New Hercules Tires – My Experience
© Greg Harrison February 2021
This is to share my experience with Hercules Tires with my fellow RVers. I have posted similar comments about them in other forums such as iRV2.com and facebook. Since I have the luxury of more space here, I will go into a little more detail.
My 2004 Bounder 35E on the Workhorse W22 chassis came from the factory with 245/70 R19.5 Goodyear G670 tires. When it was time to replace them due to their age, I shopped around for the best price. They still looked OK – lots of tread after only 21,846kms) and no sidewall checking or cracking but they were 10+ years old and certainly past their prime.
I was unhappy with the prices dealers wanted for new tires from Goodyear, Michelin, Toyo and other tier 1 manufacturers. My son put me in touch with a wholesaler who suggested Hercules H-902 load range G tires. He claimed many happy customers used them. Yes, they are made in China, but the factory is part of the Cooper tire group and I have been pleased with Cooper tires in the past. The clincher was the $1,050 price for 6 tires, including 5% sales tax. I picked them up in April, 2016 at their warehouse and made an appointment with a local truck tire shop (Fountain Tire in Edmonton) to have them installed.
I dropped the RV off and picked it up a few hours later. They used balance beads at my request and returned the old tires to me. They set the pressure as I asked and made me promise to come back to re-torque the lug nuts after our next short trip, which I did. I later sold all the old tires to a local farmer who planned to use them on a grain or hay wagon since I felt they were untrustworthy for highway use.
I am very pleased with these Hercules tires. They do not lose air: I usually need to add about 5psi in the spring but nothing else until the next Spring. They are as quiet as the Goodyears were and, as expected, I have seen no difference in mileage or ride. I did notice that at the same pressure they seemed a little squirmier than the Goodyears. I think this is because of their deeper tread so to compensate, I increased pressure by 10psi which solved the problem.
I now run 100psi front and 90psi rear, a little higher than the inflation tables minimum recommendation for my weights. I check my tire temperatures with an infrared thermometer gun every time we stop, usually every 2 hours. These tires are consistently about 30C warmer than the ambient temperature. Comfortably warm to the touch but not hot.
Over the past 5 years and 26,149kms they have performed well. They are still black, round, show no signs of premature aging, and hold the RV up. The balance beads ensure a vibration free ride. Once caution: their rib design gives poor traction in mud and on snow and ice!
I would have no hesitation in buying another set when the time comes.