PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - to all you running econo tires on your diesel....

240 Ed · #7 01-01-2002, 09:54 AM

Ha ha ha! LOL That's funny about wagon wheels..

Re; Michelin plant
NOOOOOOO, they would never do that!
These french people are almost as fanatical to quality as the people who make Lexus's.

Uniroyal? Puh-leeze.

When the American tire companys were virtually forced into making radials by the market place, they made a decision based on simple economics. That is, they decided to make radial tires using the same clam-shell mold machinery they used to make all those bias ply and belted tires on. And they made good tires of this type, actually.
The problem they ran into though, was when they started to arrange all these radial belts along with the bias belts in these molds and then clamp them shut to inject the rubber, the rubber would disturb the orientation of some of the belts, and you would get uneven, lopsided tires. Not so much that most people would notice because by then the tire fitters were using spin balancers to properly balance them. But the problems showed up.
They would typically go out balance after a while, and in the case of General Tire, they garnered the deserved reputation for tread separation. The funny thing is about all this Firestone flap and law suits-Generals were much worse and I am sure caused all kinds of choas over many more years!!

Anyway, Michelin invented a new way to make tires. Their machines bring the carcass together like a pie, thus producing very accurate and stable tires.
Michelins are the only tire I have ever balanced, where you would occasionally find one which didn't need any weights!

When looking at radial tires at your local store, always look at the mold marks! If it has mold flashing running around the circumference of the tread? forget it . If it has mold marks on the sidewalls like a pie, you are better off.