Specialty Tires Are a Unique Animal
Unlike car and truck tires, specialty off-road tires have many “quirks” that make then somewhat hard to understand. Sometimes they just don’t make any sense at all. Today I’ll talk about one characteristic that should be as straight forward as it gets – tire size.
With passenger and light truck sizes, the sizes are pretty much identical between brands. You could mount two Goodyears on the front and two Coopers on the rear and not notice a difference other than cosmetic appearance and tread design. This is NOT the case with specialty tires such as Lawn & Garden tires, Farm tires, Construction tires, Golf tires or pretty much any off-road tire.
You would think tires with the same size marked on the sidewall would have all the same measurments, i.e. height, width etc. Oh contraire! Specialty tires are made all over the world. Some are made in the manufacturer’s own plant and some are outsourced to third world countries.
Some equipment manufacturers have the tires marked one size, under their own equipment brand name, but have them made to a slightly different specification. Why you may ask, well because when it comes to aftermarket sales, they control the market for that sale. You, the buyer, can’t find it unless you go back to the dealer that sells that brand equipment.
Carlisle Tire, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of specialty tires often makes up to 6 different tread designs for tires that are the “same” size. But if you put them all side by side on the floor, most likely none would match the other. It gets crazier when matching an American made tire with an Import brand. The import could be an inch shorter and an inch narrow in width.
Bottom line: When sourcing these tires you really want to call an expert. An expert will ask you qualifying questions to make sure you’re getting the right tire for the right application. As you can see tire size should be straight forward. A 16x650x8 should be the same as a 16x650x8…unfortunately it’s not. And this is just one secret in the specialty tire market.
Crazy isn’t it? But this is our world and we live with it and grow to love it. Call us with your questions or shoot us an email. Let’s talk shop!
Next, I let you in some some more secrets about specialty tires.
Regards,
Brian
