Kelly Tires really?

Women - doesn’t matter what age, Uber drivers and guys who seem clueless are easy targets for mechanics. I generally play by the rule of 5 years - especially if a tire is hard/cracked. but if the tires that are on there have tread left, aren’t weather-checked/cracked/dry rotted(exception made for Michelin) and aren’t abused(no evidence of run-flat operation, etc) I don’t see why not a tire can be run up to the DOT maximum of 10 years. UV kills rubber.

Kelly’s a decent tire. Goodyear’s “budget” tire to play with the Chinese and Thai/Vietnamese. I’d much rather see granny with a set of American/Mexican/Chilean Goodyear products than a LingLong/WestLake/Sailun made in China or Vietnam. I’d never install Chinese or 3rd tier tires on anything my parents drive.
 
"...UV kills rubber...."
I believe it's the opposite. 80, 90 y/o tires on the tractor. Back then almost pure rubber. It just
works the soft ground around here. A modern tire (all the additives) does what you're talking about.
 
nthach said:
Kelly’s a decent tire.
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yes, just… i put a $350 set on my 2013 vw passat to replace the oem continentals. the kellys lasted to someplace over 40k and were almost ready for replacement when a nonrepairable flat forced the issue. i replaced the kellys with a $500 set of contis and am much happier. if i really want to save money on tires i would just get walmart’s or discount tire’s house brand.
 
totegoat said:
If tires actually age-out, they would have an expiration date on the sidewall.
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Ah ..... Mmmmm ...... I just doesn't work like that.

Ya' see, tire aging is heavily dependent on temperature. So tires operating in - say - Phoenix age much more rapidly than tires operating in - say - Minneapolis. How do you set an expiration date if it depends on where the tire lives?

My take on this is that if you live in a hot climate (AZ, CA, NV, TX, and FL) the limit is 6 years, but if you live in a cold climate (MN, WI, ND, MT, and ID), the limit is 10 years. Places in between are .... ah ..... in between.
 
jstert said:
if i really want to save money on tires i would just get walmart’s or discount tire’s house brand.
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I believe Walmart’s Douglas line is also made by Goodyear. America’s Tire(what we Californians call Discount Tire) Arizonan and Pathfinder lines are Cooper and Hankook but with the recent Goodyear purchase of Cooper, it’s now a Goodyear product.

Discount is now carrying Chinese, as of the last few years.
 
CapriRacer said:
Ah ..... Mmmmm ...... I just doesn't work like that.

Ya' see, tire aging is heavily dependent on temperature. So tires operating in - say - Phoenix age much more rapidly than tires operating in - say - Minneapolis. How do you set an expiration date if it depends on where the tire lives?

My take on this is that if you live in a hot climate (AZ, CA, NV, TX, and FL) the limit is 6 years, but if you live in a cold climate (MN, WI, ND, MT, and ID), the limit is 10 years. Places in between are .... ah ..... in between.
Click to expand...
My oldest tires are on a 2015 vehicle with about 15,000 miles. The tires aren't cracking or showing age yet. When they do, I'll replace them. Thanks for the input, I know you know tires.
 
Kelly’s tires best qualities are they are black, round , and inexpensive. They don’t last long and nor the best at any specific category. I got a whopping 21k out of a set that selling Ford dealer installed.

They were $70 less per tire compared to CrossClimate2.
 
totegoat said:
My oldest tires are on a 2015 vehicle with about 15,000 miles. The tires aren't cracking or showing age yet. When they do, I'll replace them. Thanks for the input, I know you know tires.
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One of the problems with the statement I made is that climatic boundaries don't follow geographic boundaries.. California is a perfect example. Clearly Death Valley is a whole lot different than Northern California near the border with Oregon.
 
AZjeff said:
Our next door neighbor is a widow in her 70s. We help her out with things as much as she'll let us. She has an 07 Fusion with 45k on it that her husband bought new. He had no mechanical skills so had all maintenance done at the dealer but did his research and didn't let them upsell him (she says). She told me she was taking it in for her annual service and I asked her what that was. Probably an oil change and check it over. She said she hoped they won't tell her it needs new tires, they're 6 years old. She drives 2k a year and the car spends 99% of it's life in the garage. She never leaves town and it probably only sees 60 when she takes her 30 minute drive once a month on my recommendation. Told her she absolutely does not need new tires this year. She came home with new Kelly tires. The service writer told her he wouldn't guarantee she wouldn't have a blow out on the 12 mile drive home on these dangerous 6 year old tires and scared her into new tires. It upsets me that they do this but it is what it is, I told her what I thought. I guess she feels she has to trust the professional.

Kelly tires? Does anyone buy Kelly tires on purpose? Are they any good? Not that it matters much at 2k or less a year.

The rest of the story on this annual service visit will raise your blood pressure as well but one thing at at time.
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Kelly tires always were filth. Why I’ll use Uniroyalnor bf Goodrich and stoop no lower
 
I had 2 sets of Kelly tires on a Subaru and a Chrysler mini van. All needed to be replaced in under 30K miles due to cupping with excessive vibration and noise. Driving over 40 would produce so much steering wheel and dashboard vibration it was ridiculous. Tires were properly inflated and rotated regularly. Either a bad batch of 8 tires or just very poor quality of tire to begin with. All 8 tires purchased around the same time.
 
No good reason to get rid of tires at 6 years. A cursory search from tire manufacturers (I looked at Bridgestone and general) say to replace at 10.

My driving style makes it that it’s unlikely that I’ll wear a set of tires by 10 years, even on high use vehicles. Six is the time maybe to start looking at them and saving for replacements. But for low use tires, if the vehicle isn’t living in a high sun, high UV scenario, no reason to replace at 6 IME/IMO.
 
CapriRacer said:
Ah ..... Mmmmm ...... I just doesn't work like that.

Ya' see, tire aging is heavily dependent on temperature. So tires operating in - say - Phoenix age much more rapidly than tires operating in - say - Minneapolis. How do you set an expiration date if it depends on where the tire lives?

My take on this is that if you live in a hot climate (AZ, CA, NV, TX, and FL) the limit is 6 years, but if you live in a cold climate (MN, WI, ND, MT, and ID), the limit is 10 years. Places in between are .... ah ..... in between.
Click to expand...
When manufacturers say 10 on their sites that are read the country over, and give a recommendation like that which has a safety factor and a lawyer factor built in… it seems that would be ok.

Of course folks talk lots about cracked tires. We’ve all had them. So a firsthand look is an important determinant, plus the rot you can’t see. But for manufacturers to give that data on their sites means something to me. Phoenix, AZ or Portland, ME.
 
Sonic said:
I had 2 sets of Kelly tires on a Subaru and a Chrysler mini van. All needed to be replaced in under 30K miles due to cupping with excessive vibration and noise. Driving over 40 would produce so much steering wheel and dashboard vibration it was ridiculous. Tires were properly inflated and rotated regularly. Either a bad batch of 8 tires or just very poor quality of tire to begin with. All 8 tires purchased around the same time.
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Or they weren't properly balanced the first time.
 
Enthusiast said:
Nothing wrong with Cooper, I'd go with Cooper over Goodyear, Bridgestone, pirelli, BFG, etc.
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I agree they're good tires - still made in NW Ohio, to my knowledge. I wouldn't say they're better than the others but they are definitely lower priced so all things being equal, they're probably the best "deal".
 
Kelly Tires? Yes, Kelly Springfield. Who makes them? Answer: Goodyear. What's the difference between Kelly/Goodyear? Answer: Not much. I can't answer the differences in tread patterns, but I'll answer what I can. There is a Goodyear plant in Topeka, KS, 320 NE Crane St, Topeka, KS 66603. My brother works there and has for over 25 years. The plant has had "family days" in the past with visitors welcome. I've been there. Goodyear tires molded on one side of the aisle, Kelly (Springfield) across the aisle in the same work bay, maybe a little more budget minded, but very close to same; both brands of tires go thru the same quality control checks in the plant. Exact same machinery, materials, and people make both "brands."
My brother tells me he has occasionally stopped for coffee in some little town and seen two old farmers at a table, arguing over which tires are better on their tractors. He doesn't say a word. Goodyear doesn't care which you buy. They probably have a little more profit margin on Goodyear, but I admit I'm speculating.
 
I don't even live in AZ and it gets hotter than a dancing bobcat in my garage. 6 years is 6 years at what - 5-6 months a year baking at 115+?

Of course - mine isn't climate controlled. I know some are.
 
In 2003 or so, we put a set of Kelly Charger tires on my mom's car, they were on the car for like 16 years before we replaced them. They were decent tires, still had good tread, they only had about 30K miles on them in that amount of time, but the car cat outside all day every day the whole time. I don't know what's with these tire shops and service shops with their tire scare tactics but as time goes on it seems they get more and more antsy over a tire that's anything older than brand new. Some of these tire salesmen I've dealt with, act like they're going to have a heart attack over an old tire.

12 years ago, when I bought my F250 it had Kelly Safari MSR LT235/85/R16 tires on the rear with a 1999 date code, replaced those in 2015 when I put new tires on all around. Those rear tires had about 90,000 miles on them and still had really good tread and didn't show any signs of weather cracking.
 
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