Time for tires

[Mbrooks420]

Never said any of the above. You're beginning to make things up but that's okay. Whatever makes you feel good.

Peter

You always generalize EVERY “so called” all season to be worse below 43 degrees than a winter tire. That’s not going to be true in every case.

If we are going by generalizations only, then winter tires aren’t as good in wet traction as an all season.

I’m certain there’s all seasons that will out perform a “winter” at 40 degrees on wet pavement.

 

[Odrapnew]

You always generalize EVERY “so called” all season to be worse below 43 degrees than a winter tire. That’s not going to be true in every case.

If we are going by generalizations only, then winter tires aren’t as good in wet traction as an all season.

I’m certain there’s all seasons that will out perform a “winter” at 40 degrees on wet pavement.

Yup.
Check out graph at 6:12 in the video in post 712.

All season out braked winter at all temps in wet down to 35F....OK, tied at 35F.

 

[SHUMAX]

Yup.
Check out graph at 6:12 in the video in post 712.

All season out braked winter at all temps in wet down to 35F....OK, tied at 35F.

I guess I'm in the minority. This is a DUH moment for me. Very few, if any, all seasons are going to doing anything exceptional at low temps; which, is why snow tires make more sense if you live in an area with regular snow and ice. If it's just cold, and little snow/ice, I suppose an all season would suffice. Just realize that tires compound will not stay soft and pliable in lower temps like a snow tire will.

 

[Odrapnew]

I guess I'm in the minority. This is a DUH moment for me. Very few, if any, all seasons are going to doing anything exceptional at low temps; which, is why snow tires make more sense if you live in an area with regular snow and ice. If it's just cold, and little snow/ice, I suppose an all season would suffice. Just realize that tires compound will not stay soft and pliable in lower temps like a snow tire will.

I absolutely agree with that.

I guess the point I was attempting to make is the fact that all seasons can still perform as good or better than a winter tire at temps greater than 32F on dry or wet roads. Towards the end of the video he does a dry test and the all season actually get better the colder it got....which is not what most people would expect. Again, it was just a braking test and one set of tires.

 

[Halwg]

The newer All Weather tires are a good compromise in areas that receive occasional snowfall. I Just put a set of Yokohama Geolanders that have the A/T rating and the 3 peak snowflake rating. While not a dedicated winter tire, they do significantly better in snow, and are good for light off road traveling. Both of those are things I do in my 2018 Explorer.

 

[SHUMAX]

The newer All Weather tires are a good compromise in areas that receive occasional snowfall. I Just put a set of Yokohama Geolanders that have the A/T rating and the 3 peak snowflake rating. While not a dedicated winter tire, they do significantly better in snow, and are good for light off road traveling. Both of those are things I do in my 2018 Explorer.

I do agree with this. I have a three season tire on my kids car. It's the Weather Grip from Firestone. It does a nice job in small amounts of snow. Not especially great on ice; though, not much is. Better than an all season, though, in my experience. Also, plenty quiet and smooth and does well in the rain and stopping in dry cold conditions. I would recommend it to those on a budget and not able to buy two sets - all season/summer and then snow tires.

 

[Broncoblair]

Tire shopping. My stock tires are pretty worn out. I am looking at rims but tires most important to me. 99.9% of the time its in the city but once in a while we get out to go camping. So I don't need offroad tires. I want something that will last me a long while and will be quiet/smooth.

Rims, something dark and sleek not too flashy. My stock rims have gotten beat up pretty good. Lots of hitting the edge of curbs parallel parking.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

Tire shopping. My stock tires are pretty worn out. I am looking at rims but tires most important to me. 99.9% of the time its in the city but once in a while we get out to go camping. So I don't need offroad tires. I want something that will last me a long while and will be quiet/smooth.

Rims, something dark and sleek not too flashy. My stock rims have gotten beat up pretty good. Lots of hitting the edge of curbs parallel parking.

if you want a mild AT (super mild) the falken at trail and bfg trail terrain are out there, theyre the mildest ATs ive ever seen!

 

[peterk9]

Tire shopping. My stock tires are pretty worn out. I am looking at rims but tires most important to me. 99.9% of the time its in the city but once in a while we get out to go camping. So I don't need offroad tires. I want something that will last me a long while and will be quiet/smooth.

Rims, something dark and sleek not too flashy. My stock rims have gotten beat up pretty good. Lots of hitting the edge of curbs parallel parking.

Your thread was moved to this one on tires. You may also want to check out; Aftermarket wheels

Peter

 

[Davidm53]

Recently updated my tires with the Firestone Destination LE3.
Stock 20 inch wheels.

Very impressed sofar, much less road noise, ride is improved over the medium bumps.
Slight improvement on handling.
Bridgestone owns Firestone and these are updated from there other line of tires.

It’s a daunting task to figure out what to go with, just thought I would post this.

 

[Argentimage]

Recently updated my tires with the Firestone Destination LE3.
Stock 20 inch wheels.

Very impressed sofar, much less road noise, ride is improved over the medium bumps.
Slight improvement on handling.
Bridgestone owns Firestone and these are updated from there other line of tires.

It’s a daunting task to figure out what to go with, just thought I would post this.

I 100% agree with how daunting it is to select a tire, would not ever go with firestone tho..., they don't last. I have the third set..after the OEM BFG on my x, and each set got 70k+ miles, the last one got into the daunting space as we upsized and the OEM tire wasn't made anymore.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

I 100% agree with how daunting it is to select a tire, would not ever go with firestone tho..., they don't last. I have the third set..after the OEM BFG on my x, and each set got 70k+ miles, the last one got into the daunting space as we upsized and the OEM tire wasn't made anymore.

have bridgestone alenzas the newer one on another vehicle they seem like theyre lasting a long time. not a high mile yet but theyre wearing very slowly. i do agree it can be a daunting task to choose tires, so many to choose from! its all about picking whats best for you based on your usages and wants. for example on mine i lnew i wanted either

31x10.5x15
or
265/75/15

basicslly both 31s almost

then i wanted something 3peak
then good mud traction
then rocks and dirt
then sand
then wet and dey street manners and noise

so then it was between the toyo atiii and wildpeak at3w, decided on the toyos ultimately cause i got a great deal on em. both wouldve been good for my application but it then came down to pricing, and ive liked toyo in the past. i will admit had i gotten the falkens i wouldve gotten more aggressive shoulder lugs and maybe less noise, but either way mega happy with the atiii.

ok sorry for the hijack! just figured id share my experience and my thought processes even though its skmewhat irrelevant given that i have a 2g

 

[J_C]

I see the topic has drifted towards all season vs winter.

There's a newer generation of tires from several manufacturers, that splits the difference between winter and all season, called "all weather" and stay pliable enough for fairly cold weather (below 0F) while not getting so soft in warmer weather that you would get terrible lifespan to use all year round, in summer too. These newer silica laden compounds don't harden or soften as much based on temperature, but will still have a shorter mileage lifespan than a premium all season tire.

This seems ideal for me because if I had 2 sets, summer and winter, they would age-out far before I wore out the tread because I don't put on THAT many miles per year. I'd end up driving the winter tires till they were old enough that their compound had hardened more than just using all weather tires replaced near twice as often.

Plus I never had any problem using all season so all weather, just goes beyond what I already needed, with it never getting much below 10F here and that only in the middle of the night.

Some examples are General AltiMax 365 AW, Bridgestone Weatherpeak, Toyo Celsius Sport. This is not a comprehensive list, new models are probably already in the market. Look for the 3PMS symbol and lots of siping in the tread pattern.

Granted these examples are not AT tires. I wanted AT and 3PMS on my '98 so I put Cooper AT3 4S on it, with no complaints driving the past couple winters, but this is a gen 5 explorer topic and I don't take my gen 5 '14, off-road enough to need AT tires... because it's not really a truck, lol.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

I see the topic has drifted towards all season vs winter.

There's a newer generation of tires from several manufacturers, that splits the difference between winter and all season, called "all weather" and stay pliable enough for fairly cold weather (below 0F) while not getting so soft in warmer weather that you would get terrible lifespan to use all year round, in summer too. These newer silica laden compounds don't harden or soften as much based on temperature, but will still have a shorter mileage lifespan than a premium all season tire.

This seems ideal for me because if I had 2 sets, summer and winter, they would age-out far before I wore out the tread because I don't put on THAT many miles per year. I'd end up driving the winter tires till they were old enough that their compound had hardened more than just using all weather tires replaced near twice as often.

Plus I never had any problem using all season so all weather, just goes beyond what I already needed, with it never getting much below 10F here and that only in the middle of the night.

Some examples are General AltiMax 365 AW, Bridgestone Weatherpeak, Toyo Celsius Sport. This is not a comprehensive list, new models are probably already in the market. Look for the 3PMS symbol and lots of siping in the tread pattern.

Granted these examples are not AT tires. I wanted AT and 3PMS on my '98 so I put Cooper AT3 4S on it, with no complaints driving the past couple winters, but this is a gen 5 explorer topic and I don't take my gen 5 '14, off-road enough to need AT tires... because it's not really a truck, lol.

iirc milestar my have made an AW tire too. i do agree they split the difference pretty well imo.

 

[funwithbono]

I live in south Georgia so I have no need for winter tires. My 11 limited has almost 50k on the clock and I am in need to replace the Optimos soon. My questions is, what everyday mall crawler/long trip tires do you guys recommended? The OEM replacement hankook Optimo (spelling?) Tires seem to rum around $170ish on tire rack the Bridge stone Dueler Alenza are around $200 the pirelli scorpion around $240 and Michelin latitude around $300. are the Michelin tires really that much better? what have you guys used in what seems to ride well?

If you’re gonna keep it long-term…Spend the money and get the Michelin defender LTX’s; regardless of climate. Rotate ‘em every 5K, keep the psi in check and you’ll get 80,000 out of ‘em. No-brainer! There’s usually a rebate available from Michelin come fall-time!

 

[peterk9]

If you’re gonna keep it long-term…Spend the money and get the Michelin defender LTX’s; regardless of climate. Rotate ‘em every 5K, keep the psi in check and you’ll get 80,000 out of ‘em. No-brainer! There’s usually a rebate available from Michelin come fall-time!

The only issue with those is that since they are not a dedicated winter tire, they will begin to lose optimum grip starting at 43 F and get worse as the temperature drops. That may not affect their snow traction ability but it will on cold bare surfaces. No getting around that.

Peter

 

[peterk9]

I see the topic has drifted towards all season vs winter.

There's a newer generation of tires from several manufacturers, that splits the difference between winter and all season, called "all weather" and stay pliable enough for fairly cold weather (below 0F) while not getting so soft in warmer weather that you would get terrible lifespan to use all year round, in summer too. These newer silica laden compounds don't harden or soften as much based on temperature, but will still have a shorter mileage lifespan than a premium all season tire.

This seems ideal for me because if I had 2 sets, summer and winter, they would age-out far before I wore out the tread because I don't put on THAT many miles per year. I'd end up driving the winter tires till they were old enough that their compound had hardened more than just using all weather tires replaced near twice as often.

Plus I never had any problem using all season so all weather, just goes beyond what I already needed, with it never getting much below 10F here and that only in the middle of the night.

Some examples are General AltiMax 365 AW, Bridgestone Weatherpeak, Toyo Celsius Sport. This is not a comprehensive list, new models are probably already in the market. Look for the 3PMS symbol and lots of siping in the tread pattern.

Granted these examples are not AT tires. I wanted AT and 3PMS on my '98 so I put Cooper AT3 4S on it, with no complaints driving the past couple winters, but this is a gen 5 explorer topic and I don't take my gen 5 '14, off-road enough to need AT tires... because it's not really a truck, lol.

Please recommend all weather tires!

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 and not hugely expensive! Thanks in advance for any suggestions... Best, Kim

www.explorerforum.com

Peter

 

[funwithbono]

The only issue with those is that since they are not a dedicated winter tire, they will begin to lose optimum grip starting at 43 F and get worse as the temperature drops. That may not affect their snow traction ability but it will on cold bare surfaces. No getting around that.

Peter

I don’t get it…
I drive 50,000 + miles a year with LTX’s on three vehicles all over Michigan’s UP, Ontario, northern New England and even out west; sub-zero, heavy snow, some blizzards, ice, pulling trailers, …not to mention the extreme heat in the south for a month or two every year on top of that. I HAVE NEVER had an issue with an LTX not getting me where I need to be. Not to mention how exceptional they are on ice in the sub-zero and torrential rain in the heat!

To reference the Cooper AT3 4S, I put 60,000 miles on a set of these (on my ‘16 sport). Even with the “snow rating”, the Michelin defender out-performs hands down. Plus, at the end of the tire life (last 25,000 miles) the road noise was so extreme that i replaced 4 wheel bearings on the sport (one at a time mind you) trying to find the culprit. It was the tires all along. Spooned on another set of defenders (problem solved). They’re whisper quiet! That was 30,000 miles ago btw! I’ll never go back. (The coopers really looked cool though with that extra inch of tread-width )…still a 255/50/20; but they have an extra inch of meat to the pavement over the Michelin!

I rotate every 5K religiously (rears forward, x cross fronts back). Works for me!

 

[J_C]

^ It depends on what you mean by "snow". I have a steep driveway and some steep unplowed roads in the neighborhood, so it's better for my purposes that the AT3 4S tread design digs more, better for a few inches of virgin snow, while the Defender is better for hard pack and ice. No one tire can be the best at both.

 

[peterk9]

.......................... No one tire can be the best at both.

That is why they make dedicated winter tires and have either summer or the 3 season tires. The all-weather tires are a compromise of both.
Many insurance companies, mine included, offer discounts on insurance premiums for using 4 dedicated winter tires.

Peter