Costco tires... | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Costco tires...

I was at Costco today sizing up there selection of tires 'cause they've got a coupon for $50 off. I'm looking for 31x10.5 for stock 92 wheels and the guy told me the Kirkland signature (costco brand) tires are made by BFG/Michelin. (they're only $86 installed before the coupon!) Anybody know anything about this? Are they just rebadged BFG's or are they a different tire all together that's just made at a BFG factory. Is anybody running these tires? What do ya think of them? Thanks.
 



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!
.





I saw them, totally different tire. It most likely costs less because of the construction of the tire. It is not quite the same as the BFG KO tire. It probably has less milage as well. Just remember, you get what you pay for.

If you are really not concerned with looks and the construction and just looking for a inexpensive tire then go for it. Costco sells Jelly Belly's under the Kirkland name too. Still Jelly Belly's.

I suggest you call BFG to get the best answer.
 






I'd like a good performing tire that's why I was interested when I heard BFG made them. They do have a 60,000 mile warranty. But if they're different and no one else has any experience with them then I guess I'll go with the BFG's. Anybody else have any experience with these tires?
 






Try comparing the tread pattern on the Kirklands to the name brand BFG's or Michelins. You may find they are nearly, if not exactly, the same. This way you can compare the cost of the two. That's what I did with the Michelin's I bought at Sears. The XC LT4 & XCX APT Michelins sold at Sears are nearly identical to the Michelin LTX M+S and LTX AT.
 






If it has a 60k warranty then it should be a quality tire.
 






Costco would actually sell them to you? When I went there to buy 30x9.5 tires to replace my 28-29" whatever firestones, the dude refused to sell them to me because they "weren't allowed to put larger than stock tires on vehicles" This guy was the manager too. Needless to say I drove to Les Schwab and had new tires on my truck in about 15 minutes. Just found it kind of funny thinking back on it.
 






in reponse to 00xlt i know for a fact that policy is widely used in tire stores/retailers. they do not want the liability placed on them that your 4x4 rolled because they put on tires that were not specified by the manufacturer. i know america's tire company will mount larger tires because i used to work there. wheelworks will not because when i learned of the recall for flintsones, i wanted to upgrade to 30X9.5-15 they wouldnt allow it hope this info helps someone out
 






I didn't tell him what kind of car I was going to put them on. And he didn't ask. Do you think if I brought in a set of random rims and told them they were for something else they'd put them on those? I have access to a tire machine so I could transfer them over. It sounds like a lot of work but i can borrow the rims. And then i would get the 60,000k warranty. Or will they just sell tires unmounted?
 






1f you just bring in the correct rims and get them as "loose" they will mount them because it will mean that they are not liable due to the fact that they didnt mount them on the car you did youll still get your warranty though so id do it that way hopefully hou have another gar that you can transport 4 truck tires in in my old tercel i was able to put 11 tires in it once so good luck
 






Kirkland Signatures

I ran 31"x10.5" Kirkland Signatures on a 1996 Toyota Tacoma SR5 V6 4x4 before I got the Explorer. I bought them because the lease was coming up on the Toy in a few months so I didn't want to spend a whole lot on rubber just to trade the rig in. I ended up putting almost 20,000 miles on them and can say they are a nice road tire and are quite capable in snow as well as serviceable in rock and mud, as long as it's not too deep. If you are going to put them on an Explorer and not get too radical off-road, they will suit you fine. The 60,000 mile warranty is reasonable considering my tires showed very little wear after 20,000 miles.

NOTE: I, too, have heard Costco won't install aftermarket tires that are not OEM spec. I also live in the Seattle area and it could be a problem just around here. I'd go when some young 19-year-old kid is working and you shouldn't have much of a problem.
 






i work in the tire dept at costco here in pa. just bring the rims in and have whatever you want mounted on them. not allowed to upsize to 31x10.50s on an explorer, stupid ass policy. i mounted my 32's during my break and sorta got in trouble for that. your best bet is to bring the rims in. they dont need to ask what car they are for. the kirklands are made at a michelin plant. overall a quality tire, sells alot to cost concious people here.
 






Hi,

I know this thread is pretty old, but just wanted to chime in.

Today I went to Costco and had a set of the Kirkland Signature A/T tires installed on my Explorer (P235/75/15). The whole set, mounted, balanced, installed was only $295.

I replaced my Goodyear Wrangler RT/S tires which only had 25K miles on them. They probably could have gone another 25K, but they had gradually been losing traction as they got older. Plus, I took a nail in the tread of one of them and had already had another patched after it took two nails. I decided instead of driving around on two patched tires to just replace the whole set.

Costco had three available tires in my size. The Kirklands, Bridgestone Dueler AT's, and Michelin LTX AT's. The Bridgestones were $88 each, the Michelins $117 each, and the Kirklands $68 each. They only had 1 Bridgestone remaining in stock, but I had only heard marginal comments about them so I wasn't really interested in them. The salesman indicated the Kirklands are made by Michelin/BFGoodrich, which was fine with me. He then explained that the Kirklands would have a much shorter life span (2-3 years) than the Michelins but would have much better traction. The Michelins, on the other hand, would be "more slippery/less grippy" but would last twice as long (4-5 years) as the Kirklands. I gave it some thought for a couple of minutes and went for the Kirklands (I don't plan to keep the truck for 4 or 5 more years to warrant spending almost $500 for a set of tires; better grip is more important to me anyway).

So far I am impressed with the Kirklands. They are smooth and quiet on the road. They look nice and have a more aggressive looking tread than the Michelins. The one thing I did notice is that based on the number and size of the weights on my alloy wheels, they probably aren't manufactured to the same standards as the brand name tires and require more balancing. But, that doesn't really bother me as long as the tires perform well. Hey, they gave me chrome plated valve stem covers to match my wheels so that was kind of a surprise.

I will be anxious to see how they handle in the rain and also the snow this winter. It will also be interesting to see how they wear. Having never purchased private label tires for any of my vehicles, I have no idea what to expect. It may very well boil down to "you get what you pay for", but so far I am impressed.
 






Hi,

Just a quick update. Have driven about 100 miles so far on the Kirkland Signature AT's and am starting to have some wear concerns. I am already noticing wear on the outside tread of both front tires. The odd thing is it is not uniform, it is only in spots. I am going to watch them over the next few days. If it persists I will be going back on Saturday morning to have them rebalanced (I suspect that improper balancing could cause the uneven wear). I just had the alignment done 5 weeks ago, and the previous tires were not exhibiting such wear (before or after the alignment). It has to be either a tire or balancing issue. Definitely looks like "you get what you pay for" may be the case with these.

The pressures are at 30psi on all 4 corners and the rear tires do not have signs of wear like the fronts do already. If rebalancing doesn't solve the problem, I am going to ask they take them back and let me pay the difference to have the Bridgestones or Michelins installed instead of playing around with another set of Kirklands. Costco is a pretty good company, I can't see any reason why they wouldn't let may pay the difference to swap them out.

I'll let you all know how it goes.

Thanks
 






I have the cosco tires and have to say i like them.(very much) and when i need them again i will buy the cosco tires. I have 50k on them and still have rubber on them. I not sure if the warranty 50k or 60k. But i sure they will make 60k+.
And as for cosco putting them on it's NO they will sell them to you but won't install them.
 






I have been watching mine over the past few days and they seem to be wearing okay after all. Initially Costco put 35psi in them, and I took them down to 31psi. Thinking they were riding rough, I took them down to 29psi to try and soften the ride. The ride was softer but also somewhat bouncy. 29psi was a little too low, so I went back up to 30psi. Everything seems fine with them now. The tread on them is very deep, which is why I think I was noticing a slightly rougher ride. I am adjusting to them gradually. They should be fine once I get used to them.

Mine were sold to me with a 40,000 mile treadwear warranty.

Thanks!
 






Ryster, keep us updated. Like you I don't want to drop 500+ bucks on tires on my X right now (considering I'm getting the American Racing AR-767's at the same time I get the tires) and I'm planning to get the tires in August.

I'm glad to know though that if I do get the Kirklands I can just take in the new rims and have the tires put on without having to go through the hassle of them not doing it because they aren't OEM. :rolleyes:
 






Hi again,

I spoke with a BFGoodrich representative today about the Kirkland Signature AT tires. He was able to tell me that these are NOT manufactured by BFGoodrich. Costco merely contracts out a BFGoodrich facility and uses their own materials and designs to manufacture tires with the Kirkland name. The only involvement BFGoodrich has is that their equipment is used by Costco to manufacture the tires.

Therefore, there is no BFGoodrich tire that can be compared to the Kirklands. No similarities exist with respect to design, construction, materials, etc.

Just wanted to share this with you all. Had I known this before I bought the tires I probably would not have ended up with them. I am sure they at least meet the minimum federal government safety requirements for tires, but it will be interesting to see how they ultimately hold up.

Thanks!
 






Back
Top