It was a tire store in Mo. that told me that. I am not sure but seems i heard or read that Goodyear was French owned ?
Probably like Toyota's --owned by Japan --many built here--then the profits go back to their countries

 

My truck was Hecho en Mexico!

 

Its tire store guys that sell 10 - ply rated tires too..... Pirelli's are made in GA, Yoks in Va....Almost every manufacturing company has ties globally. After all Dodge/Chrysler, ummm Mercedes....Parts are made all over the world and come together to manufacture a product somewhere else. Michelins are owned by the French, at least the name is; Goodyear is Ohio based.

 

It doesn't make much sense to simply blast China when a Chinese product fails. Many or most of the products from China are actually from American companies that can get things made there for 1/10th of what it takes here. And the Chinese are very eager to work with us, so they are very good at meeting deadlines, producing samples and generally trying to accomodate the buyer, rather than being inflexible. American companies that design and then purchase products from over there are the ones that approve of the final product. They are very aware when the quality is poor, that's what they want and are happy to accept it and send it on to the American public for a cheap price. Also, you don't hear about the excellent products, only the bad ones. Injection molding, for instance, can be done far quicker with the same resins as here with setup costs that are far less. Color samples get sent right out for free. One piece I know about costs 60 cents from China and 8 dollars from the US. It's the same resin and the tolerances and overall quality are as good as anywhere in the world. All made in the most modern, state of the art plant, in China.

In the case of the Mattel toy recall that was mentioned earlier, Mattel apparantly tried to do the right thing by providing the safe paint to be used on the toys, but the company manager over there used something else. A corrupt manager caused the problem and Mattel did not check the final product to verify the paint. In that case it was a big scandal in China, a lot of embarrasment, and 5000 workers at the plant were very unhappy about it. The manager commited suicide.

So ridicule China all you want but the American companies are part of it. They knowingly or unknowingly accept poor quality in the name of profit. And only the problems make headlines. Then a few people get on their soapbox and declare the whole of China as a huge problem. Meanwhle the American companies are raking in the bux.

It is too bad when American workers lose jobs, and it's not their fault. But it's a simple fact that if two products sit side by side on the shelf, and look the same but cost far different, the cheaper one will sell. And cheaper does not always mean lower quality. My Apple computer came from China and it's excellent. Some of my Harbor Freight tools came from China, and they are suspect. There is always someone who can figure out a way to make the same thing for less and give established industries a lot of trouble, look at the auto industry. Captalism marches on.

Buying off brand tires is a bad idea. What other part on our trucks have so much to do with safety and get stessed the way they do? But remember the Explorer rollover problems a few years ago? Brigestone tires made in South America with the belts left out, on purpose, if I remember corectly.



John

 

You are way off. The tires were not proven defective so your information is not entirely correct. The tires passed the established standard testing methods, there were no missing belts. Ford Exploders were known to roll over with every tire that was made, including the replacements. The issue, besides the roll overs, were underinflation of the tire to compensate for poor suspension design. The lower pressures provide better ride quality. Inflation pressures printed on the door placards were too low for the application. After replacement tires were provided, tire dealers were instructed to inflate tire to recomended pressures from the tire industry, not from Ford. Ford turned their back on a supplier they had used for 30 + years. Some tire companies said they did not want to participate in making replacement tires for the Exploders. Goodyear was the main supplier to make replacement tires. Bridgestone/Firestone still makes as good a tire as anyone else.

As for Chinese Quality, I too buy Harbor Freight Tools, but its to the point now that everything is Chinese made and lots of it is junk. The problem I see is that prices are remaining the same or going up, but the quality is going down. I guess it will go full circle when people stop putting money in corporate pockets.

But on another note: Chinese do steal designs and they do it until they are caught, then they say oooopppss. And very seldom does anything happen to them. Foreign Tire Distributors imported the Chinese tires, made millions of dollars, when confronted by NHTSA about a recall, they said "we can't afford it" so we will just close down. Leaving the consumer a very long and tiresome, not to mention expensive road if they expect to get reimbursed. Heaven forbid if anyone gets injured because of a tire failure. I think going after the Chinese for consistant bad/deadly products is far over due and if it is determined that American Corporations are to be held accountable, then great. Someone in this country needs to take responsibility for their own actions....better stop there before the path takes a turn down the political path.

 

... too late...

You don't know the Power of the Dark Side!!!

 

Chinese tires are garbage, we put quite a few GT brand tires on our big rigs, total nightmare.

 

Well, be as it may, check out the pictures in my photo gallery of my Goodyear Wrangler and the crnage it caused to my '99.

Need we mention Firestone? Not the first time we have been through this.

 

Not to start a war here, but some of you folks crack me up. Thinking that if we want to export more what we need is better pay is totally upside down thinking. THAT is exactly what is hurting our ability to compete. So many of us want to blame our corporations for everything. How's this for being the cause....we are a bunch of highly overpaid, under-achieving, bloated prima donas who have come to believe we are entitled to be on the top of the heap forever. Well, welcome to the global economy, Bunky. There are a huge number of human beings that are starving to death and appreciate every crumb they can get their boney hands on. When you see pictures of people in India walking around the bodies of their fellow countrymen who have just dropped dead on the sidwalks from starvation (!), you've got to know that even China is looking over it's shoulder.
Incidentally, I am a dealer for Hoosier Tire which are built in Lakeland, IN, another of the very few American tire manufacturers.
I don't know about some of the other brands mentioned elsewhere, but my BFG's ARE made here, but my Pirelli Scorpians are actually built in Briazil! I know that not all Goodyears are born here.
If we want America "to pull it's head out", do you suppose it might have anything to do with the unions??? Why do you suppose the Japanese can come here, build a great product such as the Toyotas, sell em like hotcakes, and turn a good profit? Ohh, and by the way, supply good paying jobs to tens of thousands of American workers. At the same time, GM, who also turns out some great product, struggles to stay out of bankrupcy. Back around 1973, a buddy snuck me in for a walk thru the River Rouge Ford plant. When I saw hypodermic needles on the floor of the assembly line and was told that the employee using them could not be fired, I saw the writing on the wall. Go by the Honda or Toyota plant and you will see their logo of those brands being worn on the caps, shirts, and jackets. In all my years around Detroit, I saw alot more allegiance being paid to the UAW. Those workers saw the company as the enemy and the union as their saviour. This attitude is not exclusive to the auto industry. Same thing applies to many of the trades, such as electricians, etc. These same people are happy to take credit for all the good things that are generated, and blame the greedy corporations for all failings. I am not saying that many of the CEOs and higher officers are not at fault too, but in the big picture, we as a country in the Global economy will continue to slide.
Amazingly, on that global scale, we still dwarf the exports of China with ours. I can only guess that this is due to the efficiency of our technology, but I have watched the unions fight many of the measures taken to keep us in the fight, stating that it is robbing it's members of their jobs.
Back to tires for a second. The only snow tire that will keep my Ram from sliding off my driveway into serious damage is the Bridgestone Blizzak. I wish someone stateside could match the performance, (outperforms STUDDED tires on glare ice!), but no other studless tire comes close.
For those that want to knock Walmart, you should be thanking them instead for saving you over $2,000. even if you never make a single purchase there, just because they force everyone else to reduce prices, not to mention they improve the living standard of millions of lower income Americans.
Finally, if you are so set on buying American, why are you driving one of these trucks? Mine was built in Mexico.
Enuff.......Flame away.

 

Well said!

 

Not trying to start a war, but if you check out the stats, they will show that American exports dwarf those from China (something like $28 Billion vs. 13). Also, if you try to buy American, why are you driving one of these trucks? I don't know about yours, but mine is built in Mexico.

 

What do you do when the "Made in USA" sticker has "Printed in China" at the bottom?

 

love my Cooper tires. 100% manufactured in the US of A

 

Wow! There are some very good points. Being a retired (medically) Union Electrician I agree that Unions are killing some of our chances to compete. I remember sitting in meetings and listening to B/A talk about the contractors like they were our enemy. Unions strike when companies or contractors are already hurting which can force them to accept contracts to stay in business. Unions can be a real benefit too but it seems as though it's going the other way. As for China, does this resemble Japan of 30 some years ago? I remember when Japanese quality was bad. I purchased a Tiawanese lathe some months ago because of it's good quality, I suspect China isn't to far behind (yes I know Tiawan now belongs to China). India is another story, I know a manufacturer who opted for Indian goods over American because of the price and quality but India has starvation problems not because of being poor but because of their religion. That's right, they have 3 times as many rats in india as people(one of the most populated places in the world) which consumes at least 1/3rd of there grain supplies each year. They won't kill a rat because they believe it's someone's reincarnated family member. OK, I won't go any farther on that but here is another disturbing thing I have read and heard. The Toyotas made here in the U.S. are poorer quality than the Japanese built models. I can't say this first hand but it's what I have heard. Now the big talk is Kia which I beleive is Korean. One more thing, I just saw an article about the Toyota concept truck to compete with Dodge, Ford and Chevy one tons. Look Out! If it hits the U.S. we ain't seen nothing yet. I'll post a link so you can see. I hope I didn't get to far off track. I love this country and will always buy American if possible but there are those willing to undermine our security for a few bucks. I'm sure we could all do a little more.

http://www.pickuptruck.com/html/auto...radually2.html

 

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