What tires are good?

Ok, I have a 1998 Ford Explorer AWD, right now I have 235/75/15 Goodyear Rt/S's on the truck. Ive put on over 50,000 mi on the tires and drove in snow, rain, mud, etc. They treated us really good, stuck in the snow and never slid in the rain. But its time for new tires. I want a good American made tire. I have BFG Rugged Trails on my F-150 that are Awsome! They have over 60,000 mi and are still good.

So I was going for the BFG Long Trail's for the Explorer, but they changed the tread pattern and have mixed reviews. I was also looking at some Copper ATR's they got decient reviews and the tread looks nice. Or should I stick with the RT/S's?

I want a good American Tire, at a good price that won't let us down. It needs to be good in snow, rain, dry, little mud, but mainly snow and rain. Any suggestions would be great!

 

[Equnoxe]

i don't know if these are American made, but Goodyear Wrangler Territory, i have these as my winter tires, and combined with the control-trac 4x4, the truck is absurdly stable on snow, rain, ice, and mud. these are also surprisingly good off road.

 

[techboj]

Tire choice is a matter of personal preference, usage and budget.

What might be good for one person / vehicle may not work or may not even be feasible for another.

The RTS is an average tire by any standard and it is one of the cheaper tires that Ford installed on the second gens after the Firestone issue. For a few dollars more you can get a much better tire. In some cases, you could even get better tires a lot cheaper than RTS on retail.

Check out tirerack.com. Use the prices for reference and maybe get the tires locally or price matched. You can do your research on their website or try this link http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...true&minSpeedRating=S&minLoadRating=S&tab=All (hopefully that works)

As far as buying American , almost all of the tires purchased (sticking to name brands of course) are manufactured in North America. I have Dunlops (orig British manufacturer) but the company is 75% owned by Goodyear and mine were manufactured in an Alaska plant. Even old-school tire manufacturers like Kelly-Springfield are owned by Goodyear.

Cooper tires are also good (they are the 2nd largest US manufacturer next to Goodyear). I believe they also manufacture the tires for Avon, Mickey Thompson, Dick Cepek, Mastercraft and Sears.

The only brands I would stay away from are the "specialty brands" made for certain stores. For example, a "Goodyear" AT tire at Walmart is usually manufactured just for Walmart (sometimes at a reduced price). My only qualms with such is that you can only get those tires warranted at another Walmart. Goodyear generally does not honor warranty and repair claims directly on such tires

 

[giantsfan]

Yeah I know all about Goodyears as far as Walmarts brand and so on. Believe it or not I was technican for Goodyear for 2 years and know all their tricks. I know who they own and so on. I like the RT/S but I also know they are phasing them out and going to the Fortera and Fortera Triple Tread. The Fortera's are really pricey! The Triple Treads are nice but they don't come it raised white letters and again pricey!!

Im leaning toward the Cooper's. I know their plant is in N.J. and I would just like to see if anyone had some opinions on those. Also the I was wondering about the BFG Long Trails tour? Does anyone know about those? I just dont want to get hosed.

 

[techboj]

Coopers are good. I have Discoverer STT on another vehicle (aggressive tread) and I have no complaints. But since you appear to be leaning towards a street-oriented tire, the CTS looks good if you can find a local source with good prices. Also, the CTS currently has a 45-day road test so you can try them on and return/exchange them for another tire if you do not like the handling and performance.

I've seen the BFG long trails as OEM tires for Nissan trucks and SUVS like the Pathfinder. So they should be ok tires if not marginally better than the Goodyear RTS.

If you want to stick with Goodyear, I believe they are retaining the SRA. This would be a comparable replacement for the RTS. The ATS is probably a better all around choice.

Another American tire is Kelly. Their Navigator Gold has a replacement size for your vehicle. Comes with a 30-day test and 75,000 miles on the S and T rated tires