Since I may not be buying from my original dealer and since I already bought wheels, I am looking for a recommendation of a place to buy tires and installation.

2017 F450 Platinum
22 inch American Force Wheels

 

Les Schwab or Americas Tire at least here in the NW but Wherever you go I always recommend Coopers or Goodyear. Only two brands left that are both American made and American owned

 

I'm in Texas and not sure we have those stores. I have seen discount tire mostly but have never dealt with them.

 

Cheapest prices on tires is Walmart and they can get you what ever tire you want.

 

Discount tires is owned by Americas tire so same thing. Good customer care in my opinion free rotations and all that too

 

I have a friend who tried Walmart and their shipping on tires turned into a nightmare. 8 tires ordered. He drove twice (35 miles 1 way) to the store after the store called him and the store could not find the tires which the computer says were there. They were not actually even shipped. Cancelled order. Two weeks later the store called again and said his tires were in stock.

I might be more inclined to use Amazon (especially Amazon Prime) if I were to order tires other than a dealer or tire store. Local Ford Store will match price of any tire store but it has to be a brand carried by the Ford Store.

 

Who would you trust to install tires if I buy through Amazon? Local ford store? Discount tire?

Since it's a new truck I wonder if they will do more harm than good

 

I would find a good local garage or truck repair facility with a good dynamic balancer. I tend to stick with a local tire store with a national warranty network just to alleviate the "bring your own eggs to breakfast" syndrome. I know that Tire Rack has an agreement with Mavis Discount Tire which can be cost effective. Mavis might be a good starting point if you can't find someone local.

I always know what I want and refuse to listen to tire salesmen about recommendations. They are driven by profit margin for a particular brand or model and are trained to steer you to their most profitable offerings. I have run Michelins for years and every venture away has been a disappointment. The stores don't like them due to a low profit margin and always try to redirect my interest. In this area Dunn Tire has been reasonably good to us and as was pointed out good service means a lot in the tire business. I only wish they understood "get you out of here in and hour" means 1 hour, not 2 or 3.

 

Hate to break it to you but I've seen a large number of Cooper tires with "Made in China" stamped right in the sides of them.

In addition to that, I've never seen a Cooper or Goodyear that would stay round after getting a few thousand miles on them.

 

Anyone with experience with Discount Tire??

 

I used to run Kelley Springfield tires back in the 80s and had good wear and great traction with a fairly aggressive tread pattern. Good Year owned them from 1935 on and absorbed them into Good Year in 1995. It was the oldest tire company in the US. Their prices run lower than Good Year and performance years ago was much better than the Wrangler line from GY. Maybe the Wranglers do better now but I could not get more than 25K miles out of them back then. The Kelleys would give me 35K.

 

Can we please get back on tire store recommendation rather than tire recommendations?

 

Certainly. Find the tire you want then go to their manufacturers website. Look at "where to buy" and choose a store or two or three in your area then go interview them to see which one you feel most comfortable with. Everyone has different experiences even with the same chain or even the same individual store. Establish a relationship with a store and use that repeat customer status to your advantage in the event of a disagreement. One size does not fit all, especially with tires and tire stores. And for the record, Sears Roebuck probably sells the most tires in the country and has the most outlets. Might be another place to look.

 

It's the other way around.

 

I'm going with Nitto Terra Grappler G2 tires. Discount tires can order them so can probably the dealership. I can order from Amazon but I would still need someone to install them