Best place to buy light truck tires?

willow_girl · #1 12/25/10, 01:38 PM

I made the mistake of getting sucked into the black hole of Sam's Club shoddy tires! That's where you buy 60,000-mile tires that wear out after only 20,000 miles, and when you go back to complain, the service tech offers to give you a new set prorated so they cost exactly what the last set did ... but only last another 20,000 miles. GRRRR!

So, to heck with prorating -- I'm buying my next set from a different outfit! The question is, where?

Vital stats: 2000 Ford Ranger 4x4 with the offroad package; 169,000 miles on the odometer but still going strong (knock on wood!).

Beeman · #2 12/25/10, 03:37 PM

It's not so much where but what you buy. If you buy a set of Michelins you'll be amazed at the mileage. My friend buys his at Sam's and has no problem getting 80k on a 4wd Suburban.

Danaus29 · #3 12/25/10, 03:44 PM

We buy Sam's tires all the time. As long as you stay with the better brands you shouldn't have a problem. I used to get heavy duty Goodyear for my wagon, never had them wear out before their time.

Heavy truck tires don't even have a wear out warranty. The current Goodyear tires on the van are holding out just fine.

mothernature · #4 12/25/10, 03:45 PM

I have a set of Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor that came from Discount Tire. They have almost 100,000 miles on them (yes, I NEED new tires)! My '99 Silverado Z71 has 310,000 on it!! It's worth it to pay a little more and rotate them properly! Good luck!

Danaus29 · #5 12/25/10, 03:57 PM

mothernature, give me a review of your Silent Armor tires, please. I figure you haven't driven much in the snow or on ice but did you drive any rough trails or muddy roads? This is my first winter with Silent Armor and so far they've been wonderful. Dh didn't get time to put the studded snow tires on before it got cold and started snowing.

TnAndy · #6 12/25/10, 04:06 PM

Get Michelin load range E tires......you'll get 80k or better...probably a LOT better on a small truck.

Ramblin Wreck · #7 12/25/10, 04:29 PM

Consumer Reports lists the General Grabber HTS and Continental CrossContact LX as the two highest rated all season truck tires. The link (which may or may not work) below is the full listing:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/c...s-overview.htm

carogator · #8 12/25/10, 05:14 PM

Try to find a place that sells Toyo tires. If you don't mind a harder compound rubber. Those will last a lot longer.

mothernature · #9 12/25/10, 05:24 PM

Danaus29, We actually had quite a bit of snow and ice last winter, the tires did great for the little I drove on it. As for the mud and off road adventures these have been GREAT tires. I just can't believe the mileage I've gotten out of them. Hope I can afford to get more, I have to repace them before inspection in March. They are quiet on the highway too!!

HermitJohn · #10 12/25/10, 07:05 PM

The lesser known Japanese brands tend to give most bang for the buck. Made in Japan, not China or Korea. Yokohama, Sumitomo, and such.

You arent going to find load range E tires (10 ply) for a small pickup. Back in bias ply days you could get 6ply 14" and 15" tires, but thats thing of past too I think. If you use the truck mostly for a car then car radials probably fine. If you haul loads frequently, then get tires with LT in front of size (Light Truck).

This past fall I got some 10 ply "E" Yokohama Geolander tires for my F250. Cheapest name brand I was familiar with in size I needed. So far I am quite happy with them. Course I would have been even happier to have found a used set traction tires cheap on Craigslist with more than half tread left, but none showed up in 3 months of looking so I bit bullet and bought new tires. Course soon as I bought new ones, then several sets used ones showed...

Got new ones from DISCOUNTTIREDIRECT.COM. Free shipping and painless ordering process. I mounted them myself, but most people would have to add in cost of hiring them mounted and balanced at gas station or tire place. They had a search of places local that would mount/balance them reasonable along with what it would cost.

arabian knight · #11 12/25/10, 07:25 PM

I have gotten tires 3 different times at Sam's Club, no problem but I did choose the higher end tires. I have Michelin on my car. And mu PU being a 2 wheel drive i still was able to buy regular car tires so I did not have to buy Truck Tires, for it.
And they have lasted so long that I have plenty of tread left but after 10 years I can see they are getting weather checked. Sure not the fault of Sam's or the tire itself.
But how about http://www.Tirerack.com They sure advertise a lot.

MO_cows · #12 12/25/10, 08:15 PM

One of the best sets of truck tires we ever bought were Cooper's. They ran forever, we changed them at 70k because we were hauling a camper across the country. A buddy of ours then put them on his Bronco and ran them another year or two. In my opinion, Michelin's quality waxes and wanes. They will be top notch for awhile, then get another set a few laters that aren't nearly as good. The mileage rating, speed rating and load rating on the tires will tell the tale. The higher the ratings, the better the tires. You get what you pay for with tires, IMHO.

fordy · #13 12/25/10, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willow_girl

I made the mistake of getting sucked into the black hole of Sam's Club shoddy tires! That's where you buy 60,000-mile tires that wear out after only 20,000 miles, and when you go back to complain, the service tech offers to give you a new set prorated so they cost exactly what the last set did ... but only last another 20,000 miles. GRRRR!

So, to heck with prorating -- I'm buying my next set from a different outfit! The question is, where?

Vital stats: 2000 Ford Ranger 4x4 with the offroad package; 169,000 miles on the odometer but still going strong (knock on wood!).

.....................My new , 2008 Ranger came with Continential tires , I'm at 31,000 and and should get about 45,000 ! So at my current daily driving rate they should last until the end of 2012 . I purchased a spare , a Continential the same size and it was $105 . , fordy

OH Boy · #14 12/25/10, 09:10 PM

I have had good luck with Firestone tires on all my cars/trucks. The front suspension on the Ford Rangers does seem to be tough on tires, very important to rotate them regularly.

willow_girl · #15 12/25/10, 09:25 PM

Thanks everybody for the input, and keep it coming!

Yes, I have them rotated every time I get the oil changed, which usually works out to 4-5 times a year.

sammyd · #16 12/26/10, 08:25 AM

I put on some Goodyears at Wally World a couple years back. Have since gone to Hercules since that is what my tire guy uses.
Have been fairly happy with both.
Load range E on a GMC 2500HD 2WD lots of snow, occasional towing, 20000 a year or so.
We Bajas on our Tracker a few years back and they lasted quite well.

Wisconsin Ann · #17 12/26/10, 08:46 AM

Check out http://www.tirerack.com/index_w.jsp . You can put in your make and model of vehicle and will see what they have to offer. The various brands and types will be there, and will have pros and cons and reviews from consumers. (and prices)

They ship the tire to wherever you want. (they have a storehouse in most areas of the country so shipping isn't a costly thing). You can also buy a "wheel and tire" package. the ensemble comes completely assembled ready to just jack up the car and put the new one on..balanced and ready to go (excellent idea for snowtires)

Tire Rack has a great reputation, and backs their tires like any shop would.

now...about that 20,000 miles on the tires you're getting...have you had your vehicle checked to see if it needs an alignment? I had new tires (pricey ones) and managed to hit a pothole that popped a tire. Didn't think much of it..got the tire fixed and continued on my way. Within 10,000 miles all 4 of my tires were worn to the wire on the inside. That ONE pothole had thrown the whole thing off just enough so that there wasn't any shimmy noticeable but the tires were out of line

willow_girl · #18 12/26/10, 09:51 AM

Quote:

now...about that 20,000 miles on the tires you're getting...have you had your vehicle checked to see if it needs an alignment?

I've always had it aligned right after I get new tires. Actually, it's been aligned twice since I got this set, since I had to replace a tie rod a couple of months ago. Also, the wear pattern isn't consistent with it being out of alignment (not feathered on one edge, for instance).

When the last set wore out prematurely, Sam's Club didn't offer any explanation, but they were more than happy to give me a discount on a new set because gee, what a shame they had worn out so fast! I didn't have to haggle with them at all. Hmmm.

Last time I had the oil changed, I was talking to the mechanic about being caught in the trap of Sam's Club tires and their prorating gimmick. One of the other techs in the shop overheard us and started chuckling -- he'd gotten sucked in by the same ruse. He was on his third set of tires and, like me, had resolved not to go back!

I'm going to visit that tirerack.com now, thanks!

Cascade Failure · #19 12/26/10, 10:08 AM

I've had good luck with the Mastercraft Courser A/T. Just replaced them with some Mastercraft Courser A/T2. Alignment at installation, not real good at rotating. Fair balance between mud/road/snow. Got'em at Town Fair.

Graystone · #20 12/26/10, 03:02 PM

Last week I a put four new Michelin LTX A/T2 on my Tacoma. I’d run the OEM Dunlop’s 53k and due to my procrastination was into the tread wear indicators. I bought the Michelins at a local branch of a regional store that does tires and service. I’ve taken both vehicles there over the past two years for scheduled maintenance after the new car dealer made me angry so I’ve developed a relationship with the store and feel like they are honest and not just looking to find things to fix in order to run the bill up.

I might have saved some money by driving 2 hours to the nearest Sam’s but I guarantee I’d have spent most of a Saturday there fooling around with those folks.