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Comments
-mike
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Has anyone used a tire rotation scheme that included the spare? Thank You BoxTrooper
I was thinking about doing a one time switch, rather than a 5 tire rotation. What tire do you think I should switch? I was thinking one of the rears?
-mike
http://fostertire.com/tcm_rttn.htm
Lee
Several of you are well past 60k miles, which is the recommended check/adjust interval (at least on the '98). Do you folks think this is necessary? Do you have any plans to check/adjust valve clearance EVER, or is this something you will address only if problems (noisy engine etc.) surface?
Spare to Right Rear
Right Rear to Right Front
Right Front to Left Rear
Left Rear to Left Front
Left Front to Spare
One nice thing about a 5-tire rotation is you only have to jack up one corner at a time...
Is this reason? Anyone like the BF Goodrich or Goodyear tires?
We went with the Michelin LTX M/S in the stock 245/70/16 size. Got Discount Tire to match the Sam's Club price, since my preference was to have installation and servicing handled by Discount instead of Sam's. We've logged about 25,000 miles on them. Still about 9/32" tread on all 4. So far so good.
BFG Radial All terrain KO's are awesome A/T tires...but may not give you the best highway ride. If you want off road, get the BFG's...if you want good SUV tires...I would get the michelins.
Has anyone replaced one of these? I've replaced the serpentine belt on my 91 Ranger 1 or 2 times and it was not difficult once you found the tension pulley. I did not see a tension pulley on my Trooper.
-mike
However, not all of the stuff at the discount stores' tire shops is subpar or knockoff models. They DO carry many of the popular models, such as Michelin LTX M/S, and they are usually, but not always, priced better than the big tire chain stores. It's wise to keep a sharp eye at any store since tires are a fairly big purchase, but the discount stores do carry some of the good stuff.
-mike
From what I've seen, the price difference between Sam's/Costco is not that huge vs. tire stores. It's not like they are undercutting the competition by so much that they must be using a subpar tire that they are getting more cheaply than the manufacturer.
http://community.webshots.com/album/62015461tiuuyV
-mike
I got Costco Michelins in 2000. They were the X Radial Plus, a clone of the X One. Same treadwear numbers on the side, but I never pinned down whether they had Durablack in them.
Later on, it seemed that some of the X Radial Plus's at Costco had a different treadware rating so there's been more "customizing" going on besides changing the name on the side.
If anyone wants to dig deeper, try asking Bretfraz over in Tires. He's pretty current on this stuff.
Steve, Host
Michelin Select LT (Only sold at Walmart)
X Radial LT (Sam's, Costo & BJ's)
XC LT4 Mich radial (Only at Sears)
LTX M/S (Not source listed)
Similar tread design, but not exactly the same. Just checked on samsclub.com and they list both the X Radial LT and the LTX M/S in 255/70/16.
I also noticed that the LTX M/S is rated at
500 A B where the others are rated at 440 A B. Of course, there is a note on the specs page of the LTX M/S that notes "As of Mid 2002". So, the rating on the LTX may be better than the others, unless the rating on them changed, but they did not update the brocure on the page.
FWIW, I bought 4 245/70/16 Select LT Michelin's at Wal-Mart, about $530 or so installed, road hazard, etc. Base price for the tires was about $110/each. Sam's was about $123 each with similar mounting, road hazard, etc. (August 2002)
Only drawback is these are not a stock item...had one with vibration issues replaced free, but it took them a couple of weeks to get the replacment.
Thanks in advance
GB
Steve, Host
I guess what I was really getting at is that any particular make and model of tire will probably be the same exact tire from store to store.
-mike
I'm not just defending the warehouse clubs because I bought tires there. I didn't end up buying my Mich LTX from a warehouse club-- ended up getting Discount Tire to match the price. I'm sure the Discount Tire local stores don't have climate-controlled storage, but that doesn't really bother me. How long would a tire likely sit on a shelf? Even if UV rays are hitting it etc., isn't it getting less 'wear' and abuse on the shelf than it would on a vehicle? I don't see how that could make much of an adverse impact on the tire's useful life or its performance.
As for UV and sitting on a shelf. The rubber has a finite life and by sitting on a shelf soaking up UV it breaks down the rubber, decreasing it's useful life. Old tires are sometimes worse than worn tires. Not only does the tread keep you on the road, but the actual tire compound will keep you stuck to the road.
For instance a lot of people say "oh we never get snow so I run my summer tires year round" even though they live in climates where the temps dip into freezing territory often. Summer tires have a different rubber compound that allows them to grip the road in warm temps, in cold temps they are rock-hard and you slip easier. Opposite that are snow tires that are meant for cold weather and in warm weather burn up quickly.
Same deal with UV, the UV breaks down the bonds of the rubber compound, so if your tires sat in an un-climate controlled warehouse, exposed to UV rays, they have already been "worn" so to speak because the compound breakdown clock has started to tick.
-mike
Steve, Host
paisan, I know what you're saying about pricing that seems too good to be true. And I've heard similar rumblings about gray-market tires and things like that. But I don't think the Costco or Sam's Club tires fall into either of those categories. To me, it seems quite reasonable for a $110 Michelin to be 10 bucks less at Sam's Club than at a tire shop. That's a decent difference, but not a ton. And not enough to make me suspicious that the tire isn't the same as at the tire shop. These warehouse clubs sell most of their products, not just tires, cheaper than the competition. I am keeping my eyes and ears open to the possibility of different tires at the warehouse clubs more now than I have before, but I'm still not convinced.
The way I usually buy tires now is I buy them from tirerack and then pay costco to put them on. Costco charges me $10/tire to mount and balance them.
-mike
I feel bad for the person who spent $530 installed on 4 Mich LTX M/S 245/70/16s at Wal-Mart. That's an okay price for those tires, but I did about $100 better at Discount Tire by having them match Costco or Sam's price. One of the 2 warehouse clubs was cheaper than the other. The local Discount Tire didn't require any proof of the competitor price - I simply told them verbally what Costco was charging and asked if they'd match it. They did, no questions asked.
-mike
http://www.zena.net/htdocs/Map.shtml#Top
If I could find a nice old Isuzu Diesel pickup it would be a great vehicle to become a welder/backup generator.
The side steps seem pretty sturdy, and they are bolted directly to the frame.
Just trying to get an idea of how wimpy the factory side step is vs. your heavy-duty ones.
-mike
I'm not too worried about rust with such a thick piece of metal
-mike