Do you "Read the Label" on your tires as you do when shopping in the Grocery store?

 A question was posed on what would be a good replacement for a GYE tire in trailer application.

Here is the question and my answer.

John said "It is time to replace 4 tires on my Airstream. The current tires are GYE ST225/75/R15 LR-E. My dealer says GY Endurance in my size is unavailable from his distributors and is highly recommending Hercules as replacement, noting that they are cheaper, 10 ply and customers have been happy with results.
Any experience or feedback on Hercules ST tires?
I can get the GYE from an online dealer, so they are available.
I prefer to stay with ST tires.Thanks."

IMO one feature that has allowed GYE ST type tires to have a better reputation than other or older ST type tires is the presence of a Nylon "cap ply". While there are or may be other features used in that line of tires, it is not possible to know what they are without being a GY tire engineer, which I am not.

But when you read the material list that is molded on the tire sidewall you will see "Nylon" layer on top of the steel belts. When I was able to inspect a GYE that was sectioned for analysis and doing an "autopsy", I confirmed the presence of such a construction feature and it would be illegal to say you had a Nylon ply, if there was no such layer, I have every reason to believe that Goodyear is using that construction feature in the entire GYE ST tire line.

 

If there are other tires you are considering for purchase, along with confirming the candidates are ST type and of the same dimensions and same Load Range I would recommend that you read the material list molded on the tire sidewall.

Many people have learned to "Read the label" when shopping in the grocery, so it is a similar action to "Read the label" of the reinforcing materials in a tire.

A side note. I doubt that the Hercules are really "10 ply". More likely they are Load Range E the same as the GYE. When you read the label on your current tires and any tire you are considering the label will tell you the actual number of layers of the different materials. If in fact the dealer told you "10 ply" I have to wonder about the competence and training of that salesperson as when you read the tire material "label" on the tire sidewall you will probably see something like "Sidewall 1 layer Polyester, Tread 1 layer Polyester + 2 layer Steel + 1 Layer Nylon"

##RVT1062

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