Tires for 2003 RWD recommendations.

[HFinn]

Hello I just gave my son our old Explorer, he just made it across the country to California with snow tires just in case. Now I want to buy him new all seasons for mostly LA driving but also some other conditions, but not sure just highway tires is good idea. It's a RWD. Any recommendations for good all around tire for this ol' truck? It's only got 67,000 miles and a beauty Thanks

 

[J_C]

With only RWD, if it will be off road at all, you'll want an AT tire, something like Michelin LTX is a popular choice, though is nearer the high end of the price range, and not as aggressive a tread as some other AT's.

If only on-road use, no reason to get an AT tire unless it will need to go through deep, unplowed snow then the AT's tread profile again has merit. Otherwise, there are a lot of viable options today, now that SUVs and crossovers have become so popular, yet for driving in LA, highway tires might be the most optimal, quiet, smooth, and slightly higher fuel economy.

 

[HFinn]

With only RWD, if it will be off road at all, you'll want an AT tire, something like Michelin LTX is a popular choice, though is nearer the high end of the price range, and not as aggressive a tread as some other AT's.

If only on-road use, no reason to get an AT tire unless it will need to go through deep, unplowed snow then the AT's tread profile again has merit. Otherwise, there are a lot of viable options today, now that SUVs and crossovers have become so popular, yet for driving in LA, highway tires might be the most optimal, quiet, smooth, and slightly higher fuel economy.

Thank you so much for your response. Here in upstate New York I put Blizzak snow tires on for the winter which were amazing. Everyone thought I'd be all over the road with RWD but with those tires I had no problems getting up my dirt road hill and around in snowy Finger Lakes. But it needed new all seasons so I sent my son across country with the "Snows" to be safe. Now that he's back in LA, I think since he will mostly be doing city driving I should get him regular tires. I saw some reasonable ones but wasn't sure when they're called "touring" if that kind of highway tire is appropriate for an old style SUV, ie. truck. I just want something middle of the road, no pun intended, that will be good on highways but also look and bit a little rugged for the truck (and my son . Thanks for your input.

 

[J_C]

The only things that are going to look rugged are AT, or oversized (or both).

Touring tires would be fine for road-only use, just needs to be same size or larger (for the weight rating), but so would some of the less aggressive AT tires, just a bit more noise, vibration, and fuel economy decrease due to the blockier tread (and/or higher rotational weight). I mentioned the Michelins because they're about the tamest AT tire you can get, so less of a trade off than others.

Option B is give him a budget and let him pick.

 

[oklagp1200r]

Hello I just gave my son our old Explorer, he just made it across the country to California with snow tires just in case. Now I want to buy him new all seasons for mostly LA driving but also some other conditions, but not sure just highway tires is good idea. It's a RWD. Any recommendations for good all around tire for this ol' truck? It's only got 67,000 miles and a beauty Thanks

I bought some Kumo crugen HT51 tires which are a Michelin copy and love them through Walmart. Priced reasonably, quite and balanced easy with little weight! Had to order them and ship to my Walmart. These were for a 2001 Ford explorer sport trac 4x4 with 212,000 miles on it. Used on road only!