On Toyo tires, country of origin is actually labeled on the sidewall. I bought all of mine through Discount Tire and actually drove to their warehouse versus just having them shipped. After a talk with the counter guy - they agreed to let me pick out a complete set with matching date codes and all made in Japan. Out of the two stacks they had in stock in my size, only 2 tires were made in Taiwan. If you actually talk to a sales rep - most will go out of their way to get you what you want. Latest date codes and all made in the same country of origin are things to ask for - most will comply with those requests to make a sale, some will not and you get what you get. That's why I went directly to their warehouse - face to face it is much easier to deal with these folks - they get it and don't have an issue with it.
That was a little over a 2hr drive. With the fuel cost being taken into account I saved over $80 versus shipping my tires. Doesn't work for everyone, of course, but to get what I wanted it was worth the effort. You can really save some coin by dealing directly in person with a distributor versus just buying them online from any warehouse outlet. Discount Tire had a nice price difference when I bought them directly at their location. Just takes some research once you settle on what brand you want. Warranty is always through the manufacturer, so that's not an issue. My local tire guy has zero problems with me showing up with a new set bought from someone else and just charges me the base mount/balance rate and does excellent work. If you buy outside of your local shop you will, of course, lose the free rotation that most shops include with your tire purchase - that is common practice.
Rotations included does not mean re-balancing at any shop I've found unless it is within the first couple of weeks of mounting new tires. Given the issues I've had with these Firestones - I have had to pay to re-balance this set twice now which ate the cost difference between those and a set of Toyos. Like I said - live and learn.
If cost is your biggest factor in tire choice - there is nothing wrong with that. But, don't be surprised if what you end up with is a big disappointment. It can become, as in my case with the pickup truck - a true mistake I regret every time I drive the damned thing. They are wearing dead true, so there is some used value to this set I have now and they are popular tire around here. I do have an option to dump them this summer and get a good set on the truck. These larger OEM tire sizes on modern pickups are a known problem - trying to balance 33" tall tires on 20" heavy wheels is not easy and there are some magic combinations that work or don't work. The 17" & 18" stock wheels on the T4R are easy enough to deal with and generally balance easily. If you get a set that doesn't want to balance, demand a refund or exchange for something else and avoid that brand/style of tire.
Just a heads up for some extra insight on a pretty expensive purchase, nothing worse than getting disappointed and being stuck with something that doesn't work as it should.
I will add one thing - my '03 came with a badly worn out set of Michelins in the stock size. These are the common M&S radials used on 4Runners. Despite being nearly down on the wear bars on all four corners - these still bite amazingly well on snow and ice. Even in deeper snows, I can just hit the throttle and they will still pull up until the snow piles up in front of the bumper. I'm a bit torn about going to a full AT tire, but I work construction and the muddy job sites I have to get into will require something a lot more aggressive. Looking at replacement prices those Michelins are actually more expensive than the Toyo - so that makes the decision easier. Those stock tires are quite old - made in 2011 with a lot of dry rotting and no idea how many miles are on them, I suspect it is quite a lot. No signs of any belt issues at all and the tread wear is dead flat and smooth - pretty impressive but that is a sign of true quality.
I sort of look at it this way - either buy the cheapest, best-performing tire you can find for the money and replace them more often, which is not a totally bad thing or, spend the extra coin and get a really high-quality set that will last far longer. On one hand, less money up front and you have sets that are fresh more often. The other way - you run them until they no longer perform at all due to cost. Just a thought.
Btw - it also depends on which 4Runner you have. The full time 4wd V8 that I own will work easier on nearly any junk tire out there. Part-time V6 models will show more sensitivity to lesser traction tires, just fyi.
Sarge
