Thread: Used Japanese tyres Good/Bad?

Originally Posted by lestraw

... A couple of places are selling them here on the Sunshine Coast for around half the price of a set of Coopers. ...

For half the price of a set of Coopers you can buy new tyres!

Maybe Kumho or Sumitomo brands. And "never pay retail for tyres" is what an ex-tyre franchise manager once told me.

If grey import vehicles from Japan have to have the tyres replaced to meet ADRs before registration, what happens to all those tyres?

Are they sold cheaply on the Sunshine Coast and do they meet ADR requirements or not? Will your insurance be void in the event of an accident?

Ron

As long as the tread depth is legal and the casing isnt damaged in any way i cant see a problem with it, if they are half the price and they last half as long then its the same value. Matt

Originally Posted by lestraw

Have heard that a tyre takes a while to use the first 5 to 10 percent of the tread and the rest wears quicker!

So in this theory if you left them in storage in your shed for another 12 months the rest of the tread would cure over time and you should get some decent wear out of them?

On some tyres, yes, the rubber is sort of dual layered. The soft rubber allows the blocks to squish and the hard rubber protects it.

its not always designed that way but is to do with the curing process of injected moulding...

its more noticable in cheapy tyres due to "shortcuts" in the manufacturing process

Some tyres are designed that way but they are normally tuck size tyres and the layers are measured in 1/8ths of an inch (think recapping)

A friend of mine has gotten a few sets of tyres from Japanese import yards. All BFG all terrain KO. The prices he has mentioned have always been very cheap. He told me the location of where he gets them on the Magic Mile in Brisbane so I'll have to check it out.

Originally Posted by lestraw

Just interested in anyone who has purchased 95 percent Japanese tyres for their 4wd. Have heard that a tyre takes a while to use the first 5 to 10 percent of the tread and the rest wears quicker! Is this an 'old wives tail'? A couple of places are selling them here on the Sunshine Coast for around half the price of a set of Coopers. Would love to hear if anyone has purchased them or heard of their quality in general

A long time ago I worked for Banglop(oops Dunlop} in the NT. All of the imported Jappanese tyres I saw were of a lesser tread ply than Aussie tyres. That is 4 instead of 6 tread ply. For this reason, in our more severe climate{heat} I would advise people to think about where they use these tyres. Maybe OK as a spare. My opinion only of course. Others may think differently, you have my permission to ignore this if you wish>

I tried a couple of sets when commuting through the forest afew years ago,,

no problems its just hard to get ALL FOUR of the set,,,