Its almost time for new tires. Oh no!, a tire thread!

2003 EB 4x4

Pretty much a commuter at this point with the occasional family trip when we don't want to put random miles on the wifes navigator or we know kids will get it/themselves dirty, seldom loaded, and virtually never tow.

I'm looking for something where ride quality/road noise is great to excellent with decent mileage rating due to me driving about 14k a year just for work now. I drive an 70/30 hwy/city commute of about 26mi each way. Roads around here have been essentially rebuilt so great shape, no crazy dips, rusting, etc and no gravel to deal with.

I know Michelin checks all of the boxes, not necessarily wanting an 80k tire as im unsure I'd get that out of the vehicle and not sure they're worth the premium investment. Coming up on 228k though it runs great and no current issues but you never know.

I currently have General Grabber HTS60 which came on it with about 75-80% tread, I've put 23k on them since (42k since install) and they've done pretty well and nearly perfectly worn, im down to 6/32 and just starting to notice slightly reduced performance in the cold and wet weather. They'd probably make it through winter just fine for my basic needs save for a big snow but having fresh rubber for winter wouldn't be a bad thing. I also have a co worker who desperately needs tires and could take these as they'd be considerably better than what they have on their vehicle now.

I'm probably a bit of an outlier here using this as a daily w nothing in or attached to it. I've never ran LT tires on my own vehicles, though everyone seems to say they completely change the feel of the vehicle and have great life/durability. My in laws run Big-O house brand LT all terrains and they're awful..handling, noise, and tread life. Its my only experience driving one if these w an LT tire.

What have you guys been running who have similar use cases and what do you think of them?

Most recent set I put on were Cooper Discoverer SRX. Complete junk. Sidewall blowout and hadn't even hit 40k yet. Heard the same thing from the fella that put them on for me.

Tires are the only thing on your rig that actually ever touch the road (hopefully) so going premium may not be a bad thing. I'm considering Tire Rack -> Bridgestone Blizzak. Comes with steel wheels, free balance and shipping for about the same price as I'd pay at the shop down the road for regular AT's. Then I have a summer and winter set. I'm in northern MN so a bit different than Indy.

I understand quality rubber, not looking for bargain basement prices and questionable brands but I feel that $250-300 a piece tires are probably unnecessary in this instance and just looking for something feedback/data.

Good info on the SRX. I had looked at those briefly. Scratch those off the list. I had a friend who ran the discoverer SXT? on his f250, Probably have that wrong but it was an all terrain and he had horrible cupping issues with them and they weren't really all that great at anything. His continentals the truck came with were just about as good in the mud as those. I've had the Cooper CS4 on a sedan in the past and they were pretty good, quiet, predictable, reasonable traction, not a bad price. No issues out of them and sold it long before they were worn down.

When I bought my 2003 2 wd expy, it came with 4 new tires. Never heard of the brand before: Patriot tires. It has 115H rating, heavy load capacity and run now about $117 per. A friend (supply chain certified guy) said they appear to be a brand name, private labeled.

I have been impressed with the ride, tread wear. It has 500AA rating also. As 115H implies, it's rated at 2,679 lbs per. I'll keep buying these for now. I do more city than hwy, but so far on either it's been great.

Here is a look:
https://www.amazon.com/Patriot-Tires-All-Season-Radial-Tire/dp/B0792QFPPW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2CU82VBZNU4K3&dchild=1&keywords=patriot+tires+265+70+17&qid=1604022619&sprefix=patriot+265,aps,302&sr=8-1

Lol, when I was younger and had a couple of Porsche 928's, I would burn through rubber in 10K miles. Let's say it was an expensive habit as it was a daily driver and enjoyed the periodic power slide.

Michelin... I've used Generals and Coopers for years being the cheap guy that I am and refusing to put my life on a tire made in China. I found a set of Michelin take offs on Craigslist and the difference is amazing. I'll never by another brand.

Patriot Tire = Taiwan or Thailand

Trainmaster said:

Michelin... I've used Generals and Coopers for years being the cheap guy that I am and refusing to put my life on a tire made in China. I found a set of Michelin take offs on Craigslist and the difference is amazing. I'll never by another brand.

Click to expand...

The wife's Navigator is riding on Michelin LTX M/S2. It's a buttery smooth ride for sure. I'm definitely not after the "imports". I'll get a fair deal regardless of choice, my cousin is in the tire business at a local store. The Generals on here were almost as smooth as the Michelins when I first got this. When I test drove it I was ready to pick the tires apart on quality due to brand but was thoroughly impressed w the smoothness and noise levels. Thats now mostly gone away as most tires do towards end of life. They're still pretty smooth but road noise is more apparent.

I've considered watching for some take offs on local sites/groups. Different wheels would be welcome if the deal is right. I do tend to see quite a few takeoffs but they are usually larger since most of the newer fords (2 large dealerships in the area) 19-20" or larger. I know i don't want 22" rubber bands on whatever wheels I get, no matter how good they look.

Generals served me well for decades, but they had rather short lives on these trucks. They were cheap , American and I usually puncture them to bits on city streets before they wear out anyway so they worked well for me. My recent experience with Michelins was just so superior I'm not going back.

If you're driving mainly street/highway miles (high speed?) I would stick with Michelin LTXs . It's not worth compromising your safety to save a few bucks on tires. A high speed blow out with you, or you and your family, in the vehicle can be pretty devastating and scary for everyone. I just wouldn't go cheap on tires. Especially if you are the primary breadwinner in your family, and your family depends on you making it home safe everyday. If the tires outlast the life of the vehicle, great, you chose well and can sleep better at night. Make sure you get the 44psi tires, and not the light duty 35psi tires.

I have had a great experience with Toyo's. I put 70K on the AT's and still had plenty of tread life left and gave to a friend who got another 25ish k out of them. I have the R/T's now with 65k and will be good till 80k. Not sure what the more street orientated versions will do just my opion