Tires (I hate to ask)

Aaron Beaver

Member
Messages
427
Location
Missouri
I hate asking questions like this because some people will have bad experiences with the same one that someone loves...but....I am going to ask anyway.

I need to replace my wife's SUV tires, 1st time for this vehicle. Should I just get the same thing that's on there, never had any problems with them, I think they are Goodyear Wranglers (i think). The guy where we get our cars fixed wants us to get Hankook tires and I had never even heard of them.

Anyway I know its kind of a loaded question but what tires do you prefer. It does snow here so I need a good all weather type tire.
 
I've had Michelin LT on my Dodge Ram for several years and have been quite satisfied with them. However, they're pricey. It was worth it a few yeas ago because I was doing a lot of miles. Lately, the LOML has the truck and she does less than 100 miles a week. When it comes time to replace, I might go with something less expensive.

I've never owned Hankook, but a close friend of mine swears by (not at) them.
 
I've seen that brand. Made either in China or Korea. Tires have become an issue for me since we got our second home. It is in the mountains with lots of gravel and dirt roads. Not to mention curves. And light snow and rain (and mud).

I bought some Pirelli snow and mud tires for the truck. And Michelin highway tires for my Mercedes diesel. The latter makes the 700-mile trips between the two houses. The deciding point between Asian tires and something better would be if you either drive high miles of have rough road conditions. Otherwise the Orientals would suit you fine. :)

I notice that the majority of trucks up here in the mountains go for Michelin tires with an aggressive tread. They last forever.

Gary Curtis
 
I always run Michelin's so I am no help. I will say that the original tires on an otherwise stellar Japanese vehicle were done after only 12K miles. I think I've managed to wear quality tires out on a couple vehicles over the last 35 years or so but usually the car goes before the tires. The price isn't so bad when it's once every 50 to 60K miles.
 
These tires have only lasted 34,000 miles and they are down to the "wear bars" on the tire. For Goodyear it doesn't seem like they lasted long enough, but maybe they have. I will say that I bought Yokohama tires once for a car and will never buy those again.
 
I use Cooper's on my truck. Once had four new Michelins literally disintegrate on my car at highway speed with the family inside. Even though that was over 35 years ago, never again Michelins for me.
 
I'm almost in the same boat, except mine are the 'original' tires since I bought the truck, stock plane jane 4x2 Generals I think. I've had excellent luck in the past with Michelins wear like iron and excellent handling. That being said, I've also heard good things about Hankook. They're a South Korean tire supplier (among other things).
 
I have two Chevrolet Silverado trucks, both 2WD, one extended cab, short box, the other reg cab, reg box. The 2000 got 95000km on its factory General AmeriTrac's, so I replaced them with the same thing. The replacements now have 55,000km on them and are at about the halfway mark. The 2003 has 70,000km on it and the tires are likely going to see 100,000km before they get replaced. I'll replace them with the same General AmeriTrac's that are on it now.

cheers

John
 
I use Cooper's on my truck. Once had four new Michelins literally disintegrate on my car at highway speed with the family inside. Even though that was over 35 years ago, never again Michelins for me.

Frank, I have run a lot of different brands of tires over the years (due to a lot of different vehicles, and I had Great luck with the Michelins, UNTIL..... I got three bad sets in short order for my Dodge Maxivan (which was shortly after they opened a plant in the US) and it took them quite a while to get the quality back up to what we had been getting from France. I tried some other brands and then went to Bridgestones for several years but after the "Meltdown" in quality of the Bridge stones, I went back to the Michelins and have had great luck with them with NO problems at all and very long treadlife. These were run on vehicles in our family that included two hondas, a buick, a pickup, a Ford Explorer, two vans, a cadillac, a volvo, two Lincolns, a chevrolet and a Mercury Marquis. I do understand a reluctance to go BACK after having been burned once though.

To the original question:
I've had pretty good luck with Cooper tires, Some GOOD & some not so good luck with Good year, (will never own another Yokohama), Bridgestone was good for a long time and then they went kerput.........don't know if they've got their problems worked out or not, I'll just stay with my Michelins for now.

I've used other brands, but not worth remembering. YMMV:dunno:
 
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I've got Yokohama Geolander tires on my SUV, and so far (about a year old) they've been great...much better traction than the factory Goodyears that were on it, and showing virtually no wear. I've got Cooper tires on my pickup. They were on it when I got it, and so far I have no complaints about them.

Aaron, if you haven't already, I'd recommend checking out www.tirerack.com, if for nothing other than the reviews.
 
Whatever you get, make darn sure the tires are new, not old stock sitting around for years and years, those are the worst tires, no matter which brand you buy.

:wave:
 
I've been in the tire business since I was a senior in high school and have sold every brand thats listed here over the past 27 years. I wouldn't have any issues recommending any of them as long as the tire line was the right application for the vehicle.

Can you get one and have a bad experience, sure it happens. With 237 million vehicles on the road in the US thats over 1 billion tires out there. Lots of things could happen to any of them. But with NHTSA and legislation that the manufacturers have to adhere to, the quality today is a lot better than any time in the past.

Todd hit the nail on the head. Buy from a local dealer that has a good reputation and will stand behind the product. Or a dealer that has a regional/national footprint to handle any issues if you're on the road.

The Tire Rack is a great place for information. One thing to keep in mind if you do decide to purchase from them is the freight cost. Most of the time once you factor this in and pay the local mounting charges, you could of bought them local for the same or very close price and saved time.

Randy
 
Say what you want about Chinese tires. Put a set on the wifes old 2WD suburban. I had it stuck once and where it was stuck was my fault. I couldn't even open the driver side door since the snow was halfway to the window :D

On days that her cousin and his wife both had to get in 4WD to get out of the drive, the wife drove right out.

Granted they where pretty aggressively treaded.

When the Burb went to the junk yard, I pulled them, bought two mates and put them on my 1 ton. You guys have seen pictures of how I load my truck, you know I don't baby it. It's nothing for that truck to have 4 ton on it.

That being said, Buy what your tire guy will stand behind.
 
...The Tire Rack is a great place for information. One thing to keep in mind if you do decide to purchase from them is the freight cost. Most of the time once you factor this in and pay the local mounting charges, you could of bought them local for the same or very close price and saved time.

Randy
Good point. I did my research on the web, then purchased the ones I wanted from a local family-owned tire shop that can get just about anything. My BIL has been friends with the guys who own the the shop since his high school days, and I know they'll back up what they sell. This shop is always packed with customers, too...another good sign IMHO.
 
my advice is to buy what your local dealer will stand behind.

The place fixing it wants to sell the Hankook but if I suggest anything else they would put those on as well.

Another place up the road from our house sells everything, I mean practically every brand so I have no idea what they would suggest.

Whatever you get, make darn sure the tires are new, not old stock sitting around for years and years, those are the worst tires, no matter which brand you buy.

:wave:

Any way to know this, or do you just ask them?
 
Aaron,

Check out this page from Tire Rack, it will point you in the right direction.

TIRE RACK

Randy


Ahhh, thanks for that, good to know, I probably wouldn't see the tires before they put them on but I could always check afterwards. I will ask up front if the are "new" though.

I think I have narrowed it down to:
Michelin Latitude Tour or
BFGoodrich Long Trail T/A Tour
 
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