"Michelin Cross Terrain SUV have ALOT of mileage input/surveys (tire must've been around since the early/mid 1990's - lots of happy posters)...Either way it's a tire that I'm kinda leaning towards (that, & the Cooper CS4 which I just had installed on my wife's CRV - so far so good). "
I think the LTX Michelin tires have been out longer, maybe since the early/mid 1990s. I don't think the Cross-Terrains have been out but about 5-7 years.
Personal...have the 245/65/17 Cross Terrains on an 2004 Envoy XL, 62K miles. Very quiet and smooth tire, great mileage. Combo of the Envoy and Cross Terrain rides like a Caddy...luxury smooth.
'00 Trooper LS, Michelin Select LT, WalMart version of the LTX. These went 80K smooth, trouble free miles. No problem at all. Still had 10-20K of tread left when I replaced them last fall. Cheaped out on the next set with Firestones to save $150 since I don't think I have the Trooper for an additional 80K miles which would put it over 200K. I'm sure to get the new vehicle itch before then :-).
Looking to replace the Cross Terrains on the Envoy...Sam's and Walmart have them at around $200 each, plus mounting, tax, etc. Sears has them for $169 on sale until 5/22 with a $56 rebate for installation...have to have the Sears web folks call you to get that price...when I called the local store they quoted about $20 more per tire. Not sure exactly what I'm going to do... It does seem that these tires have jumped up $30-$50 each, I guess since the price of oil is jumping up...
With recent experience it is hard for me to get away from the Michelins...but they are more expensive.
I have had 5 sets of (5) Michelin LTX's. Previous to that 4 sets of (4) Michelin LT's. LTX's first came standard for me on a 1994 Toyota Landcruiser.
I can't say that I disagree with your sentiment.
It does require a fair amount of reseach to get the so called satisfactory replacement. So far I have been happy with Yokohama Geolander H/T G051. I am a ways away from the 90k+ miles I am used to on the LTX, but so far so good. I also have the Bridgestone Dueler AT/Revo. It is not a specific highway tire.
There are of course better rated ones but they do not have near the "opinion" miles that the LTX and AT/Revos do.
After spending $1000 for four LTX M/S 20" for the Denali, I cheaped out on the replacements for my Titan. Just browsing through Tirerack I found these tires:
After reading the ratings and seeing the exceptional price I bit the bullet and bought a set. These are amazing tires for the price. It is everything the people say it is at a pricepoint that is almost criminal. Would I buy it again? Yes. Would I buy it for the Denali? No and only because it's an A/T tire that wouldn't look good with the rims.
"With recent experience it is hard for me to get away from the Michelins...but they are more expensive."
Gotta agree with there; Michelin makes some great tires although they're pricey...So far the Cooper CS4's on my wifes CRV are doing well (7,000 miles), & were $20 less per tire than the X-Radials from Costco...I'm gonna wait a few months, & see how these CS4's do before I make my final decision.
I replaced the Michelin Select LT (Walmart version of the LTX) with Firestone Destination LEs on my '00 Trooper because of the price. the Michelin. Saved over $100 IIRC on the set. Firestone was having a pretty good sale that week. The Michelins went over 82,000 and still had decent tread. But I did not think I would keep the trooper another 5 years so if the Firestones do good for another 2-3 years @ about 17K miles per year, I'm okay with that.
The Crossterrains for the Envoy (246/65/17) were less expensive at Sears...seemed to have gone up quite a bit at Sam's Club and Walmart. I'm wondering how much of that is due to the run-up in oil prices....
I replaced the Michelin Select LT (Walmart version of the LTX) with Firestone Destination LEs on my '00 Trooper because of the price. the Michelin.
I don't think you could pay me to put Firestone anything on my vehicles. My family has bad experiences with Firestone going back to the 50s. That said, I have never had a problem with Bridgestone, who owns Firestone, or BFG, who is owned by Michielin.
I've had better results with Firestone over the years than Goodyear...going back to the '70s anyway. I did get a bad taste about them when all the Exploders were crashing with the Firestones. I think there was also an earlier separation issue with their '721' radial IIRC. No real failure issue with Goodyears, just durability issues, early uneven wear, etc. I also used another brand that eventually was owned by Firestone, sold at Number One Tire stores here in Memphis, can't remember the name right now. They were pretty good. Bridgestones were the OEM tire on the Trooper....decent tires except for slight vibration for the 43000 miles I kept them.
The ONLY brand I never had issues with, well actually one of the Michelin Select LT tires was slightly off and was replaced by Walmart, I would say overall I have had better results with the Michelin tires than the other brands, but have only used them in the past 5 years or so.
Well, finally got the MPV back into Big O Tires to have them take a second look at the slow leak. Still losing 1-3 pounds a week.
The service tech came back and said they couldn't find a leak... again asking me if I told them the correct tire to inspect. Yes... left front... or drivers side front.. same thing. He says they dunked it 3 times and no leak. I ask if they can go ahead and replace the valve stem as that may be the problem. He replies that they replace valve stems on all flat repairs and they had done that when I brought the van in previously a month ago. I reply that I didn't think so, that it looked like the same old valve stem to me. He agreed to replace it "again".
I'm almost 100% sure that there was no new valve stem put in the first time I took the van in. I just looked at the new one they just put in... a nice shiny black stem, and a new clean brass valve.
Anyhow, they said the inside of the wheel and tire looked "factory" new... no corrosion. The service tech I had last month mumbled something about corrosion. So, maybe the mumbler was giving me an excuse so as not to come back, or I misunderstood him. They worked on the tire for almost an hour and didn't charge me anything, so Big O is still okay with me. Hope it is fixed this time though. I asked if it continued to leak what could be the problem. The only thing the tech could say was that I would have a problem with the tire somewhere. My problem.. not theirs.
if 1 to 3 pounds a week bothers you you might try spending the money on tire life. the air lose you are describing would be very hard to detect. if this tire has been repaired that is the most likely place.
I hope not. I'd rather put air in it every day than spend $170 for another Goodyear Tripletred 17" tire.
I guess if it continues to leak I'll take it back to Goodyear Service Center where I bought it. The tire is only 8 months( 6k miles) old. Would have taken it there in the first place, but the wait is usually pretty long.
no not a new tire. tire life is a n internal tire sealant and treatment. see a tire dealer that handles more than passinger cars. like tci or allied or someone other than big o.
Thanks. Well, I don't know if it was tirelife. But I saw the tech with a brush full of black goo getting ready to take to my tire. The service advisor said this was to help prevent corrosion on the inside of the tire. I believe he said they used a sealant around the wheel and the tire... then the black goo (tirelife???) to seal the inside of the tire and prevent corrosion.
My wife looked at the new valve stems they put on the tire the other day... she agreed that the old valve stems had not been replaced the first time I had gone into Big O with the slow leak problem.
I have a 2007 Mitsubishi Galant Ralliart that came with Goodyear Eagles RS-A P235/45R18 tires. I noticed sidewall separation on the front left tire. Has anyone had this problem with this model tire? I have seen forums where Nissan Maxima's have had the same problem with the P245/45R18 tires. Does anyone know of a recall or even a silent recall?
If you feel you have a safety concern, you should report it on NHTSAs website. You will probably have to provide the make/model/birthdate/serial number of the tire so they can tie it to a particular batch.
Had these on my Civic and hated them...poor wet traction and pretty squirrely on sharp turns on dry roads to boot. A very poor tire choice. Have Fusion's on now and only marginally better but the price was right. Should've gone for the Sumitomo's like I wanted. But not to fond of Sears and their tire shops.
I spoke with the manager of our local Goodyear dealer who told me that he's aware of the problems with these tires. Apparently, it's a superficial defect with no safety concerns. However, I personally don't feel confortable driving around with a crack half way around my tire. I was told to contact Goodyear's customer service number for an approval code to replace all four tires. I'll keep you all informed as to how things go.
Wish I had shown mine to the Honda dealer so they could've done the TSB on the rear suspension. Since I didn't have the worn tires on the car 2 weeks ago, they wouldn't perform the TSB even as a goodwill jesture. Wasn't to pleased with them at the time, as they did a safety recall without me having the documentation in hand...got that today in the mail. I guess I can see their point in that why should they do the work without seeing the damaged tires but they were already doing other warranty work. A bit surprised that Honda didn't just "step up to the plate" on this one. My 1st disappointment with Honda.
I ordered aset of 285R75E-16 A/T2's and when they arrived and were mounted all 4 tires had sidewall bubbles! After considerable discussion with "Customer service" at Michelin they agreed to give me a set of the tires at no charge. After waiting a week for the tires they never arrived. Now Michelin claims they would never offer that and do not offer anything toward customer relations for the two weeks I've been through. Their attitude is If your a Michelin customer....It sucks to be you!! My first and last experience with Michelin I can tell you that.
That sounds more like General tires rather than Michelin as I've seen 4 defective Generals and have never seen a defective Michelin much less 4 of them.
What's the name of the tire shop? One thing for sure it isn't Costco as those 4 tires would be off the vehicle before you could complain if they were indeed defective.
Why can't they just swap out the tires since you've already paid for them. They're just not going to give you a set of tires for free...that'd be stupid on their part. but they should swap out all 4 for perfect new tires since you've already spent the $ on their product. What am I missing here?
A reporter from a large national newspaper is looking to speak to consumers who is delaying purchasing new tires or purchased cheaper tires because of the economy. If you’re interested in speaking to the reporter, please contact Chintan Talati at ctalati@edmunds.com with your daytime contact information no later than June 25, 2008.
I'm replacing tires on my 1994 Buick Roadmaster wagon. The only tires my mechanic has with a white side wall are Republic tires. I have no experience with Republic, is this a quality brand tire? They're the same price for 225/75R15 as he would charge me for Goodyear, Cooper or Dunlop and they have a 70000 mile warranty on them. What do you think?
From what research I've done, they appear to be an entry level tire made by Kelly-Springfield (owned by Goodyear) and I would not expect them to be priced as high as other name brands.
So they are American made apparently but you know, you get what you pay for.
Wal-mart actually does have good quality tires and Wilcox does have a point. I used to manage a Wal-mart Tire Center before leaving to better things, and it is supposed to be part of Wal-mart policy to do a visual walk around with the vehicle with the customer before placing an order. This accomplishes two things... first the condition of the vehicle so any dings, dents, scratches, etc can be noted before hand and also so that the proper tires for the vehicle can be sold.
I don't know how many times I had an associate inside the store sell a set of tires that were not the right tire for the vehicle. He just sold them because the customer was looking for "cheap".
Anyway, to go back and give advice on the Viva tire mentioned earlier. There are actually 2 types of "Viva". There is the Viva 2, and it's your standard passenger tire. Comparable to a GY Integrity. Not a bad tire and not a bad price. Then there is the Viva Touring that is real close to the GY Regatta 2. It actually may be the same exact tire with different name branding. This tire IMO is over priced for what you get. Wal-mart sells a much better tire with the same warranty for a much better price. It is called the Douglas Touring. If you need a touring tire I would go with that one. Yes it is an off brand and not a GY or Michilen or BFG, but it is a quality tire at a decent price.
It has been a few years since I have worked at Wal-mart, but I have kept an eye on their tires still, and I have noticed that quality is getting better (not that it was bad to begin with - it's really a stigma like Kia and Hyndai have ).
The tires are not bad, but they hire people off the street with little to no experience (I was one of them), and sometimes the whole shop will be inexperienced. Fortunately I had someone who was experienced and had several years of experience take me under his wing and trained me. So you do have to be careful, especially if you go to a newer store. But the tires are good and a lot of times you can get good service...
Wal-mart can do special orders right from the store. The Website might also be able to order them. I know that at the store I worked for it was pretty simple. A customer would come in and I would help him through our special order book and than give him a price quote on a set of tires. If he brought in a quote from another store like Les Schwab or Costco I would beat it by 5% if I was not already better. (Costco shop was across the curb from our shop and we were able to constantly beat their prices.) Anyway, I would then place the order and the tires would be in within 3-5 business days, sometimes less. We used to make the customer pay for them up front, but then discontinued it as felt it was better to pay for them out the door.
Anyway, to answer your question short and simple I don't know that much about Sam's Club. There was not one in the town I lived when I worked at Wal-mart. I would assume they follow similar practices, but honestly do not know. But you can get Good Year Tripletreds from Wal-mart. You just have to special order them.
To order them (I just looked at the web site and did not see them there), go to your local Wal-mart that has a Tire & Lube Express and speak to thier tire man or support manager. Go during the day and hopefully you'll catch someone with experience in tires. Tell them you would like to special order some GY Tripletreads and ask to look at the GY special order book. They should have one at the counter and also next to thier tire display in the aisle. Hopefully you will have good luck. It has been my experience that Wal-mart can be inconsistent with service. I love Wal-mart and they do have good tires, but I have bought my last 2 sets of tires from Discount because after I moved cross country I could not find a Wal-mart (and there are like 10 to choose from) in the PHX area that I felt could treat me the way I felt I treated my customers when I was a mananger. This could be more from the fact that I used to work there and knew how things were supposed to work and so it frustrated me when they did go how I knew (thought) they should go.
Unfortunatly you may not be able to find much in that particualr size. It basically is the same size as a 31x10.5. You can however look at some continentals or generals. GM put Generals stock on the new Colorado in that size, but the reviews have not been that fantastic about that particular tire. It was more of a road tire and not an off-road tire. The GY Wrangler RT/S is also more of a road tire, but I just checked Tire Rack and the ratings are not good for that tire either. The selection isn't great, but you might check Tire Rack and see what they have. There are a couple of tires that have good ratings. You can also put a 31x10.5 as well. The selection will be greater and it is the same basic size. The 31 is a floatation size and so most tread designs are going to be all terrain type, but even at that you can find a good tire for a good price that will work just fine even on a 2wd truck.
I just checked Wal-mart.com and they have a Goodyear Tracker 2 for under 100.00 (you said price is an issue, but don't know what you are willing to pay.) This is a fairly good tire and is not All-terrain, but more of a road tire. They also have a Liberator in a 31x10.5 that is even less and I would actually recomend that tire over the GY as it I feel that it wears better and the price is better. It is a flotation tire, but it might give you the "beefier" look you are looking for with out being too aggressive.
I agree that Tire Racks rating can sometimes be "skewed". When I am looking for a tire I find reviews that have 30+ thousans miles on them. I don't trust reviews less than that - especially the ones with 500 or 1000 miles. Most tires are going to get good reivews withing that range because they replaced worn out tires... any new tire is better than a worn out tire. But if a tire has 30+ or even more say 40 or 50K miles and the reviews are coming through good, I would be more inclined to trust that particular tire if it suited my needs.
True it can get busy at the Wally World... the way it is supposed to work - or at least how it worked in my shop, is I usually had 3 techs in the mornings to open the shop and up to 7 on busy days in the middle of the day. I always had at least one guy on the Tire Side and 2 guys on the Lube Line. During the middle of the day I would have 2 guys running tires and 3-4 guys running lubes. This also left me enough personel to have someone at break or lunch. It also left me enough lee-way to adjust and if tires suddenly got busy I was able to pull someone from the Lube Line to help out or if Lubes were busy then a tire tech could always jump over and help. The average lube goal we had to meet was 30 min. We were usually in the 30-45 min range. It was not unusual to be in the hour range and on extremely busy days 1 1/2 hrs. This was rare however and it meant that we were either short a person or it was extremly busy.
If a customer came through and needed both an oil change and a tire rotation or other tire work he was put in line in the order he came in. Meaning if there are 6 in the oil change line and 2 in the tire side, he was #7 in oil and #3 in tires. I would then watch the lines how they progressed and if tires came up first than the tires were done first. Usually by the time the tires were done it was his turn for oil and he went right in. If while tires were being done and oil change #8 happened to go through, than as soon as oil change #8 was finished, I pushed the combo package through... he should not have to go to the "back" of the line when tires are done - say as in an amusement park where you finish one ride and then to go on another you have to get in the back of the line and wait your turn. Usually in this way I was able to get a vehicle through that had both tire work and oil change through in only the amount of time it would normally take for the oil change.
I would not recomend it.... several reasons why. The 235/70r16 is what is recomended for the vehicle... (I say this knowing that I run a completly different size than what my vehicle recomends but.... I'll explain later.:)).
I just did a quick check and a 235/70r 16 tire is 29 inches tall. A 235/65r 16 tire is 28 inches tall. This is a HUGE difference in the tire world and the way it will affect a vehicles performance.
A 236/65r16 is smaller tire. It's diameter is less, it's load carrying capacity is lower (depending on the tire, but this statement is generally true because a 235/65r16 will have less volume to distribute the vehicle's load, therefore it's load carrying capacity is limited). If the tire's load carrying capacity is less than what the vehicle recomends then, like a previous poster said, you will run the risk of overloading the tires and increasing the potential for tire failure.
(As as side note - speed ratings are also important to consider. Speed ratings can change as you change sizes, but also change within the same size. Make sure you stay with the recomended speed rating or greater. NEVER go down in speed ratings. A speed rating is the speed a tire is capable of handling, usually designated by a letter. There is a lot to how to read a tire, but I will not go into it here. If interested, Edmunds might have a section on that (I haven't checked), but also tirerack.com also has all sorts of useful info on how to read tires and such.)
Back to what I was talking about...:) because a 235/65r16 has a smaller diameter, it will throw off the speedometer readings. Your actual speed will be less than what your speedodometer reads. Which also means that your odometer will read more miles than are actually on the car.
Also the handling will be different. The suspension is setup for a 29 inch tall tire. I can't say for sure what it would do to the handling, but the vehicle will respond differently to the 65 series tire as opposed to the 70 series tire with the same inputs from the driver.
So there are all sorts of variables that are factored in when you change tire sizes. I would recomend you stick with the factory size. Having said that I will tell you that I have switched from my "recomended" factory size to a different size. I have an 01 2wd ex-cab S-10 with 205/75r15 stock size (now I know you probably don't care, but I will try and use this as an example of when it is possible to change from factory size). I was not happy with the way the tires handled or the way they gripped when I took off from intersections. I drive fairly aggressive and wanted something that would more suit my driving style. I switched to a 16" rim and I have run a 255/55r 16 in the past and I am currently running a 235/60r 16 now. I am now about to go back to the 255/55r 16 tire size as I was much happier with the way the vehicle handled with that size. When changing the sizes, I was careful to first not change the overall diameter of the tire. A 205/75r15 and a 255/55r16 and a 235/60r16 have the same overall diameter.
The 255 however is a much wider tire than a 205 or a 235. It volume is much greater and so it's load carrying capacity is greater. It has the greatest load carrying capacity of the 3 sizes being compared. So it is capable of handling the wieght limits of the vehicle. It will also have a greater footprint on the road because of it's width, aiding in cornering and dry traction which is what I was looking for. It will not however handle as well on snow or ice, or water because it is wider. Since I live in a hot dry climate, the ability to handle snow or ice was not a major factor for me.
Wieght of the a tire/wheel combination different than factory is also another factor to consider. The 255/55r16 is much heavier than the 205/75r15. More wieght at the axles could increase acceleration times and braking distances. It could possibly place more strain on the engine/drivetrain, but since I felt that my drivetrain can handle the extra wieght, it was not a major factor for me. I have not noticed a difference in braking distances either, but that is a possibility with a heavier tire and wheel combination. The main thing I was after was better corning and acceleration traction. By switching to a wider tire and different wheel size, I was able to maintain my goal. At the same time I was mindful to keep the overall diameter the same and not compromise the load capacity of the tire.
For your particular case, I however would recomend staying with the factory size. Now for tire selection?? I think the Firestone Destinations that you mentioned would do you well for the price? Havn't had that much experience with Firestones so can't be postive about it, but after reading some reviews and specs, I think that would be a good choice. Not sure about the price since it is Canadian, but if it were American, I would say WAY too high. Hope this helped...
Here is another option that you might entertain - i just did a quick check prices and Wal-mart does have a 195/55r15 BFG traction T/A for $88 plus installation at 9.76 a tire so roughly 98 bucks a tire getting you out the door for just under 4 hundred. Still a lot of dough in my opinion for a grocery getter like you said but here is a way to shave some of the price. Walmart will do tire matching and Tire Rack also has the Traction T/A and it is $80. Print out this price and take it to Walmart and they should match it. They just did so for me and I ended up saving almost $25 per tire! I ordered a General Grabber UHP and Walmart can get them for 98 bucks a tire, Tire Rack for 74. I printed out the quote, took it in and asked if they would be able to match the price. They did so at 74 bucks a tire and I wasn't going to complain.
Here is my feeling on ordering tires from Tire Rack. Take it for what it is worth. Tire Rack makes a great place for researching tires. But I have yet to buy from Tire Rack because once you boil it all down, it is more convenient to get them at a regular tire store like Discount Tire or Wal-mart. Tire rack has great prices. But then you have to pay for shipping to get them. That often times as I price checked is the difference between the same tire at Walmart. I.E. - if the tire price is $74, it will cost me almost $14 per tire to ship bringing the tire price to now 88. This is better than Wal-marts $98 per tire (108 after Protction Plan which mounts and balances plus Road Hazard Warranty). If you want to add Tire Racks protection plan which I am going to for fair comparison it's another $8.88 per tire. Total tire price for Tire Rack is now about $97 per tire. $11 less than Wal-mart, but that only gets the tires to your house. You now have to have them mounted on your vehicle. When I worked at Wal-mart we charged $30 to mount and balance a set of carry-in tires on a vehicle. This was discounted from the $44 to help us beat our competion. Other tire dealers I do not know what they charge but I will stick with the Wal-mart comparison. It can cost as little as $7.50 per tire to mount. If you need new valve stems as I recomend it's another $1.75. So as little as 9.25 per tire to mount and balance properly. Add that to the price of $97 per tire and it now equals out $106.25 per tire. A price difference of roughly $2 per tire. Not really worth it for me to save 8 bucks on a $400 tire purchase. Tire Racks protection plan is a little more involved. When you get a flat, you have to pay for the service and then they will reimburse you after you send them the bill. I would rather just take the flat to the store and have them fix it at no charge. Same goes for rotations and balances. (This might be different for stores that are "approved" by Tire Rack, but not knowing I can't comment on that.) So here it is broken down. I will use for example a 255/55r16 General Grabber UHP since this the tire I ordered from Wal-mart.
Tire Rack:
Tire Cost: $74 x 4 Protection Plan: $35.52 Shipping: $56.02 (this will vary depending on location) Cost to mount at Wal-mart: $30.00 Valve Stem: $1.75 x 4 ----------------- Total Cost $424.24
Wal-Mart
Tire Cost: $97.96 x 4
Protection Plan: $39.04 (includs mounting, balancing, valvestem, rotating and balancing for life of tire, pro-rated road hazzard warranty-Free replment of tire first 2/32's of tread, prorated after that. Flat repairs for life of the tire.)
Shipping: $0 Cost to mount: $0 - included in Protection Plan
Valve Stem: $0 - Included in Protection Plan -----------------------
Total Tire Cost: - 430.88
Difference = $6.64 savings
As you can see, using Tire Rack will only save you $6.64 on a $430 tire purchase. And that is assuming Wal-mart's $30 mount price. It could be as high as $44. To me it's not worth it. Plus I was able to get Wal-mart to price match Tire Rack. So here is what I paid.
Tire Price: $74 x 4 Protection Plan: 39.04 ----------------- Total Tire Price: $335.04 Savings: $95.84.
Now that is worth it. Do your research. It could save you some money. I would also check other tire dealers. I know I mentioned the Traction T/A, but a previous poster said he had bad luck with them. The Traction T/A was just an example. It was also the only one on the Wal-mart Website that was cost-effective. I would go to Wal-mart and look at their special order books. They can get anything manufactured by Goodyear, BFG, Michilen, General, Continental, Uniroyal. There ought to be several options. Or better yet, find a tire on Tire rack made by a company that Wal-mart will carry, and take in that tire quote and I'll bet Walmart can get it. If you have trouble, let me know and I know how to help them find it. The Wal-mart I went to didn't think they could get the tire I ordered and I had to show them how to find it.
If you find something like a Kumho (which are good tires), or Bridgstone, or any other tire that Wal-mart doesn't have or can't get, you may have to try other places like Discount Tire or Big-O tires. You might try the same strategy though of getting them to price match. You never know - you could make out on a really good deal.
Hey ?? Where did everybody go?? This is a little odd. Usually I come here once a day or so and there is always a couple new post??
Anyway, just had my new tires put on at Wal-mart. General Grabber UHP 255/55r16. $74 per tire plus 9.76 per tire installation. Total price including an oil change was 360 and some change. Fairly good experience except that it took a little longer than I would have liked - almost 2 hrs, but all in all not bad. I did find out however that Wal-mart is not supposed to price match online tire companies such as Tire Rack but they did anyway. I have a hunch that this particular store didn't know that because they price matched anyway. Given that I had to show them how to even find the tire I wanted I am not surprised.
First impressions of the tire are favorable. It's a brand new tire for me and so I don't know how it will perform but only time will tell. It is a bad idea to rate this tire with only a few initial mile on it. It has yet to be broken in and used. Compared to the 235/60r16 Traction T/A's S rated non-directional they are night and day difference. Most of that I am sure comes from nearly worn out tires to brand new so I can't rate fairly here. Any new tire compared to an old tire is bound to feel "night and day". But remembering back to when the Tractions were new, the General's still feel like a better tire. So we shall see. So far I like what I see/feel and now comes the test of time....
I wouldn't be too concerned about the 400 miles driven on them already - just head back to the shop that put them on and have them swapped around. Like a previous poster said you have asymetrical tires meaning that one side goes inside and the other outside. There should also be markings on the side wall that indicate "this side in"... The tire installer obviously didn't know his tires very well or would have known he was installing an asymetrical tire, wasn't paying attention and just was in a hurry, or didn't care and just wanted to get the job done. There could have been a number of reasons why. These things sometimes happen even to the best of us.
I'm not sure I would completely avoid the shop in the future however I would give them a chance to see how they react when you take the car back to have the tires swapped around and how they handle the admiting their mistake. Keep in mind this also depends on your attitude when you take it back. If they treat you right and admit and take care of the problem maybe with a little bit chagrine than they know they flubbed a little and did what they could to take care of it. However if they give you a hard time, try to tell you that it doesn't matter, or any other BS and don't seem willing to do the work, make sure you get them to get the tires swapped so you don't have to pay for it elsewhere and then find a new tire dealer even for rotations and flats.
here is my 2 cents worth on "cheap" tires.... This includes brands like Kumho, Douglas (Wal-mart's house brand) and other chain dealer's house brands...
I would hesitate to call the "cheap". Inexpensive? Yes in most cases. But "cheap" as in low quality, poor service, and no good? Not necassarilly (spelling?) - Yes there is a point where these particular tire makers make "cheap" tires - basically tires to put on a car so it has good rubber on the road and not a steel belt and they wil be sufficient, but not outstanding. But all tire makers including GY, BFG and Michilen have these tire models. These off brand manufactures such as Kumho and Douglas also have very good "high-end" tires that are as good or better than a name brand for much less money.
I will cite a couple of tires that I have had experience with to help make my point. The Kumho Ecasta EXT is a very good performance tire for a good price. I ran a set and was well pleased with it dry traction, cornering ability and wearabilty. I have not compared it to say a Michilen Pilot or a Pirelli Scorpin, but the tire met my needs and my budget.
I have also run Wal-marts house brand Douglas Touring tire on one of my vehicles. I would put it up against a Good Year Regatta 2, and Michilen Symetry and it will wear better than both, have just as good of road manners for again a much better price.
I am currently running a set of General Grabbers and I would almost consider General an off-brand. Maybe not as much as Kumho or Douglas, but still not as well know. Yes General makes some basic tires that some will say are crap, but so far I am liking the General better than the Kumho and both tires are the same type. The General was even less expensive than the Kumho.
Now Kumho does make some very basic tires. These are what they are. So does Wal-mart in their Douglas X-tra Trac. It is a very basic tire for very basic needs. It ain't gonna do much but it will meet the needs of most passenger vehicles that need the sizes they are made in. So I wouldn't dis-regard an off-brand tire just because it is "off-brand" and "cheap". If you do your research, you will find that these tires are not only inexpensive, but also comparable performers as well.
Yes BFG is a subsidary of Michilen. Also Uniroyal. Goodyear whose parent company is Kelly-springfield also has several tire manufactures under it's wings. Not sure what other companys Michilen has under it's wings other than BFG and Uniroyal.
Your tire installer was mistaken... I I would recomend the 32 PSI on the door placard. That is the optimum pessure for both ride and handling and gas mileage. Supposedly figured out in numerous factory tests. The 38 PSI that your tire installer told you to run at could be the maximum that the tire is designed to hold. Look at the sidewall and there should be a "MAX PSI". This is not what the tire should be run at continuously, but rather when the vehicle is loaded - and not just loaded with you and a couple passengers.
Anyway, if you run the tires at 38 PSI you might be runnig them over-inflated and there by wearing them out sooner than need be. The centers will wear out quicker than the outsides. Trust the 32 PSI on the door jamb - other than the Ford Explorer/Firestone fiasco where Ford said it was okay to run tires at 23 PSI, the tire placards on vehicles are correct. If they were not correct, it would be another lawsuit waiting to happen.
yes - true it was Ford that recomended 23 PSI and that is what I believe was the major factor in the huge failure of the tires. To run a tire at 23 PSI is pure insanity! I would thing that anything under 30 PSI is dangerous. From my experience running a factory tire at the factory recomended specs will generally yeild good results. I have found that if a new tire is put that is different from the "factory tire", than sometimes a tire pressure change needs to be made as not all tires are the same even within the same size. This holds true especially if sizes are changed from factory. Than you have to adjust and find what works - what keeps even wear, what gives good ride, etc etc... that pressure will vary depending on the wieght of the vehicle compare to how wide the tire is, the aspect ratio, and the size of the rim. But uusually I have found that this change is never more than 4 PSI off the factory recomended. I have never run my tires less than 30 PSI, but I also have run them at 32 and 36 when my placard says 35 PSI.
I would recomend replacing them soon. When you say chaffed/whitish on the side I am thinking that the tire has raised white lettering, and what you are seeing is the chaffiing black rubber around the white lettering??
In any case, check the tires for dry rot and cracking on the sidewall. On a tire that is almost 6 years old, I would expect to see some and therefore the tires need to be replaced. At only 2 miles each way I doubt you will run into any serious trouble, but if you do any serious highway miles and get the tire heated up, you could run the possibilty of the tire failing. Even though the tires are not even close, they are at the end of their life expectancy. Most tires I think are designed to last 5-6 years. Maybe more in less harsh climates, but less in more extreme climates. Somewhere someone posted the range of a tire's life depending on the climate.
Here is my recomendation. I would replace them now if you can afford it. Waiting till fall/winter will not make a difference. If the Jeep is only used in-town, Goodyear makes a fairly decent tire marketed by Walmart called the Tracker 2. That is a name brand tire and does well. Also for less money is the Uniroyal Liberator. It is actually a lot less than the Tracker, and although a little more aggressive, I think it is a better tire all around. Especially for the price. The Tracker 2 will run about 84 dollars a piece plus 9.76 for installation. The Liberator about 60 bucks plus the 9.76. If you don't have a Wal-mart nearby than Sears would work as well. The 90 bucks you mentioned is a decent price, but since I don't know much about the tire I can't really tell you if it's a good buy. If it's a good tire, than it's a good price, but there might be better tires out there for the same or less money.
I recomended the Wal-mart tires as I have had good luck with them. Plus I have worked there so I know how the tires will hold up.
Yes - as long as you keep the the same brand/type of tires on the same axles. Not really what is recomended, but until the other set wears out, it is the most economical. You can avoid have to replace 2 tires at a time by have them rotated at regular intervals. Usually following this practice will wear the tires evenly and thus aviod having to replace 2 at a time and possibly running two different tires.
But if you must replace just two tires, the most important thing to keep in mind is speed rating and tire size. Make sure they are the same as what you currently have. If you can afford it I would recomend replacing all 4 at once even though the other 2 may not need it just yet, but however it is safe to do as long as you follow certain guidelines a couple of which I have already outlined.
Before going out and just swapping out tires I would stop and think that maybe it is not the tires that are causing the noise, but maybe the vehicle itself is allowing the road noise to be transmitted into the cabin???
It is possible that it is the tires, but also possible that the vehicle itself is contributing to the noise
I used to run and operate a tire shop and I disliked stick-on wieghts. Unfortunatly there are wheels out there that it is impossible to get an accurate balance without the use of them.
Therefore, if a wheel came into my shop that had stick-on weights, I would first spin the wheel after cleaning all the mud and dirt off the wheel. Usually it will come back .25 off somewhere but sometimes it will zero out and I know the wheel is balanced. More often than not however it will be .25 off or more and then I would strip all the wieghts and start fresh.
If the wheel area where the stick-on weights are to be placed is cleaned really well, you shouldn't have a problem with them flying off. I used a air powered wire brush and alcohol to clean and rarely did I have a problem.
So in short answer to your question, it depends on the shop. It is not a bad idea to spin the wheel once to check the balance, thereby cutting down time needed to balance the wheel. But if the wheel needs more than .25 oz.'s than hopefully they are stripping the wheel of all weights and starting from scratch.
Anyway, if it were my shop and the first time I had seen you, I would strip all the wieghts and start fresh regardless. I feel that if you are paying me to balance the wheels, than I should at least do that much and not bank on some other shop's balancing job. If you brought your vehicle in for a regualr rotate and balance that was included with the tires you purchased from me, than I would check first, then balance if need be.
True, I will agree that the standard wieght is not the most attractive. But there are easier to place and move than stick-on wieghts. But I will say that stick-on wieghts are the only way to go with alot of the after market and allow wheels.
Each style of wieght is designed for specific wheels and even hammer on wieghts come in many different shapes for use on the different wheel styles out there.
No - not necassarily. That dot is there to be used as a guide and tire mounters should use it, but it will not affect the overall balance of the tire if it is not lined up with the valve stem. If it is not lined up you might see a difference of .25 oz's used. Sometimes more, sometimes not. It won't affect much.
If you do find that the tire is using a large amount of wieght to balance (unless it is a mudder tire or large floatation tire and I mean like 33" or taller), than lining up the dot with the valve stem might make it use less wieght. If the tire is still needing a large amount of weight to balance (I define large amount at 2.5 oz or more on both sides of the rim), than it is possible that the rim is bent, the tire itself has a large inbalance somewhere. Might try using a different tire, using that tire on a different rim, or there are ways to balance that tire and rim combo by moving the tire around on the rim to find the "sweet" spot where it is "supposed" to reduce the overall amount of wieght needed to balance the tire. Anyway that is probably a lot more info than you needed to such a simple question, but hopefully an education is good so when you go into the tire shop you know what they are trying to do
Comments
I think the LTX Michelin tires have been out longer, maybe since the early/mid 1990s. I don't think the Cross-Terrains have been out but about 5-7 years.
Personal...have the 245/65/17 Cross Terrains on an 2004 Envoy XL, 62K miles. Very quiet and smooth tire, great mileage. Combo of the Envoy and Cross Terrain rides like a Caddy...luxury smooth.
'00 Trooper LS, Michelin Select LT, WalMart version of the LTX. These went 80K smooth, trouble free miles. No problem at all. Still had 10-20K of tread left when I replaced them last fall. Cheaped out on the next set with Firestones to save $150 since I don't think I have the Trooper for an additional 80K miles which would put it over 200K. I'm sure to get the new vehicle itch before then :-).
Looking to replace the Cross Terrains on the Envoy...Sam's and Walmart have them at around $200 each, plus mounting, tax, etc. Sears has them for $169 on sale until 5/22 with a $56 rebate for installation...have to have the Sears web folks call you to get that price...when I called the local store they quoted about $20 more per tire. Not sure exactly what I'm going to do... It does seem that these tires have jumped up $30-$50 each, I guess since the price of oil is jumping up...
With recent experience it is hard for me to get away from the Michelins...but they are more expensive.
Bill
I can't say that I disagree with your sentiment.
It does require a fair amount of reseach to get the so called satisfactory replacement. So far I have been happy with Yokohama Geolander H/T G051. I am a ways away from the 90k+ miles I am used to on the LTX, but so far so good. I also have the Bridgestone Dueler AT/Revo. It is not a specific highway tire.
There are of course better rated ones but they do not have near the "opinion" miles that the LTX and AT/Revos do.
Firestone Destination A/T
After reading the ratings and seeing the exceptional price I bit the bullet and bought a set. These are amazing tires for the price. It is everything the people say it is at a pricepoint that is almost criminal. Would I buy it again? Yes. Would I buy it for the Denali? No and only because it's an A/T tire that wouldn't look good with the rims.
Gotta agree with there; Michelin makes some great tires although they're pricey...So far the Cooper CS4's on my wifes CRV are doing well (7,000 miles), & were $20 less per tire than the X-Radials from Costco...I'm gonna wait a few months, & see how these CS4's do before I make my final decision.
The Crossterrains for the Envoy (246/65/17) were less expensive at Sears...seemed to have gone up quite a bit at Sam's Club and Walmart. I'm wondering how much of that is due to the run-up in oil prices....
I don't think you could pay me to put Firestone anything on my vehicles. My family has bad experiences with Firestone going back to the 50s. That said, I have never had a problem with Bridgestone, who owns Firestone, or BFG, who is owned by Michielin.
The ONLY brand I never had issues with, well actually one of the Michelin Select LT tires was slightly off and was replaced by Walmart, I would say overall I have had better results with the Michelin tires than the other brands, but have only used them in the past 5 years or so.
The service tech came back and said they couldn't find a leak... again asking me if I told them the correct tire to inspect. Yes... left front... or drivers side front.. same thing. He says they dunked it 3 times and no leak. I ask if they can go ahead and replace the valve stem as that may be the problem. He replies that they replace valve stems on all flat repairs and they had done that when I brought the van in previously a month ago. I reply that I didn't think so, that it looked like the same old valve stem to me. He agreed to replace it "again".
I'm almost 100% sure that there was no new valve stem put in the first time I took the van in. I just looked at the new one they just put in... a nice shiny black stem, and a new clean brass valve.
Anyhow, they said the inside of the wheel and tire looked "factory" new... no corrosion. The service tech I had last month mumbled something about corrosion. So, maybe the mumbler was giving me an excuse so as not to come back, or I misunderstood him. They worked on the tire for almost an hour and didn't charge me anything, so Big O is still okay with me. Hope it is fixed this time though. I asked if it continued to leak what could be the problem. The only thing the tech could say was that I would have a problem with the tire somewhere. My problem.. not theirs.
I hope not. I'd rather put air in it every day than spend $170 for another Goodyear Tripletred 17" tire.
I guess if it continues to leak I'll take it back to Goodyear Service Center where I bought it. The tire is only 8 months( 6k miles) old. Would have taken it there in the first place, but the wait is usually pretty long.
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/res...ue&refurl=email
Maybe the cause of the leak?
My wife looked at the new valve stems they put on the tire the other day... she agreed that the old valve stems had not been replaced the first time I had gone into Big O with the slow leak problem.
Thanks, but couldn't download your link.
,,,,,,,,,
Apparently, the NHTSA web site doesn't allow links, so I can't post one.
The recall number is 08T018000
Does anyone know of a recall or even a silent recall?
The Sandman
I'll keep you all informed as to how things go.
My 1st disappointment with Honda.
The Sandman
My first and last experience with Michelin I can tell you that.
I've had nothing but excellent service from Michelin, their tires, and the dealers. What does your tire store sayabout this?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
What's the name of the tire shop? One thing for sure it isn't Costco as those 4 tires would be off the vehicle before you could complain if they were indeed defective.
What am I missing here?
The Sandman :confuse:
So they are American made apparently but you know, you get what you pay for.
I don't know how many times I had an associate inside the store sell a set of tires that were not the right tire for the vehicle. He just sold them because the customer was looking for "cheap".
Anyway, to go back and give advice on the Viva tire mentioned earlier. There are actually 2 types of "Viva". There is the Viva 2, and it's your standard passenger tire. Comparable to a GY Integrity. Not a bad tire and not a bad price. Then there is the Viva Touring that is real close to the GY Regatta 2. It actually may be the same exact tire with different name branding. This tire IMO is over priced for what you get. Wal-mart sells a much better tire with the same warranty for a much better price. It is called the Douglas Touring. If you need a touring tire I would go with that one. Yes it is an off brand and not a GY or Michilen or BFG, but it is a quality tire at a decent price.
It has been a few years since I have worked at Wal-mart, but I have kept an eye on their tires still, and I have noticed that quality is getting better (not that it was bad to begin with - it's really a stigma like Kia and Hyndai have
The tires are not bad, but they hire people off the street with little to no experience (I was one of them), and sometimes the whole shop will be inexperienced. Fortunately I had someone who was experienced and had several years of experience take me under his wing and trained me. So you do have to be careful, especially if you go to a newer store. But the tires are good and a lot of times you can get good service...
Anyway, to answer your question short and simple I don't know that much about Sam's Club. There was not one in the town I lived when I worked at Wal-mart. I would assume they follow similar practices, but honestly do not know. But you can get Good Year Tripletreds from Wal-mart. You just have to special order them.
To order them (I just looked at the web site and did not see them there), go to your local Wal-mart that has a Tire & Lube Express and speak to thier tire man or support manager. Go during the day and hopefully you'll catch someone with experience in tires. Tell them you would like to special order some GY Tripletreads and ask to look at the GY special order book. They should have one at the counter and also next to thier tire display in the aisle. Hopefully you will have good luck. It has been my experience that Wal-mart can be inconsistent with service. I love Wal-mart and they do have good tires, but I have bought my last 2 sets of tires from Discount because after I moved cross country I could not find a Wal-mart (and there are like 10 to choose from) in the PHX area that I felt could treat me the way I felt I treated my customers when I was a mananger. This could be more from the fact that I used to work there and knew how things were supposed to work and so it frustrated me when they did go how I knew (thought) they should go.
I just checked Wal-mart.com and they have a Goodyear Tracker 2 for under 100.00 (you said price is an issue, but don't know what you are willing to pay.) This is a fairly good tire and is not All-terrain, but more of a road tire. They also have a Liberator in a 31x10.5 that is even less and I would actually recomend that tire over the GY as it I feel that it wears better and the price is better. It is a flotation tire, but it might give you the "beefier" look you are looking for with out being too aggressive.
If a customer came through and needed both an oil change and a tire rotation or other tire work he was put in line in the order he came in. Meaning if there are 6 in the oil change line and 2 in the tire side, he was #7 in oil and #3 in tires. I would then watch the lines how they progressed and if tires came up first than the tires were done first. Usually by the time the tires were done it was his turn for oil and he went right in. If while tires were being done and oil change #8 happened to go through, than as soon as oil change #8 was finished, I pushed the combo package through... he should not have to go to the "back" of the line when tires are done - say as in an amusement park where you finish one ride and then to go on another you have to get in the back of the line and wait your turn. Usually in this way I was able to get a vehicle through that had both tire work and oil change through in only the amount of time it would normally take for the oil change.
I just did a quick check and a 235/70r 16 tire is 29 inches tall. A 235/65r 16 tire is 28 inches tall. This is a HUGE difference in the tire world and the way it will affect a vehicles performance.
A 236/65r16 is smaller tire. It's diameter is less, it's load carrying capacity is lower (depending on the tire, but this statement is generally true because a 235/65r16 will have less volume to distribute the vehicle's load, therefore it's load carrying capacity is limited). If the tire's load carrying capacity is less than what the vehicle recomends then, like a previous poster said, you will run the risk of overloading the tires and increasing the potential for tire failure.
(As as side note - speed ratings are also important to consider. Speed ratings can change as you change sizes, but also change within the same size. Make sure you stay with the recomended speed rating or greater. NEVER go down in speed ratings. A speed rating is the speed a tire is capable of handling, usually designated by a letter. There is a lot to how to read a tire, but I will not go into it here. If interested, Edmunds might have a section on that (I haven't checked), but also tirerack.com also has all sorts of useful info on how to read tires and such.)
Back to what I was talking about...:) because a 235/65r16 has a smaller diameter, it will throw off the speedometer readings. Your actual speed will be less than what your speedodometer reads. Which also means that your odometer will read more miles than are actually on the car.
Also the handling will be different. The suspension is setup for a 29 inch tall tire. I can't say for sure what it would do to the handling, but the vehicle will respond differently to the 65 series tire as opposed to the 70 series tire with the same inputs from the driver.
So there are all sorts of variables that are factored in when you change tire sizes. I would recomend you stick with the factory size. Having said that I will tell you that I have switched from my "recomended" factory size to a different size. I have an 01 2wd ex-cab S-10 with 205/75r15 stock size (now I know you probably don't care, but I will try and use this as an example of when it is possible to change from factory size). I was not happy with the way the tires handled or the way they gripped when I took off from intersections. I drive fairly aggressive and wanted something that would more suit my driving style. I switched to a 16" rim and I have run a 255/55r 16 in the past and I am currently running a 235/60r 16 now. I am now about to go back to the 255/55r 16 tire size as I was much happier with the way the vehicle handled with that size. When changing the sizes, I was careful to first not change the overall diameter of the tire. A 205/75r15 and a 255/55r16 and a 235/60r16 have the same overall diameter.
The 255 however is a much wider tire than a 205 or a 235. It volume is much greater and so it's load carrying capacity is greater. It has the greatest load carrying capacity of the 3 sizes being compared. So it is capable of handling the wieght limits of the vehicle. It will also have a greater footprint on the road because of it's width, aiding in cornering and dry traction which is what I was looking for. It will not however handle as well on snow or ice, or water because it is wider. Since I live in a hot dry climate, the ability to handle snow or ice was not a major factor for me.
Wieght of the a tire/wheel combination different than factory is also another factor to consider. The 255/55r16 is much heavier than the 205/75r15. More wieght at the axles could increase acceleration times and braking distances. It could possibly place more strain on the engine/drivetrain, but since I felt that my drivetrain can handle the extra wieght, it was not a major factor for me. I have not noticed a difference in braking distances either, but that is a possibility with a heavier tire and wheel combination. The main thing I was after was better corning and acceleration traction. By switching to a wider tire and different wheel size, I was able to maintain my goal. At the same time I was mindful to keep the overall diameter the same and not compromise the load capacity of the tire.
For your particular case, I however would recomend staying with the factory size. Now for tire selection?? I think the Firestone Destinations that you mentioned would do you well for the price? Havn't had that much experience with Firestones so can't be postive about it, but after reading some reviews and specs, I think that would be a good choice. Not sure about the price since it is Canadian, but if it were American, I would say WAY too high. Hope this helped...
Here is my feeling on ordering tires from Tire Rack. Take it for what it is worth. Tire Rack makes a great place for researching tires. But I have yet to buy from Tire Rack because once you boil it all down, it is more convenient to get them at a regular tire store like Discount Tire or Wal-mart. Tire rack has great prices. But then you have to pay for shipping to get them. That often times as I price checked is the difference between the same tire at Walmart. I.E. - if the tire price is $74, it will cost me almost $14 per tire to ship bringing the tire price to now 88. This is better than Wal-marts $98 per tire (108 after Protction Plan which mounts and balances plus Road Hazard Warranty). If you want to add Tire Racks protection plan which I am going to for fair comparison it's another $8.88 per tire. Total tire price for Tire Rack is now about $97 per tire. $11 less than Wal-mart, but that only gets the tires to your house. You now have to have them mounted on your vehicle. When I worked at Wal-mart we charged $30 to mount and balance a set of carry-in tires on a vehicle. This was discounted from the $44 to help us beat our competion. Other tire dealers I do not know what they charge but I will stick with the Wal-mart comparison. It can cost as little as $7.50 per tire to mount. If you need new valve stems as I recomend it's another $1.75. So as little as 9.25 per tire to mount and balance properly. Add that to the price of $97 per tire and it now equals out $106.25 per tire. A price difference of roughly $2 per tire. Not really worth it for me to save 8 bucks on a $400 tire purchase. Tire Racks protection plan is a little more involved. When you get a flat, you have to pay for the service and then they will reimburse you after you send them the bill. I would rather just take the flat to the store and have them fix it at no charge. Same goes for rotations and balances. (This might be different for stores that are "approved" by Tire Rack, but not knowing I can't comment on that.) So here it is broken down. I will use for example a 255/55r16 General Grabber UHP since this the tire I ordered from Wal-mart.
Tire Rack:
Tire Cost: $74 x 4
Protection Plan: $35.52
Shipping: $56.02 (this will vary depending on location)
Cost to mount at Wal-mart: $30.00
Valve Stem: $1.75 x 4
-----------------
Total Cost $424.24
Wal-Mart
Tire Cost: $97.96 x 4
Protection Plan: $39.04 (includs mounting, balancing, valvestem, rotating and balancing for life of tire, pro-rated road hazzard warranty-Free replment of tire first 2/32's of tread, prorated after that. Flat repairs for life of the tire.)
Shipping: $0
Cost to mount: $0 - included in Protection Plan
Valve Stem: $0 - Included in Protection Plan
-----------------------
Total Tire Cost: - 430.88
Difference = $6.64 savings
As you can see, using Tire Rack will only save you $6.64 on a $430 tire purchase. And that is assuming Wal-mart's $30 mount price. It could be as high as $44. To me it's not worth it. Plus I was able to get Wal-mart to price match Tire Rack. So here is what I paid.
Tire Price: $74 x 4
Protection Plan: 39.04
-----------------
Total Tire Price: $335.04
Savings: $95.84.
Now that is worth it. Do your research. It could save you some money. I would also check other tire dealers. I know I mentioned the Traction T/A, but a previous poster said he had bad luck with them. The Traction T/A was just an example. It was also the only one on the Wal-mart Website that was cost-effective. I would go to Wal-mart and look at their special order books. They can get anything manufactured by Goodyear, BFG, Michilen, General, Continental, Uniroyal. There ought to be several options. Or better yet, find a tire on Tire rack made by a company that Wal-mart will carry, and take in that tire quote and I'll bet Walmart can get it. If you have trouble, let me know and I know how to help them find it. The Wal-mart I went to didn't think they could get the tire I ordered and I had to show them how to find it.
If you find something like a Kumho (which are good tires), or Bridgstone, or any other tire that Wal-mart doesn't have or can't get, you may have to try other places like Discount Tire or Big-O tires. You might try the same strategy though of getting them to price match. You never know - you could make out on a really good deal.
Anyway, just had my new tires put on at Wal-mart. General Grabber UHP 255/55r16. $74 per tire plus 9.76 per tire installation. Total price including an oil change was 360 and some change. Fairly good experience except that it took a little longer than I would have liked - almost 2 hrs, but all in all not bad. I did find out however that Wal-mart is not supposed to price match online tire companies such as Tire Rack but they did anyway. I have a hunch that this particular store didn't know that because they price matched anyway. Given that I had to show them how to even find the tire I wanted I am not surprised.
First impressions of the tire are favorable. It's a brand new tire for me and so I don't know how it will perform but only time will tell. It is a bad idea to rate this tire with only a few initial mile on it. It has yet to be broken in and used. Compared to the 235/60r16 Traction T/A's S rated non-directional they are night and day difference. Most of that I am sure comes from nearly worn out tires to brand new so I can't rate fairly here. Any new tire compared to an old tire is bound to feel "night and day". But remembering back to when the Tractions were new, the General's still feel like a better tire. So we shall see. So far I like what I see/feel and now comes the test of time....
The tire installer obviously didn't know his tires very well or would have known he was installing an asymetrical tire, wasn't paying attention and just was in a hurry, or didn't care and just wanted to get the job done. There could have been a number of reasons why. These things sometimes happen even to the best of us.
I'm not sure I would completely avoid the shop in the future however I would give them a chance to see how they react when you take the car back to have the tires swapped around and how they handle the admiting their mistake. Keep in mind this also depends on your attitude when you take it back. If they treat you right and admit and take care of the problem maybe with a little bit chagrine than they know they flubbed a little and did what they could to take care of it. However if they give you a hard time, try to tell you that it doesn't matter, or any other BS and don't seem willing to do the work, make sure you get them to get the tires swapped so you don't have to pay for it elsewhere and then find a new tire dealer even for rotations and flats.
I would hesitate to call the "cheap". Inexpensive? Yes in most cases. But "cheap" as in low quality, poor service, and no good? Not necassarilly (spelling?) - Yes there is a point where these particular tire makers make "cheap" tires - basically tires to put on a car so it has good rubber on the road and not a steel belt and they wil be sufficient, but not outstanding. But all tire makers including GY, BFG and Michilen have these tire models. These off brand manufactures such as Kumho and Douglas also have very good "high-end" tires that are as good or better than a name brand for much less money.
I will cite a couple of tires that I have had experience with to help make my point. The Kumho Ecasta EXT is a very good performance tire for a good price. I ran a set and was well pleased with it dry traction, cornering ability and wearabilty. I have not compared it to say a Michilen Pilot or a Pirelli Scorpin, but the tire met my needs and my budget.
I have also run Wal-marts house brand Douglas Touring tire on one of my vehicles. I would put it up against a Good Year Regatta 2, and Michilen Symetry and it will wear better than both, have just as good of road manners for again a much better price.
I am currently running a set of General Grabbers and I would almost consider General an off-brand. Maybe not as much as Kumho or Douglas, but still not as well know. Yes General makes some basic tires that some will say are crap, but so far I am liking the General better than the Kumho and both tires are the same type. The General was even less expensive than the Kumho.
Now Kumho does make some very basic tires. These are what they are. So does Wal-mart in their Douglas X-tra Trac. It is a very basic tire for very basic needs. It ain't gonna do much but it will meet the needs of most passenger vehicles that need the sizes they are made in. So I wouldn't dis-regard an off-brand tire just because it is "off-brand" and "cheap". If you do your research, you will find that these tires are not only inexpensive, but also comparable performers as well.
Anyway, if you run the tires at 38 PSI you might be runnig them over-inflated and there by wearing them out sooner than need be. The centers will wear out quicker than the outsides. Trust the 32 PSI on the door jamb - other than the Ford Explorer/Firestone fiasco where Ford said it was okay to run tires at 23 PSI, the tire placards on vehicles are correct. If they were not correct, it would be another lawsuit waiting to happen.
In any case, check the tires for dry rot and cracking on the sidewall. On a tire that is almost 6 years old, I would expect to see some and therefore the tires need to be replaced. At only 2 miles each way I doubt you will run into any serious trouble, but if you do any serious highway miles and get the tire heated up, you could run the possibilty of the tire failing. Even though the tires are not even close, they are at the end of their life expectancy. Most tires I think are designed to last 5-6 years. Maybe more in less harsh climates, but less in more extreme climates. Somewhere someone posted the range of a tire's life depending on the climate.
Here is my recomendation. I would replace them now if you can afford it. Waiting till fall/winter will not make a difference. If the Jeep is only used in-town, Goodyear makes a fairly decent tire marketed by Walmart called the Tracker 2. That is a name brand tire and does well. Also for less money is the Uniroyal Liberator. It is actually a lot less than the Tracker, and although a little more aggressive, I think it is a better tire all around. Especially for the price. The Tracker 2 will run about 84 dollars a piece plus 9.76 for installation. The Liberator about 60 bucks plus the 9.76. If you don't have a Wal-mart nearby than Sears would work as well. The 90 bucks you mentioned is a decent price, but since I don't know much about the tire I can't really tell you if it's a good buy. If it's a good tire, than it's a good price, but there might be better tires out there for the same or less money.
I recomended the Wal-mart tires as I have had good luck with them. Plus I have worked there so I know how the tires will hold up.
But if you must replace just two tires, the most important thing to keep in mind is speed rating and tire size. Make sure they are the same as what you currently have. If you can afford it I would recomend replacing all 4 at once even though the other 2 may not need it just yet, but however it is safe to do as long as you follow certain guidelines a couple of which I have already outlined.
It is possible that it is the tires, but also possible that the vehicle itself is contributing to the noise
Therefore, if a wheel came into my shop that had stick-on weights, I would first spin the wheel after cleaning all the mud and dirt off the wheel. Usually it will come back .25 off somewhere but sometimes it will zero out and I know the wheel is balanced. More often than not however it will be .25 off or more and then I would strip all the wieghts and start fresh.
If the wheel area where the stick-on weights are to be placed is cleaned really well, you shouldn't have a problem with them flying off. I used a air powered wire brush and alcohol to clean and rarely did I have a problem.
So in short answer to your question, it depends on the shop. It is not a bad idea to spin the wheel once to check the balance, thereby cutting down time needed to balance the wheel. But if the wheel needs more than .25 oz.'s than hopefully they are stripping the wheel of all weights and starting from scratch.
Anyway, if it were my shop and the first time I had seen you, I would strip all the wieghts and start fresh regardless. I feel that if you are paying me to balance the wheels, than I should at least do that much and not bank on some other shop's balancing job. If you brought your vehicle in for a regualr rotate and balance that was included with the tires you purchased from me, than I would check first, then balance if need be.
Each style of wieght is designed for specific wheels and even hammer on wieghts come in many different shapes for use on the different wheel styles out there.
If you do find that the tire is using a large amount of wieght to balance (unless it is a mudder tire or large floatation tire and I mean like 33" or taller), than lining up the dot with the valve stem might make it use less wieght. If the tire is still needing a large amount of weight to balance (I define large amount at 2.5 oz or more on both sides of the rim), than it is possible that the rim is bent, the tire itself has a large inbalance somewhere. Might try using a different tire, using that tire on a different rim, or there are ways to balance that tire and rim combo by moving the tire around on the rim to find the "sweet" spot where it is "supposed" to reduce the overall amount of wieght needed to balance the tire. Anyway that is probably a lot more info than you needed to such a simple question, but hopefully an education is good so when you go into the tire shop you know what they are trying to do