avoid using utility trailer tires, then why isn't there a tire manufacturer catering to this demographic? Why should we have to go to "LT" tires?
RV's, especially Airstreams, are a good market. Why aren't the tire companies jumping through hoops to get our business?
It's not like the economy is so great that they can ignore a good market potential.
Am I missing something?

Its all about money, if they can sell a tire for $120 here that they buy in china for $20 they are going to do it.

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by edglenn

So, if a LOT of RV owners seem to be having difficulty finding good quality tires to put on their Airstreams and wanting to avoid using utility trailer tires, then why isn't there a tire manufacturer catering to this demographic? Why should we have to go to "LT" tires?
RV's, especially Airstreams, are a good market. Why aren't the tire companies jumping through hoops to get our business?
It's not like the economy is so great that they can ignore a good market potential.
Am I missing something?

Don't know the answer for sure, but I suspect that in the grand scheme of tire sales, trailer tires are a very small percentage, and the people who would pay a premium price for a premium trailer tire, such as Airstreamers, even smaller yet.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Take your choice...(chance)


Bob

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

Take your choice...


Bob

Bob, It's pretty sad looking down that list, how few American tire companies there are left, let alone how many actual tires are made here now.

Is it the "global economy"?

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by SteveH

Bob, It's pretty sad looking down that list, how few American tire companies there are left, let alone how many actual tires are made here now.

Is it the "global economy"?

It is for sure Steve....

If in fact there are many here who "love" the maxxis brand, and if it is a quality tire then how do we explain where it's made? It's not so much who but how, just think of JC.
Maybe they should consider....never mind.

Bob

[edglenn]

Without going into politics, one BIG reason American companies are outsourcing, is the tax code.
Companies that stay here, pay around 35% corporate tax (one of the highest in the world). Companies that "invest" overseas, get tax breaks. General Electric actually had a NEGATIVE tax balance of nearly 40% this year. In other words, we (us taxpayers) PAID G.E. to outsource manufacturing & jobs overseas. It was more than a Billion $.
Yes, the cost of labor is much cheaper abroad, but our tax code is a HUGE factor.
It's hard to buy American, if Congress keeps driving production out.
American's have one of the best work-ethics in the world!!!