SUV Tires insight?

[augernaut]

My 98 GMC Jimmy needs tires BAD. I'm looking at two different brands models based on availability in my area and price. Just looking for opinions/experiences from anyone or some insight, I'm not a tire expert by a long shot. The two I'm looking at are:

Goodyear Wrangler RT/S - I've heard alot of bad about this tire, but some people seem to really love them - anyone have any experience? tirerack.com has alot of bad reviews, but also some very good ones.

Kuhmo - I forget the exact model of Kuhmo tire, but it's at the dealership my father-in-law works at. They seem to like the tire alot - the owner put them on his and his wife's vehicle. tirerack.com has some good reviews of Kuhmo tires in general.

Any insight anybody can provide would be greatly appreciated!

[Smokey]

My 98 GMC Suburban came with the Wrangler RT/S as the stock tire. I personally would never buy them again. It seemed that I was constantly rotating them and getting the vehicle aligned to try to keep them from cupping on the outside edges. I managed to wring 50K miles out of them, then got a set of Cooper Discoverer HT. Hardly had to do anything and got 60K out of them, still had decent tread left but got a flat on one and the sidewalls were cracking so put new tires on. Since it was Christmas time and money was tight I bought a set of Baja AT's from Mills Fleet Farm, was half the price of some of the other tires that I was looking at. It's still real early but so far they seem pretty good.

[Moose-Hunter]

I agree.... Stay away from the Goodyear Wrangler RT/S. That's the tire that comes stock on a ton of vehicles and is marginal at best. They came on my Dodge 1500 and were "retired" in less than 20k. They were replaced with BFG All Terrains. Too spendy, if you ask me.

On my "new" truck (F250 Diesel) I went with a set of Bridgestone Dueler AT's. Also a "stock" tire, but from what I've heard and my own experience after 20k miles, I'd buy them again in a heart beat.

I've heard of Kuhmo... But know nothing about them.

Thus ends my .02....

[Ole1855]

augernaut,

I have had fantastic luck with Bridgestone Desert Dualers AT. When I bought my Toyota 4runner back in 1991, they came on the truck, I changed them at 123,000 miles, I replaced them with the same exact tire, I changed the second pair at 249,000 miles. I now drive a GMC Yukon XL and when the factory tires needed replacing I put Dualer's on it as well. I've had nothing but good luck with them.

Ole

[Gus]

I really like the Yokohoma Geolander A/T's that I put on my silverado. Price is very attractive at tire rack and tires dot com. They have a great feel and grip and are as quiet as they come. Check them out.

Gus

[Jeremy airjer W]

I have the RT/S on my toyota. 62,000 on these ones and they be replaced this fall with RT/S. No wear issues and no cupping. Excellent tire for smaller trucks. Deffinetly not engineered for a larger trucks. I do see alot of cupping and unusuall wear on the gm trucks but are more often than not caused by alignment issues or worn front end parts.

I've also installed many on blazers with plenty of satisfied customers. The only problem you will see is as soon as those lower ball joints start getting a little sloppy, and they will, the inner tread will start to wear out fast.

I've always been a Goodyear Guy, Never cared for firestones, Heard alot of good things about cooper car tires, seen a bunch of the duelers on smaller pickups/suv's, and don't have alot of experience with the Kumho brand.

[lawdog]

I have Firestones on my truck and hate them and they are part of the same company as Bridgestone! No durability and much worse road noise than the Goodyears that were on my last truck and they actually wore out faster than those too. I replaced them with a similar tire at only 40,000 because I didn't expect to keep the truck that long and they were SUPPOSED to be so good I think I might have had a fluke. I don't think these are any better.

I'd much rather have my Goodyear's back anyday!

Don't know much about the others, but have heard of those Kuhmo's.

[Ole1855]

lawdog, I would have to debate the durability of the Bridgestone tires, 2 sets on my 4runner, first set 123k, second set 126k and the set on my Yukon right now only have 16k and I'm sure they'll last into the 100k range. Would you say that's poor durability?

Ole

[SteveWilson]

I've been quite satisfied with the Michelin LTX M/S tires that I have on my '99 GMC Suburban. Excelent performance on pavement and reasonable performance on snow covered and forrest service roads. I went from the P metric size to Light Truck size and towing is much better than the stock tires.

[Macgyver55]

We actually "track" tire life on all of our vehicles at work. The GMs come equipped with Wranglers. We align them new and realign once a year for the life of the vehicle. The Wranglers don't fare very well compared to the others. We usually replace them with Bridgestone, Sumitomo, and sometimes Michelin when the budget allows. Michelins are definately the best tread life but also the most expensive. I believe dollar for dollar the Bridgestone will give you the best return in life vs. cost.

Sorry, I don't believe we have ever used the Kumho brand so I cannot give any firsthand input on those. I did read some reviews on them and they appear to have favorable results for the money too.

[Fisher Dave]

Stay away from the RTS tires .. they are junk and will not last unless they are mounted on a very light vehicle with grandma's driving habits. The only reason I can think of that the dealership would put these tires on factory vehicles is because they are inexpensive, and have a well respected name printed on them(Good Year)... with the Good Year name I could probably get rich selling boxes of rocks... doesnt mean they are better than any other rock.

The spare tire donut from a 82 Subaru would probably out last the RTS tires. I had the RTS tires once.. never again.

I had really good luck with BF Goodrich, and Kelly tires on heavier vehicles. These I would recommend.

I have heard good things about Kuhmo, but havent had them. If you want longer tread life with whatever tire you purchase, go with a tire with a better load range... This will not only improve tread life, but the sidewalls will be stiffer which will greatly improve vehicle handling. The downside is, its usually a bit stiffer of a ride(higher tire pressure).

[iffwalleyes]

Both Goodyear AT/S and RT/S are great once they are first on but the go to heck alfwl fast. I myself have been running BF Goodrich All Terrian TA's and they have been awesome well worth the price in my mind I got 65,000 on my first set and it looks like I will get the same out of the set I am on now as well. I have a buddy that has dualers and he has really like them so far.

[bucketmouth64]

My explorer came with Wrangler GSA's and I am in the market to buy a new set of tires. A Ford service manager told me not to get Goodyears for my Explorer.

I asked about the Toyo Open Country tire at a store. Not too many have this brand of tire. Salesman said that when they first came out they were pricey and now they have come down. They want to compete with Michelin's but at a lower price. He also said that in the past few years Cooper tires have had a lot of tire re-calls that hasn't had a lot of publicity. Some of the tires that they manufacture have used inferior rubber. I've looked at Pathfinder Sport SUV, Firestone Destination, and Toyo. All were around $420 complete. The best deal I found was Firestone Destination for $340. Still shopping around. I am interested in the Baja's too from Fleet Farm. So hopefully some more info. from others on the forum will help decide what to buy.

[hanson]

While maybe not in your price range, BFGoodrich All-Terrains are hard to beat for a hunting/fishing/commuter vehicle. They have great traction in the snow, ice, boat landing, and are fairly quiet on the road. I've put on about 130,000 miles between my 2 sets and have had 1 puncture flat in the driveway. How about that for reliability.

[Ole1855]

hanson,

When you said you have 130k between the two sets, does that mean approx. 65k/set of tires??

Ole

[hanson]

That is correct.

I just threw out a round number but actual mileage is fairly close to that, give or take a few thousand.

I traded my Ranger so I don't know how many more miles the next owner got on them but I had about 60-65,000 on the tires when I traded that truck. They were still looking pretty good with plenty of tread left on them.

I still have the BFGs on my Sierra and I plan on going another year or so before upgrading. I would like to put a new set on before next winter so I should get another 15,000 on them.

[Ole1855]

hanson,

I don't know how much you paid for those tires, I know that when I bought the last set of Bridgestone Dualers, they cost me $125/tire, that's mounted, balanced and lifetime on balance/rotation. I got over 120k on each of the two previous sets, you would of had to buy two sets of tires in the same time as I bought one. I think I'll stay with my Dualer's.

Ole

[lawdog]

Ole, I've never had the Bridgestones, I just said they are made by the same company as the Firestones I had and had to replace at about 37,000 miles! PURE GARBAGE. They are the tires that came on my HD Silverado from the factory and they were junk. The Firestone's they put on to replace them? Not much better I think these are Destination LE's if I remember right. They've been on only about 15,000 and already are showing a bit of wear. The truck is aligned and not driven THAT hard. It pulls some, but it just isn't beaten on at all. There is no way any tire should go that fast.

[Dragonsm]

I have had 2 vehicles come standard with the Wrangler RT/S. Other than not having ANY traaction what so ever, I guess I wouldn't gripe about them to much. First set I got close to 78,000 miles out of and the second set I ended up getting to good of a deal for some brand new Wrangler AT/S takeoffs so I swapped them out. Really like those AT/S. If I wouldn't have gotten the AT/S, I would have gone for the Dueler AT Revo's.

Anyway, in your case, I would give the Kuhmo's a try!

[Ole1855]

lawdog,

You are correct, no tire should wear that fast unless there was something drastically wrong with the alignment.

Ole

[hanson]

Ole-

I paid plenty for them. They are also 285s which is about the biggest tire you can stuff under the fenders of a Sierra without a lift.

Cost would have been less with the 275s or 265s.

The ones I put on my Ranger cost me about $450 with lifetime balance & rotation. I believe those were 31 inchers.

I've been very happy with them. They may not be the best value compared to the performance your Bridgestones are giving you, but I will probably stick with them anyway.

[augernaut]

Thanks everybody for all the help!

At this point, I'm ruling out the Goodyears, even though I can get them for cheaper than the Kumhos (mail in rebate of all things). Just too many negatives outweighing the positives. Now, I'm looking at the BF Goodrich Land Terrain from Wal-Mart vs. the Kumho. I can't say I love the idea of buying tires from Wal-Mart, but you can't beat the price, and they have some nice features like lifetime rotation and balancing, flat repair, etc. The only thing I can find out about this tire is that Goodrich makes it for the Canadian market. I dunno, did a truck head into Wisconsin instead of Canada... Anyways - anybody have any feedback on that tire? I know Goodrich's are a good brand, but this tire? Also, how about Wal-Mart's technicians, service, etc.

[CHODE]

I put on about 50,000 miles a year on my company truck a 2500 CHEV HD I do alot of plowing and hauling! The best tire I have found is Mastercraft not cheap but they are good all around. Great traction and wear life! Spendy but worth every dime! I always ran the Mastercraft AT's But now I have switched to the ct its a little more aggresive. but like I said if you looking for a good all around tire go for the Mastercraft AT. You will be impressed!

I have ran dueller at's before and was not impressed with the winter traction.

Also a good tire which is comparable to the BFG is the REGUL TRAILBLAZER AT (same boxy style at half the price!

[Good Time Ranger]

I have the Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revos. I average about 4500 miles per month. They hold up excellent. I also drive out on the lake alot for ice fishing. I wouldn't buy any other tire than these. They are quiet and that is what I like. Also good traction. Just my 2 cents worth

Dan

[Jeremy airjer W]

Auger, Hold on before you make your tire purchase at walmart. The very best tires,of a particular model, that a manufacturer makes (the most true, round, and balanced)Go to the vehicle manufacturers. The next best go to the firestone, goodyear, bridgestone, etc. dealers, the next best go to the discount tire places and then finally the bottom of the barrels end up at the walmarts/fleetfarms.

So you may be getting the same tire cheaper but your actually getting the same tire of lesser quality.

[The_Duckslayer]

I have the Baja AT's from Fleet Farm as well. They are a good tire with good traction and not an excessive amount of road noise. Did not break the bank when I bought them either!

Airjer... We have bought tires at Wal-Mart and Sams all of our lives. Never had a "bottom of the barrel" tire yet so I can not go along with that analogy. They all come off the same line and get divvied up and I am not so sure that it is by quality either... I know that if I were a buyer for a company and suspected that I was getting a lower grade tire than some one else I would check it out and if that were the case there would be no more sales by that tire manufacturer to me. Just my .02. Have a good one and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo