[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by turbodude

you can imagine her response.

Her response is discernable but the same can't be said about your purchase decision .

You should have given the JK tyres a miss. The period of your Jupiter ownership may end soon but the tyres will stay on. And, if they are true blue JKs, they will retain their treads for long, really long .

Anyhow, keep us posted about your experience. The DNA of two wheeler JK tyres might turn out to be different and pleasantly divergent from their four wheeler counterparts!

[supremeBaleno]

Yeah, the experiences on this thread are about car-tyres from JK. Who knows, maybe their bike tyres are not as bad. Let's see.

[sgiitk]

They have been having very poor quality from Day 1, and the pain continues.

One very interesting observation - just compare the weight of the carcass from a major like Michelin, and the locals and all will be revealed. The domestic one will be significantly heavier.

[BB311]

I have just changed (had to) my Wife's Brio's tires from OEM JK Tyres to MRF's due to extremely poor quality. They were just 18k kms old, and 3 out of 5 had side wall punctures, assymetrical tread and what not. Replaced them with MRF ZVTS 185/65/R14. Didn't go for any funky brand as this car is and will be mostly confined to NCR environments and not witness speeds above 80.

[supremeBaleno]

Some posts related to JK tyre quality (lack of it) which I came across on another thread where the symptoms are similar to what I encountered with the JK Vectras on our Swift.

Originally Posted by GranvilleDsouza

Drove 18600 kms on stock vectra tyres of the Swift DeZire 2008 model. In 6 years the car did only 18600 which made the tyres hard and it just ripped while driving in a spirited manner to Manori.
Attachment 1645625

Originally Posted by rpads1

I do mixed of city and highway drives. Stock JK Tyre on the swift ldi did roughly 60k. The treads were still good but one Tyre lost shape (twisted a bit) else would last another 10k. Bad behavior during hard brakes made me upgrade to Bridgestone AR 20.

[turbodude]

We had to replace 2 JK tyres of our Nano Twist XT today because of tyre wear out and change in shape. During a routine checkup I found out that rear right tyre has gone kaput. All tyres are just 2 years old.


We could not have detected this normally because sidewall was absolutely normal.


So we went to nearest tyre shop and while inspecting the remaining tyres, one of the front JK tyres also found to be out of shape .

We chose CEAT tyres again. Got rear one for 2250/- (155/65) and front one for 1850/- (135/70) including fitting charges. Could not opt for warranty because have lost the original receipts of JK tyres .

We had already replaced 1 rear JK tyre with CEAT in January this year. So now 3 CEAT (2 rear 1 front) and 1 JK are running our Nano. I asked tyre shop expert to replace the remaining tyre too with CEAT but he inspected and refused to change saying that it will easily go another 5000 kms. We thanked him and left for home.

The feel of CEAT tyres over JK is truly incredible. We also did wheel balancing so Nano was going terribly smooth after tyre change.

[Ramon]

Our A Star Zxi 2011 was running on the stock JK Vectras. However from December 2015 it was being used by my FIL with me driving it very rarely.

Lately he was complaining about some imbalance in the car at all speeds. When I drove it too I felt it. The steering was wobbling badly at all speeds. Yesterday night I closely inspected the tyres. The front left one had a huge bulge on the tread near the inner side wall. Took the decision to change all the tyres.

Today took the car to the tyre store - Rohini Tyres, Panavila, Trivandrum, MRF Dealers. All the 4 tyres had varying stages of bulging and deformation. All this in 26,000 km.

Was shown three options MRF ZVTS, ZEC and ZLX (all tubeless) at 2,500, 2550 and 2,600 each. Wheel alignment and balancing was an additional 500.

Opted for the ZLX in the stock size - 155, 80/R13.

Everything done and fitted drove the car out. Whoa what a difference. Car felt like it was on the day it rolled out of the showroom.

Decided then and there. NEVER again will a tyre made by JK be put on ANY of our cars.

Right now the Wagon R runs Apollo Amazer 3G (Stock)
Ertiga - MRF ZVTS (Stock)
Alto - MRF ZVTS front and Apollo Amazer XL rear. (The stock JKs on the Alto had the same issues as the A Star)
800 on its fourth set of Amazer XL.

None of the cars running non JK tyres had any tyre related issues till date.

[tharian]

I wonder why they still make tyres for cars.

I made the mistake of changing to Tornado couple of years back in stock size on my dads Swift (2005). The car sees less running and would have done less than 10k kms in 2 years and the tyres are already making a loud boom noise in all speeds. Since the car doesn't see highways and only short distances in city, it is fine.
But every time I drive it, I feel such a fun car let down by pathetic tyres and size.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by Ramon

Our A Star Zxi 2011 was running on the stock JK Vectras. ... Lately he was complaining about some imbalance in the car at all speeds. When I drove it too I felt it. The steering was wobbling badly at all speeds. Yesterday night I closely inspected the tyres. The front left one had a huge bulge on the tread near the inner side wall. All the 4 tyres had varying stages of bulging and deformation. All this in 26,000 km.

My sister's 2013 A_Star Zxi also came with JK Vectra tyres as OE fitment (unfortunately) and while driving it over last couple weeks, I have the same feedback - car feels like its being thrown/bouncing around. Given our prior bad experience with all the 5 JK Vectras on our Swift, I am sure the tyres must be in various stages of deformation, which is what is causing this. This in just around 33K kms. I guess there is no competition for JK Tyres when it comes to crappy quality.

[cryshnon]

Originally Posted by turbodude

Could not opt for warranty because have lost the original receipts of JK tyres .

Actually, you can look up the date of manufacture code on the tyre and irrespective of the date of invoice, they claim that the warranty is valid for 5 years from the date of manufacture. Of course most retailers stock 2-3 years old tyres.
In any case, JK 'inspectors' will claim one or other lame excuse to pass the blame on you. Tyres are expected to suffer hits and bumps on the road and there would be one or other wear and tear. But then if the damage on the tyre is unrelated to that, they ought to replace the product. Yet, they will point out ten different things and if you argue against all of them, they will bring or invent an 11th one and say "sorry hence we can't replace the tyre under warranty".
Too tired right now, but I am eager to tell in detail my experience with JK Tyres' wonderfully advertised warranty procedure. I will soon post a lengthy story about that.

[jinojohnt]

If you are opting for warranty, you'll need to buy the same (JK) tires and also pay (proportionately) for the kilometers you have already covered in the old tire. God bless

[sandeepmdas]

The driver-side tyre of my XUV500 simply got burst last saturday, a JK Elanzo-NXT OE tyre.

It happened less than 200 meters from my home which is situated in a pocket road. This road is undergoing a changeover under the ambit of PM Sadak Yojna and the right-side of the road was full of 2.5" stones. The car was doing less than 20kmph when it went burst and both the TPMS and road-crew alerted me simultaneously. I immediately stopped and it was a L-shaped tear, from the middle of the tread to halfway up to the sidewall. Sorry, I forgot to take snaps. I was reaching home after a highway run, and I thank my stars.

Even though the tyre went kaput because of poor road surface, the burst was the final nail in the coffin. They were approaching 44K kms only, yet these tyres were super-loud and a kind of weird "issss" noise was ever-present when they roll over uneven roads. Two of them had punctures and a third one has a small bulge. The one that has committed suicide was actually a good boy.

Yesterday was, therefore, dedicated for tyre-hunting with family in tow. The first visit was to Bridgestone, Attingal which was managed by New Bharath Tyres. Two sloppy guys there tried to sell me Ecopia tyres; their argument was it contains a lot of silica or silicone and hence can be used for both cars and SUVs alike. They however had no Duelers for XUV stock size.

Drove straight to Concept, Kazhakkoottam. Surprised to see all their tyre changing and alignment machinery installed open-air, right in front of the 3-story shop. There were five cars at that time and a Leyland "boxed" pickup. One was a white BMW X5, with PY number. Two of the cars wore TBHP stickers all around . One was a white Ford Ecosport with a lot of alterations and projector lights, and the other was a white Fiat Punto - new model. It was driven by a lady, it was on Michelins and a man was installing something in the engine bay with a laptop placed on a plastic stool. I craned my neck to see what he's doing - he was installing a Pete's tuning box.

I looked at my wife - who was gaping at the lady who will soon drive a Pete'd Italian beauty, and my son - who was gaping at the X5, and said "look no further." and walked towards the female receptionist who was watching us arrive. Before I opened my mouth she blurted out "XUV..235..65..R 17" and pointed out to the Leyland pickup. Two guys were unloading 4 Michelins from it along with some other tyres. They were Primacy SUVs, rated 108H, made in Thailand. They also have Falkens and Bridgestones. The stocks were 110T and my "SUV" has no 4WD, a strange Cheetah that calls good roads home. Thus, settled for the Primacys and the damage was 51200, incl. WA, balancing and N2 filling. 4 years defect warranty. (The Falkens come with 2 yr unconditional + 2 year defect warranty).

The return drive was very quiet and comfortable as you expect when you are on some decent tyres. JKs too can bring in good moments, see?

[cryshnon]

I was very impressed by how JK Tyre claims to be a one of a kind in terms of no questions asked warranty replacement. I lost the bills of the tyres that were replaced on my vehicles. Initially they had Bridgestone by one after the other I got all tyres replaced with JK. Now with tyre changes and switches, I don't recall which tyre was bought from where and lost all the bills. However I found that JK honours the date of manufacture and after examining the tyres I found that I was left with 2 more months from the date of manufacture. The tyres so far have been without any trouble and they barely lose 1PSI pressure even after driving for over 1000 Kms.

Impressive as it sounds, I started noticing that the two rear tyres were developing cracks both on the treads as well as on the sidewalls. They were like some sort of reactive cracks due to atmosphere. These were surface rots. My tyres do not have any tread wear or any such damage and they have been maintained without a single puncture till date. So I placed a service request on the JK Tyre site and I was told someone would contact me regarding this.

I was called up by some Vijay who was very polite and eager to assist (a quality rarely found when any company is approached for a warranty repair). He asked me to go to one JK Tyre shop in Meerut Road. He was only available at specific times and hence I had to rush to him on a weekday. Besides I do not like going towards that part of Ghaziabad because it is a very rotten region and full of tyre puncture repair shops that deliberately fling nails on the road. And just as expected, after driving over that garbage laden potholed area, a nail got stuck into my tyre - which I found out the hard way after repeatedly losing 4-5 PSI of pressure every 2 days.

Anyway, what transpired was this:

1. I had clearly stated on the phone that I didn't have the invoice of purchase anymore and that he had to go by the date of manufacture. He simply ignored that part and he still wanted to simply go over and meet him.

After going to that rotten shop in that rotten area, he asked me to produce the invoice and without even examining the tyres he said that my tyres can't be treated under warranty without invoice. I pointed out that the date of manufacture should be checked (as was already discussed on the phone) and we should go by that. It was around 3612 or something implying I have a warranty till the end of August. Even after looking at that he said oh '2012 means your tyre is out of warranty'. I again re-iterated that the 36 implies month of purchase and besides it is not more than 2 years since the date of purchase. He took offense over being called out over this technicality he angrily said 'oh well then bring your receipt of purchase if you can'.

Now as you can see, all he wanted to do was to close this trouble ticket without doing anything. So all attempts were being made to twist and turn and say 'sorry you're out of warranty'. I had already specified that owing to my shift timings I found it difficult to come like this on a working day and I was running late. He offered to finish the inspection in less than 10 minutes. But this nonsensical argument alone took so much of my time.

2. He went ahead checking the tread wears and the measurements were all over 4.5-5 mm on both tyres. I could see the sorry look on his face because he couldn't blame me for tyre wear damage.

3. Next set of questions were - where did you buy this car from? When did you buy this car? - what business is of his to know all those details? I had said these tyres were replacement tyres and they didn't come with the car.
4. The next set of questions - "did you buy these tyres online?"

I want to know - WHAT???? Like seriously what is going on? What is it that this fellow is trying to do to figure out a way to drive me away? Is it unclear that in Uttar Pradesh in the first place most people refrain from giving bills for anything. Previously we had Bridgestone on all four wheels. Now I don't know which store gave which tyre and can't go back asking for invoice. It has been clearly told that we should go by the manufacturing date only and nothing else. Why in the world would he need to ask me these kind of stupid questions?

5. Now the disappointment was increasing. He checked the pressures in all tyres. They were fine. He asked one of the staff to remove the tyre possibly to blame me for punctures - which he could not find. Then he showed me the areas that link to the wheel rim and pointed out how they had some minor hairline wears. "This happens only if you had run it on low pressure. See, I knew it right at the beginning but I got it removed only for the sake of showing you". The only thing missing here was he didn't use a magnifying glass to show me that tiny scratch - which I anyway couldn't notice at all. It seemed perfectly fine and well shaped to me.

When the tyres were examined from the inside, they seemed perfectly alright with no cracks or damages. Even if he told me that these were visible cosmetic damages that wont affect the tyres overall, I would have gladly accepted and retained them without bothering further as I don't want such good and functional tyres to be discarded and cause environmental damage. But my concern is how a person can have such poor respect for another individuals time and money and just waste it for completing his service request tickets.

Now I know enough to say that the CRACKS are NOT caused due to low pressure driving. If the tyres were subject to excess low pressure driving, then the design segments on the tyre would have suffered wear. These kind of rots are not due to customer's fault and there will always be some point of time when the car parked for long in the garage may lose pressure. And low pressure damage should be examined by the tread and sidewall wear and if there are cracks then that is only due to poor vulcanisation and insufficient surface protective coating. I was getting really late for work and just couldn't stay on with this fellow just showing irritability and annoyance. I wanted to tell him to go to hell and walk away when he asked me to bring my RC. - Again what is the need of my RC? He event took a photograph of my RC.

Will JK Tyre Group take the onus if by any chance my RC is getting duplicated and misused by this individual? All this while I thought he is filling up a form to proceed with the warranty claim when he made me sign a document without explaining what it was and then finally said 'oh it is due to low pressure. So it is your fault. We can't replace it'.
Does JK Tyre's Uttar Pradesh division employ con artists to handle warranty claims? Why did he have to waste my time like this and also my fuel in driving up and down till that rotten part of Ghaziabad? Should these idiotic arguments not have been made on the phone itself so that I needn't have driven till there? Are warranty claim tickets being generated just so that these so called 'engineers' can keep their jobs and trick customers into believing it is their fault? In spite of telling that it is not possible for me to spend so much time on a weekday in tyre examination, I was persuaded to go on a weekday. It is obvious that this individual only wanted to quickly close the pending ticket and be done with it.

There are cracks even between the tread blocks. Is that also due to driving on low pressure? Either these engineers think all the customers they deal with are illiterate to believe them or are themselves stupid to have little ideas for creating excuses.

What I am worried about now is - there is a crack that is 5-6 inches long along the sidewall. Though not visible when inflated, the crack widens on low pressure. Is there any kind of glue or some sort of adhesive that I can smear on that so that this crack doesn't widen? Or is this damage only limited to the top layer of the tyre?

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by cryshnon

The tyres so far have been without any trouble and they barely lose 1PSI pressure even after driving for over 1000 Kms. .....
What I am worried about now is - there is a crack that is 5-6 inches long along the sidewall. Though not visible when inflated, the crack widens on low pressure. Is there any kind of glue or some sort of adhesive that I can smear on that so that this crack doesn't widen? Or is this damage only limited to the top layer of the tyre?

It looks like JKTyres barely lose any pressure even if you use the car for weekend drives. When my XUV was on Elanzo-NXTs I used to top-up only in a 60-75 day window and that too was with air, no Nitrogen.

Based on my experience, these tyres also look OK when you subject them for visual inspection and this is another trait of their tyres. No one can therefore really predict their sudden demise, which is yet another characteristic of this brand.

What crack filling you are planning to do? A tyre is a life/death component and my advise is, ignore everything that you see positive in your JKs. Just go ahead and replace them. Even Apollos can do a better job.

[sgiitk]

I was one of the original buyers. For my Padmini, from new in 1979! We have come a long way, and I dare say JK have retreated a long way.