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Tires

CigarAl

CigarAl

Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2005
Messages
623
...so I coming to you all.

Need for new tires for the wife's 2004 Chevy Trailblazer.

I have not purchased new tires in some time.

Any advice? Difference in the major names? Any good sites that reviews tires?????

She does mostly local driving with a few trips thrown in each year.

No need for high performance tires, so traaction and wear are the most important. Especailly since we live outside of Boston and already had two major storms this year.

Thanks in advance.

Al
 
Be careful about gnarly, knobby, mud tires. The look great, give you the traction advantage, but they sing like the fat lady on the highway. Believe the warranty mileage, too. I like high wear, high warranty tires.
 
Ditto Tirerack! got a guy who will mount them here for $9 a tire including nitro!
 
Here is what works for me:

I buy snows for the winter and try to get two seasons out of them. I have found with them and my Alaskan heritage I don't need four wheel drive. Ever. But they do sing a little. So crank up the stereo. Remember tires are cheaper than medical bills or body work
 
www.discounttire.com is absolutely fantastic. They stock a lot more "underground" brands than tirerack for my car.
 
Can't go wrong with Michelin. Best tire out there in my not so humble opinion. Either the LTX M/S, for something that is a little agressive, but rides like a highway tire. Or, Cross Terrains for an excellent all season tire. I have these on my 05 Toyota Tundra, and love them. Might pay a little extra. but well worth it.

I managed a fleet of over a thousand vehicles, experimented with easily over thirty brands of tires before happily settling with Michelin for the last five years. You get what you pay for.
 
jfields said:
Can't go wrong with Michelin. Best tire out there in my not so humble opinion. Either the LTX M/S, for something that is a little agressive, but rides like a highway tire. Or, Cross Terrains for an excellent all season tire. I have these on my 05 Toyota Tundra, and love them. Might pay a little extra. but well worth it.

I managed a fleet of over a thousand vehicles, experimented with easily over thirty brands of tires before happily settling with Michelin for the last five years. You get what you pay for.
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Yep. Michelin makes great SUV tires. I used to drive Ford Explorers when I lived in Minneapolis and always rode on Michelins. The LTX and the Cross Terrains are good choices for rain, snow and dry pavement. I now have a Subaru (needed better fuel economy for the long DFW commutes) that came stock with Yokohamas, but as soon as they wear, you can bet I will replace them with Michelins.
 
I certainly can't dispute how good Michelins are. They make a fantastic tire (I use them for my dirt bike, motorcycle, and bicycle as well), but they do cost more than other brands in my experience. Are they worth it? Tough to say. It all depends on what your priorities are. They do make a fantastic tire in general, their performance in MotoGP this year not withstanding...
 
Due to the extreme temp. changes through the seasons, you will only be making a compromise on traction and mileage. You may get a better "summer" tire than a winter tire. A good snow tire in the summer will chew through the tread. A good summer tire will be too hard in the winter to grip the cold road. And that's just talking about temp. never mind the whole ice/rain equation. I would recommend that you buy a set of winter/snow tires and wheels and a set of summer tires.

Tirerack.com is one of the best for price, but go to what ever is available online with a real shop you can go to for repairs or rotations. In AZ Discounttire.com has stores all over so I use them, even though Tirerack.com usually has better prices.

Blizzack(sp?) tires for the winter a Micheline for the summer. IMHO
 
jfields said:
Can't go wrong with Michelin. Best tire out there in my not so humble opinion. Either the LTX M/S, for something that is a little agressive, but rides like a highway tire. Or, Cross Terrains for an excellent all season tire. I have these on my 05 Toyota Tundra, and love them. Might pay a little extra. but well worth it.

I managed a fleet of over a thousand vehicles, experimented with easily over thirty brands of tires before happily settling with Michelin for the last five years. You get what you pay for.
Click to expand...
X3.

My wife's BMW X3 has just about wasted the fancy and oh so soft Bridgestone's that came with it in about 25K. When the wear bars say so (probably this year), I'll be putting Michelin's on it. Fair warning that 18" performance SUV tires, no matter who makes them, aren't cheap. Think four boxes of Padron 80th's and you have the right idea...... :laugh:

On my VW Jetta TDI at about 50K I replaced the OEM Michelin's with a set of Yokohama YK520's and I've been very happy with them. They are very good tires for the money and are wearing fantastically. It's not a performance car, though the traction control light seems to come on an awful lot when I'm in a hurry.... :p In any event, if you were in the market for a cheaper tire than the Michelin's, you should give the new Yokohama's a look. Were the Michelin's better....?? Not much, on this car. FYI the replacement Michelin's for this car were about $130.00 each and these Yokahama's were about $90.00. I'd buy them again for a commuter car, to be sure.

Good luck - B.B.S.
 
Michelins are hands down the best tires for the money. They wear like iron AND are great in the rain. I could give a rat's ass about "performance" since I don't drive 90+mph (like Gary.... :whistling: ) these days :laugh:

Michelins almost never need to be rebalanced as they wear like those damned Pirellis. :angry: Pirellis SUCK. Uniroyals supposedly have better wear rating than Michelins but I've never had them last anywhere near as long as Michelins.

Bridgestone Blizzaks are probably the best snow tire you can get.

Coopers wear out very quickly and cheap, off-brands are NOT worth the savings. You'll wear out three or four sets of crappy tires before one set of Michelins.

Ditto on tirerack! :thumbs: They also sell winter "packages" complete with rims AND mounting and balancing.
 
Al, don't forget about Walmart. Go on their website and see what's on sale. They'll ship em' to your local Walmart for free and let you know when they're in. I got a great deal on 4 tires for my Jeep and I will most likely go back to them again the next time....... :) :thumbs: :cool:
 
BFG makes a good AT tire as well, and I agree with the afore mentioned www.discounttiredirect.com, I ordered 4 z rated tires for my Camaro and was def pleased with the service- no tax if out of state, and most of the time free shipping.... Michelin if in my price range would be first choice tho, they are known for high mileage! d
 
I'll pile on with the Michelin crowd. However, I think it's usually best to go with what came on the car/truck to begin with - unless you have some reason to change. Sometimes the factory spec tire is chosen for a good reason, and I do not presume to know more about my car than the engineers who designed/built it.
 
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