I'm gonna replace my Hankooks sometime very soon after Christmas. By then, they'll have 46-47K on them and will be good candidates for the recycle center.

I've been to Firestone and I really like the Destination A/T.

I love the Goodyears but they're real spendy.

I love the Mich's but they too are real spendy.

I keep going back to the BFG Rugged Terrains. Nice price point at about $150 each, 50K mile tread life and BJ's has a great tire package.

However, today I stopped into Pep Boys just to kill about 30 minutes on my off day and I got an estimate on four Cooper Adventurer A/T's out the door for $649 and I would get a $60.00 mail in rebate lowering my final cost to $589.

Nice tire and fair price, however, on the estimate there is a line item called "TPMS" service kit. It's $9.50 per wheel or $36.00. I've never seen this as a billable item. When I asked the man about this, he said it's a service kit for the TPMS valves and that all tire centers install it, charge for it but don't tell you about it.

Does this sound right?

 

I spoke with the tire guy at Costco last week, and they do the same TPMS service
on their tire service, and charge around $12. I think that was per tire. He had the salesman reasons for
you needing this service.


I've been dealing with a friend who owns the local Tire Factory in our small ville
for years, and asked him about this. His take is that newer vehicles don't need it,
he's not going to do it with the new tires I just ordered from him,
and that it's just an add on charge nowadays from many shops. He also pointed out that if you screw it
up, which he has seen from other tire shops, you can end up with a leak. As I understand it, it's basically replacing washers
under the sensor.


He said he'd recommend it for a wheel that's seen around 100,000 miles. Having dealt with him for years, I'm going with his judgment.

 

I just had new tires put on my 2012 Lariat SCREW 4x4 EcoBoost. I was told as long as I was keeping the factory tire pressure sensors, no service was needed. BTW, I actually got the best tire price from my Ford dealer. 4 Good Year Wrangler Adventurers $960 out the door. Then there was a $60 rebate From Good Year and another $60 for using a Good Year Credit card. Still Expensive but a lot less the the Michelin M/S 2's.
I had the BFG Long Trail T/A & Rugged Trail T/A on my last truck. I was happy with both those sets of tires.
If you want to save $$ you can find take-offs on Craig's List. That's how I started my search but then I decided I wanted to try the Adventurers.

 

I put the Firestone Destinations on our Escape a while back. We were letting the kids take it to school then had a tire problem. The only place open was Firestone. The tires seemed less expensive than other choices so we went for it. At first I was worried because of our Explorer debacle, but so far so good. We like them better than the Michelin Cross Terrains that came on the Escape.

 

My 2012 came with the Michelins. At 42,500 miles they look very comparable to the spare. I'll look for at least 80,000 miles from them. Expensive? Yes. Last longer? Yes.
I've also had good service from the Bridgestone Alenza series of tires and currently run them on my sons Tundra and on a Tundra I had previous to my F150. They are less expensive than the Michelin's and wear and ride well.
I've recently run a set of the Firestone Destinations and managed 22,000 miles before they were worn out. Cheap yes. Expensive in the long run.

 

My truck has Michelin, and I am very pleased with them.

 

I am a Michelin guy, have been for a while... however my 13 came with Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza tires.


59k and still going strong... I will easily get 80k+ out of them.


It is going to be very difficult to talk myself into Michelin when the time comes.


The Bridgestones have been very good so far.... and are much less expensive.

 

That's a report that may sway me into another set of Alenza's when the time comes.

 

Oddly enough, I've never bought the same tires twice. I've always found something that disappointed me be it price or overall quality. I would love for once to find the perfect tire.

I'm talking myself out of the Rugged Terrains, the reviews are horrid whereas the reviews on the Hankook ATm are fantastic and it's a similar tread and similar price point.

My OE Hankooks are still showing 5-6/32's on all fours with 42+K, that's bitter sweet.

 

Just checked. Discount has them for $167.00, $32.00 less per tire than the M/S2.


Customer reviews are 9.3 for the Bridgestone and 9.4 for the M/S2.

 

Michelin LTX M/S2 were always my go to tire, you can't go wrong with them. They are a little stiff however the tread life is great. The only problem I've ever had with M/S2 is the threads clog up in the mud, I never had that problem with BFG's. This time I wanted a more aggressive tread so I went with the Good Year Wrangler Adventurer with Kevlar. I can be cheap on some things, but when it comes to tires I'm always happier when I get the better tire.

 

Already getting some good responses and I'm sure more are to come. Two recently popular tires are the Grabber A/T2 and the Cooper Discoverer AT3. I'll chime in on the later.

Last fall I went with the Cooper AT3 tires due, primarily, to cost. Was looking for an "aggressive" highway tire or a mild A/T, something that would be as at home on a 3hr highway trip as it would on snowy backroads or muddy two track- but maybe more at home on the road. The Cooper has been prefect. Definitely not a good wet&muddy tire, but it drives wonderfully on road in any condition you can think of including 2 feet of snow. 16,000 miles on them and 11-12 32nds tread still, rated for 55,000 miles. We'll see how they hold up in the long run but at this rate the only reason I may not repurchase would be the recent price increases. And, of course, wanting to try out something different for fun.

Addendum: On the BFG Rugged Trails I've read a lot of negative reviews, especially on treadwear. We run Michelin M/S2 tires on the trucks at work and they do very well, even in the worst winter conditions.

 

Earlier this year I replaced my tires. I believe you commented on the thread I had going around that time Tim.

Anyway, I was looking hard at the new BFG Rugged Terrain. They became pretty popular around my workplace, until several co workers had tread separations with them. 1 guy blew all 4 tires out in 2 months and when he finally blew a warranty replacement he just bought a set of Michilins. What made me decide ultimately against them is when a co worker with an F250 and these tires installed was pulling his camper at 70 mph and had a tread separation and totaled out his truck and camper and almost his family in one fell swoop.

I ended up going with the Cooper Discoverer A/T3s and do not believe I could be happy with any other. They are wearing great, they ride great, very little noise, and fits perfect for my needs. I can't speak of traction for snow but rain, mud, dry they perform really well and I would recommend them to anyone who doesn't need an all out mud tire.

Price was cheaper then most I've looked at and trusted (I think only the Destinations were cheaper). Michilins were too expensive to put back on, Toyo was too expensive and out of stock everywhere, and I wouldn't put a Goodyear tire on a wheel barrow.

 

Tim, I'm a huge Cooper tire fan and use one type or another on most of my trucks. Bang for your buck is great and they have always treated me right. I would defiantly take a close look at the AT3, HT and there is another A/T type they just came out with. I believe you will be pleasantly surprised with them.

I had the rugged terrains on a Ranger i had for a bit and they were a good all around tire. I had them on in the early spring so a lot of snow/ice and for a A/T tire they were okay. (i'm used to running true snow tires)

The only reason i may not be going with new Coopers for summer on my F-150 is 22" tire sizes are limited and i would like to up-size a little.


Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

having personal experience with the michelin ltx m/s and m/s 2 tires, I'd have to say you can't go wrong with them. My dad ran them on 3 different trucks over a span of about 12-13 years, two of those trucks became mine. They are great tires and for a long time I thought they were the be all end all of tires. Then I swapped my last set of michelins on my previous truck for a set of toyo at II's because the price was right (the company I worked for bought them). The ride was about the same but you could tell that the rubber on the toyo was a little softer and little bit grippier. The michelins will last forever but part of that is hard rubber that the tires are made with which makes them last forever but you do give up some traction. I would gladly buy another set of michelins but when it was time to replace the stock pirellis I opted to go with the toyos again based on the look I was going for. They were around the same price so I just bought what I wanted