Top-rated Tire Manufacturers: Who Can You Trust?

The integrity of your tires is extremely important for your safety while operating a motor vehicle.

Great tires are key for ensuring:

• vehicular stability;
• great tread and traction; and
• the control of your car while driving.

If you’re driving with tires that are defective, you may be compromising the safety of yourself and others. Many tire manufacturing companies have recalled tires recently for defects. For example, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened a defect investigation into more than 47 million types of tires manufactured by Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. in the year 2000. There have been many other tire-related recalls since.

Tires are ranked using three primary safety measurements:

• traction;
• tread; and
• wear rating.

They receive a score of AA, A, B, or C for traction and tread and a number from 200-600 for wear rating. Below is a list of tire manufacturers who have generally received good marks, although there can be defects found across the board.

Goodyear Tires

Goodyear has been manufacturing tires since 1898 and continues to do so today. Safercar.gov, a website under the auspices of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, provides Goodyear tires with an “A” rating on both its traction and tread for a good portion of its models. In fact, the only Goodyear tire model that received a “C” ranking was the Eagle GS-CS, which received the C in the traction category.

Cooper Tires

Like Goodyear, Cooper tires are consistently ranked as one of the best tires manufactured by an American company. Unlike Goodyear, however, there are no models of the Cooper tire brand that received less than an “A,” or “AA,” rating from Safercar.gov in regard to traction rating.

Temperature rating, on the other hand, isn’t as highly ranked as traction for the Cooper tire company, though only one tire, the Cobra Radial G/T (SR) received a C temperature rating.

Yokohama Tires

Producing far more tire models than either Goodyear or Cooper, the Japanese company Yokohama is ranked very highly by Safercar.gov. In fact, not a single tire model of Yokohama’s has received anything lower than a “B” ranking in either traction or tread, and the majority of ranking scores are “A” or “AA.” Additionally, the wear rating for many Yokohama tires is also impressive.

However, Yokohama’s 7.5R16 RY215 tires were among the tires recently recalled by the NHTSA.

Hankook Tires

Today, many tires are being imported for a reasonable price from foreign countries such as Korea. One brand that offers highly ranked tires is Hankook. While a few models of these tires—the Ventus Z214, and the 808 in 13, 14, and 15-inch models—have received a score of “C,” a great deal of their tires are highly ranked in regards to traction, tread, and wear rating.

Researching tire manufacturers – or the top tire retreaders – is a good step when searching for safe, reliable tires. But manufacturers around the globe have had to recall tires because of defects. If you’re ever in an accident due to defective tires, contact the attorneys at Chalik & Chalik. We can help you to file an accident claim so that you can recover compensation for your damages. Call us today at 855-529-0269 to request a case evaluation.