Auto Tire Ratings & Warranty

[denverpilot]

No biggie. We always get off track here. But it was good to see a good review of the Generals. We had another tire thread here before, and it's available via the search engine. And of course, any brand specific vehicle forum is really where to go for tire reviews... We pilots probably overspend on tires, being we have too many "preparedness" genes built in, whereas on the truck and car forums you have folks who know a flat tire isn't the end of the world in the modern age of $7 annual towing and roadside assistance. Heh.

 

[SomeTexan]

Racers that have gone fast will overspend too. 6 second 1/4 mile rail, shredded the right rear on the launch. The wall bent my car in half. Then there was the blown front on my gsxr at road Atlanta that ended in a 2 piece motorcycle and 8 broken bones. Rim caught the apex and high-sided me.

When it comes to tires, no matter what you buy, don't push the life too far. Mileage or age.

 

[asechrest]

I am a budget tire buyer driving a Corolla with 80% of my driving on the highway, so YMMreallyV. I've been very happy with my last two sets of Kumho tires.

 

[mrkbbd]

In 2011 we bought some Bridgestone Dueller A/T Alenza 695LT P265-70R16s
for the 4-Runner. They came with a 80,000mi rating.

Purchase mileage was 64,500mi, now we are at 101,000mi ie 36,500mi and they are down to the wear indicators.

We drive 40% highway 60% in town, 1% gravel road, keep them at 32psi, never corner hard, never tow, and they are wearing evenly.

Is the 80,000mi rating a loose suggestion, or is it a hard & fast, 'we warrant'?

I just put Continental DWSs on my SUV and they have an actual tread warranty according to the pamphlet...they also included road hazard which I have already used

 

[Ghery]

80k from bridgestone's? They are usually fairly soft for their class and grip well, but long life isn't their strong point. You might look into an E load rated high mileage tire, like used on 3/4 and 1-ton trucks. Little rougher ride, but they are designed to last.

The only set of Bridgestones I've ever had were the original equipment tires on a 1974 Subaru. I don't think I got 15,000 miles out of them. Now, they were bias belted tires (remember those?). They got so thin I put rocks through them on a gravel road and they obviously went flat. I put some Firestone Steel Radial 500s on to replace them. Never again have I purchased Firestone tires. They weren't round and two got replaced due to that defect. I think those ultimately got replaced by Michelin tires.

I ran Michelins for years on various cars and had great luck with them. Got about 80,000 miles out of a set on our old 1981 Buick Skylark. I wondered if those tires were ever going to wear out.

Our 1986 Dodge van came with Goodyear Vector tires. What they were thinking putting passenger car tires on a 3/4 ton van I'll never know. They didn't last much over 25,000 miles. Pretty sure they were replaced with an appropriately rated Michelin tire. Those lasted much better.

My Jeep Wrangler came with Goodyear Wrangler GSA tires. I know, I've heard the joke - GSA stood for "Get Stuck Anywhere". They actually worked reasonably well. Would have been better off road if I had locking differentials. I've run nothing but various flavors of Goodyear Wranglers on that vehicle over the past 15 years (and 188,000 miles). They work well for what it is used for.

Continental provided the original tires on my 2013 Ford Escape. Still going at 27,000 miles. We'll see how they do...

Mileage ratings give the manufacturer something to base pro-rating the warranty on. Other than that I'm not sure what they do. I haven't replaced a tire on warranty in so long I really don't remember doing it. Good luck and have fun.