OEM Tire Alternative

[MrTeeThyme]

My OEM Michelins only got 40k miles and the replacements are $214 each. Has anyone had any luck with an all season alternative?

Thanks

[STrac4me]

Originally Posted by MrTeeThyme

My OEM Michelins only got 40k miles and the replacements are $214 each. Has anyone had any luck with an all season alternative?

Thanks

at 40K you should still have nearly half your tread left. When I traded in my 2005 Sport Trac my Michelins had 74K miles on them and they were still safe to drive. My 2007 Sport Trac has Kelly tires (Safari Signature)....which are made by Goodyear if I am not mistaken. They ride good for me and have a good looking tread pattern. I am not sure that I would have chosen this tire, but when I bought this truck it was "Certified Used Vehicle" from Ford. The truck only had 27K miles on it, but they put new tires and brakes on the truck before I bought it.

There are a lot of solid tires out there.....good luck with your choice.

[MichiTracR]

My Michelins also only lasted about 40k miles as well. Many times OEM will use tires with lower treadwear rating numbers because they are softer (which is an easy way to lower noise/improve braking numbers).
For replacement, I used BFGoodrich All Terain TA Tours, and they already have about 45K on them and still look like they have a good amount of life left. They seem to do everything else at least as well as the Michelins too.

[MichiTracR]

Woops, sorry the All Terrains were on my last truck (a Ranger) I now have BFG Long Trail TA Tours on the Sport Trac.

[Yadkin]

Tire Rack has some excellent reviews by real people. Its the easiest place to compare tires that I know of. Then buy local.

[tmsoko]

40K or so miles really isn;t that bad for tire life, especially on a 2 1/2 ton truck with all terrain tires!

I put Nitto Terra Grapplers on my STA and could not be happier. Quiet, great ride, outstanding all surface / season traction, and look like they will last 40K+ miles. Cost was around $220 or so each for the 265/50R20s. I will do the 275/55R20 next time around.

[jrford]

Depends on what your going to be doing mostly Highway? City? Mud? Snow (doubtful in NC), Rain, Dirt etc. . .

When i bought the '10 ST someone put Firestone LE's, ride and traction seem good. Little noisy but otherwise not a bad tire. Never had snow or mud so i can't comment.

'04 Ex, it started with Long Trails, Avg tire all around, OK ride and traction. Good snow traction. Replaced at 60k or so with Michelin LTX A/T2's. Great ride, traction in rain or snow or mud, fairly quite on most roads. Better than the Long trails, little better the LE's.

Also have some Michelin LTX M/S on a heep, better than the A/T's on the highway, good rain tire. Quiter too.

[JohnnyO]

I got Firestone Destination A/T's that I like real well. If snow is not as much of a concern in NC then I'd suggest Firestone Destination LE's, they are more of an all-season tire. Neither one costs a lot.

[MrTeeThyme]

Thanks for all of the replies. My '03 ST had GY Wranglers and I got 80k out of them and they still had tread when I replaced them. I got 70k from the next set. But, these tires do seem to provide a softer ride. Even though I don't get much snow here, I do travel to MD and Wash, DC frequently during the winter. Therefore, I need a good all season tire.

[Ticobird]

Whenever I read about someone complaining about worn out tires I post this YouTube link from Tire Rack showing the importance of tread depth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA6MUlVNkLM
Like me, once you view the video (< 4 min) you will probably be more concerned about the safety issues rather than tread life. I inflate my ST tires (Michelin Latitude Tour 245/65R17) to 35 psi cold in all seasons and they are quiet with a comfortable ride and a reasonable cost (Costco $888 + tax) and there may be a $70 rebate on a purchase of 4. The Tire Rack sells them for ≈ $850 after the $70 rebate but it varies with shipping costs. I drive only on roads - city, rural and interstate. Basically I really like them and hope the tread wears to 50,000 miles although the warranty is 6 years / 55,000 miles. They perform excellently in the rain.

[Yadkin]

Good video!

[octotree]

I'm looking at new tires for my ST and I'm set on a tire, I just wanted to get a better grasp on tire sizing and the effects of playing with the sizes.

235/60R/18 are my size, but I was thinking about going with a slightly larger tire, perhaps? What would be the potential benefits or drawbacks of doing this?

I would guess that a larger tire would save on mileage, if it weren't heavier (?).

[fifthranger]

235/60R/18 are my size, but I was thinking about going with a slightly larger tire, perhaps? What would be the potential benefits or drawbacks of doing this?

I would guess that a larger tire would save on mileage, if it weren't heavier (?

For what it's worth, a larger tire takes more time to make a full turn, therefore, heavier or not, I would think gas mileage would be lower -- probably not much but still a simple physics lesson.

[GuardianSport]

Fortera SL Edition

[JohnnyO]

Originally Posted by octotree

I'm looking at new tires for my ST and I'm set on a tire, I just wanted to get a better grasp on tire sizing and the effects of playing with the sizes.

235/60R/18 are my size, but I was thinking about going with a slightly larger tire, perhaps? What would be the potential benefits or drawbacks of doing this?

I would guess that a larger tire would save on mileage, if it weren't heavier (?).

Larger tires will almost always give you less MPG due to more rotating mass, more rolling resistance and more wind resistance. About the only exception is a tire that is taller and not any wider, but even then depending on your axle ratio it can get the engine out of its ideal powerband and give you less MPG.

I lost 2 MPG when I switched from all-season tires to all-terrain tires, in the stock size, simply because of increased rolling resistance. I need the A/T's for better snow performance. The OE Goodyear all-seasons were terrible in snow.
A/T's have more rolling resistance than all-seasons.
M/T's have more rolling resistance than A/T's.

[MrTeeThyme]

Since i don't drive in the snow much,I decided to go with the Michelin Latitude Tour HP at $184 each. I have a little over 500 miles on them and so far am very pleased with the handling and smooth, quiet ride.

Thanks for all the input.

[doug625]

Originally Posted by fifthranger

For what it's worth, a larger tire takes more time to make a full turn, therefore, heavier or not, I would think gas mileage would be lower -- probably not much but still a simple physics lesson.

I know this thread is a few months old but, "more time to turn"? a taller tire will make less revolutions per mile than a smaller tire which means lower engine rpm's....but even with lower rpm's (which could actually increase mileage)for the most part mileage may drop slightly because of more tire weight and basically changing the gear ratio with a taller tire. unless someone is changing tire size dramatically we are talking 1-2 mpg difference

[jasons024]

use this its great. tell syou everything you want to know about changing sizes. enter your OEM and what tire options you wanna try and it breaks it ALL down.
http://www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp