tire treadwear

[bucketmouth64]

I've been shopping for tires (275/65/18) that I'll be buying sometime this fall and I always thought that having a high tread wear number means a better longer lasting tire. I don't go by the mileage because I never get that amount out of the tire and it seems like I go thru tires every two years(mostly highway miles). I talked to a local mechanic and goes by tread wear number and recommended a new hankook that had a tread wear of 600/700. He said that the tires that I've bought in the past were soft rubber so they don't last long, and he said if you can get 60% of the mileage out of a tire that's doing pretty good. I stopped at ntb to look at their sale, buy two and two free, and salesman said that tread wear number isn't a good indicator because mfrs. use different gauges to determine tread wear number. He showed me a set of Nitto Crosstek's, which I'm not familiar with so any input on these tires would be helpful. When he gave me the estimate with the discount I'm paying more with all the add-ons. It seems like all the add-ons made up the tire sale difference. Any thoughts??

[delcecchi]

Personally I like Michelins. I have had several sets and they wear great. Also have good traction and are quiet.

[TR21HP]

tread wear numbers are set by the tire manufacturer and are purely a sales aid. They are under no obligation to relate real info except they can not overestimate the wear factor. There are all kinds of tire ratings out there by independent testing that you could do a little research and come up with the tire you need. As far as ntb, they are going to sell their brands and the most profitable to them. Tire Rack is a good place to start.

[dougger222]

Michelin's if you can afford them are the only way to go. My 4 8-9k lb vehicles wear them. Ms2 & ltx

[delcecchi]

tread wear numbers are set by the tire manufacturer and are purely a sales aid. They are under no obligation to relate real info except they can not overestimate the wear factor. There are all kinds of tire ratings out there by independent testing that you could do a little research and come up with the tire you need. As far as ntb, they are going to sell their brands and the most profitable to them. Tire Rack is a good place to start.

They are based on testing wear as compared to a reference tire, using a standard government methodology. Manufacturers can assign a lower number but not a higher number than justified by testing.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treadwear_rating

[echotrail]

If you haven't done so, go onto the Discount Tire web site and read the customer reviews for every tire you're interested in. Eliminate the reviews from southern states like Florida, Mississippi, etc. that don't have similar driving conditions as MN.

Know that Discount Tires may not offer ALL brands.

For what it's worth the last time I had my F150 serviced the service manager told me that when I do need to replace tires, the Michelins (In his opinion) are the best way to go.

[Wanderer]

Yes, Tony, the word SALE draws people in and tire shops will usually make up the difference with all the add ons. When you're comparing prices you should get a full quote for the out the door costs, including the warranty. The last tire purchase I made, the adds were another 30+% of the tire cost.

NITTO tires seem to have a good reputation. I've had good luck with life span on Good Years before but it's always been best with moderate tread styles for highway driving. The more aggressive or higher traction models won't wear as long.