Tire Brands

[TheKrell]

I suffered a blow-out on the Washington Beltway driving home last night. There was a 3" gash in the sidewall and bubbles around the rest of that sidewall. I think the bubbles were due to my speed when this happened. I called AAA to put on the temporary spare. But nobody can tell me what could have caused such a failure. These were the OEM Firestone tires.

My favored Michelins were about $300 apiece and I couldn't get them this morning anyhow. I wound up with 4 new BF Goodrich tires which weren't much cheaper but were in stock at Pep Boys. These are my first BF Goodrich tires. Anybody have experience with them?

 

[arlo]

Tires and proper alignment on a calibrated rack. Plus a periodically calibrated balancer. And a tech who actually tightens lug nuts in a star pattern and doesn't go to sleep on the impact wrench on the first lug nut. Hard to find a shop with good "techs", as they are called these days. Getting ready to spend a pile for the Evo X and HD.
I shop Tire Rack.
Made my decision on a set of Continentals for the car. Based on not just 'racks reviews but others.
Important to me is treadwear figures. Treadwear warranties are crap. They always find a way to weasel out of them.

So what's the UTQG rating of the Goodrichs? That's the treadwear rating? What about unbiased customer feedback?
I can only offer a few things. If the tires are new and you happen to see 3 of them with an ounce or so of weight and one with a lot more. Reject it. I had a piss and bitch session with a Goodyear store in Florida for that issue.
They blamed it on a wheel. So I said prove it. They dismounted the tire and spun up just the wheel with no weight.
That was after breaking the beads and spinning it on the wheel several times. 2.5 ounces of weight when the 3 others took 3/4-1 ounce.
The wheel was dead nuts. "They didn't have another tire in that size". They ended up bringing one from another store. And it balanced right up. Bastards.

I know people who swear by Goodriches and very few if any who swear at them. Had very good luck with Uniroyals. Had a set that would not wear out. And believe me, I can wear them out! Haha.
Got 65,000 out of a set of Eagle GT's.....in Florida.
After the big Firestone fiasco some years ago. Hard to say you don't surprise me. We call them Maypops up here.
Buy them, don't. I won't.

My sport compact came with Yokohama Advans. It also still has a sticker on the door trim under the window notifying you that they will wear out fast. When I was in Florida in 90+ degrees. The tread was like bubblegum. You could actually sink a fingernail in it. Asphalt parking lots sounded like corduroy. Their UTQG was below 200.
12k, they were done for.
The second set of Advans were still pretty grippy and rated 280 A AA. Not as grippy. 25k mi. warranty.
I got that out of them. But as tread got lower they got loud as hell.
So, Continentals it is.
It was a toss up with Goodyear but kept thinking of the sour balancing denial thing.

 

[navychop]

I believe Michelins will give a somewhat softer ride, but may not last as long- especially from cracking from the sun. But if you're putting ~15,000/yr on them, no sweat.

I had Goodrich before. I think they will last longer but perhaps at the cost of some ride quality.

I wonder what brands Tesla will be installing in another year or two.

 

[primestar31]

Just replaced the wife's expensive Michelins only 1/2 way through their warranty, they were already down to 3 on treadwear after only maybe 40k miles.

I had certificates on them, so the replacements were 1/2 the cost.

 

[NYDutch]

I've been running Cooper tires on my cars and RV's for years with no complaints. A good compromise between wear, traction, and ride combined with reasonable prices works for me.

 

[TheKrell]

So what's the UTQG rating of the Goodrichs?

Darned if I know. The warranty is 65K miles.

Tires and proper alignment on a calibrated rack.

My OEM Firestones were aligned perfectly. That surely did not cause my blowout.

After the big Firestone fiasco some years ago. Hard to say you don't surprise me. We call them Maypops up here.

Aha! What fiasco was that? These Firestones were put on at the factory in 2020. Unless the car was actually built in 2019. Have to check on that as well.

I believe Michelins will give a somewhat softer ride, but may not last as long- especially from cracking from the sun.

I had the OEM Michelins and a 2nd set on my 2012 that lasted for 90K miles. I kid you not. My new Goodrich tires are much quieter and smoother than my Michelins (or the Firestones) ever were. I can explain the "smoother" part by the lower air pressure than the Firestones. I cannot explain the "quieter" part other than appealing to the tread block pattern.

Just replaced the wife's expensive Michelins only 1/2 way through their warranty, they were already down to 3 on treadwear after only maybe 40k miles.

90K miles for my Michelins. Did you pick a performance tire with no mileage warranty?

 

[primestar31]

90K miles for my Michelins. Did you pick a performance tire with no mileage warranty?

Nope, they were 90k warrantied tires. Even the tire shop was amazed they only lasted 1/2 their life and were at 3/32, which is below where they are normally replaced. The replacements were only 1/2 the cost, because they were pro-rated. Car is aligned and tires were all balanced, so not sure what happened here.

 

[Josephinelcajon]

I love buying at Costco just wish they did alignments. Your question is a hard one for me because to me so many details make a difference type of vehicle driving habbits road conditions garage or not the list is enormous to me. I find all the major brands worth it. And BF's seem to be right in the middle of cost quality ride and mileage

 

[waylew]

Just for those who may not be aware,Michelin owns BF Goodrich,and Firestone is owned by Bridgestone.

 

[Foxbat]

I'm currently driving on a set of Michelin Cross Climate 2 tires (or "paws", as Mrs. Foxbat calls them ). I've been through two winters with them (if you can call the meager snowfall we've had lately "winter") and they handle well, are quieter than the Michelins I had on before (I forget the model).

I find the UTOG fairly accurate in my use, except the set of Goodyear directional tread tires I had on my Oldsmobile. They were UTOG 450 and I had those worn down in no time, maybe 15K-20K miles. It was my last set of Goodyears.

I am a firm believer of not skimping on your tires. They are what connect your car to the road, why would you risk you and your loved-ones' lives on saving $100-200?

 

[klang]

I put a set of Cross Climate 2's, from Costco, on my Edge last fall. Very impressed with them so far. Drive on a lot of unpaved Forrest Service roads to get to hiking trailheads and they were great this winter. Quiet and comfortable on the highway as well.

 

[navychop]

I wonder if they'll fit on Tesla wheels (slight difference due to brakes).

 

[harshness]

I wonder if they'll fit on Tesla wheels (slight difference due to brakes).

As long as there's nothing odd about the bead configuration on the wheel (something Ford did with SVO Mustang TRX wheels back in the day), a tire is a tire.

Getting around big breaks is mostly a tire profile and wheel offset issue.