This is Howard, husband of Bedlam...
Last spring I had to buy 10 tires, four for my daughters Camry, four for the 68 dodge pickup and 2 for the back of the 62 dodge town wagon, all from the same local tire shop, and all various cooper products. They have worked out pretty well. I also like Sam's for tires, the previous dozen tires have been bought from them, all BF Goodrich. The main brands they carry around here are BF Goodrich and Michelin.
The name brands seem to last longer, with better results than the "off" or "discount" brands. Some of the cheap tires I have purchased and later regretted include: Widetrack Baja, Prospector, Mastercraft, Remington.
I find Goodyear and Firestone tires are overpriced, but Michelin tires are well woth the money for durability.
When the original goodyears in the 245/70R17 size wear out on my 07 Dodge Ram, I am going to replace them with Cooper Discover H/T with a highway type rib tread. I would avoid Pep Boys. They sell only Cooper tires, but the really get you on add on charges.
The longest lasting tires I have EVER bought were Michelin X-Ones and got 120,000 out of a set of four, then took off the two thin ones replaced them with new, and ran the old ones as trailer tires for five more years, and when those finally wore out, replaced them with BF Goodrich touring type tires. I ended up selling the truck at 217k miiles with four very good tires on it.
As for tire type, you probably want 'all season" or "touring" which is a premium all season.
Howard
