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Comments
The new set of wheels I am seriously considering, in my computation, has 28.04 inches in diameter and and 255 millimeters tire width for the rear wheels and 27.61 inches in diameter and 245 millimeters tire width for the front wheels. The rear wheel is about half inch taller and ten millimeters wider than the front.
Could you please elaborate or give the details as to why or how it will wreck havoc on........
Any info you give are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
The BFG Radial Long Trail T/A is $69.00
The Cross Terrain is $125.00. If Sam's can beat either price I say buy 'em.
In between those two are Pirelli, two Bridgestone's, Continental, Dunlop Radial Rover, Yokohama, and General.
Lots of choices...........
If you don't go off road much, your price can come down and ride quality go up.
I got BFG TA KO's for I think $112 each in 31X10.5R15.
Or, you could move to a 75 series tire, and your options might improve. How about 255/75 or 265/75?
Let us know how you made out.
I had an Infiniti QX4 (same basic vehicle) and OE was 245/70-16. I went to 265/60-17 and they fit perfectly except for the slightest bit of rub in hard-over turns (like making a sharp U-turn).
Do not go to 31" tires on a Pathfinder.
Drew
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
For that matter, wouldn't a minivan serve even better in those conditions?
Do they even exist?
I have 195/55R14 on my 1992 Civic DX (in place of 175/70R13 or 185/60R14).
I say in hindsight that you are better off sticking with (pardon pun) the "more normal", closer to stock size and just getting a better quality tire. It looks right, and eliminates any weird fitting issues, especially if you get a flat while traveling!
Let us know how you make out...
Thanks
Sounds like somebody is BSing you a bit. The BFG Radial Long-Trail T/A is a mid-priced tire. Sam's CLub sells them for about $70-75/tire in size 235/75-15 (I'm guessing that's your tire size).
The comparable Michelin is the LTX M/S. In that size you'll pay $100-125/tire.
From what I've heard the BFG is a good tire except for so-so performance in wet and snow. The Michelin seems to do everything well.
If you can, try to hold out for the Michelins. I think you'll be happier and they'll be quite a bit better than the Firestones and BFG's.
Thanks.
The other choice was BFG Long Trail TA 255/70/R16 ROWL - $157 including tax and mounting
BTW.. Tirerack.com has the BFG's listed at $114 each with no tax, but $25 per tire shipping...mounting & balancing are extra.
IMHO, the BFG price is a rip-off. It makes sense that the 16" version is more $$$ than the 15" but more than the Michelin? Uhhh, no.
But it's your call. Just my two little cents. Perhaps others will chime in.
Anyway, I went to Sam's Club and got prices on tires in 255/70-16 for the Exploder.
The only tire in that size they stock is the... ta dah!!... BFG Radial Long Trail T/A. $116.99 each.
Everything else is special order. Gotta pay 100% up front - takes about 5 days to get in.
Michelin Cross-Terrain - $117.26
Michelin LTX M/S - $118.94
Goodyear Wrangler AP - $117.36 in blackwall.
$121.17 in white letter.
Goodyear Wrangler RT/S - $102.76
Hey, I'm just tryin' to live up to the lofty standards set by Tireguy.
Pirelli P7000 SUPERSPORT
Bridgestone Potenza RE92
Goodyear Eagle RS-A
BFGoodrich Radial T/A
I saw some of the comments and have no experience with these particular tires and am confused. They mention that the Pirelli's make a lot of noise. Any suggestions on these or other tires?
But I will admit a bias. Every Pirelli I have used from the 77s to the 6000's and Scorpion Zeros have been excellent. Can't say that about any other tire I have used including Mich, Goodyear, BFG, Firestone, Falkans and older Nittos.
I recently purchased a 1999 certifed Camry from my local Toyota dealer. The car came equipped with brand new General Ameri*TE which were terrible. I was having vibration problems etc that no amount of balancing could remove. Finally, after reading the informative postings from my fellow Pensacolan, TireGuy, I decided to change to Michelin X1's. I priced them at the local Sam's Club and, just for grins, called the Toyota dealer to see what they would do on a swap. I spoke to the Service Manager who admitted he could not match Sam's price but was able to quote me a price which was only $30 more. This included balancing, mounting, road hazard - the works. He also offered me an $80 credit on the Generals, which brought the price to $50 less than Sam's. Admittedly I might have been able to sell the Generals for more on my own, but I really didn't want to hassle with it.
I had them put on today - Michelin T-Plus which (and I verified this with Michelin customer service) are the same as the X1's and the X Radial Plus which Sam's sells. To top it off, they did a complementary alignment which they normally charge $50 to do. So - I feel like I got a great deal - and the added comfort of having the dealer do the installation (assuming that, if they did screw something up, at least they would be able to fix it).
The point - don't rule out the dealer as a potential source for tire replacements. Get your best price elsewhere and give them a chance to beat it.
Ken S.
Only promos I know of is BFG and Uniroyal. Check their websites for details.
"What is it with all the freebies tiremakers conjure up? G-Force monitors, safety kits, etc. etc. Now I see Michelin is including a set of Motorola Talkabout 5200s with a set purchase (starting 8/26). A Talkabout set goes for about $60 on Amazon. I would much rather just have an extra discount on the tires."
You may also want to consider the Michelin X-One for better 4-season use at the expense of comfort, and the Goodyear Aquatread 3 for the same reasons. The Aquatread and the X-One directly compete with one another.
PS
If you think another tires is better let me know!
"Michelin X-One for better 4-season use at the expense of comfort"
You saw "goyankees" comments about the Symmetry's tread life. I think that's about par for the course. It's a tire that's designed more for a smooth ride and good all-around performance but sacrifices some tread life. 40K is pretty good for a tire like that, especially on a minivan. That's a testament to "goyankees" excellent maintenance regime.
Speaking of "goyankees", whom I'll cut a little slack as I'm an Atlanta resident and a Braves fan, I think if you want more treadlife (80K warranty) then the X-One is the choice. From the reports I've read the Rainforce MX4 will perform very well for you but has a shorter treadlife warranty (65K). I'd shop price between the two and if there's a significant diff, buy the lesser priced one. I'm not sure you'll notice a huge performance diff.
Hope all this helps!
The Michelin Symmetries are supposed to be excellent, but they were a lot more expensive over here.
Drew
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
However, when it will be time to replace them I will buy Firestone SH-30 - except even better tires did appear recently or will appear in future.
I bought these tires a year ago for my other car, 98 Chevy Malibu, and it was the best thing what happened with the car. My wife and I are enjoying to drive it again.
Why SH-30? Mostly for its outstanding wet handling, i.e. safety. They are gripping wet pavement as dry one - practically, no difference. And resist hydroplaning.
In out experience, the SH-30 tires are not noisy. The performance tires are more stiff than touring ones, but we like it.
At Tirerack user surveys, the SH-30 used to receive the best ranking in category of the high performance all-season tires. Sometimes switching to the second place with Michelin Pilot XGT H4 the first.
Overall, these two tires have very close ranking. SH-30 are better for rain, Pilot for snow. I live in Connecticut, and rain is more of problem than snow here.
However, a new tire, Bridgestone Potenza RE950, holds the first place now, while with much less driving experience reported. Probably, does make sense to look at them too.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/hpas.jsp
Anyone tried S-03?
Drew
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/08/29/tire.safety/index.html
Drew
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
Ya know, I think that's the first time I've seen the media suggest that Explorer owners had some culpability in their own deaths. I mean, now that Firestone has been completely demonized, they settled out of court in that case in Texas which most folks will assume that means Firestone has admitted guilt.
You mentioned Falkans and Nittos, I saw a Sears ad for Falkans and Nitto 450s are available at discount tires. What are your thoughts on them?
I just want something that is a little better than the Firestone Firehawk GTA 02, which I think is poor in the rain.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/hpas.jsp
It is not necessary to buy the very top model (currently Potenza RE950). Any 3 or 5 top ones would be fine.
Exclude the tires reported with low miles. E.g. SP Sport A2 currently is reported with less than 6k miles. Probably only one owner took the survey, and even he have the tires for several months only, never seen the winter. The Dunlop can turn to be a great tire, but I would wait till at least 200-300k miles reported. A million miles is even better.
By the way, the Firestone Firehawk GTA 02 you mentioned are between the worst in the survey. Dead last in rain and in snow.
However, the same company also makes a couple of the best tires: the above mentioned Potenza RE950 and Firehawk SH-30.
Steve
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Vans, SUVs and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
1.) Should I just buy 4 since I am at 40K?
2.) Tire Rack shows my options as follows:
Bridgestone Potenza RE92 $154 each (current tire)
Michelin Pilot XGT Z4 $183
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S $206
Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 $183
I am in So. Cal, so I have no "winter" issues. I drive 35 miles one way to work daily and drive at speeds over 65 as often as possible. What do you recommend.
Also one tire store mentioned Nitto. Are they any good?
Thanks much. I really aprreciate the boards. Came in handy when buying my Max.
There have been a few comments lately about Firestone SH 30 tires. While I can't say how they'd do on other vehicles, I do have a definite opinion for my own vehicle, a 95 STS with 101K.
In short, they are some of the worst tires I have ever purchased. Wet traction is nil, even with the STS's traction control which kicks in all the time with these tires, they are by far the noisiest tires I have ever owned, and the ride is deplorable.
I live in Missouri, and the snow traction is non-existant. Last winter I got stuck twice in my own driveway with less than 3 inches of snow. Both times, my Explorer (in 2WD mode) easily got in and out. Didn't even have to put it in 4WD auto...
Lateral traction in on dry pavement is ok, but nothing to write home about. Traction during acceleration and braking is well below even the Goodyear GT+4's that I had before. They even ride worse than the GT+4's did.
I have 34K on these tires, and can't wait to get rid of them later this month.
I've read the reviews and comments at tirerack.com, and I honestly think the people who posted must have been driving on another tire. The comments there are 100% opposite of my experience.
I could not recommend these tires to anyone that ever drives in rain or snow, or anyone that like's to 'nail it' once in a while.
They may work fine on other vehicles, but I would never put them on a performance oriented car. Just my $.02 worth...
In my experience, installing them was the best thing that happened with the car. My wife and I like to drive it again.
Since installing the tires, my wife always asks me not to turn so fast. The tires hold the wet pavement as dry, rain and puddles do not matter.
The tires are stiff, but not noisy. Less noisy that the Affinity it replaced. However, with the Malibu I cannot judge the noise, because the car itself is rather noisy. Always drive with music.
There was a lot of snow the last winter in Connecticut. The tires were dependable in the snow, but nothing exceptional.
I bought the tires last fall, and the last Monday had the first rotation. Have 6,000-6,500 mile experience only. Do not know how the tires will behave at 35k miles. However, given they are designed to serve 50k miles, about 2/3 of thread probably must be worn out. Time to start looking for relacement.
By the way, the OEM Affinity are designed for 80,000 miles. Replaced them at 37k, but this was an error: had to do it at 32k. Driving through the last summer was unsafe.
The RE92 is a so-so tire in the Bridgestone line, IMO. I like the RE950 but, alas, not in your size. Actually nothing in your size from BStone except for the RE92. Yuck. BTW, you got all the miles out of those RE92's. 40K is all they got. Time for 4 new ones.
What else can we find...... nothing at Firestone, nothing at BFG, nothing at Yokohama, nothing at Nitto........
There's the Goodyear Eagle GS-D.
And those Michelins. The MXM is a hi-performance plus luxury tire. The XGTZ4 is hi-performance plus all-season traction (not like it's a snow tire but it will be pretty good in the wet). Don't know anything about the A/S. Sorry. For you the other two are a toss up.
If I stumble across anything decent in your size I'll shout out. Hopefully others have found a gold mine of 225/50-17's for you and will post here.
However, I think you may be making a common mistake. A M+S rated or "All season" tire mayt actually be worse in the rain than the regular "summer" tire.
The M+S means that the tire has tread blocks that will grip (to a point) in lose stuff like mud and snow (duh) Just for education purposes check out Tirerack., They did a comparo of the P6000, P6000 Suoersport and the Mich MXVS. The comments in it will help explain why summer tires nay be what you want. I would use All season only if I was occasionally in snow country. (Of course in real snopw country, dedicated snow tores)
But they don't offer anything in your size. Neither does Toyo or Dunlop. Or Pirelli.
I'm lookin' but I caint see nothin'.
OK, I found a Falken ZIEX S/TZ01 in your size.
If it were me, I'd go to Wheel Warehouse in Anaheim (Lemon Ave exit off the 91). They are on a level with Tire Rack for expertise and selection. I had friends that worked there and for years that's the only place I went to get tires and wheels. If they don't have a selection then no one does.
Best of luck!!
Mine are 225/60/16. I'm wondering if they vary dramatically between sizes? For example, if yours are 215/60/15 (which I believe is the stock size for Malibu's) could the 10mm tread and 1" of height make that much difference?
I don't doubt that you like the tires, I'm just trying to figure out how our experience with the same basic tire is so different. I don't think I have a bad set; there's no vibration, treadwear has been good, and they've worn evenly. I wonder if the different sizes use a different compound?
Your Malibu has a softer suspension than the STS, which could explain the ride difference, but it's the traction I'm really courious about. I can be driving down a Interstate in fairly light rain and the car will start to get loose rather quickly. Hit a puddle on the road and forget it; it will immediately start to hydroplane at any speed above about 60.
I got these tires about 1 1/2 years ago, and they've been like this since day one. I'm actively comparing tires right now in order to get new ones later this month.
A couple of local tire dealers have 30 day satisfaction 100% refund guarantee's, so I'll probably try a few different tires before I settle on one.
I'll post a separate message with what I'm looking for and asking for recomendations.