2 Firestone Destination A/T or 4 Cooper Discoverer A/T3? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

2 Firestone Destination A/T or 4 Cooper Discoverer A/T3?

429CJ-3X2

Elite Explorer
Joined
November 6, 2009
Messages
1,611
Reaction score
372
City, State
Des Moines, Iowa
Year, Model & Trim Level
'01,'02, '04 Sport Tracs,
When I bought my '01 ST 4 years ago, 2 of the 4 Destination A/T tires needed to be replaced. The other 2 had some uneven wear, but plenty of tread, so there was no reason to replace them. Now 4 years and 30,000 miles later, the 2 old tires need replaced. I have no complaints at all about the Firestones. The 2 that now have 30,000 miles on them - all on the rear - still have most of the tread and are in great shape. The tread is more aggressive than I really need, but they're quiet and obviously wear well.

This seems like an easy decision. Need 2 tires, buy 2 tires. But I have an irrational aversion to Firestone tires based solely on the fact the Destination LEs (not LE2, which seem to be fine) that came on my '02 were not just bad on packed snow and ice, but terribly dangerous. Absolutely ZERO traction to start or stop. Worst tires I've ever had - in those conditions. Again, no complaints about the Destination A/T. Also it seems reasonable that the cycle of buying 2 tires at a time will have to end at some time.

The best price I could find online was at the local farm and home store - 2 Destination A/Ts mounted and balanced for $326, or I can get 4 Cooper Discoverer A/T3s for $645. The Coopers also get me a $50 gift card, so it ends up being $326 for 2 Firestones vs 4 Coopers for the equivalent of $595. The difference of $270 is just under the cost of the extra 2 tires alone without all the extra charges for mounting, balancing, warranty, etc.

Another factor is wheels. The clearcoat on the factory wheels on this truck is about half gone, and they're badly corroded. If I go with the 2 Firestones, I'll stick with the current wheels. If I go with 4 tires, I'll have them mounted on the very nice set of '02 Ranger wheels I have. Of course if I get the Coopers, I'll have 2 good Firestones I don't need.

I've managed to over complicate a simple situation, and would like some input. I've been thinking on this for months, and I'm no closer to making a decision.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





IMO, get a new set of four, and Craigslist the old ones. Your ST will pry hate having different tread depths if you kept the old ones...
 






I sometimes have trouble making decisions too... wait, no I don't... yes I do.
 






Always buy 4 tires with a 4wd/AWD.
 






IMO, get a new set of four, and Craigslist the old ones. Your ST will pry hate having different tread depths if you kept the old ones...

Always buy 4 tires with a 4wd/AWD.

Yeah, there's that too. I told my wife a while back that we could probably get by with 2 now, but if we wait we'll have to get 4. The 2 good tires have worn extremely well, but I haven't measured tread depth to know just how much they've worn down. Could be more than I think.

I think I'll feel better having 4 new tires, and the Coopers are higher rated in every category, so I think I'll go with them. Besides, after the bed swap last summer, this truck can use some better condition wheels. And who knows when Firestone will change designs and my 2 good ones won't match new ones. I bought a set of Goodyears for my '02 ST and my son's Mountaineer at the same time 4 1/2 years ago. Different sizes, but the same model. I got an updated design and he got the earlier design.

Thanks guys!
 






Pic 1 with the original wheels and Firestones

101_2824.JPG


2nd and 3rd pics with the '02 Ranger wheels and the new Coopers. Although the wheels are similar, there's more difference in the wheels than it appears in the photos.

101_2825.JPG
101_2826.JPG


I've only driven about 10 miles at speeds under 50 mph, but they've been very quiet at those speeds despite the aggressive tread design.
 






Back
Top