with RV tire expert Roger Marble
Question on an RV forum:
“Looking to replace the tires on my 33′ MH. Was thinking about Hankook as I only put 3500-5000 miles per year on them. I have seen a lot of negative reviews for Hankook tires on cars but not seeing much on RV tires. Any suggestion? Thanks.”
My answer:
While I can’t address negative reports on some applications for some brands, I do know that I can find negative posts on just about every brand tire I ever heard of.
A couple of points: No company that makes passenger, light truck and heavy truck (e.g., RV) tires makes them with the same materials or on the same machines. I doubt that you think that winning the Indy 500 means you can expect the same materials or process to be used in your 365/70R22.5 LR-J tire.
I have a couple of posts on my blog with links to videos of tire manufacturing processes, new and old, showing just how different the manufacturing process can be. The raw materials are different and the internal QA testing is different, so I don’t feel it is reasonable to use a broad brush of “negative reviews” from some individuals to consider all the tires a company makes must also be bad, especially given the well-documented cases of poor or non-existent tire maintenance for so many vehicle owners.
When people ask me for recommendations for tires I offer a couple of suggestions:
1. You can go to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) website and check for current recalls for the brand and type tire you are considering.
2. Visit the company website and see if you can locate dealers or stores in the states you travel to. If there are hundreds of stores then it would follow that it should be easier to get service and that millions of consumers must be happy with the products that the company makes. When doing this check confirm that you have visited the appropriate company website. Some companies separate passenger and heavy truck dealers, and you should not expect to be able to get service for your 22.5″ tires at a passenger tire dealer.
3. Don’t use purchase price as your primary yardstick.
Things to think about: What was the complaint in the negative review? price? Service at a particular store? The tires didn’t deliver 70,000 miles wear? The fact that the tire suffered a puncture? Maybe even a complaint about a tire failure but the failure was traced to a valve core leak. I have even heard some complaints about the style of lettering on a tire sidewall.
Bottom line: I know of no reason to not include the Hankook brand on your shortlist.
Read more from Roger Marble on his blog at RVtiresafety.net.
 ##RVT913
