Tires '18 Expedition Limited 4x4

[DenSanAZ]

I bought my Expedition 2 weeks ago from a Ford dealership, they had put new tires on the vehicle prior to my seeing/buying it (it has 45k miles). I didn't take the time to look at the brand they installed, other than seeing that they were new - which is good and bad.

The Ford dealer installed cheap Tier 3 tires - Sailun Altrezzo - a brand I've never even heard of before. They're roughly $120/each - pretty cheap tires. I traded in my '16 Explorer which was almost ready for new tires, so I already knew what those would cost to replace ($1100 for Michelin).

Now, I'm satisfied with how the Expedition handles and drives/rides, but I haven't gone on any extensive trips aside from driving the car home (the dealer was 65 miles from my house!). But I'm not satisfied with the thought of driving on cheap, Chinese tires.

I did price new tires, at Costco I can get 70k mile Michelins for just over $900. The question is, SHOULD I? I'd like some opinions on this, please! Not that I want to spend ~$1k (though I would have had to if I'd kept the Explorer, or if the dealer hadn't already replaced these), but.... Thoughts?

 

[Artie]

Do you wanna ride around with your family on the only safety feature that touches the road being a cheap Chinese tire? It sucks you didn’t notice this before purchase, you possibly could have negotiated better tires. Seeing as how You noticed them after, buy the new ones and consider it a $900 lesson, maybe.
If it were me I’d get the better tires.

 

[byathread]

There are a lot of opinions on tires. Even the Chinese ones are DOT rated, etc. That being said, some shady/inferior stuff can come out of anywhere. Just more prevalent from China... If it were me, I'd change them and call it a day. Tires kind of important for a vehicle...

 

[Gumby]

Just put new boots on my 18 Expy. Yoko Parada Spec X in 22's. I wanted Toyo Proxes ST III but I couldn't get them in fast enough so I went with my #2 option on the Yokos. I don't really tow and likely will never mud bog so I wanted something a bit more "Street" oriented. So far so good.

 

[Rancidlunchmeat]

I'm voting for buy the new tires, same line of thinking as Artie. If it bothers you, at all, go buy new tires. Even the slightest idea that the quality control could be poor enough to result in immediate and unpredictable failure of a tire would prevent me from ever having peace of mind.

If that's what is bothering you, replace them. If you just think they won't hold up very well, then ride on them until they wear down.

 

[spiderman865]

Would I put some bootleg tire on $70K plus vehicle, no. But since they are new run them until you can get what you want or it is time to replace.

 

[DenSanAZ]

Do you wanna ride around with your family on the only safety feature that touches the road being a cheap Chinese tire? It sucks you didn’t notice this before purchase, you possibly could have negotiated better tires. Seeing as how You noticed them after, buy the new ones and consider it a $900 lesson, maybe.
If it were me I’d get the better tires.

That's pretty much what I'm thinking, too. And yes, it does really bother me! I'm a rather "assertive" driver (some would say aggressive). Bit more than a $900 lesson tho, I'm happy with what I paid for the car, got rather taken on my trade-in however. Oh well, what's done is done, I love the Expedition!

 

[aggiegrad05]

This might be my youthful naivete speaking, but...

I wonder if you wouldn't do well to go back to the dealer to buy, or at least price, your new set. Explain your concerns and see if they will give you some credit for the (basically) brand new tires that THEY thought were perfectly acceptable.

I'm not suggesting they are going to give you free tires, and I am not suggesting you make a stink or be rude about it, but something along the lines of:

"hey guys, y'all picked these tires and I just think they're completely substandard for a $70k vehicle. I want a new set and I am willing to buy them from you, but I would love a little help on the price considering you're getting the brand new Sailuns back that you can turn around and put on another vehicle."

Worst thing they can do is laugh at you and then you just go back to Costco.

 

[DenSanAZ]

This might be my youthful naivete speaking, but...

I wonder if you wouldn't do well to go back to the dealer to buy, or at least price, your new set. Explain your concerns and see if they will give you some credit for the (basically) brand new tires that THEY thought were perfectly acceptable.

I'm not suggesting they are going to give you free tires, and I am not suggesting you make a stink or be rude about it, but something along the lines of:

"hey guys, y'all picked these tires and I just think they're completely substandard for a $70k vehicle. I want a new set and I am willing to buy them from you, but I would love a little help on the price considering you're getting the brand new Sailuns back that you can turn around and put on another vehicle."

Worst thing they can do is laugh at you and then you just go back to Costco.

Well, I might have been able to do that when I bought the car - and they MIGHT do it now, but I just really doubt it. Plus, I live in the far SE Valley of Phoenix, that dealer is in the far NW Valley - a 65 mile one-way drive. Buying this vehicle wasn't my greatest feat of negotiation and I got a little screwed (not badly but with this being my 6th car in 15 years, I could have done better!) so I just really don't even want to give them anymore business than I have. I thought about keeping the Sailun tires in the garage for backup, too, though I've already got WAY too much crap in there already! One of life's lessons! I don't recall buying a new vehicle that's ever had it's tires replaced by the dealer before (I've never bought one with 45k miles, either - usually stay around 30k). I'll just eat the cost. Sigh.

 

[Artie]

That's pretty much what I'm thinking, too. And yes, it does really bother me! I'm a rather "assertive" driver (some would say aggressive). Bit more than a $900 lesson tho, I'm happy with what I paid for the car, got rather taken on my trade-in however. Oh well, what's done is done, I love the Expedition!

Some tire places will give you a little cash on lightly used tires, that may help you recoup some of that new tire cost.

 

[Dice Roll]

I wouldn’t sweat it. Those tires will be fine for a couple years at least if they ride good now. I’d ditch them if they were already giving fits. No need to waste resources.

 

[DenSanAZ]

Thanks to those who replied, I decided to replace the new Tier 3 tires. Pirelli Scorpions II have been ordered, going on Weds for $950 total. I'm going to check eBay and try to sell the like-new Sailun Altrezzo tires for local pickup only, maybe I'll get a few hundred bucks out of them. Discount Tire is replacing the tires, perhaps they'd buy the old ones as Artie suggested.

 

[3rd Expyowner123]

My 2018, Limited with 22” rims came with Hankooks. Had two tires with slow leaks, one repairable, one replaced during the first 12k miles, dealer reported a small bubble in the sidewall on one tire at 29k miles. I elected to replace all four tires, Pirelli Verde A/S plus II. I am thrilled with these tires. Steering is more responsive, slight increase in mpg’s, they are slightly quieter and I anticipate that will have better wet performance than the OEM Tire.
I have pulled my 4500lbs boat with the Pirellis and they performed in an excellent manner. Found best price in these tires at Sam’s Club. (I do not work for Pirelli or Sam’s Club!).
Owned 2008 Expedition, 20” rims and was not satisfied with Michelin LTX M/S. These were an older generation tire than the current model. These tires did not track well when pulling my boat and mpg’s were 2 less than the OEM tires.
Note that Michelin only specifies LTX Premier for the 4th gen with 22@ rims.
There have been complaints of poor tread life with this tire, although I think Michelin May have addressed that through a design change. The Michelin Premiers cost about $170 more than the Pirellis. I like Michelin’s, but I would not hesitate to stick with this Pirelli model for my 18 Expy. Let’s see how they hold up over time...

 

[DenSanAZ]

My 2018, Limited with 22” rims came with Hankooks. Had two tires with slow leaks, one repairable, one replaced during the first 12k miles, dealer reported a small bubble in the sidewall on one tire at 29k miles. I elected to replace all four tires, Pirelli Verde A/S plus II. I am thrilled with these tires. Steering is more responsive, slight increase in mpg’s, they are slightly quieter and I anticipate that will have better wet performance than the OEM Tire.
I have pulled my 4500lbs boat with the Pirellis and they performed in an excellent manner. Found best price in these tires at Sam’s Club. (I do not work for Pirelli or Sam’s Club!).
Owned 2008 Expedition, 20” rims and was not satisfied with Michelin LTX M/S. These were an older generation tire than the current model. These tires did not track well when pulling my boat and mpg’s were 2 less than the OEM tires.
Note that Michelin only specifies LTX Premier for the 4th gen with 22@ rims.
There have been complaints of poor tread life with this tire, although I think Michelin May have addressed that through a design change. The Michelin Premiers cost about $170 more than the Pirellis. I like Michelin’s, but I would not hesitate to stick with this Pirelli model for my 18 Expy. Let’s see how they hold up over time...

Thanks for the info. I did look at Michelin tires, they were rated well but did have poor tread life. I also looked at driving comfort and the Pirellis were rated well for that. Just after I ordered the Pirelli (they go on on Wed) I went through the car wash, turned onto the street quickly, and, with wet tires, the cheap tires were literally sliding sideways through my turn! Verified my reasons for spending $1k. It doesn't rain much in Phoenix but when it does, it pours and the roads are slick!

 

[DenSanAZ]

My 2018, Limited with 22” rims came with Hankooks. Had two tires with slow leaks, one repairable, one replaced during the first 12k miles, dealer reported a small bubble in the sidewall on one tire at 29k miles. I elected to replace all four tires, Pirelli Verde A/S plus II. I am thrilled with these tires. Steering is more responsive, slight increase in mpg’s, they are slightly quieter and I anticipate that will have better wet performance than the OEM Tire.
I have pulled my 4500lbs boat with the Pirellis and they performed in an excellent manner. Found best price in these tires at Sam’s Club. (I do not work for Pirelli or Sam’s Club!).
Owned 2008 Expedition, 20” rims and was not satisfied with Michelin LTX M/S. These were an older generation tire than the current model. These tires did not track well when pulling my boat and mpg’s were 2 less than the OEM tires.
Note that Michelin only specifies LTX Premier for the 4th gen with 22@ rims.
There have been complaints of poor tread life with this tire, although I think Michelin May have addressed that through a design change. The Michelin Premiers cost about $170 more than the Pirellis. I like Michelin’s, but I would not hesitate to stick with this Pirelli model for my 18 Expy. Let’s see how they hold up over time...

I had Hankook on my '16 Explorer I traded in, it had 41k miles in this original tires and they probably had another 10k miles to go. Never had an issue with them.

 

[aggiegrad05]

My 2018, Limited with 22” rims came with Hankooks

The Hankook Dynapros that came with my 22s are utter trash. I have had 5 flats in 2 years...only 1 of which could be repaired. I am just waiting for ANY of them to be old enough to justify pulling the whole set. Then I will be loading up some Pirellis.

 

[DenSanAZ]

The Hankook Dynapros that came with my 22s are utter trash. I have had 5 flats in 2 years...only 1 of which could be repaired. I am just waiting for ANY of them to be old enough to justify pulling the whole set. Then I will be loading up some Pirellis.

Mine are 20", I wonder what the original tires were when it was new.

 

[Kmdcolo]

Continental Terrain A/T. Noticeably firmer than the Handkook’s but the do handle well.





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[KJ-Idaho]

I too went with continental terrain ATs. (22”)

quiet, handle well on highway and curvy roads. so much better than the Hankook highways.

discount tire had a good sale going, to boot.

 

[Gumby]

The Hankook Dynapros that came with my 22s are utter trash. I have had 5 flats in 2 years...only 1 of which could be repaired. I am just waiting for ANY of them to be old enough to justify pulling the whole set. Then I will be loading up some Pirellis.

Agreed. Also wore pretty fast, IMO. Just put on a new set of Yoko Parada Spec X in 22.