Tire comparisons

[HCCA 250]

I just thought that we ought to have a sticky for tire comparisons. We seem to have a somewhat limited selection for tires, on Exploreres. And, I have had experience with two brands/styles; now going on three. I had the factory Goodyear Wranglers. They SUCKED, with a Capital "S", for wet & snow traction. But, the Goodyear Forteras with Silent Armor were very nice. Amazing. Could Ford have not done a better job at selecting a tire for one of their flagship models?!!? Anyway...I found MUCH better traction in wet & snow, as well as a more agile, smooth, and controlled ride in dry conditions. However, they did not hold up very long!!! I have been through TWO sets in 5 years!!! Come on, I have never been through two sets of tires on ANY vehicle in 5 years!!

So, today, I ordered a set of Continental Cross Contact tires to try. I read the reviews, and it looks like they are hit or miss. I spoke with someone at work that has them on her Pacifica, and she thinks they are great. Other reviews list them as either great, or...well, who do you believe? I guess, time will tell. When 5 guys rave about how great they are, and 2 guys list them as just above cancer, and AIDS...????? Well, we will see.

Anybody have any input on what tires you have used, and what your experiences have been? Durability? Wet traction? Dry traction? Vibration? Noise? Ride quality? Failure rates?..........

 

[D Hook]

General Grabber HTS. Good traction in snow, decent price from the Ford dealer. Quiet on the highway and (so far) great wear.

Buy a full set; don't just replace two, if you can avoid it.

 

[HCCA 250]

A full set is always best, but which set, is the question... Which set, and why. How may miles per set have you had, and how have they performed?

 

[D Hook]

Well, I've put about 7k miles on them since new over the last two years and they still look brand new.

I won't go to another tire or brand for this vehicle. They've out performed any brand of tire I've tried on other vehicles. Highly recommend. I've never heard a negative comment about them here on the board.

YMMV.

 

[tower]

There are tire companies other then Michelin...... Who knew? Anyway I get about 75-80k out of cross terrains and about 80-85k out of a set of LTX M/S, I have a set of LTX M/S2 on the 02 seemed pretty good too. I do ~ 60% highway (I don't drive slow) 35% street and 5% light to medium off-road, only problem I have ever had/have is when the snow on the road/trail is above the bumper.

 

[HiImBrian]

A lot of the guys over in the "Modified" forum (including myself) are really liking Treadwright Tires. It is a retread tire company and they have a really great product. I've got about 5000 miles on my guard dog tires and have VERY little wear. They offer several different tread options, and offer almost any casing you'd like (BFG, Michelin, GoodYear). I would definitely recommend checking them out.

 

[jrford]

I've got a set of LTX A/T2's, 50k on them now with about 60-70% left of tread. I do a 5 wheel rotation every 4k with oil changes, which helps.

One thing i've noticed when doing an alignment, the camber spec is like -1degree to positive camber of 6. With that spec you can get it to track well but wear like a sob. Most shops only set the toe and let it go. Never seen a shop add camber adjustments even though they can. I added them myself when doing the upper arms, set it way off by eye, next alignment they got it under 1 degree for the first time.

 

[JCR]

Does anybody have any experience with the BF Goodrich Long Trail TA's? I will soon be replacing my Michelin Cross Terrains and saw the BF Goodrich tires at BJ's for a really good price. I'm not sure why I'm thinking about switching since I'm over 110,00 miles and only my second set of Michelin's but any input would be welcomed.

 

[Ronin8002]

Does anybody have any experience with the BF Goodrich Long Trail TA's? I will soon be replacing my Michelin Cross Terrains and saw the BF Goodrich tires at BJ's for a really good price. I'm not sure why I'm thinking about switching since I'm over 110,00 miles and only my second set of Michelin's but any input would be welcomed.

I have a set of them in the 235/65/18 size that came on the 2008 XLT I bought a few weeks ago. They are the original tires and the vehicle has 58k on the clock. The seem to have worn well, look to have about 4-5 32's of tread depth or maybe a little more.

They ride nice and have done well in the rain.

 

[blueoval9erlifer]

i put some hankook dynapro atm's on mine if you look them up on the net does not show them but the local tire dealer here got them for me they are a heavy 4 ply ( i wanted a 6 ply he said this would be like a 5 ply) for 130 each. have about 10k on them and they look good still, i got 42,000 out of the last set that was on an old dually that is weighing 12,000 lbs when everything else that was put on before got around 20 to 25 so they do wear pretty good, get good traction but not super aggressive.

 

[jrford]

They are the original tires and the vehicle has 58k on the clock. The seem to have worn well, look to have about 4-5 32's of tread depth or maybe a little more.
They ride nice and have done well in the rain.

Before the Michelin's i ran those to, came stock, 245/65-17". lasted about 60k to. I would agree with the above.

 

[HCCA 250]

Well, the Continental Cross Contacts, are installed! Always a huge difference between, old, and new rubber. When I picked it up, there was a spec sheet that showed the before, and after alignment specs. I have rebuilt engines. I had a friend who rebuilt transmissions, and I learned a bit from him. I also had another friend who did alignments. Strange, I never picked up a D@mn thing from him. I have nothing more than a passing, vauge idea what the He11 castor, camber, and toe even are!! So, I don't know if I have a good alignment, or not?!? It does seem to be more uniform...by the stated specs, though.

On another note, the Continentals, across the board, had a better rating than the Goodyears I used to run. The ride is MUCH quieter. From what I can remeber...a little smoother. And, a bit better on bumps. I can only say, we'll see what another 30K brings.

 

[turborich]

I purchased a full set of Falken Ziex S/TZ04 for my 2004 Explorer about 8 months ago. So far so good. They ride very smooth and quiet.

If money wasn't an issue then Michelin's would always be my number one choice in tires.

 

[doug625]

Can't go wrong with the Michelins, and I have heard good things about the General Grabber HTS. I went with Cooper Discoverer HTP's and love them so far.

 

[Joe Dirt]

I also have the BF's. Love them, concur with the above comments.

 

[badloser]

I replaced my Bridgestone Duellers 589 with Nitto crosstrek's a couple of weeks ago and have been very much so impressed. Quiet and smooth ride

 

[HCCA 250]

Ok, time enogh driving on them to give a small review. Since we are in a drought, I can't give a review of wet handling. I also won't have a review of driving in the snow for a few more months. However, I CAN say, that the ride on city streets, at 30-35 mph is the smoothest I have EVER felt, on this vehicle! OK, that's the good part. The lesser part of it, is that they do not have the resposiveness of my Goodyear Forteras. They do not make my Explorer feel like a sports car. I believe that is due to the sidewalls. They might not be as stiff as the Goodyears. The ride, at interstate speeds is incredibly smooth. My Forteras were more sports car like, but not rough. While these are more like a Cadillac smooth ride. Unfortunatly, the old Caddy's were not much for a sporty feel in the handling department, either.

So, I would rate the Continentals, in the ride department, a 10 out of 10. Handling 8 out of 10. Handling/traction in wet conditions...to be determined. Traction in snow...to be determined.

The Goodyear Forteras were closer to 8 out of 10, for ride comfort. 9 out of 10 for handling, 9 out of 10 for wet handling/traction, and 8 out of 10 in snow.

The Goodyear Wranglers, original equipment, were 7 out of 10 for ride comfort. 7 out of 10 for handling. 5 out of 10 for wet traction/handling. And, 3 out of 10 on snow.

 

[Astrok]

BFGood Ridge

I am running BFG long trail T/A They are good all round. The snow traction is a strong point Have 40,000 them and still going strong this is likely last winter for them

 

[HCCA 250]

OK, after FINALLY getting some rain, i can say that the Continental LX20's SUCK on wet pavement. I can only imagine how horrible they will be on snow & ice! But, I suppose, if you live in Arizona, or California, and don't deal with much rain, you might be fine. I will have to start saving, again, and hope I can get a new set of tires, soon! Should have bought the Michelins!

 

[mike6348]

Got over 70K miles on the original Michelins on my 04 Explorer so I replaced them with Michelin Latitude Tour. So far have approx 10K on the new tires without issues - seem to be wearing well with low noise and good snow traction. Do mostly city driving with no offroading.

I have B/F Long Trail TA on my 04 Ranger 2WD and they seem to have worn very well in 30K miles. I try not to take it out in any snow whatsoever - it's a death machine. Don't know if it's because of the tires or the 2WD.