Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
Made in the USA: June 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Stimulus Check
B F Goodrich Long Trail T/A,
OK, what did you do with your stimulus check. Did you buy something made in America? I bought something made in America by American craftsman. I bought 4 new tires for my American made GMC pickup truck. The tires were made in the USA but the company that owns the plant is Michelin and they are French.
I bought 4 BF Goodrich tires. BF Goodrich used to be American owned but in the 1980's Michelin bought them out. I did a lot of research of who owns what and there are two major American owned and American made automobile tire companies left in America. They are Goodyear and Cooper tires. Goodyear is the world's largest tire manufacturer, they manufacture the best and near worst tires. Cooper tires have a few plants but the ones in Texarkana Arkansas and Tupelo Mississippi have seen nothing but problems over the past few years with process, management, quality control and material. They have had quite a few recalls. The last ones just occured in March of 2008. Check here to see if your tires or vehicle are under a recall. Recalls. Gov
I ended up buying BF Goodrich tires for a few reasons. The first reason is they are made in America by Americans. The plant they were made at according to the DOT code is Tuscaloosa Alabama. The whole process of choosing the right tire for the right price was made much easier by a website called The Tire Rack. I found the right size tires, I read the customer reviews and then compared the prices. The whole time I was doing this I kept in mind that for me the tires had to be made in the USA and they had to be of recent manufacture (tires are good for 6 years).
The DOT code on the tire tells the story of where it's made and when it's made. The first two digits after the initials DOT are the codes for the manufacturer. The last three or four digits tell when the tires are made according to the week and year. Here's an example, my new tires had the DOT code that looked like this: DOT BE ---- 4207. The "BE" indicates the BF Goodrich plant in Tuscaloosa Alabama. The dashes represent the manufacturers size and style codes. The "4207" at the end indicates they were manufactured in the 42nd week of 2007 (the week of October 21st 2007).
Anyway, my new tires look nice, they ride nice and they were manufactured here in the good old USA even though the company that owns the plant is based in France. That was an acceptable compromise to me.
Now tell us how you spent your stimulus check or we can talk about tires if you like.
Here's some links to check out your own tires.
NHTSA Manufacturer's information
Manufacturers' Information
(uncheck all the boxes at the left except for tires and enter the first two digits of your DOT code at the very bottom box marked DOT ID)
Autopedia a comprehensive list of tire manufacturers.
AUTOPEDIA®: Tire Manufacturers
All the DOT Tire Plant Codes
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=33
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Stimulus Check
B F Goodrich Long Trail T/A,
OK, what did you do with your stimulus check. Did you buy something made in America? I bought something made in America by American craftsman. I bought 4 new tires for my American made GMC pickup truck. The tires were made in the USA but the company that owns the plant is Michelin and they are French.
I bought 4 BF Goodrich tires. BF Goodrich used to be American owned but in the 1980's Michelin bought them out. I did a lot of research of who owns what and there are two major American owned and American made automobile tire companies left in America. They are Goodyear and Cooper tires. Goodyear is the world's largest tire manufacturer, they manufacture the best and near worst tires. Cooper tires have a few plants but the ones in Texarkana Arkansas and Tupelo Mississippi have seen nothing but problems over the past few years with process, management, quality control and material. They have had quite a few recalls. The last ones just occured in March of 2008. Check here to see if your tires or vehicle are under a recall. Recalls. Gov
I ended up buying BF Goodrich tires for a few reasons. The first reason is they are made in America by Americans. The plant they were made at according to the DOT code is Tuscaloosa Alabama. The whole process of choosing the right tire for the right price was made much easier by a website called The Tire Rack. I found the right size tires, I read the customer reviews and then compared the prices. The whole time I was doing this I kept in mind that for me the tires had to be made in the USA and they had to be of recent manufacture (tires are good for 6 years).
The DOT code on the tire tells the story of where it's made and when it's made. The first two digits after the initials DOT are the codes for the manufacturer. The last three or four digits tell when the tires are made according to the week and year. Here's an example, my new tires had the DOT code that looked like this: DOT BE ---- 4207. The "BE" indicates the BF Goodrich plant in Tuscaloosa Alabama. The dashes represent the manufacturers size and style codes. The "4207" at the end indicates they were manufactured in the 42nd week of 2007 (the week of October 21st 2007).
Anyway, my new tires look nice, they ride nice and they were manufactured here in the good old USA even though the company that owns the plant is based in France. That was an acceptable compromise to me.
Now tell us how you spent your stimulus check or we can talk about tires if you like.
Here's some links to check out your own tires.
NHTSA Manufacturer's information
Manufacturers' Information
(uncheck all the boxes at the left except for tires and enter the first two digits of your DOT code at the very bottom box marked DOT ID)
Autopedia a comprehensive list of tire manufacturers.
AUTOPEDIA®: Tire Manufacturers
All the DOT Tire Plant Codes
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=33
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But I figure it's kind of a wash, since the "checks" are really an advance on next year's taxes so y'all will be paying it back to Uncle Sugar anyway. Unless they tax guys like me to pay for that too. 
