Tires!!!!! Firestone/Bridgestone chat

cdean

I'm going to try the chalk trick.

I can't go by the weight rating (exactly) because my tires are a hair to big for my rims, so I've been fiddling with pressures trying to get it right....never thought of that one.

stobar

Hi all. I left this post in another topic section
but haven't received much of a response, so I'd
like to post here and get opinions from anyone who
reads this:

I have a '97 Chevy Silverado pick-up equipped with
Uniroyal Tiger Paw AWP, P235-75-R15 tires.
I have had the truck a little over 3 years now
with just over 36K miles on it. Tires are riding
good and tread still looks good. I figure they
will be do for replacement next year. I am debating on buying three more of the same type
and use the full size spare for the 4th tire. In
light of all the information that has been provided in the media lately on tires due to the Firestone incident, I read somewhere that a normal tire will start to break down after three years. I also know from past experience (my father) that when he went to replace a tire that was seven years old on a car he barely drove, the tire nearly fell apart when the mechanic took it off the rim due to dry rot. Can anyone provide an opinion on using a brand new four year old spare for the 4th tire, or has anyone out there done it and what were your results? Thanks for any and all opinions!
Barry

greggaucho

You guys see where today's news is that goodyear is having tread separation problems with e-load rated tires. Man, I just want my truck to arrive with no tires so I can get some good Toyo, Kelly, or cooper tires.

On the other side, I was at the tire store the other day and checked out the Goodyear Stealteck (??). Man, are those babies heavy duty. Only $200 per tire, though.

ryanbab

Well i think i am being screwed outta my tires they seem to never come in been i dont know how long since he placed the order. Probably just wait till spring and put some Michelin or BFG's (bigger 275 or 285) on it.

Ryan

obyone

there is nothing free in life. But then again, you are on a waiting list that's a million long...

gotribe1

It sounds like you have a better chance of seeing a tundra pulling a fifth wheel trailer than you do getting your new tires. I did do the swap thanks to you and bco; I think I might have gotten the last Bridgestone Dueler Ats in Ohio! The Firestone dealer ordered one meore to replace my spare and after his order came in they told me they were on a national backorder. He was kind enough to find one at another store in the area. I went to get it and he waived any balancing or mounting fees. I'm not sure it was that great of a deal but I got 5 LT265s for less than $240 and my old tires had over 14400 miles on them! How many miles do you have on yours? I know we got our trucks about the same time. Of course, so far I haven't had mine in the body shop! jus kiddin! Go Yankees!

ryanbab

I know mine are on back order. Oh well i hope my firestones separate then me and firestone are gonna go toe to toe.

Also i have appx 7200 mls on my truck. Next wk im going to rotate the tires. This weekend me and my dad are going to go close our fishing cabin up for the winter. Gonna put some mls on it and hopefully do some offroading (darn i just washed it today too)

How many mls u have on your truck? Hows it been treating you?

Ryan

rrichf1

gotribe1,
It must be that Ryan is going to get his tires soon! Today on the way to the track I saw a Tundra holding up traffic on CA 60 and pulling a medium size fifth wheel. It appeared to be struggling to maintain 55 on a slight grade. (Only in California!)
Rich

rrichf1

traction,
Yeah, I read the article also. It seems that Firestone is good a fiasco engineering. First it was their Wide Oval tires for the pony cars of the late 60's. No traction in the wet and a really bad, very bad, joke in snow and slush.

Then the late 70's it was the Steel Belted Radial 500 that was throwing treads and belts. (Sounds familiar?)

Now in the late 90's it is the Wilderness throwing treads and belts.

WAIT A MINUTE! Firestone is actually improving! It was 10 years between previous screw ups and the latest is 20 years! This screw up has only killed about a hundred people. Does anybody remember what the stats were from the late 70's? Without hard numbers we'll never be able to tell if Firestone is improving.

Thrice burned by the stone,
Rich

gotribe1

You must catch and release; I'm sure you wouldn't want that truck smellin' fishy! My truck has been great so far! I'm heading down to the North Carolina in my quest to have the highest mileage y2k Silverado. I'll be looking out for more Explorers with shredding tires and any Tundras doing any sort of work. Kind of doubt that them good old boys, other than Bama ofcourse, are using Tundras though. Good luck getting your new tires. What is up with Purdue puttin' a whippin' on Ohio State?

rrichf1

for all those recalled Wilderness tires. In today's Los Angeles Times there was a picture of a youth attacking a Israel guard post. It seems that the youth was rolling the tire down hill at the guard post. Oh, I almost forgot, the tire was in flames.

I got a good chuckle when I wondered if the youth was using a deathstone tire.

Rich

ryanbab

catch and realese? If i could catch em yea

Bass mostly bluegill are for eating

Ryan

obyone

you still drivin on those deathstones? where are the new tires coming from...santa on the north pole?

LOL!!

Dean

ryanbab

ill be darned if i know i gave up on em

Ryan

gotribe1

Are those of you who swapped Firestone Wilderness ATs for Bridgestone Dueler ATs experiencing lower gas mileage? I also checked the odometer against the mileage markers on the Pa. turnpike Saturday night and it seems that my reading is slightly higher, maybe 5% off. Has anyone else experienced this. I thought that since they are the same size nothing would be affected.

gotribe1

Are those of you who swapped Firestone Wilderness ATs for Bridgestone Dueler ATs experiencing lower gas mileage? I also checked the odometer against the mileage markers on the Pa. turnpike Saturday night and it seems that my reading is slightly higher, maybe 5% off. Has anyone else experienced this. I thought that since they are the same size nothing would be affected.

pjb0422

I swapped my F/S Wilderness ATs for the B/S Dueler ATs. I have noticed a slight drop in mpg but I figured it was because the Duelers are a heavier tire. I didn't think that maybe the tire has thrown off the odometer accuracy. You said that you checked your odometer against the mileage markers on the turnpike, what were your readings? Is your odometer reading more or less than the nbr of mileage markers?

I learned a long time ago that to check the accuracy of your odometer, go 10 miles, using the markers as the reference, and check the number of miles elaped on the odometer. Every 1/10 mile your odometer is off represents 1% inaccuracy.

I'll have to check my odometer next time I get on the highway.

Thanks
Phil

mrurl

Checked my Sierra w General Ameriwhatever 255/75r16. 107 miles by the markers, 107.2 by the odo. Pretty close. This was on I40 from West Memphis to Little Rock AR. Fairly straight run.

Peter

steve234

A group of us take an annual trek along I-70 for several hundred miles. As you imagine, it can get boring, even with CBs. Comparing odometers/speedometers is a common practice. The worst deviation was on a Nissan with factory tires, will the best accuracy was on the full size trucks that had been through several tire changes. It pays to check anytime you take a long trip on the pike.

pocahontas

From Edmund's Editorial Section, here's a direct link to A Summarization of the Bridgestone/Firestone Debacle Part II, by Liz Kim. Thanks for your comments.

Pocahontas,
Edmunds.com/Roving Host

gotribe1

Sorry it has taken so long to get back to you about the odometer readings. I did NOT check the odometer with the Firestone ATs, but with the Bridgestones it seems to reading about 3-4% high. In other words when I've gone 10 miles according to the markers, which were marked in 1/10s, my odometer would read 10.3 miles. If this is so, then I would think my mpg would go up instead of down. The only thing that I can figure is that the Bridgestones are more aggressive and have more rolling resistance and therefore I'm going to get less mpg. The error in the odometer might have been there all along or the B/stones have slightly smaller circumference than the f/stones. What is your experience? Steve

pjb0422

I checked my odometer readings and it appears that mine is low by 2%. Like you, I didn't check my readings with the F/S tires on so I don't know if the accuracy has gone up or down. I guess we can attribute our lower mpg to the B/S tires. It may be due to the aggressive tread and heavier plies.

Anyone else experiencing mpg differences with their F/S replacement tires?

Phil

bco

i've noticed what i perceived as a very slight drop in mileage after switching from f/s to b/s dueler a/t's. wasn't sure what it was. decided to wait until i drove a good long trip where the whole tank was averaging 70-80 mph. mileage dropped about 0.5-1.5 from similar long trips on my f/s tires. haven't done any odo calibration before or after. not sure what to attribute it to. have travelled with tailgate up and tailgate down...negligible difference. oh well...price you pay for having the best, most powerful truck in it's class. even with the drop in mileage, i still get better than the other two full-sized trucks and the tundra...

bco

vince4

Has anyone noticed more tire noise with the Duelers? I rode in a Dakota today with new Duelers and the tire noise was quite noticeable below 40mph or so. It was way worse than my Silverado with Firestone Steeltex A/T factory tires but I don't know how much is due to the truck differences.

gotribe1

in my opinion. Like BCO I made the swap at 14400 miles. I actually did it after he posted about his positive experience. Initially I thought it was a bad move, There was a noticeable difference in noise but I got used to it.Its not that there is more noise or louder noise, just a different tone. Ride is a little stiffer but not objectionable. The pluses are better traction, better load handling [LTs instead of Ps] and much more confidence in the tire. I do a lot of towing and the added peace of mind is worth the small drop in mpg that I have noticed.

bco

amen, brother...

bco

nrd525

I seem to have dropped about a half to 3/4 a MPG after switching from the Wilderness A/t's to the Michelin LTX A/Ts I have now. I read somethng somewhere that said the Fstone Wilderness tires had the lowest rolling resistance of ANY tire ever tested (that size) by a large margin. I believe it. The things are so flimsy that they would deform easily as they rolled. It probably has something to do with why they come apart.
I'm really glad I dumped them, the LTX's are much better in all the important ways.

obyone

especially in a 245/75 series tire. You will usually lose MPG by switching to a larger tire cause of the weight of the tires. The compound also makes a difference. Also switching to a larger size will require recalibration if you want a true mpg reading. All in all I wouldn't really worry about it cause after all it is a truck.

z71bill

Who makes the Scorpions? I am not sure of this but Goodyear, Michelin, Firestone and one other I can't think of make 98% of all tires sold. They also produce tires (called private label) for other companies that want to sell tires but have no capabilities to manufacture them.

It would be a kick in the groin if the tires you bought were produced by deathstone.

rrichf1

z71Bill,
Pirelli is an old time, old line tire manufacturer in Italy. I seriously doubt that there is any association with Deathstone.
Rich

z71bill

You are probably right - but can anyone ship tires in from Italy and sell them for $70 and make any $$. I still think there is a chance they have someone else make the tires that they sell in the USA -

pocahontas

Please continue this discussion in this similar discussion: Maintenance & Repair, Firestone tire recall; are mine a problem.

In addition, here's another tire discussion from the Maintenance & Repair Message Board that you might find helpful. This discussion will be archived in several days. Thanks for your participation. ;-)

Pocahontas
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