Sounds like the consensus is to get rid of the Contis...

I'll probably be looking at the Michelin A/T2 - I have read that there are some issues with them, but I've always had excellent luck with Michelins, never had a bad tire. So I'll talk to my tire guy and see what he has to say.... There goes someone's Christmas present...

 

I agree totally, got me through the first winter on my '05 but were far from great in snow and after 20k miles were useless in snow and on wet roads. If you have the coin to blow replace them. Been shopping hard for replacements in the last few weeks and anything decent seems to be around $200 per tire plus mounting. I've read good things about the Goodyear Silent Armor's (my first choice) and the Cooper AT's. Can't seem to find either with much of a discount. Anybody got got a lead on a deal?

 

I have 46,000 on mine, gotta agree w/ the others

Other than dry pavement.......pretty much useless.

Rain - not great / snow - forget it

 

The general consensus around here was always that the Conti's sucked in the snow...

 

That consensus doesn't seem to have changed...

 

With a big heavy SD in 4x4... they are marginal in keeping you going forward. There are FAR superior alternatives. What I dont like about them is really their wet performance. Far too often you get the 'uneasy drift'...

 

The OE Conti's are OK in the snow if you have them siped.

 

I agree completely. The Continentals on my truck started splitting around the sidewall where the tread meets the sidewall at 28,000 miles. They were worthless for anything but dry roads. Sucked in snow, hydroplaned in rain.

The local Ford dealer here has the "meet or beat" price deal. I looked up the Wrangler Silent Armors on Tire Rack, printed off the price per tire including shipping, and took it to them. They beat the price by $10 per tire total and I saved $40.

Check around on the internet and check with your local Ford dealer and see if they have the same deal. I believe they all do but I'm not sure. Anyways, it's worth checking out. The Wranglers are load range "E" 275/70-18 for my truck. So far, no issues and the truck is better all around including dry roads, rain, etc. If my next truck has Conti's on it, they'll be replaced before I leave the dealership.

 

While some folks seem to have pretty good luck with them, when I worked in a tire store (admittedly many years ago) I developed a personal dislike for Goodyears. They seemed to have a lot of trouble making a tire round. I couldn't believe how many people came in with Goodyears complaining of vibrations, we'd load the tire up on the balancer and it would be in balance - but out of round. And there's nothing you can do about that. We'd often then sell them a set of Michelins - problem solved.

Now that was a while ago and maybe Goodyear has cleaned up their act. And I've also read the threads here where people are having issues with the new Michelin A/T 2's on the heavier trucks. But based on my past experience I'll probably go with the Michelins - state my concerns when I purchase, and document the inevitable "we've had no problems" for possible future complaints.

That was the easy part, now I got to come up with the cash...

 

Except for my truck once with the Silent Armors, I've been using Goodyears on my passenger cars, the '96 t-bird and '97 cougar - All w/Goodyear GT+4's, Aquatreds, etc.

Never a quality-related issue.

I did use Goodyears on my highboy a few times 20 years ago, never noticed an issue. But then, roundness of tires wasn't an issue with that thing

Jim, get what you're comfortable with, especially when it comes to brands - piece of mind means as much as anything else

 

After my experiences working in my buddy's tire store, I've always put Michelins on any vehicle that I plan to keep for any amount of time, for exactly that reason - peace of mind. But I'll admit that some of the experiences realted here about the A/T 2's on the heavier trucks have me a bit nervous about these particular Michelins. I'll probably go with them, but for the first time in quite a while, it's not a no-brainer. With the quality of so many products in decline lately, it seems an appropriate time to re-evaluate some long held assumptions...

But it sounds like the Conti's have to go...

 

I have run Hankooks for a lot of years and had good luck with them (and they are considerably cheaper then goodyear tires) my personal experience of bad tires is with firestones and if I am looking at a vehicle with Firestone on it I want them changed before I buy it. And believe it or not, it has zero to do with the recent ford firestone problems but rather back in the 70s having 5 brand new Firestone blow out before any of them had 3000 miles on them (actually ahd one of the replacements blow out LOL)

 

Jim, what do you think about the LTX MS? I'm very close to buying a set for my F350.

 

I had a set of those on my 97 250, and they were very, very good. The only thing I found was the wear wasn't quite what I expected - I only got about 45K good miles out of them. But for plowing they had unbelievable low speed traction. I never plow with ballast, but I felt like I had 500 pounds in the back of the truck when it was empty. I would buy those for my 350 if they made them in the size I need (275/70 18 E). What size does your 350 take?

 

OEM are 245/75/17 BFG rugged trail TA's but I am looking at 235/80/17 for the LTX MS.