Goodyear Fortera Silentarmors - 2 thumbs up!

I bought my explorer in 2004 with 6,000 miles on it. It's an '02, 4.6L V8. I bought it with Goodyear Wranglers on it (245/70/R16) and they were great. However seeing as the truck is 4 years old now, the rubber was starting to show its age. I still had roughly 6,000 miles of tread left, maybe more - however the treads were cracking and dry rotting a bit, and in rain (or even if the tires were wet on dry blacktop) the truck would slide enough to make me uncomfortable.

So this weekend I bit the bullet and put 4 new Goodyear Fortera Silentarmors on. I did A LOT of research and it was between those and Michelin Cross Terrain SUVs. So far I give 2 thumbs up (if I had more thumbs, I'd put those up too). Anyways, They are great tires, and they give my explorer the tight feel that it had when I bought it - just like its gripping the road like its supposed to. Road noise is MINIMAL, it handles bumps much better, and on top of that, they have a very aggressive look which puts the icing on the cake for me.

Anyways, I've read up on tires for those with 3rd gen. explorers and everyone has provided great input, so I figured I would post my experience with these tires as well, hopefully somebody else will benefit as I feel I have.

Thanks to all for a great site and honest opinions!

 

[pabille]

I picked up a set of Fortera Triple Treads for my '96 2dr freeway cruiser over a thousand miles ago. Excellent tires! For the size (235/75x15), they were fairly expensive but what a difference in on-road performance. The Michelins were bouncy and fairly unsure in rain. These Goodyears gave me confidence in recent L.A. rain. The allow me to take those 180 and 270 degree interchanges faster than those soft Michelins (I know, I know it's a truck not a sports car). I also used input from this site and others to make the decision to go with Forteras.

Their only downside for some is, for the size stated above, the cross section and tread width appear to be smaller than other models of tires. I haven't actually checked this fact but that may not be good for the form-over-function crowd. I'll take performance over looks anyday.

My thanks, also, to the Forum for helping me make my decision.