I came home to see my tires sitting on my shop's front porch! Yay! The tread is quite deep, but the design is pretty clearly not made to be too aggressive, and focus on primarily on-road capability with off-road abilities. It seems I received the WildPeak A/T. Oh well, same tire as far as I care.

Image of tires with a calibrated reference cylinder.



The tires look sad and a bit deflated. Should be fixed soon! Sadly, my glee was short lived, as I discovered some sidewall damage on a tire.



Even though this is NOTHING, and wouldn't cause issues with the tire (there is a cut within the white section of the rubber I wouldn't trust) I called discount tire and asked what was up. What can I say; I'm a vain *******. I want those letters OUT. Anyway, the call lasted all of 6 minutes, 29 seconds. A new tire will be dispatched and should be here Monday. Minor disappointment, the tires are made in Thailand. Expected at this price point, and I am sure the tires will be a good product. Interestingly, the last Falken tires I bought (FK-452s for my SRT8 in 255/45ZR20) were made in Japan. Max PSI is 50, which feels a BIT low, but its a half ton van.

 

Weird abrasion on that tire. Wonder if it's shipping damage or a drunk guy grinding off the white letters on the tire?

I am a bicyclist and there are a number of mfrs who make their lower line tires in Thailand. And I've had some pretty good experiences with Thai bike tires. That said, I prefer German made Continentals on bicycles (these cost $50-80 apiece for narrow road bike tires), and they make their lower end stuff in India for the most part.

George

 

That looks like that tire was on the side of those tire racks they stack 'em on, for a long travel, and it bounced and rubbed the side for a while. Seen it happen before.

 

Well, I have to give Discount Tire Direct credit so far. They have sent me an email with the updated information, and their paperwork for the replacement of the tire. The invoice indicated they setup a claim with UPS, so they are going for damaged in shipment. I purchased certificates for tire replacement originally, and the replaced tire indicated it will get one of these certificates as well.

Their replacement program seems VERY reasonable, if not downright generous. If the tire fails due to Workmanship/Materials or suffers an irreparable road hazard incident for 3 years or 3/32nds of tread left, they will replace the tire for no cost.

Their return program indicated 100% refund so long as the tire isn't driven on, minus shipping costs.

I have bought 2 sets of tires from them now, and both times (so far) service has been exceptional!

 

New Plan!

These tires are going on my recently acquired van. Its front tires are a whole new level of horrible anyway. NONE of the tires on the thing match.

While I know the tires aren't on a rim yet, look at the difference between 235/75r15 and these 30x9.5 15s



The front tires look AWFUL. Dry-rot, worn to the cords, AND separating.

 

For what it's worth, I have bought, over the last 3 years, 5 or sets of tires from Discount tire and have gotten great service from them. I go to their stores, not mail order. They will match prices from Tire Rack, Costco, or anyone else, so that is an advantage as well.

I have also done well with service and prices at Costco, but they will only put the stock size onto a vehicle and it is quite often that I want something different. Plus Costco has a very limited selection of tires. (Michelin, BFG, and Bridgestone.)

Yeah, 30x9.5's are "just right" looking on a van, but with a 4.6 and a 3.55 axle, combined with an AT tread, they had a noticeably bad effect on fuel mileage. I also like 255/70's (have put them on 3 of my older vans over the years) but they will typically cost 1 mpg or so.

George

 

Love the style of those tires. I think i'm going to stick with my Michelin LTX M/S though. Idk still got a ton of tread on them. There currently on my '95 F-250 PSD. But those tires you have are going to look so awesome on your van.

 

Agree with this 100%! As cool as those 30x9.5/15's look my 245 LTX's are awesome. 60K miles, 4 years and they're just now showing signs of needing replaced sometime before winter.

That's quite encouraging about the online tire dealer---I'm still too old skool though and will probably always visit someone local for my Michelins---doesn't hurt I have a minor connection through one of my customers---emphasis on the minor though---no huge discounts for anyone with Michelin!

99e150CW I'll be interested in your follow up on MPG differences along with ride and handling impressions after a bit.

 

See thats what I don't get I was reading in my DieselPower magazine how they just put a set of F-rated medium-duty tires on one of their trucks because they were burning through tires hella quick. They said there only going to get 60,000 miles out of them. Seems low too me especially for the price. Their mounted on 19.5 inch rims. I've heard from guys in the forums about Michelins like ours going up to 100,000 miles. Maybe i'm missing something.

 

Well that is interesting Red---not sure how to reply really other than to say I paid for a high quality tire that would give me at least 60K miles over 4-5 years. Honestly after that mileage & time I've gotten all the life I expected--in that regard I'm still 100% happy. Mind you I'll go another 10K miles on them before replacement becomes any real concern. I don't want to have 100K on tires if the carcasses aren't still in near-perfect condition---getting "only" 70-75K miles will still make me happy with the Michelin's.

The main concern I had was safety of the entire tire, not just cost or anticipated mileage. Suitability for my needs including all weather handling with an emphasis on dry road traction factored into the decision as did the E rating for my daily driver cargo hauling needs. The Michelin's fit that bill and are still doing it. I could have gone either way in quality and price but with a minor connection I saved $30-40 a tire which isn't small change for the brand. Being honest with you though in 40 years of driving I've NEVER spent anywhere close to $165 per tire ever---talk about sticker shock!

BTW I'm running LT245/75R16's, E rating @ 70psi

 

In my opinion, Michelin LTX M/S's were designed by God for Ford vans. They came OEM on my '02 E150. I pulled them at 55k because winter was coming and gave them to my brother who ran them another 20k on his pickup. I have 50k on the 2nd set of the same tires and could see running them at least another 20k miles easily (before I hit the wear bars) if I didn't need to get thru deep snow with them. As I've gotten older, I don't feel obligated to go down to the wear bars.

In addition to the reliability, the P rated 235x15's have an AMAZINGLY smooth ride quality and wear more evenly than I could imagine any tire wearing on the Twin I-Beam front end. I have had the same experience with Michelin MXV4's on cars--they make a chassis feel $10k more expensive with their ride quality.

Especially in the 15" size, they are not *that* pricey. Michelin does seem to add way more of a price premium to the 16" and 17" sizes.

Again, I could not have imagined getting a better OEM tire on any vehicle.

george

 

That trashed front left dry-rotted tire? It is a Michelin LTX M/T. Previous owners of the van (ASPCA) left records. The tire was installed new 3 years, and 51,000 miles ago. That said; the suspension and bearings on this van were vaporized. If you look at my thread about Rust, you can see what I had to do.

 

If I can afford it on my meager salary will get another set of Michelins, if I'm on the low side I'm going to try treadwright recaps. Look like BFG A/Ts. Still wondering about Goodyear Silent Armors as a middle ground.

 

One thing to check on the dry rotted tire is not when it was installed, but when it was manufactured. There will be a DOT code stamped into the sidewall near the rim which I believe is like xxyy, with xx being the week and yy being the year (or vice versa, I forget).

I have not had a dry rotting problem with Michelins.

George

 

I know tire sizes, was an off road nut, a 235/75 R15 is 29", put a 1/2" tall spacer between the coil and beam of a Bronco II to fit 31" tires on it.
Tall tread doesn't necessarily mean high miles, the rubber compound plays a major role on wear. Great work by the dealer on addressing your issue, I worry about the dates on tires ordered, causing you to end up with old stock.