Hercules Tires

I will not say anything about the quality of Hercules or anything along those lines, but I would like to comment on tires in general. I read most of these reviews and without looking at the vehicle I can tell most of these issues are not in the tires.

Most of the issues are in either the vehicle or in the person selling you the tires. As an owner of a tire shop I have learned that people are more likely to leave a review if they are unhappy as opposed to happy. When it comes to tires it doesnt matter how good the tire is but 1) is your vehicle properly maintained to support the tires installed, 2) are those tires made for the conditions and type of driving that you do. When buying tires it is always smart to check things like speed ratings, temperature grades, load ratings, etc...

My guess on most of these reviews is that the shop selling the tires didnt do their research when talking to the customer to find out if the tire is suitable for what the customer does with their vehicle. I have sold Hercules tires rated at 70k miles and he is currently going 81k miles on those tires (but he makes sure everything on his vehicle is properly maintained). I have also had customers with a 75K mile Hercules tire that got 22K miles out of them (they really needed an alignment but didnt take my recommendations). Im not saying that there arent flaws and issues because I know first hand that everything from the factory is not always perfect but in my experience, at least 90% of the time the problem is not in the tires ( and that goes for any brand of tire).

I would recommend giving the people selling you tires as much information as possible (if they actually care about their job) and they will hopefully give you the right tire you need.

I have had a lot of people tell me "it doesnt matter, a tire is a tire". I can promise that it does matter and there is soo much more to it than just getting a tire that is the right size.

Purchased 4 brand new tires and all 4 tires dry rotted after only 8 months with over 75% tread. Company only offering $400 to replace them!!

I purchased 4 brand new Ironman All-Country MT 35x12.5x17 tires on 4/10/2018 for $800. After less than 8 months and more than 75% tread still left on the tires, ALL 4 tires were defective and dry rotted significantly. on 5/2819 Webster at Ironman filed a claim for me and had us bring them into Pepboys where they confirmed all 4 tires had over 75% tread left on all 4 tires when I was standing right there and Pepboys sent the tires back to Ironman for warranty at the end of July. On Sept 6th, Steve from Pep Boys left me a message that Ironman was giving me a credit of $437 for the 4 tires!!

That is absurd when I paid $800 for 4 brand new tires and to replace these ame tires now is $220 a piece on top of it!! The tires had over 75% tread left on all 4 tires. $400 is an absolute INSULT for 4 defective tires that I paid $800 for only a year a ago and got only 25% tread out of!! And to replace them is going to cost me over $900!!

Not to mention I had to pay $100 to dismount them and I'll have to pay another $200 to have new ones remounted and balanced again! $400 is a joke and this is NOT acceptable!! Just spent an hour on the phone to be transferred 6 times. One service rep thought the situation was funny!!

Didn't realize 4 defective tires that could cause an accident was humorous! When I finally got to the manager's line, I was disconnected!!

Filing a claim with the BBB and AG. I'm shocked that a customer service rep would laugh about defective tires!!

On 7/13/2015 I purchased 7 new Hercules tires LT225/75R16E. Since that time I have had a minimum of 1 tire blow out per year.

The final time was this last trip on 7/9/2018, when two tires blew out. At the time my family was in the vehicle and even had my two granddaughters of 15 and 2. The first blowout cost me over $420.00 to have a roadside assistance and the second blow out cost me over $380.00. The second blowout was so traumatic that my 2 year old granddaughter was in terrified of getting back in the vehicle and driving.

On 7/13/2018 I took the last two Hercules tires off the vehicle and had them replaced by the same Firestone dealer in Decatur Il who replaced the tire from the second blowout at a cost of $524.00. The Service manager from the Decatur IL, Firestone Mr. Nate Hayes commented on how the tires where blowing as the tread barely showed any wear and almost looked new. He stated that the blown tire that I brought in showed as if the steel belt punctured the sidewall causing the blowout.

I have in the past brought up the problem to your company only to get the run around. At this point I am fed up and will take every course of action necessary to be reimbursed for your faulty tires. I am very adamite about avoiding debris in the road and the Army was thorough in instilling in me the need for preventive maintenance such as checking for tread wear and proper tire inflation. On 08/06/2017 I had to purchase two new tires from NTB Tire and Service Center in Zanesville, OH because 2 of your tires blew.

At that time I contacted you with the complaint and got a runaround. The Service Manger there, Mr. James Cleary, stated the same thing to me as Mr. Hayes did from the Decatur Firestone.

Both Mr. Cleary and Mr. Hayes have stated that they would write statements attesting to the poor quality of the tires which caused such a catastrophic blowout.

That is two separate tire people, both willing to put statements in writing, about the poor performance of the tires.

I have filed 2 BBB complaints and 1 complaint with the NHTSA to investigate these tires. I am in the process of trying to contact the CEO but that seems to be a pipe dream since the have a good run around system of phone tag with American Tire Distributors (another company you should stay away from)