2015 4Runner TRD- New Continental TerrainContact Tires

[GNB]

My 2015 4Runner TRD Pro came from Toyota shod with 265/70-17 sized Nitto Terra Grappler tires . These were in my view very marginal tires at best. This past week-end the right front tire catastrophically failed at about 33K miles with the side wall casing splitting in at least six sections from tread to rim. I have been driving since 1976 and have never had such a failure, and will never purchase a Nitto tire.

Fast forward, I chose t replace my tires with Continental TerrainContact A/T 265/70-17s. I had Discount Tires road force balance the tires. Night and day difference, these tires are aggressive enough for my needs , very quiet , and smooth driving at all speeds. I usually go with Michelin tire, but the reviews on these were very good and at about $153 per tire were least $50 less per tire than the Michelins. I go off road very occasionally, mostly drive in the city and highways. I think the Continentals are good looking tires on my TRD. They rated very high in the important categories, in particular wet and dry handling.

The Michelin Defender was another consideration- but aesthetically , they don't look right to me on a TRD Pro. But if I had a normal 4Runner I may have gone with them.

 

[Bayou_Pro]

Glad you are happy with them.

Just for the record my factory Nittos came off my Pro at 42K miles and still had plenty of life on them. I could have easily gotten another 5K out of them. Have about 25K on the wife's Pro and they are still looking great.

You could have had a bad tire but at 33K miles I doubt it was a manufactures defect, I could be wrong though. You could have also run over something that caused the issue. Could have even been some you hit weeks or months ago. I've also ran Nittos for over 20 years on performance cars and I can't recall ever having a catastrophe failure. I'm not really defending them just say unless you've seen a pattern with these tires failing like this it could be an isolated incident from an unknown cause. Condemning the whole company could be a little harsh but hey it's your opinion.

 

[GNB]

Glad you are happy with them.

Just for the record my factory Nittos came off my Pro at 42K miles and still had plenty of life on them. I could have easily gotten another 5K out of them. Have about 25K on the wife's Pro and they are still looking great.

You could have had a bad tire but at 33K miles I doubt it was a manufactures defect, I could be wrong though. You could have also run over something that caused the issue. Could have even been some you hit weeks or months ago. I've also ran Nittos for over 20 years on performance cars and I can't recall ever having a catastrophe failure. I'm not really defending them just say unless you've seen a pattern with these tires failing like this it could be an isolated incident from an unknown cause. Condemning the whole company could be a little harsh but hey it's your opinion.

Agreed, it could have been something I hit that day or weeks before and I concede this might have happened with any make tire. All I know is at 70 MPH on the freeway having a catastrophic front tire failure is no fun, and thankfully I knew how to handle the situation. Thank goodness no one was hurt. Glad you've had much better long term experience with Nitto tires. This has been my only experience , and obviously not thrilled. The guy at Discount Tires really could not really tell, but he thought I possibly had a puncture ( in /out) at high speed causing a sudden depressurization which caused the sidewalls to split . This is possible, as the tires were all fully inflated prior to my drive that day. I did write Nitto and described in detail the event and result, it will be interesting if I ever hear back and that may influence my opinion about the company.

In any case, the Continental tires I put on are much better suited for my type of driving and hopefully they will live up to their great ratings.

 

[PaulB-2006 T4R]

:worthless