Which tyres?
 

:o I have no clue. The tread on all four tyres of our Dodge Grand Caravan (people carrier) is nearly down to the indicator in the grooves so the tyres need replacing. I've never bought a whole set of new tyres before, usually just make and mend a couple at a time. Must be either crap roads or crap tyres or both!

So, at the risk of sounding asking a highly subjective question, what kind of tyre should I be looking for? At the lower end of the budget. No snow, very little rain, no off-roading (!), erm what else?

I'm also wondering about going for a national chain like Pepboys or a mom'n'pop kind of place...

Re: Which tyres?
 

The kind that are spelled with an 'i'. :)
On a more serious note, check Consumer Reports tire evaluations.Regards, JEff

Re: Which tyres?
 

We usually go and buy at Costco, they have good prices. When they didn't have what Dh wanted we went to Americas tire company, during one of their sales.

Re: Which tyres?
 

Look for the kind that help to keep you and yours safely on the road!!!

Go for a well known brand - preferably the same as those fitted by the vehicle manufacturer. Yes, they may be expensive and you could get cheap tires. You really want to drive your family around on cheap tires?

Have a look at the brakes while the wheels are off. If the discs look scored and/or pitted or unevenly worn you need to get that checked out; similarly if the pads look very thin they need replacing.

A decent shop will tell you if they find anything.

Re: Which tyres?
 

I would go with a medium price point tire on that case Geoff. I don't know what you have up there. I go to Discount Tyre here in Houston but don't know if they're a national chain.

Re: Which tyres?
 

But one can buy expensive stuff that doesn't last and cheap stuff that does last!

Thanks for the tips, everybody.

Re: Which tyres?
 

Costco. Got sick of bait & switch of most tire companies! Got my last set on my CRV there. They do the job!

Re: Which tyres?
 

I had to buy a full new set in Feb. I ended up with a set of BF Goodrich from Sams Club (like Costco), they were doing free installation. I was about $500 for all 4. Of course these were for my VW Bug.

Re: Which tyres?
 

Funnily enough I am sitting here taking a break from tire shopping and making calls, some of them are thieving bastards ie the well known folk, Costco came out the most expensive which was a shocker, I have been quoted anything from $400 to $781 for 4 tires, yes I am aware that a known brand is more expensive but I care not the cheaper the better lol....so shop around and ask them if they will beat price match other quotes ;)

Re: Which tyres?
 

Yes they are and they price match ;)

Re: Which tyres?
 

Went for Pepboys in the end, just can't trust the reviews of the little shops on the interweb. About $600 all-in, including alignment. Need oil change too which I'm not sure Costco does, plus you have to wait for the tires to be delivered to Costco? Maybe I only looked at ones that needed ordering. Thanks again.

Re: Which tyres?
 

Husband swears by TireRack.com he has bought tires for my car (Mercedes GLK350) his car (Mercedes CLK550) sons car (Mazada Miata) and his dad's car (Honda Accord). They have affiliations with places that will install the tires for you and will ship them directly to them.

Re: Which tyres?
 

Very true, but I agree with Markwm, the same tires your vehicle was fitted with are likely the best - some combination of quietest, most efficient, and longest lasting. I have put 60,000. - 100,000 miles on three sets of Michelins on my Accord, and just put a fourth set on as we approach 250,000 miles. While they're not cheap tires, the cost per mile is comparable with cheap tires only warrantied for 30,000 - 40,000 miles. Everything else counts for nothing if you can't trust the tires to keep you on the road.

BTW I always get tires from Tire Kingdom, I find the prices as good as anyone and they're open until 8pm.

Re: Which tyres?
 

Michelin are great and worth the money, but they are expensive.

Cooper Tire/Mastercraft, worst we've ever had, utter bag of shite that barely lasted 12K miles.

Yokohama, they were good on the previous car for all weather.

Fuzion, we've got them on at the moment and seem pretty decent, good in the dry and snow, not as good in the wet as some others, well a bit louder in the wet, but they were cheap.

Hankook, another budget brand, little noisy but pretty decent for the money.

Nokian, they're the best snow tyres ever but my word you pay for them.

Re: Which tyres?
 

Yokahama were the noisiest we've ever had. but they lasted fine.
Michelin's were the quietest, and lasted well too.
Now I have Uniroyal Tigerpaw on the backs (no idea where Dh got them) nice and quiet too.
and Nokian on the front (Dh is a tire guy at work I don't ask too many questions)
I am a nail magnet and manage to kill tires on a regular basis.

Re: Which tyres?
 

$100 a tyre? The cheapest, lowest rated tyres I could find for my car was $120 a piece and that was a discount deal.

There is something to slightly better tyre over a complete no brand.

Stopping distance can be quite a different, tyre noise too is the big one and the quality of the warranty. Our old Michelin tyres, well the ones that came with the car that didn't blow out did 40K miles, the Cooper tyres did 11.5K before they were on the metal rims and most of the others did about 25-30K. They're 17" low profile all season tyres, picked for slightly better rain and snow than dry performance though.

You drive a posh motor though don't you? So anything less than $200-300 a tyre has to be a deal.

Re: Which tyres?
 

To be honest Bob I have no idea whats on there, will take a peek in the morning, but they have done getting on for 30,000 and yes its a Merc.

Edit I lied 20,000

Re: Which tyres?
 

Z speed rated tires are the most expensive but generally have the shortest life span even if you don't drive fast. Most of the time you want to stay with the same speed rated tire that was originally on the car since the car's suspension was built for that rated tire. Normally you can switch between tire brands with the same rating but they may have stiffer walls or have a different tread so they can be louder and possibly be poorer handling but they could also possibly last longer even if significantly cheaper. However dropping a Z rating by one or two ratings will generally produce significantly longer lasting tires. For example, dropping a ZRW rated tire to an H rated tire will likely last at least double the life span.

http://tires.about.com/od/understand...-Explained.htm

If you're looking to put inexpensive shoes on a minivan, you probably don't need V-rated tires, even if the manufacturer put them on as the OEM choice.

It's hard to understate how important knowing what the speed ratings really mean can be. If, for example, the manufacturer did put V-rated tires on that minivan, it can be difficult to convince many tire places to put an H-rated on as a replacement. This is less about selling more expensive tires, although that ends up being the functional consequence, and more about fears of liability. The “official line” that tire sellers generally get is “Don't ever put on a lower speed rating than what was already on the car.”

Re: Which tyres?
 

I've got Firestone FR710's on my Maxima. No clue what that means -I just had to go and look, but they were a brand I recognized and about the second cheapest available at Tires Plus, 2 years ago. About $500 for the set.

I like Tires Plus as they gave me a store credit card when I was a newbie!

Re: Which tyres?
 

We went for Futura which seemed not too cheap, average all-rounder. Maybe. :fingerscrossed:

No idea what was on the car originally; we bought it used. And yes, we've gone through three tyres in a year. At least one was due to the wife testing the interference factor between wheel and right kerb. The kerb won.

Do CA road surfaces count as off-road? :blink:

Re: Which tyres?
 

I've got Hankooks on mine, got them at Pep Boys (except one mismatched one I got at the dealer when they replaced a wheel for me). Usually I replace them two at a time, about $270.00 for a pair.

They do the job rightly, for my needs.

Re: Which tyres?
 

Got a set of four for SWMBO's car from Sears as they were running a rebate program with Goodyear. Good tyre and very reasonably priced after the rebate.

Re: Which tyres?
 

I went to town fair tyres and purchased a complete set for my t&c which is the same model as yours, and it cost me about $800. They were not the expensive ones but warranty of life for 50000 miles

Re: Which tyres?
 

:frown: The BF checked my tires and they are fine plenty of life left, I was going to have the new ones fitted today, so Les Schwab :wave: never gonna use you guys again, they were the ones that told me I needed a new set, I wasn't gonna buy from them anyways...

Re: Which tyres?
 

Not necessarily. Vehicle manufacturers often have trade agreements in place at the time a car is made, which are reflected in the tire choices recommended in the owner's manual.

As the car ages and tyre technology improves, newer models of those tires (and those from the OEM's competitors) supersede the originals and are, consequently, worth looking at.

Personally, I would make sure that the tires fit the rims, are fit for purpose and the fitters offer a good service and a decent guarantee.

Re: Which tyres?
 

I have just got Kumho ECSTA 4X for my summer tyres, I have the snow tires on now and will wait for it to stop snowing before trying them out.

I have separate wheels and use a small diameter wheel for the snow tires.

Re: Which tyres?
 

We used to have a Durango - the tires it came with were abysmal. They either came with Pirellis and I switched to Michelin, or vice versa - can't remember. The originals would only last 10k miles or so and the shoulders would develop a saw tooth wear pattern so it felt like you were driving over cobbles. When the first pair went, the dealer said they were defective and replaced them for free. 2nd pair, they said it was my tracking, and I had to pay 50% of the replacement, but they fixed the tracking under warranty. 3rd pair (at less than 30k miles!) were about to be replaced when I bumped into a guy on a campsite who I caught checking out my tires (ooeerr missus). He also had a Durango and was checking to see if my tires were as bad as his used to be (they were) then told me he'd solved the problem by switching brands (see above) - I did the same and never had another problem.

Re: Which tyres?
 

First proper spin on the new tyres (remember we're talking a practical family car, not a fancy motor!) and I'm amazed at how different they feel. Even the wife came in and said "it's really smooth!" so I knew it wasn't just my imagination. Or maybe the tracking was so bad previously: could also have caused bad wear I guess.

Re: Which tyres?
 

Sounds like they might have been Pirelli's, they are notoriously soft, and often good for performance and sports cars, but I have no idea why they'd make sense on an SUV. :confused:

Re: Which tyres?
 

I've used Discount Tire Centers, if they have a location near you. Also, once you are in their computer, they can really advise you.