# Tires For Titan



## 4ME (Sep 11, 2006)

I'ts time for some new shoes for the TV.
Any suggestions from those who know these things?
I am not sure I want LT tires since I don't tow that many miles a year.(3-4 trips a year)
I notice the cheaper tires are generally rated for more miles. Why????????
Do Brands matter as much or more than type of tire?
I put BF Goodrich a/t tires on my last truck but it was about 1k to do so.
I would like to get off cheaper this time and like the smoother ride of touring tires.


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## Rob_G (Feb 16, 2006)

My tires are pretty decent as the TV's a bit new but I'll be watching this post with anticipation so I can hear how the new pair of shoes work out for ya!


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

Anymore tire mfr's put warranties on tires that are over inflated.. Many of the cheaper brands will do this to think your getting something better.

There is a coding on the tire that will tell if the tire is capable of good mileage.

You will see on the tire. (example)

Tradwear 400
Traction B
Temperature A

A tire that could wear well is in the 500 or better range..

I have seen tires with 300 and have 80,000 warranties. They will never make that far. Generally if you read the fine print on a tire warranty, it will have exclusions to a bunch of things, to get them out of a tire mileage warranty.

Or they will make you pay for the balance you have used on the old tire versus the new tire.. They lose little money that way..

Tire mileage warranties are a big game to sell tires..

What you want to look for is a tire with ratings like this.

Treadwear 500
Traction A
Temperature A

They grade from A to C on temperature.. A tire will last longer if it has a A grade versus a C grade.

Here is a link to Tire Racks website for some info.. lots of good reading here..

I'll post the link to tire ratings for you.

Click

They can explain all this much better than I can..

When you look at a new tire, always be sure to look at these grades. They are printed all together on a tire.. This will tell you what you are really looking at.

Also look for an oval with four numbers... example.. (4008) this would tell you that the tire was manufactured the 40th week of 2008.

Dont buy a tire that is more than 1 year old..

Carey


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

One more thing.. 20 some years ago when I was in college, we learned that the tire treadwear rating worked like this.

A 400 tire would have a treadwaer of 40,000 miles

A 500 tire would have a treadwear of 50,000 miles..

You times the number by 100. So a 440 rating equaled a 44000 mile tire.

These were uniformly known back in the 70"s and 80's..

Today they have over inflated the claims, but in real world reality, a tire with a 500 rating should last under normal conditions 50,000 miles. This still holds true, but the tire manufactures over inflate because the public wants a tire to go 60-80,000 miles..

Tire manufactures still cannot make most tires last that long, so they no longer use the X's 100 idea to sell a tire because in reality this is all the longer a tire will last.. They dont want to hurt your feelings. Just a big game.

Yes, some get 100k out of some brands of tires, but to get that, everything was done right.. If you notice, all those tires have ratings over 500 also..

Carey


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## Airboss (Jul 14, 2007)

IMO, stick with a well respected tire brand. Michelin, Toyo, BFGoodrich, Pirelli, etc. and stay away from Chinese made off-brands. (I'm hoping that the brands I mentioned aren't made in China now







)


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

Airboss said:


> IMO, stick with a well respected tire brand. Michelin, Toyo, BFGoodrich, Pirelli, etc. and stay away from Chinese made off-brands. (I'm hoping that the brands I mentioned aren't made in China now
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Toyo, Japan
Pirelli, Italy/Germany
Nothing wrong with that, the japanese make some of the best tires in the world.

Contintential is owned by the Germans 
BF Goodrich has a lot of share ownership from Michelin.

Michelin is the tire master in my eyes.. All other brands, Goodyear included are not as good.

This doesnt mean I run Michelin all the time, but generally Michelin is the king of tire mileage. This even holds true for our semis.

Carey


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## luv2camp (Mar 9, 2006)

We put Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo on my Armada and LOVED them. The ride was smooth as butter and we had no issues towing our 28 RSDS. If we had to do it again, those would be the tires we'd get, BUT we got rid of our Armada this year.


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## 1jeep (Jul 24, 2007)

I put Yokohama's on my tundra and they did make a difference in towing. They were slightly cheaper than the michelin's, but in the same price league as most other's.

One other thought, depending on your tire size you dont have to put an "E" rated tire to get an "LT" rating. there are plenty of "LT" tires in "C" and "D" ratings also which will still be an upgrade over a "P"


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## ziggler (May 14, 2007)

I recently put a set of GoodYear Wrangler Silent Armor tires on my Nissan Armada, they really reduced road noise and I have towed about 1500 miles on them, so far so good. I really like them, I dont think they are the cheapest though...


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

4ME,

The key here may be the wheel size your Titan has. Mine had the 18" wheels, and trying to find tires in those sizes was next to impossible. Hopefully it has gotten better in the last year and a half, but with 18's your choices will be limited. I think the 17" wheels fitted with the Offroad package are much more common, and you will have lots of choices.

Ultimately, we settled on the Bridgestones as well, and were very happy with them. Although they were 'P' rated, they actually have a higher load rating than comparably sized 'D' rated LT tires.

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## clarkely (Sep 15, 2008)

i Went with Michelin LTX/A2

265/70R17 gives you a A B rated tire.

So far so good.............


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## Paul (May 14, 2008)

"10 PLY HANKOOK DYNAPRO AT-M RF10" I just got these for my 2500HD 4X4 and so far love them. I do go off road quite a bit and need a tire that is a fit for both towing and going off road when I hunt. Good reviews, but only time will tell.


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## Scott C (Oct 16, 2008)

4ME said:


> Anymore tire mfr's put warranties on tires that are over inflated.. Many of the cheaper brands will do this to think your getting something better.
> 
> Tradwear 400
> Traction B
> ...


Carey, most of your information is correct. The larger the treadwear number the longer wearing the tire. One thing to keep in mind however is that this number is only truly consistant amongst a single manufacturer. i.e. a Michelin with a 600 treadwear should get twice the mileage than a Michelin with 300 treadwear all other things consistant. However, a Michelin with a 500 treadwear will not necessarily get the same mileage than a Continental with 500 treadwear (but it will be pretty close, within 5-10k)

I do NOT agree with the comment that you should buy tires no older than one year. There is an evil myth going around, spawned by a 20/20 special, that a tire older than 1 year is unsafe. THIS IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE!

The 20/20 special I am refering to caught dealers selling tires that were 8,10, even 12 years old. This is not appropriate and tires this old should be taken off store shelves. The real truth is that most tire manufactures give a standard warranty on their tires for 5-6 years (depending on manufacturer) A tire that is 3 or 4 years old is perfectly safe and I would not hesitate for one minute putting a set on my family SUV so long as the tire shows no signs of dry-rot, cracking, fading of color etc.

Carey, I'm not trying to correct you but I think that it is important to educate folks and protect the tire industry from misinformation

If anyone has any tire questions, please contact me I will be glad to answer them.

Thanks for letting me get that out! Love the forum!

Scott


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

Scott C said:


> Anymore tire mfr's put warranties on tires that are over inflated.. Many of the cheaper brands will do this to think your getting something better.
> 
> Tradwear 400
> Traction B
> ...


Carey, most of your information is correct. The larger the treadwear number the longer wearing the tire. One thing to keep in mind however is that this number is only truly consistant amongst a single manufacturer. i.e. a Michelin with a 600 treadwear should get twice the mileage than a Michelin with 300 treadwear all other things consistant. However, a Michelin with a 500 treadwear will not necessarily get the same mileage than a Continental with 500 treadwear (but it will be pretty close, within 5-10k)

I do NOT agree with the comment that you should buy tires no older than one year. There is an evil myth going around, spawned by a 20/20 special, that a tire older than 1 year is unsafe. THIS IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE!

The 20/20 special I am refering to caught dealers selling tires that were 8,10, even 12 years old. This is not appropriate and tires this old should be taken off store shelves. The real truth is that most tire manufactures give a standard warranty on their tires for 5-6 years (depending on manufacturer) A tire that is 3 or 4 years old is perfectly safe and I would not hesitate for one minute putting a set on my family SUV so long as the tire shows no signs of dry-rot, cracking, fading of color etc.

Carey, I'm not trying to correct you but I think that it is important to educate folks and protect the tire industry from misinformation

If anyone has any tire questions, please contact me I will be glad to answer them.

Thanks for letting me get that out! Love the forum!

Scott
[/quote]

No problem dude... You go right ahead and put on old tires.. I will stick with a tire less than 1 year old... I learned this 25 years ago in college.. Has nothing to do with being paniced by 20/20..

For many of us, by the time we replace a tire it will be 5-6 years old.. For instance I have a 2006 Dodge 1/2er. It just flipped 19k miles.. I tow with it only... It just sits and collects dust otherwise... I have no real use for it but towing my outback..

So for your info my tires are are already 3 years old... It will be another 3 years before I replace my tires.. By then the carcass will be junk..

If I were to put a 3-4 year old tire on when new, the dang tire would be 10 years old before I wore it out.. Very dangerous deal there bud........

Now for my dually it doesnt matter as much.. I have been putting on 18-20,000 a month on it.. Even my michelins will be wore out in 6-8 months..

So, maybe this will make ya happy.... If you are an average driver, put on as new as possible of tire.. Average drivers put on 1000 miles a month.. Buy a tire less than a year old.. My dodge is below average, at around 700 a month.. It needs the newest tire I can find when I purchase tires for it..

If you are a above average driver, so 2000 miles a month, than putting on a 3-4 year old tire is not as big of a deal..

To each his own bud.. I always hand select my tires.. If I dont like em, I walk out and go to another tire store.. I suggest everyone do that.. It will make the mfr's and stores pay more attention to how they rotate stocks of tires if we pressure them for QUALITY!

Carey


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## Scott C (Oct 16, 2008)

Carey, I want to back up a minute and reiterate that in no way was I attacking your opinions. I'm sorry if you feel that way. You are obviously a very savy consumer, and honestly that is appreciated coming from someone in the industry.

I do want to make it it clear to the typical consumer that tires older than a year old are not necessarily a bad thing. I have consumers all the time nailing over a tire that was built early 2007. This is unneccessary. Carey your opinion may not have come from a 20/20 special on tires, but many people use that program as their basis. Side note: you said that you learned 20 years ago to not buy old tires. Tire technology has made lightyear advances in only the last 10 years much less the last 20.

One retorical question: Would you rather have a 4 year old Michelin or a 6 month old chinese made tire?

You DO bring up a good point. If you drive less than 1000 miles a month, it may be a good idea to ask for a newer tire, but I still think less than 1 year is overkill. If you stay within 2.5 - 3 years, you should be good. The important thing to remember is maintenence. If you drive fewer than 1000 miles a year, make sure you keep the vehicle out of the sun (or dry cracking WILL occur), drive somewhere weekly to keep from flat spotting, rotate more often (move from a 6000 mile rotation schedule to a 3000 mile rotation schedule. If you do all of these things you will have no problem.

Thank you Carey for your insight, you make good points. This is a subject that we could discuss forever and there may not be a right or wrong answer. At the end of the day, the consumer has to go with what they feel comfortable with.

Scott


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## 4ME (Sep 11, 2006)

Thank You both and all for very educational responses.
This site is great for collecting just this sort of information 
and getting a variety of knowledge.
I can now go and shop with confidence.


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## nynethead (Sep 23, 2005)

My 06 chevy came with Bridgestone R265 5-Rib vsteel tires. They are quiet and I get good mileage with them. The wore very well with the weight of the desiel and the 10K 5'er. I changed them at 31K only because I was taking the trailer to florida and had a 2600 miles round trip (wanted safety). My local tire guy replaced them with the same tire and it was $450 for all 4. I have 245/75r16 E rated drive with 65-70 pounds with a max of 80. I do rotate my tires every 5,000 when I change my oil, so that helps. my local tire guy actually sold my 4 old tires as used to two other people who are still driving on them 6 months later. They are summer tread, but they do fine in the snow, but the rib design helps with gas mileage.


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## Collinsfam_WY (Nov 9, 2006)

Just last week I put on a new set of tires on my F150. Firestone Destination LE's. They replaced a set of...you guessed it. Firestone Destination LE's. I loved these tires so much I bought a second set







I put 59,000mi. on the first set. Great tires. Very quiet. They are highly rated on Tirerack.com and they are worth it. I paid about $100 per tire from my local Firestone dealer. They are "P" rated so bear that in mind if you are dead-set on a set of LT's. I can highly recommend them.

The factory set of tires were Generals and they were the pits. I would hope that the abovementioned Grabbers are substantially better than the tires Ford put on at the factory.

-CC


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## Scott C (Oct 16, 2008)

collinsfam_tx said:


> Just last week I put on a new set of tires on my F150. Firestone Destination LE's. They replaced a set of...you guessed it. Firestone Destination LE's. I loved these tires so much I bought a second set
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The General Grabber AW was not a great tire. Keep in mind that OE tires are built to the auto manufacturer's specs, not the tire manufacturer's specs. The Grabber HTS is a completly redesigned tire and is excellent. You can find Firestone and Bridgestone tires at a great price right now too.

Scott


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