Sam's Club Tire Fiasco
 

I went down to Sam's to buy a set of new tires for my rig, Dunlop Mud Rovers in 285/75x16. Sam's had the best price for the Dunlops, and I had used them for passenger car tires before and they did an excellent job on the mount and balance, really took care to do it right.

They didn't have the tires in stock, so it was a 4 to 6 day wait for them. No problem! I went ahead and paid beforehand, and got that warm fuzzy feeling knowing my rig was getting new shoes.

Right as I was about to walk away, with paid receipt in hand, the tire tech asks me what kind of vehicle they're going on. I reply, and then he furrows his brow, asks me to hand on a second, and starts flipping through a tire spec book behind the counter.

He tells me that since I've got a 3/4 ton, I'm gonna need load range E tires. The Dunlops are load range D's. Oh boy...here we go!

I ask him to look up the max load for the Dunlops. . .3305 lbs. I then ask him to look up the max load for the Michelin LTX M/S's he was trying to sell me ($43 more per tire, not an aggressive tread and in a 265/75 no less!) Max load for the LTX's - 3415 lbs. vs 3305 lbs. for the Dunlops.

I look him square in the eye, and ask him if he's going to let a weight rating difference of 110 lbs. ruin a $611 sale. . .he replied, "Your truck runs the risk of blowing a tire and flipping over if you don't run the Michelin's in a load range E. Do you want to risk it?"

HA! Needless to say, Sam's didn't get my $611 for the tires.

Anyone else experienced something like this happening at Sam's??

Back 8 yrs or so now I went to sam's club, to get tires on my 95' F-350 PSD DRW, dump,,I had purchased a spare ( truck did'nt come with one), had the tire changer install a new tire on the spare wheel, and keep an original wheel aired up, little did I know,,the spare I got would not go over the center hub( yes I know I should of checked myself),,I go out to my finished truck,,look it over,,here is the front wheel bolted on,,up against the center hub,,not over it the way it supposed to go,,,WHAT THE HELL !!!,,,I go back inside the tech says " well sir,you wanted that wheel on your truck",,Umm DONT YOU THINK YOU SHOULD OF COME AND TOLD ME THE WHEEL WONT FIT ?????? FRICKEN MORON !!!!,,, they were going to let me drive off that way ! Needless to say I made them change it !,,,,,make sure you do a walk around before you leave !!

According to the Tire Rack website, your truck only requires load range D tires (OEM 235/85-16 & OEM optional 265/75-16). Sam's Club site shows all load range E (235/85R16), including your Dunlop Radial Mud Rover.

What is curious is that the Dunlop 285/75R16 is listed as Load Range D, both at Sam's & Tire Rack, yet, according to Tire Rack's info, the Dunlop 285/75R16 Load Range D max load of 3305 lbs is higher than the Dunlop 235/85R16 Load Range E max load of 3042 lbs.

Tire Rack's price of $512 (+ shipping $73-$100 depending on warehouse) is almost the same as Sam's price, but you still need to get them mounted & balanced. Personally, I'd go to Sam's (perhaps a different location) and just get the tires you want.

Jim

isnt it just so frustrating to go into a place like that and
know before even stepping thru the door that you have more
relevant knowledge about what you want than the knucklehead
behind the counter--yet you still gotta listen to his b/s
and in your case you lose out
I avoid all those type places now and do business at a well known local
tire shop--sure it may cost me a few dollars more
but i dont listen to any b\s-i get what i want right away
i would call that sams back and talk to the manager or just go elsewhere
g/l

As a former Sam's club tire mounter many moons ago (did I just admit that?), there was a big push to cover their you know whats to make sure that they didn't cause another Firestone fiasco.

Most places are pretty lax on such issues and most know how to look past the load range and to look at the load rating. Some are more uptight than others.

This is becomming more and more of an issue with all tire retailers.

What's funny is, the LTX Michelen tire he shown you was a 10ply 265/75R16 which is heavier than the spec'd 8ply 265/75R16 that most Ford Superdutys came with.

If he had looked this up in the tire book, he would have known this. Sounds like this guy was a counter-top commando with out a cause.

Did you talk to the tire area manager? I'm sure that would have gotten things settled in your favor.

If you really want the tires, I'd just walk in with the rims and no vehicle.

I had a problem with Sam's a few years ago before I got my Superduty. I had a Sub that called for load range C tires and purchased a set of Michelins but they installed 3 load range c and one that was just the standard tire. Since they were all the same size and all Michelin I did not notice but I was charged for all the C tires. The problem came when I had a blow-out towing. They would agree to replace the tire under the road hazzard but wanted to replace it with the same non load range C. :-huh I had a receipt showing that I bought the C tires but they were telling me that under the road hazzard they had to replace it with what was damaged eventhough it was insufficient for the vehicle. I had to get multiple managers involved to remedy the problem. Once it was resolved, I cut mine and my wifes membership cards in half in front of them. I was buying all of my tires there including my business vehicles. There are others that apreciate our business and can still be competitive with Sam's. It was not the first issue with them and the price was not worth the aggravation.

I just went through the same issue at tire rack. From now on when anybody asks what wehicle I am putting these on I say home made tailer. Philip.

Costco will only sell the size of tire that came as orig. equipment on your truck or car..Most of the other dealers don't care as long as they get their money and since they are locally owned that is where my money will go anyway..Just my 2 cents....

You can put whatever tires you want on there as long as:
(1)The tire can support the load of the truck's GVWR
(2)You don't load up or tow more than the tires are good for.

With load range D tires, you can not load up or tow to your vehicle's max CGVWR, but that's your responsibility to know(no different than your trailer hitch - operator's responsibility)

I know many guys running D tires on their 3/4-tons, but they never haul or tow.

Seriously, the difference is not much, like 100 or 200 pounds.


In most cases, the 10-ply Range "E" tires are not warrantied and not rated for lifespan (30,000mile, 40,000mile, etc.) but the "D" tires are.....they don't want to be replacing your "D" tires when you blow them up.

My D-rated tires have a higher weight rating than the E-rated tires that the truck came with....so you're telling me I can not load up or tow to my vehicle's max CGVWR?

You can load up to whichever is lower, the truck weight rating or tire weight rating. Sorry I was a bit vague and was referring to the example in the first post.

You're right, some D's do rate high.

Your right about Costco, back in the late 90's I used to buy practically ALL my tires through them until this happened. Apparently, most of the chain stores are covering their Arshesss so they won't get blamed for ANY tire related problems that they sell. I tried to get my tires balanced since I bought them there and they refused since it was 2 sizes up from original, even though I bought them there with the so-called life time balance!!! What a joke!

What vehicle do these go on?
 

I was at my local tire shop last summer, and wanted two new twelve in tires mounted on the twelve inch rims I brought in (they go on my boat trailer). The guy behind the counter asked me what vehicle they would be mounted on. I pointed at my 03 SD Crewcab. The guy's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

You made my day LoL!!!

In some cases Sam's does the same thing. The one I went to wouldn't let me the load range "E" Michelin LTX M/S tires for my X. Same size and everything, but a different load range. I went to Discount Tire Co........problem solved! They offer great and competitive pricing on tires, but sometimes Sams isn't worth the aggrivation. :-X15