Car Tire question

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Cider123

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Ok, so it's a strange question on a beer forum. But you guys seem to have a wealth of knowledge.

I gotta get a new set of tires. I'm between the 40,000 mile ones for around 90 bucks and the 60,000 mile ones for around 120 bucks each. The tread doesn't even look that different between the two. The tire guy said the main difference is the the firmness of the rubber (ha ha). Like the 40,000 one has softer material so it will wear faster.

I have never had a tire last the mileage its supposed to anyway. Are the 60,000 ones really worth the extra money? It probably only means an extra year out of the tires. I usually put on around 15,000 per year.
Thanks
 
If you want a smoother ride and don't mind changing tires more often buy the 40,000 mile tire. If you don't care if your car/truck ride a little rougher, than spend the extra money on the higher mileage tire. It all comes down to preference of the driver. I prefer a softer tire for better traction and a smoother ride, however they wear alot faster!!!!!
 
Tires are a bunch of BS anyway. I'm never buying tires from Pepboys, the current set has been nothing but problems. In the first year I had one spring a mysterious leak (nothing puncture as far as I can tell but maybe it fell out) and one bubble. They offered to replace the bubble one for free but I had to pay like 50% of the cost of the leak one. Now the same tire (Passenger side rear) has a slow leak so I'm thinking either they're not mounting them right or I have a problem with my rim they're not tyelling me about so I'm just inflating my tire once a month and rolling on it until it's time for new ones and I'm certainly not going back to pepboys.
 
If you're an average, run-of-the-mill daily driver, go for the cheaper tire. If you constantly drive like you're qualifying for Daytona, it might be worth the extra $$. On my car, I put off-brand touring tires (I have no qualms about the brand - the manager of the shop is my best friend from HS). My truck...let's just say each tire has a higher load rating than my entire truck. But with the amount of gravel roads I drive hunting, I value the stiffer sidewall and extra plys in the belt. New tires for the car....~$400. New tires for the truck...over $800.
 
if we believe the ratings, the 120$ tire is slightly a better value. But I don't believe the ratings and I'm not the type to make sound long term decisions anyway so I would go for the cheaper one.
 
Once upon a time I had a second part time job at a tire shop. I'll tell you what I know.

The government has set up standards for tire manufacturers so that you can compare apples to apples, but then they leave it up to the manufacturer to rate their own tire, so I wouldn't necessarily trust what you see. Especially if you are comparing one manufacturer to another.

I remember seeing advertisements for a set of el cheapo tires for $150 out the door pricing. And when people would come back in to get their tires rebalanced, they would be out by an ounce or more, which is actually very significant. But others would come in with name brand tires (Dunlop and Michelin in particular) and they would get MAYBE an eighth ounce weight to rebalance. Not to mention other issues like slipped and broken belts, bad bead seals, etc., that the better quality tires never seemed to have.

Lastly, the tire that you get is typically purpose built. When I worked there, jacked up trucks with HUGE knobby tires were the popular thing. But if you drive an off road tire with monstrous lugs in the tread pattern all over pavement, it tends to build up a lot of heat and wear very badly. It will also tend to start throwing some of those lugs off of the tire if the heat builds up too much, especially on the summertime roads in the Virginia heat. So consider what kind of conditions you will be driving these tires in and purchase accordingly.

Like any other part of the car, tires need maintenance as well. And like any other part, if you go cheap (not to be confused with inexpensive) then you can expect to perform more maintenance on it. If it were up to me, I typically go for the one that has the best consumer reviews in my price range, and that doesnt necessarily coincide with price. But that's only because I don't want to spend any more of my time on maintenance than I have to.
 
TireRack has lots to pick from, easy to compare apples to apples. Name brands. I did this on my last purchase and got some all-terrain 75K Michelins for my SUV and ended up saving about the cost of one tire doing comparative shopping. They then display tire-mounting companies in your zipcode, and their rates to mount, balance, etc. I had mine shipped to a Precision Plus center. They called me when the tires arrived and scheduled an installation. Of course they wanted to sell me brakes, a tune-up, etc - but I said 'no thanks, just the tires' - and was on my way with no surprises to the wallet.
 
I have a small hatchback and routinely do 80 miles round trip to work. I wanted something that was less noise but just also wanted cheap. I found Nexen, which I think is Korean brand, as cheap. Ordered online from Walmart and had them install. Pretty good deal, I think it turned out to be $115 installed per tire for 17'' tires.

As for the service there, had to wait a few hours but it was worth it in my mind. They don't try to upsell you either.
 
Tire rack seems to be a pretty good place to research tires. I've ordered a couple sets from them.

I don't necessarily buy TOTL tires but I do buy at least a mid-grade tire. I have not had much good luck with cheapies. As mentioned, they hold air but seems like they develop wobbles and shakes.

Not on my dime, but did have a set of Michelin tires put on my truck when it was a company vehicle and was doing lots of highway miles. Those tires were absolutely worth the premium penny. They just worked, and worked, and worked, and worked, and...well, you get the picture. Finally the truck needed a new set of tires but didn't go with the Michelins as they would probably dry rot off the truck before the tread wore out considering I don't drive it much anymore.

If the money isn't a killer then maybe give the higher grade tires a try. That way you have direct experience in your conditions because tire performance, life, etc. can vary quite a lot with driving style and local considerations.
 
I have a small hatchback and routinely do 80 miles round trip to work. I wanted something that was less noise but just also wanted cheap. I found Nexen, which I think is Korean brand, as cheap. Ordered online from Walmart and had them install. Pretty good deal, I think it turned out to be $115 installed per tire for 17'' tires.

As for the service there, had to wait a few hours but it was worth it in my mind. They don't try to upsell you either.
That's the brand I have on my Accord as well. Been pretty pleased with them.
 
Yes, some of the brands sounded strange to me. I found one place that sells mostly Cooper tires. At least I've heard of them and the treads look pretty decent for all seasons. They are the ones I'm thinking of now. The 40,000 is $90 and the 65,000 is $115 each plus balancing and other nickle and dimes. I am a pretty average style driver. All my traveling is on paved country roads. But, our winters can be harsh. I need an all season tread for winter. Although I did ok today in the beginning of a blizzard and my tires are almost bald.
 
I honestly never buy "new" tires. The last 3 sets I have bought have been from craigslist. It's worth a look before buying new tires. One set was $600 on tirerack and they were still new and had the stickers on them for $250. The other set maybe had 10,000 miles on them for $150. Just another option to think about.
 
Used is what I did for my last set of truck tires. $100 for all four, still on the factory aluminum wheels. Granted, they are only about 50-60% tread and more of a highway-style vs. all-terrain, but suits my current needs at one heck of a lot less cost.
 
That is one option - a independent garage about a mile from my office buys "day off" tires - people that buy a new car, and the first thing they do is take it in and get new tires put on. They can't sell the original tires as new, because they've been mounted and driven, so he buys them at a discount and sells them in his shop. Lot of the tires he's selling have less than 20 miles on them.
 
I too, was a tire buster when I was younger. Changed a lot and sold a lot of tires.

If you want to be anal. take the dot number on the tire you are looking at and look it up on the internet. an off brand tire can be identified as to who the manufacturer is with this info. Most major tire retailers salespeople seem to be on commission. the first tire they try to sell you will be the one with the highest profit margin. Hankook, Khumho, Nitto, Toyo, all seem to be excellent for the most part.

I have had horrible luck with firestones on 3 of my vehicles that came with firestones from the factory. A 92 Ford Explorer with the infamous ATX tire, Firestone Destinations on my Tacoma lasted less than 15000 miles before they were literally falling apart. And the Firestone Firehawk GTA2 on my wife's Acura had serious sidewall splitting and cracking after less than 20,000 miles resulting in a blowout.

You pay for the name in a Goodyear or a Michelin. But Cooper is made by Goodyear, and a decent tire. Falkens generally suck from what I have seen (and they are made by Firestone).

Funny you posted this as I went to battle with Firestone last week over the tires on my wife's Acura. They ended up cutting me a check after I purchased another brand of tire ( all 4) when we found sidewall failures on all 4 firestones.

Hate to say this, but Walmart tires are not all that bad. I have gotten some amazing mileage on their Uniroyal Liberator tires on my Tacoma. This truck spends a fair amount of time off road. Without rotating the tires at all, I got 75000 miles on the rears, and the fronts are still in the safe treadwear stage at 117,000 miles :rockin: Changing the fronts in a month or two before monsoon season hits, new ones on the rear and rears to the front.

Do some shopping, it will save you!!!
 
Funny how things work sometimes. Firestone gets a bad rap but their current Wilderness AT seems to be a pretty good (truck) tire and the Firestone Firehawk SZ50 I put on my Z/28 several years ago are a way better riding and performing tire than the Goodyear Gatorbacks were.

Currently have a set of Hankook on my Impala. So far (~20k miles) they've been good tires and look like they should go quite a few more miles. Way better than the Goodyear Integrity that came on the car.
 
I'd go with the 40k mile cooper's. I had two put on the front wheels of the Ford Taurus I had in highschool and drove in conditions similar to yours. They got me through a couple northern Illinois winters before I sold the car. Never had a problem in the snow and ice.

They were on sale @ farm and fleet which is why I bought them. But I wouldn't hesitate to put a set of cooper's on a vehicle.

Junkyards have tires and rims for cheap if your really hard up.
 
Higher mileage tires generally have worse performance,particularly in snow and ice. Tire racks owner ratings and reviews are a good reaource.
 
Thanks everyone. The Cooper place will price match anyone in the area with a lower price for the 40,000's. I'll try to get the price down and then buy the Coopers.
 
Speaking generally, the higher the wear rating, the harder the tire (with all else being equal, which it pretty much never is). That translates directly into less grip, which means less safety (under braking, when turning, etc.).
 
Speaking generally, the higher the wear rating, the harder the tire (with all else being equal, which it pretty much never is). That translates directly into less grip, which means less safety (under braking, when turning, etc.).

+1. Softer tires grip more and handle better, but they wear out quicker.

There was one set of tires I shopped for few years back that had two layers of rubber. The outer layer was more firm and lasted longer, but after it wore down the under layer was softer and improved grip (when the treads wore down).

Someone at work told me several brands do this.
 
Speaking generally, the higher the wear rating, the harder the tire (with all else being equal, which it pretty much never is). That translates directly into less grip, which means less safety (under braking, when turning, etc.).

That sounds good in theory, but not sure how it holds out in practice across the board. In addition to the treadwear number is the traction letter indicator in the UTQG, AA, A, B, and C. These describe the straight wet line coefficient of traction, more or less straight line wet braking performance.

Point being, sorta what you already covered, is that usually all things are not equal so going just by one metric seldom gives the complete picture.
 
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