Cooper at3
At 38500 miles I pulled the trigger today and had a set of COOPER AT3's installed.
There was a couple of thousand miles left of the original BRIDGESTONE H/T's, but we're headed West from NJ to Yellowstone and Utah's National Parks in 2 weeks and I didn't want to shop for tires during the trip (5K miles +/-). Once they wear-in, I'll post my thoughts about the investment. The tires, installation and an alignment came out to $744.00 plus tax. (State Tire, Wall, NJ)
I narrowed the choice down to Michelin LTX M/S2 or the AT3's. I planned on the Coopers at first, but checked CONSUMER REPORTS and started considering the Michelins...about $200 more.
The tire guy could get either, but said that he had experience with the AT3 and assured me that they would make me happy!
So far, they are riding as good as the BRIDGESTONES but I have noticed a tiny bit of road noise. I hope that will disappear with a few wear-in miles.
Next week, I'm having the front door windows tinted. It looks like a 20% tint is the best match to the stock rear windows. (Have to get a doctor's note here in NJ.)
In NJ, you have to get a DMV card to be legal. The law is so stupid...the permit is issued to a single driver for a single vehicle. I can get the dermatologist to sign the form for my wife...she has a skin condition. So, if we tint the 4Runner, we can't do her car and vise versa. I guess that people entitled to the medical exemption only ever need to ride in one vehicle and must be the driver. Don't know what might happen if I'm driving the car with her DMV exemption certificate...maybe I have to remove and reinstall the tint depending upon who's driving!
Maybe we should tint her Civic. We can load the luggage in the 4Runner and I'll drive it West with her following in the Civic, protecting her skin!