Tire shopping for the F350

[casadejohnson]

I'm looking at tire prices for the F350. The current tire size is 285 75 16. The current tires have lots of tread left but also have lots of cracks appearing in the tread and on the sidewalls. I checked the date codes and they approaching eight years old. I'm comfortable driving them around town but concerned about road trips pulling the Bronco. Anyone have something they really like or really hate ? I read a few threads on the diesel forums that say Hankooks are a very good bang for the buck also Coopers seem to be reviewed pretty good. I know a guy locally that can give me a deal on a set of tires made by cooper but sold under another name. I'm not sure how I feel about that but the price is pretty good at $175 Each mounted and balanced. Also, I currently have load range D's but am looking to step up to E's to get the 10 ply. I will probably be getting something in the next week or two.

[BNC04]

My tires have about 6-10 K left on them and I've started to look around as well.
I'm currently running BFG's in 315/75/17 and have run this tire on several trucks but they only gave me about 32-33k when all said and done.
Just a couple more options to throw into the mix.

I've run procomps in the past and liked the life of them but have not run the recently. ( load range E)
http://www.procompusa.com/prodDetail.as ... &plID=3360

I'm also looking at these from firestone as another option( load range E)
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... &tab=Specs

Let us/me know what you end up with.

Brett

[Jesus_man]

I bought a set of these as a take-offs and LOVED them. Trouble is, they have changed the tread pattern since then, so I can't be certain how good they are still. But they had good winter traction and wore really well:
http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tire-sel ... age_header

The only tire I have liked better so far were a set of Toyo MT's I got used. They were awesome in the snow, quiet for an MT and made the truck feel solid in the handling dept. But they are far from cheap!

I replaced the Toyo's with:
http://www.goodyear.com/en-US/tires/fierce-attitude-mt - These tires felt like I was driving on marbles. I could not exceed 70mph without being scared for my life, literally! I passed a semi on the Interstate with a cross-wind. When the semi blocked the wind, I almost swerved into him, then on the other end, I almost got blown off the road.

When the handling went to crap, I replaced them with Cooper S/T Maxx:
http://tinyurl.com/kjrpxxy
No change in the truck handling. Then I sold the truck to my FIL and we were in the middle of playing with tire pressures and I don't know the outcome as I don't think my FIL ever did anything.

So the horrible handling could have been a matter of playing with air pressures the more digging into the problem I did. But it's something I had never experienced before! And the recommendation was to actually take air out of the tire to make it more stable. That seems counterintuitive to me!! I know more pressure didn't help! I can assure you it had nothing to do with the truck itself. I checked and tightened every nut and bolt in the suspension and had my cousin (a ASE mechanic) check it out. Neither of us found anything. The issues started as soon as I mounted the Fierce Tires. I remember that drive from 'Springs to Pueblo vividly and I felt as if I had driven 100 miles on black ice road! White Knuckle for sure!!

[ManTruck]

I use these guys all the time. Usually many $$ saved due to no taxes or shipping, plus the warrenty which can be used in the brick and mortor stores around the country. Just will need to pay for the mounting etc.

Fast shipping and usually have a deal on national holidays if they have your email.

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direc ... lse&cs=285

[Jesus_man]

ManTruck reminded me that I bought from Treaddepot.com in the past. Called them up and got a better deal on shipping then they advertised online. It pays to shop around.

[REH]

I to am looking for a set of tires for my f-350, I am running a set of Michelin LTX M/S2 load rang E. They are not a mud tire but they were good on the ice, good ride, drive nice and quite. I have about 38000 miles on them and they might go another 5000? Which for me is pretty good, I pull a trailer a lot (20,000 gvw goose neck, and 24 ft. stock trailer) I'm happy with the over all performance and may go with them again if I can find a sale. But I'm shopping.

[casadejohnson]

What experience does anyone have with Mastercraft Tires? I believe they are another one made Cooper. I should mention that I'll be looking at All Terrains primarily

[Moab Mike]

I have been running Goodyear Silent Armor tires for the past 9 years on my F-250. I am very pleased with the quality of the tire. Very even tread wear and quiet. They are rated for 50K miles but I usually can get 60K to 65k out of them. Expensive, yes but well worth what you get.

[Digger]

I'm not being real creative here, but I've had BFG AT's Load Range E on my OBS PowerStroke for 5 years now. Can't complain. No dry-rot, tons of tread left. Drives and handle really well.

Had Cooper SSTs before that. They were not bad either, but as soon as they started wearing funny, they went south fast. I ditched them because they were so chopped, I couldn't stand the ride anymore. They may be okay though with more tire rotations than I gave them.

[ZOSO]

Im running cooper STT right now. They seem to be a good tire. At first they were like JD said. Like driving on marbles. But once they got a couple thousand miles on them they seemed to get a lot better. I did run into them cupping really bad in a very short amount of time. I rotated them then lowered the pressure down a lot. I was running the recommended 60-65psi in them. Im now at 45 and they are wearing even with no cupping. They are a little on the noisey side goin down the highway. Our ice storm this morning they did great in 2wd with no weight in the bed. I like the tire overall. I was gonna get BFG A/T's but read a bunch and people say they dont like the weight of the PSD up front and wear out really fast. I also looked into the goodyear duratac's but they were $$$$$.

[Digger]

Im running cooper STT right now. They seem to be a good tire. At first they were like JD said. Like driving on marbles. But once they got a couple thousand miles on them they seemed to get a lot better. I did run into them cupping really bad in a very short amount of time. I rotated them then lowered the pressure down a lot. I was running the recommended 60-65psi in them. Im now at 45 and they are wearing even with no cupping. They are a little on the noisey side goin down the highway. Our ice storm this morning they did great in 2wd with no weight in the bed. I like the tire overall. I was gonna get BFG A/T's but read a bunch and people say they dont like the weight of the PSD up front and wear out really fast. I also looked into the goodyear duratac's but they were $$$$$.

Do you happen to know what load range they were running. Mine are E's and wearing nicely with a PSD.

[ZOSO]

Most were running load e. I took it with a grain of salt as everyone has different results.

[casadejohnson]

I'm really on the fence on this tire thing. I was concerned about my current tires because they have some cracking but everyone I show them to doesn't think they are that bad. Maybe I'm jumping the gun on needing new tires. All tire shops I have spoken with say at the age of my tires I should just replace them. I understand that because they will error on the side of caution for liability reasons and they are in the business of selling tires. So how do I get a real answer? Im considering picking up a couple used backup tires "just in case" for the trip to Moab. It just seems like a shame to toss out what I have when they still have half of the tread left.

[BNC04]

I found an article here
http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/how-old ... tires.html

It's not definitive at all but gives some guidelines.

If it were me and the tires were 8 yrs old and I was taking a long trip with I'd replace them for peace of mind. I just went through this last year with a set of 4 trailer tires that had 3/4 tread but were 11 years old. It was not worth the risk to me.
At best, yours are suspect given the age and cracks. At worst, they are a failure waiting for enough stress to occur in order to fail and the stress it will take is less than when they were new. Not an easy decision as tires are expensive and spending money on something that looks good according to tread depth alone is hard to swallow.

Brett

[Rox Crusher]

Replacing blown tires in the middle of nowhere is even more expensive than here in town.

Replacing a wrecked truck, trailer, and classic Bronco if blown tire causes accident is very expensive.

Taking advice from me doesn't gaurantee a perfect decision but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

[B.O.B.]

I agree with the last two posts. If your are towing with something you like very much getting dragged behind you for a decent long trip then replace them. You can always swap them back out after you get back so you get more
Life out of them and save the new ones for later. Being in the business I see 7 yr d tires and older de-laminating all the time.

On the other note Cooper makes a new at called the AT3. Seems like a great tire, affordable, and has great wear characteristics. Just like anything though make sure you rotate them. These bigger trucks with diesels and especially towing with them you need to rotate about every 3000 miles.

Just my .02

[kchaser]

Taking advice from me doesn't gaurantee a perfect decision but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

To bad it wasn't a holiday inn express. Then we would believe you.

[casadejohnson]

I may have found a compromise, A guy I work with sold his 96 F250 gasser last year and he says he still has a set of tires and wheels for it. Tires are supposed to be less than 2 years old and Load range E. He's going to check on the size for me and we will see if we can make a deal.

[casadejohnson]

Well, Tire problem solved. I stuck a crow bar in the wallet and pulled the trigger. I was talking to my dad who reminded me that I'm going to have to buy tires eventually anyway. He also reminded me that his grandchildren will be riding in that truck so I should not be cheap. Thanks Dad for helping me spend money ! I ended up going to Discount Tire because they are everywhere and seemed the most knowledgable. The plan was to buy Cooper ATP or AT3's but they were not in stock and I was looking to be done with this so I checked out Hankook's, also not in stock. So now were looking at GoodYears because they have a rebate that gets them back down into my price range. So down to Wrangler Dura Trac's or Wrangler All-Terrain Adventurer's. There is no Question that the Dura Trac is a better looking tire but the Adventurer's have a higher millage warrantee (60,000) , they are quieter, they are supposed to be a little better in the ice and snow, and they have the kevlar cord that is supposed to help them last longer and resist cuts/punctures better. I went with the adventurers. I really hate that I have become practical.

[Justin]

Seriously, when did we become grown ups? At least we still play with trucks.

[casadejohnson]

Seriously, when did we become grown ups? At least we still play with trucks.

I know, the kid doing the mount and balance even commented that I should look at the Dura Tracs because " They are BAD F'ING ASS!". I almost changed my mind but then the practical me stepped in and kicked impulsive me in the nuts.

[kbank6]

Thinking of another word like Panocha..... I have had great luck with my Dura Tracs but at least you tire search is done.

[kchaser]

Y'all talked me into it. I needed new shoes badly so I'm going with the Dura Tracs simply because I refuse to grow up. Hell, I don't even know what I want to be when I grow up....

[casadejohnson]

So here it is just a couple weeks shy of 2 years after the purchase of my Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventurer's. I can honestly say that I have had zero regrets in my decision. They have been really good tires and have given me no troubles in 20k+ miles. So, Yesterday I stop by discount tire for a quick balance and rotation. 20 minutes after my truck goes up on the jacks, I see them all looking at my tires and feeling the sidewalls up like like a couple teenagers in the back of moms minivan. Next thing I know they are telling me I need to start looking at new tires. WTF? they just told me I had 10/32" tread before they pulled it in? A little Further explanation , and they tell me the sidewalls look like they could be separating and that it would be covered under the road hazard / warrantee I got when I bought them. The downside is that goodyear no longer makes the Adventurer's so I had to pick something else. I really liked the Michelin's but they only had a strictly highway tire in stock. So now I'm back to the Duratrac's that I passed over in the first place. My first impression is that they are louder on the highway and they don't track quite as well down the road but it may just require some getting used to. Even so, I think it was pretty cool that the discount tire guys found the issue and took care of it. All I had to pay for was new tire warrantee. It was about $100. So, As I see it, I ran the old tires about 23-24k miles and it cost me $100.

If you need tires, call Discount Tire. I bought tires for our expedition from them last year and drove them about 1,500 miles- I hated the tires and told the guys at discount. No problem, they changed them out for me to another tire. The customer service they offer kicks ass.

[Jesus_man]

I've had good experiences in Discount as well.

Well, one store in TX tried to de-bead tires that were beadlocked... and tore the bead. But they replaced the tire...

[casadejohnson]

I've had good experiences in Discount as well.

Well, one store in TX tried to de-bead tires that were beadlocked... and tore the bead. But they replaced the tire...

OK ,
that's pretty funny!


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[Jesus_man]

OK ,
that's pretty funny!

The conversation was interesting.

[Aztec77Bronco]

What experience does anyone have with Mastercraft Tires? I believe they are another one made Cooper. I should mention that I'll be looking at All Terrains primarily

I only run Cooper Discoverer AT/3's on my truck. My Duramax had 155k on it when I sold it and only 3 sets of tires. They ride good, no problems & great in mud & snow as well as highway driving. They were 285/75 R16 E's & I pull a 20' gooseneck flatbed with 19k lbs of cornstalk from Cortez to the house a lot. I also had an Exiss 4 horse living quarter trailer that was 38' from the jack to the tail and was HEAVY, tires performed great. Plus pulling our gooseneck stock trailer back and forth to Delta with cattle & for hay. The tires perform!

My new truck had brand new Mastercraft tires when I bought it. They ride like crap, are out of round (lovely shimmy at 45 mph) and with 5k miles on them look half worn out. I hate them and can't wait for them to wear out so I can replace them. I know from my better half that they are the cheap tire they throw on vehicles that needs tires to sell it. Nothing to speak of for warranty or comfort.

In an F350 you need all the help you can get.