

| Subject: | Re: hankook ra-08 copies |
| From: | Jon VonOhlsen |
| Date: | Sat, 7 May 2016 08:43:43 -0600 |
The GoForm G520 185 or 195r14 tire has a load index of 86(195) or 88(185), or a capacity of about 1250#. I'll stick with a real tire...unless there is some other version from Tires Easy. Jon On 5/7/2016 8:23 AM, Don Hanson wrote: > I, too, was skeptical when I bought a pair of these to make it home from > the desert one spring...being short of cash, though, I had no choice. > > They've surprised me by consistently performing just as well as the > higher priced tires they claim to have copied... Thanks to Ron for taking > the time to look up the back round info. > > > > > > On Sat, May 7, 2016 at 6:41 AM, The Bus Depot <vanagon@busdepot.com> wrote: > >>> what is the name and where can you >>> get the chinese copies of the hankook tires? >>> Go Form >> I looked into this claim after it was repeated here several times (by the >> same individual, I believe). I also spoke to Hankook about it. The GoForms >> come from a company called Qingdao Gloryred International Trade Company, >> whose advertising headline is trade publications is (not kidding) "Sell >> cheap tyre." Qingdao Gloryred has no affiliation whatsoever with Hankook. >> Hankook has not shared any technology with them or licensed any technology >> to them. Their claim of using "Hankook technology" is based solely on the >> fact that their technical engineer used to work for Hankook. Given that >> employees often change jobs, by that standard almost any company could >> claim a connection to any other company. It is not uncommon for off-brand >> Chinese companies to make false claims of affiliation with or endorsement >> by name brands in order to lend legitimacy to their products. For example >> there are several other off-brand Chinese companies that claim to use >> "Michelin technology" but have no actual connection with Michelin. Laws >> against false advertising are not the same in China. Interestingly, these >> companies don't make those claims in the U.S., where they would be forced >> to retract them immediately. >> >> Consumer Reports tested several off-brand Chinese tires (although not >> GoForms) a couple of years ago and found that they all performed at the >> absolute bottom of the pack for safety and for lifespan, even though some >> had copied the tread pattern of better known tires. They interviewed >> Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, who >> explained this disparity by pointing out that “the composition of the tire >> is more important than the mold.” In other words you can make the tread >> look the same cosmetically, but if the rubber compound is different, it's a >> different tire. The tires they checked were also "iffy" in other ways, such >> as using counterfeit date codes on the sidewall. Consumer Reports - whose >> goal is to find bargains and "best buys" - concluded by advising its >> readers to stick with the name brands, which were actually better bargains >> in the long run even just based on treadwear alone. >> >> I have not tried the GoForm tire so I can't comment on it specifically. >> For all I know it may be a decent cheap tire on its own merits. But it has >> no more connection to a Hankook RA08 than any other cheap Chinese tires >> does, except perhaps skin-deep. >> >> Ron Salmon >> The Bus Depot, Inc. >> www.busdepot.com >>
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