suggestions for new tires?

[runi9]

My girlfriend just told called me about the 4runner needing new tires. Her brother took the driver's side tire off and put the spare on it. He mentioned that the passenger side tire is almost totally bare. I think I might just have to buy her four new tires since she has never replaced the tires since she bought the truck used a couple of years ago.

Just wondering what you think are the best tires for a 3rd gen 4runner? Are there any tips/tricks/strategies/etc. that I need to know about when buying tires? I am in Hawaii on Oahu and I can buy the tires on base if needed as well although I am not sure if they are the cheapest or the best deal available. Thank you in advance.

 

[JayRolla]

First off if one tire is more worn than others you need to fix that. Inner and out tie rod ends, lower and upper ball joints can cause this. Alignment and then tires.

 

[the great him]

we need more info before we go recommending you a tire. i mean i can recommend you a great tire, but it might not be a great tire for you/her... see the thing about tires is there is no one that is best for everything. though there are some good all around tires, they may not be in your price range, or they may not for your application/needs. so first off we need to know the size of tire you are looking for, then we need to know what your are looking to get out of the tire, do you want a long life tire for the hwy or are you looking for a maximum traction tire for the mud/clay and sand? or do you want a all terrain tire that will kinda be a mix? -how much time/percentage of driving do you actually take it off the road and into the mud or sand? do you want a tire that will give you comfort over traction/ability? and lastly we need to know your budget. are you looking to spend under $800 or can you spend $1200 -the more you can spend the more options you will have. remember that tires are the final say in traction, weather thats just dry roads, or rainy wet roads, or mud, -you can have all the power in the world but if you cant get traction it does you no good, same with brakes and cornering, you can have the best of the best, but if you have crap tires, then none of it will matter. not saying you need to spend $1500+ on tires, you can find a good set for around $1000(installed out the door) -thats on the main land so HI might be a bit more. but yeah imo tires are one thing you dont want to cheap out on, trust me -you can have balancing issues that will shake the whole truck cause the tires are not round, or other issues with cheap tires and if you are only replacing tires once every 4-5 years, thats only $200-250 a year for tires divide that by the 4 tires and you are at $50 a tire a year. thats as cheap as an oil change almost. so just some food for thought. let us know what you are looking for in tires and we can be more helpful, again i dont want to tell you "go buy ______ tires and youll love them, they are awesome..." and you hate them because its not what you wanted or something.

 

[Unner]

Definitely check out the prices on base, they are usually pretty good plus no sales tax which is going to be a good bit on a set of tires that run several hundred dollars.

 

[runi9]

we need more info before we go recommending you a tire.

so first off we need to know the size of tire you are looking for, then we need to know what your are looking to get out of the tire, do you want a long life tire for the hwy or are you looking for a maximum traction tire for the mud/clay and sand? or do you want a all terrain tire that will kinda be a mix? -how much time/percentage of driving do you actually take it off the road and into the mud or sand? do you want a tire that will give you comfort over traction/ability? and lastly we need to know your budget. are you looking to spend under $800 or can you spend $1200 -the more you can spend the more options you will have.

I have just returned from the auto shop.

answer to your 1st question:
The tires I have are Michelin X Radial LT P265/70R16.

answer to your 2nd question:
I just want a tire that will last on the road. She only uses the 4Runner to go to work and back and to go around the island. That's it.

answer to your 3rd question:
I don't have a budget for her. I can spend for whatever she needs but of course, ideally, I would like to get a good tire for as cheap as possible. I guess it really doesn't have to be the best since the truck is already quite old but as long as it nice decent tire then she should be good to go. She is quite impulsive so who knows if she might want to sell the truck sometime in the near future. (I highly doubt it though as long as it's running)

 

[the great him]

well then yeah a good all terrain tire would be good but realistically a good all season tire would be perfect

when i bought my lexus gx470 back in december it came with goodyear wrangler SR-As and there were great. they were quiet and very responsive and handled rain and light snow very well. so i can recommend those based on experience -and they are a good price too, like $650 for 4 of them.

another good tire would be the michelin LTX M/S2. i have never run this tire, but i can bet it will be just as good if not better then the above goodyear i recommended. the michelin LTX A/T2 would also be a good choice. a great place to look online is tirerack.com they have hundreds of tires in that size with a lot of reviews for each tire, and they test them in all kinds of conditions.

hope that helps.

 

[StreetCreeper]

we need more info before we go recommending you a tire. i mean i can recommend you a great tire, but it might not be a great tire for you/her... see the thing about tires is there is no one that is best for everything. though there are some good all around tires, they may not be in your price range, or they may not for your application/needs. so first off we need to know the size of tire you are looking for, then we need to know what your are looking to get out of the tire, do you want a long life tire for the hwy or are you looking for a maximum traction tire for the mud/clay and sand? or do you want a all terrain tire that will kinda be a mix? -how much time/percentage of driving do you actually take it off the road and into the mud or sand? do you want a tire that will give you comfort over traction/ability? and lastly we need to know your budget. are you looking to spend under $800 or can you spend $1200 -the more you can spend the more options you will have. remember that tires are the final say in traction, weather thats just dry roads, or rainy wet roads, or mud, -you can have all the power in the world but if you cant get traction it does you no good, same with brakes and cornering, you can have the best of the best, but if you have crap tires, then none of it will matter. not saying you need to spend $1500+ on tires, you can find a good set for around $1000(installed out the door) -thats on the main land so HI might be a bit more. but yeah imo tires are one thing you dont want to cheap out on, trust me -you can have balancing issues that will shake the whole truck cause the tires are not round, or other issues with cheap tires and if you are only replacing tires once every 4-5 years, thats only $200-250 a year for tires divide that by the 4 tires and you are at $50 a tire a year. thats as cheap as an oil change almost. so just some food for thought. let us know what you are looking for in tires and we can be more helpful, again i dont want to tell you "go buy ______ tires and youll love them, they are awesome..." and you hate them because its not what you wanted or something.

After reading this, in my mind — I heard you take a really deep breath.

 

[Gadgetguy]

I've had those michelin's and they last a LONG TIME, like a seriously long time. For longevity purposes those are great tires. If you go with a more all season tire they will run you less $ than real all-terrains. Since you don't have to deal with snow, you could easily get away an all season or a highway terrain.

Tires that come to mind for what you want:
BFG Rugged Trail T/A
Kumho Road Venture AT
General Grabber HTS
Yokohama Geolander H/T

All are good tires with attractive price tags.

 

[the great him]

After reading this, in my mind — I heard you take a really deep breath.

i talk really fast, so it wasnt so bad

also in the world of english, things such as "?" are also periods that end a sentence... just some food for though, yes i know i dont capitalize the first word of a sentence, or a lot of the proper pronouns i use, but then again i didnt expect to get a grade on my posts either, highschool and college were so long ago...

 

[the great him]

After reading this, in my mind — I heard you take a really deep breath.

or were you referring to the OP asking a question that is asked many many times...?


reading someones thoughts online without hearing the inflection in the voice leaves much to be desired, dont you think doc?

 

[runi9]

The Michelin LTX M/S2 looks good to me. But the cost to ship them here is right at $300. So, the total cost would be $954.00 and it would arrive on Monday (8/24/15). But I would still have to pay an auto shop to install them which will be at least $100 for all four tires. So, the real total cost would be at least $1054.00.

I have been told that only three places carry Michelin on this island. They are Sam's Club, Costco, and Lex Brody.

Costco
I called and they charge $179.00 per tire for the LTX M/S2 plus $15.00 per tire to install them. So, the total is about $813 with tax included plus an almost one month wait since they have to order them from the mainland.

Sam's Club
They also have to order the tires from the mainland since they don't have any here in stock. This will take 10-14 business days. But their cost is $772.55 for everything including installing them.

Lex Brodies
They actually have these tires in stock but their price is higher. The original price for everything is $1034.99 but with the military discount, the total price is $970.75.

Winner?
I think I am going to go with Sam's Club and wait the 10-14 business days. The price difference is almost $200 compared to Lex Brodies.

@"the great him" - Thank you for the advice!

 

[02SE]

Check the date code on any tires you're considering buying. I personally wouldn't buy a tire that was made over a year prior to my purchasing it.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11&s_kwcid=AL!3756!10!3780142827!30523985119&ef_id=U3KQJAAABPfvgD4x:20150819074205:s

The Michelin LTX M/S2 is a great tire for the intended usage. Another tire that is in the same category, and seems to be just as good if not better, and can usually be bought for less, is the Toyo Open Country H/T.

 

[runi9]

Great advice, 02SE! The sales rep is supposed to contact me tomorrow regarding whether the tires are in stock at the warehouse. When he does I will request that he only put in an order for me for four tires that were manufactured within the last six months and not a day over.

 

[white_n_slow]

I second the vote for Michelin LTX MS. Great road tire for a truck. They typically last 60k miles. My stepdad's lasted 80k miles (IIRC)on a honda mini van.

 

[JayRolla]

i talk really fast, so it wasnt so bad

also in the world of english, things such as "?" are also periods that end a sentence... just some food for though, yes i know i dont capitalize the first word of a sentence, or a lot of the proper pronouns i use, but then again i didnt expect to get a grade on my posts either, highschool and college were so long ago...

Problem is it's hard to read and I skip posts like yours.

 

[Brique]

Just stay away from wrangler rt/s. My experience with them was that the S stands for s&#+.

 

[ben550]

Michelin LTX MS2 tires are great.

 

[dbartman]

I have just returned from the auto shop.

answer to your 1st question:
The tires I have are Michelin X Radial LT P265/70R16.

answer to your 2nd question:
I just want a tire that will last on the road. She only uses the 4Runner to go to work and back and to go around the island. That's it.

answer to your 3rd question:
I don't have a budget for her. I can spend for whatever she needs but of course, ideally, I would like to get a good tire for as cheap as possible. I guess it really doesn't have to be the best since the truck is already quite old but as long as it nice decent tire then she should be good to go. She is quite impulsive so who knows if she might want to sell the truck sometime in the near future. (I highly doubt it though as long as it's running)

I would recommend the Cooper Discoverer CTS. They are a good all season tire for SUV's. I personally have the Cooper Discoverer A/T3, which is more of an all terrain tire. I just looked on my dealers site and the CTS does have a 70,000 mile warranty. You can check these tires out at Action Gator Tire | Locations in Florida | Tires & Auto Repair and read the reviews.

 

[fblainen11]

I have Firestone Destination LE2s on both my wife's and my 4runner. 265 75 16 on mine and 265 70 16 on hers.
My choice after much research came down to the Michelin MS2 (I think that's the model) or the Firestones.
Both from all my reading suggested they were both great tires with the Michelins being a little better.
Ultimately it came down to the price difference between the two. The Firestones I got for I believe $130 per tire.
I've had mine for about 3 years and 30k miles and they still look brand new. My wife's have been on less than that...about 3 months and 5k miles.
Unless the Michelins come down in price I have no reason to ever switch. I'm sure they're a slightly better tire, but I don't think the extra money is worth it for something I may not even notice.

Firestone LE2s for me.

 

[fblainen11]

I would recommend the Cooper Discoverer CTS. They are a good all season tire for SUV's. I personally have the Cooper Discoverer A/T3, which is more of an all terrain tire. I just looked on my dealers site and the CTS does have a 70,000 mile warranty. You can check these tires out at Action Gator Tire | Locations in Florida | Tires & Auto Repair and read the reviews.

My father just put the Cooper AT3s on his 14 F150 4x4. He said his coworker had a set that went 80k and still looked great. If my dad bought them I'd have faith in them.