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Time for tires

Which to choose?


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So I come back from vacation and find a small bulge in the passenger front tire. I want to only replace 2 tires at this time with the same make/type that are on it. The manual says to replace tires in pairs, not all 4 at one time. Is there any advice someone can give with the thought of moving forward with the replacement of just two tires?
Usually the recommendation would be to replace all 4. The reason to change in pairs, if not replacing all 4, would be to lessen the strain on the drivetrain for that axle. A lot depends on how much the damaged tire is worn when compared to the new one. With AWD vehicles you should always try to keep the diameter of all the wheels the same. I think there is a certain amount of variance allowed. I believe this is so that there isn't undo strain on the transfer case. That said, I did replace a single tire on a Highlander I had and the Highlander, unlike the Explorer, was full time 4WD. I don't think the damaged tire had more than 4k miles on it and I never had a problem.

Peter
 



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I ordered these & Blizzaks for winter duty, they should be here in a couple of days.
I'll post a pic when they are on.
 

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They are also produced within 100 miles of me. Supporting my local economy.

Sent from my Galaxy S5 using Forum Runner

I just had a set installed yesterday. Nitto NT 421Q. Buy two / get two free at NTB. Out the door with all fees AND one year alignment was just over $800. In my opinion they had some nice features but do look "unique". Not that many reviews on them but the few I found were about 4of5 stars. I have the 20". Rated 109V XL, 75,000 mile wty.

I got 58K out of the Hankooks and they wore nicely. Could have easily gone another 5-7k but some upcoming winter road trips made me nervous.

http://www.nittotire.com/passenger-tires/nt421q-premier-all-season-crossover-suv-tire

http://www.amazon.com/Nitto-421Q-All-Season-Radial-Tire/product-reviews/B00CY5FJEG

http://tirereviewsandratings.com/nitto-nt-421q-review-rating/
 






Would anyone have recommendations for my 2011 Exp, I live in New England and usually get all weather tires even with our crazy winters. I would also like a tire that is quiet if that makes sense?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions...

Best,
Kim
 






Bridgestone Dueler Alenza H/L Plus. They are usually running some type of $$ off.
 






I just put this Bridgestone all season on my Murano.

Bridgestone
Dueler H/L 422 Ecopia

But I run 4 winter tires on the Explorer.
 






Bridgestone Dueler Alenza H/L Plus. They are usually running some type of $$ off.

I've heard good things about this tire for the most part. Only complaint I've heard is ice traction isn't great, but then again its an all season not a winter tire. They will run circles around the factory hankooks (I'm assuming you have 20" rims).

I've heard other good things about Yokohamas Parada Spec-x Tires. Really quiet and comfortable while still doing well in snow and ice and you might save some $$$ over the Alenza's.

I would personally go with the Alenzas. I believe the warranty on them is 5 year/80,000 miles. They also have a 30 day try and buy guarantee where if you don't like them you can return them for a full refund (though you will pay for mounting most likely). I can't find any treadlife warranty for the Yoko.
 






Thanks all for your input, I will focus in on the Allenza's! Just trying to find the best in store price so that my local Town Fair Tire will match, at the most they will cost me $230/ea.

Best,
kim
 






The best price I've found is from the dealer. Their Ford's slogan is "We won't be undersold on tires". That doesn't apply to Costco prices. I suggest that you check out www.tirerack.com for actual customer reviews on various tires. They rate them according to various categories.

Peter
 






I would personally go with the Alenzas. I believe the warranty on them is 5 year/80,000 miles. They also have a 30 day try and buy guarantee where if you don't like them you can return them for a full refund (though you will pay for mounting most likely). I can't find any treadlife warranty for the Yoko.


Nope, only a 60000 mile warranty.
 












With over 125,000 on my 2011 Limited, I have run 3 set of tires.

OE Hankooks Optimo
Alenza
And now Pirellis

They have all been very-very good. But the best tires were still the OE Hankooks. Best ride, great wet, good snow/winter, quiet, and lasted.
 






We just had 4 new 245/60/18 Michelin Latitude HP's installed on our 11' XLT. We purchased it with 62,x.. miles and it had Michelin on it that from what I could tell were the factory tires because of the date code. After shopping around the dealership that I purchased from had the best price including alignment, $895 out the door. We opted for the road hazard warranty which added $30 per tire but on all our past vehicles it has always paid for itself within 1 year.
 






With over 125,000 on my 2011 Limited, I have run 3 set of tires.

OE Hankooks Optimo
Alenza
And now Pirellis

They have all been very-very good. But the best tires were still the OE Hankooks. Best ride, great wet, good snow/winter, quiet, and lasted.
I know you've always liked those H426 Hankooks Bill, but you seem to be part of a very small minority according to survey results posted by tirerack.com. Only 2 out of 10 would buy them again. The tires scored "Unacceptable" for deep snow and ice traction and only "Fair" for light snow traction. It shows as being ranked 33 out of 35 tires in its class. On the positive side they scored "Good" in 7 categories and "Excellent" in dry traction.
The MKT came with them and I have found that they seem to be a very quiet and have performed very well from the time I got them in April. I now have dedicated Winter tires on the vehicle for better traction and safety during the colder weather.
The Ventus S1 noble2 that is on the 2016 Platinum on the other hand ranked #1 in its category getting "Superior" ratings in 7 categories, "Excellent" in 3, including light snow traction and "Good" in deep snow and ice traction. I don't know if that tire will only be on the Platinum model or not.
There were 383 respondents to the online survey for the H426 tires, and no, it didn't state what vehicles they were on.
Happy motoring Bill.:thumbsup:

Peter
 






I know you've always liked those H426 Hankooks Bill, but you seem to be part of a very small minority according to survey results posted by tirerack.com. Only 2 out of 10 would buy them again. The tires scored "Unacceptable" for deep snow and ice traction and only "Fair" for light snow traction. It shows as being ranked 33 out of 35 tires in its class. On the positive side they scored "Good" in 7 categories and "Excellent" in dry traction.
The MKT came with them and I have found that they seem to be a very quiet and have performed very well from the time I got them in April. I now have dedicated Winter tires on the vehicle for better traction and safety during the colder weather.
The Ventus S1 noble2 that is on the 2016 Platinum on the other hand ranked #1 in its category getting "Superior" ratings in 7 categories, "Excellent" in 3, including light snow traction and "Good" in deep snow and ice traction. I don't know if that tire will only be on the Platinum model or not.
There were 383 respondents to the online survey for the H426 tires, and no, it didn't state what vehicles they were on.
Happy motoring Bill.:thumbsup:

Peter

Hi Peter, the problem with those Tire Rack surveys is that very few of them is feedback from an Explorer owner with the new chassis.

Another thing that made the Optimos a great tire for me was that I had them safety siped at about the 10,000 mile mark. This improved the wet and ice/snow performance. Did the same on the Alenzas.

I'll still gladly go on record that the OE Hankook Optimo tires was the best tire so far on my Explorer. I'll go even one step further, and say that the combination of the new Ford Explorer chassis combined with the Optimo tires is the BEST combination in over 325,000 miles of driving Explorers since 2003.
 






Anyone try the new Alenza Plus on the Limited. Curious about MPG impact since they are heavier then the Optimos. Time to ditch the Optimos as they are cracked at 36k.
 






Anyone try the new Alenza Plus on the Limited. Curious about MPG impact since they are heavier then the Optimos. Time to ditch the Optimos as they are cracked at 36k.
They seem to be pretty highly rated. That is what I had narrowed the search down to until I got a great offer on the Nitto 421's. No one seemed to have the Alenza Plus in stock in the unique size. For $100+/tire difference I went with the in stock Nitto. I can tell you more on the Nitto 421Q in another week after I put a couple K on them. Around town they seem as quiet as the Hankooks. Great in rain so far. Warranty is just 5k less than the Alenza Plus.
 






Hi Peter, the problem with those Tire Rack surveys is that very few of them is feedback from an Explorer owner with the new chassis.

Another thing that made the Optimos a great tire for me was that I had them safety siped at about the 10,000 mile mark. This improved the wet and ice/snow performance. Did the same on the Alenzas.

I'll still gladly go on record that the OE Hankook Optimo tires was the best tire so far on my Explorer. I'll go even one step further, and say that the combination of the new Ford Explorer chassis combined with the Optimo tires is the BEST combination in over 325,000 miles of driving Explorers since 2003.

You might be the first person I know to say that they have liked the OE Hankooks. I've never personally had them as I have the 18" rims with the Michelans, but my friends that have the Hankooks can't wait to get rid of them. They do ok in the summer but when our Minnesota winters hit they said its all over the place. I'm going to have to try one of their Ex's to see for myself now. I've told them to go to winter tires but you'd be surprised how many people up here DO NOT use winter tires (myself included currently as I haven't bought them for the new car :D). Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to take a page out of Canada's book and require winter tires during the winter months.
 






Anyone try the new Alenza Plus on the Limited. Curious about MPG impact since they are heavier then the Optimos. Time to ditch the Optimos as they are cracked at 36k.

Just installed them on the Touareg. 80,000 mile warranty, 800 wear rating, seem to be positive feedback on reviews. I have not noticed a MPG difference.
 



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"Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to take a page out of Canada's book and require winter tires during the winter months."

Just to clarify that statement, currently only the province of Quebec has a law requiring mandatory use of Winter tires. I believe others may be considering it but have not followed suit yet. Many insurance companies, mine included, offer a 5% reduction on your annual auto insurance premium for using 4 Winter tires.

Peter
 






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