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Car Forum / GMC Cars / July 2006

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TIRES

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<RJ> - 26 Jul 2006 15:31 GMT
I'm starting to feel "dated".

Main tire brands used to be;
Goodyear, Firestone, Kelly, Goodrich, Michelin.
Pickin's were fairly easy.

Recently, I went to the tire place with a neighbor
who was buying a set of tires;

Yokohama ?  Coronado ?  Bridgestone,  etc. etc.

Any of the newer labels give good value for the money ?
Any to avoid ?

<rj>
Tim - 26 Jul 2006 17:20 GMT
Bridgestone has been around as long as I can remember and that's a long
time.

I think they are part of Firestone.

> I'm starting to feel "dated".
>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> <rj>
William H. Bowen - 26 Jul 2006 23:35 GMT
Tim,

 You are correct: Bridgestone is owned by Firestone. Goodyear owns
Kelly and Dunlop and I believe Cooper.

 RJ, there is not enough money on the Earth to EVER get me to buy
anything Firestone makes! Read up on the fiascos with the 721s, the
Firestone 500s and the SUV tires that Ford had problems with just a
couple of years ago. Bridgestone, like Dunlop, is an old UK company
bought out by the Americans. Last vehicle I had Bridgestones on was a
motorcycle in the '70s. My advise on them would be "consider the
parent" and avoid them.

 I'm not that fond of Goodyear either: my last 2 cars had Goodyears
from the factory and they sucked (tread wearout way too soon and tread
seperation problems on the set on my Regal).

 Michelins are good tires - not cheap but wear like cast iron. I've
had good luck with both Yokohama and Toyo tires - excellent tires: as
good as the Michelins but a lot less $$ for an equivalent tire.

Regards,
 Bill Bowen
 Sacramento, CA.

>Bridgestone has been around as long as I can remember and that's a long
>time.
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>>
>> <rj>
Edwin Pawlowski - 27 Jul 2006 03:34 GMT
> Tim,
>
>  . Goodyear owns
> Kelly and Dunlop and I believe Cooper.

Not Cooper
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is a global company that specializes in the
design,

manufacture, marketing and sales of passenger car, light truck, medium truck
tires and

subsidiaries that specialize in motorcycle and racing tires, as well as
tread rubber and

related equipment for the retread industry. With headquarters in Findlay,
Ohio, Cooper

Tire has 60 manufacturing, sales, distribution, technical and design
facilities within its

family of companies located around the world. For more information, visit
Cooper Tire's

web site at: www.coopertire.com.
William H. Bowen - 27 Jul 2006 08:49 GMT
>> Tim,
>>
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>
>web site at: www.coopertire.com.

Edwin,

 I stand corrected - maybe I'll check out Cooper for tires on the
Regal. I had one set of their tires back in the 70s on an AMC Matador
and there where OK.

Regards,
 Bill Bowen
 Sacramento, CA
Mike Marlow - 27 Jul 2006 13:06 GMT
>   I stand corrected - maybe I'll check out Cooper for tires on the
> Regal. I had one set of their tires back in the 70s on an AMC Matador
> and there where OK.

At the risk of public humiliation - check out Pep Boys tires then.  They are
manufactured by Cooper and I believe (though I could not prove), they are
pretty much just a Cooper tire with a different logo raised on the side
wall.

I have had Futuras on different vehicles in the past and have found nothing
wrong with them.  For me, snow traction is a very big concern given the
amount of snow we get each winter.  They have performed admirably there.
I've even had them on my plow truck.  Mileage seems to be well within the
range of "normal" (whatever that is).  All I can really say about mileage is
that I've gotten every bit of the rated mileage and usually more out of a
set of Futuras.  Wet road traction has always been as good as snow traction
as well.  I've never found them to break belts like Goodyears do, and they
ride quite smoothly and quiet.

All in all I'd put them squarely in the category of a pretty good tire.  The
price is such that even if my experiences were in the realm of anomaly, and
you only got 80% of the performance of a brand name tire, you'd still come
out on the winning side of the equation.  I've never had a failure with one
so I don't even consider the likelihood of a blow out or other catastrophic
failure any more than I would with another brand.

Signature

-Mike-
mmarlowREMOVE@alltel.net

William H. Bowen - 27 Jul 2006 23:52 GMT
>>   I stand corrected - maybe I'll check out Cooper for tires on the
>> Regal. I had one set of their tires back in the 70s on an AMC Matador
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>so I don't even consider the likelihood of a blow out or other catastrophic
>failure any more than I would with another brand.

Mike,

 Thanks for the info and I will check out Pep Boys (they have a store
about 2 miles from my apartment).

Regards,
 Bill Bowen
 Sacramento, CA
N8N - 28 Jul 2006 13:43 GMT
> >   I stand corrected - maybe I'll check out Cooper for tires on the
> > Regal. I had one set of their tires back in the 70s on an AMC Matador
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
> so I don't even consider the likelihood of a blow out or other catastrophic
> failure any more than I would with another brand.

I'm not a big fan of the Pep Boys tires - a friend runs them on his
pickup and while there's nothing objectionable about the ride or
handling, the sidewalls are *very* thin - which probably makes for a
good ride - and he's had at least one flat caused by having the
sidewall cut by debris in a field which IMO probably wouldn't have
happened with a tire with a stronger sidewall (although the tire still
might have been damaged enough that it should have been replaced, at
least he would have been able to drive out of the field and change it
at his leisure.)

nate
Mike Marlow - 28 Jul 2006 14:05 GMT
> I'm not a big fan of the Pep Boys tires - a friend runs them on his
> pickup and while there's nothing objectionable about the ride or
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> least he would have been able to drive out of the field and change it
> at his leisure.)

What you say could be true, but we'd only be speculating.  I've certainly
had sidewall damage on tires other than Futuras.  With even greater
certainty, I've had more belt failures with Goodyears than I've ever had
with Futuras.  I generally find tire discussions to be so very subjective
that I limit my own comments to describing my experiences.  I realize that's
exactly what you're doing as well.  I guess in the end when we stack up
experiences we might not really be offering any real insight into the
original question, but we sure did put some of those stray electrons to use.

Signature

-Mike-
mmarlowREMOVE@alltel.net

Tim - 28 Jul 2006 22:56 GMT
For years now I have got tires at Indiana Discount Tire. They have free
rotation and balance, and free repairs. The set on my Jimmy are Arizonian.
Not the cheapest but far from the most expensive. I have not had a problem
with them. Today I noticed a screw in the left rear and took it in. I had
them do a rotation. They fixed the rear tire found another screw in the
right front and fixed it. Rotated all four and my cost was $0.00.

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/findTireSection.do

>> I'm not a big fan of the Pep Boys tires - a friend runs them on his
>> pickup and while there's nothing objectionable about the ride or
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> original question, but we sure did put some of those stray electrons to
> use.
Edwin Pawlowski - 29 Jul 2006 03:31 GMT
"N8N" <njnagel@hotmail.com> wrote in message >>

> I'm not a big fan of the Pep Boys tires - a friend runs them on his
> pickup and while there's nothing objectionable about the ride or
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> nate

How about some facts, rather than speculation.

How thin is thin?  How does it compare with other tire brands?  What made
the cut in the tire?  What would have happened to other brands of tires in
the same situation?  If you post some of the properties of the sidewall and
construction differences, it would help too.    Since you stated that it was
your opinion, I'd like to know just how you arrived at your decision, such
as test data on puncture resistance, sidewall profiles and angle of
deflection, etc.
Some O - 27 Jul 2006 20:10 GMT
>  Michelins are good tires - not cheap but wear like cast iron.
I agree. The only tire I'll have on my car, since '78.
Not only wear very well, but are very safe.
Mike Hunter - 27 Jul 2006 01:02 GMT
Bridgestone is the Japanese company that bought Firestone, then screwed up
the tires they made for the Explorer.  Nearly put Firestone.out of business
and led to the mistaken idea the SUVs were more prone to rollover than other
vehicles.

mike hunt

> Bridgestone has been around as long as I can remember and that's a long
> time.
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>>
>> <rj>
Some O - 27 Jul 2006 20:12 GMT
> Bridgestone is the Japanese company that bought Firestone, then screwed up
> the tires they made for the Explorer.  Nearly put Firestone.out of business
> and led to the mistaken idea the SUVs were more prone to rollover than other
> vehicles.

Correct.  
I've had Firestones on two new cars, had to change them early due to
them not standing up.  Terrible tires.
Tim - 27 Jul 2006 02:26 GMT
check out tire rack I some people I know have had good luck getting tires
from them.

> I'm starting to feel "dated".
>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> <rj>
HLS@nospam.nix - 27 Jul 2006 14:18 GMT
> I'm starting to feel "dated".
>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> Any of the newer labels give good value for the money ?
> Any to avoid ?

Tirerack.com is a good place to get some reviews.

Recently I needed new tires on the Buick, and did a bit of research.  The
Michelins we had on
that car disappointed me.  Only got 40,000 miles on them, and they became
noisy a good while
ago. (I have been a Michelin user for years, and this is the first set that
has behaved this way)

On Tire Rack, I found that one type of Michelin that was available here
locally was panned
badly.   Got a four out of ten as far as 'would you buy again'.

All the tires, makes and models, have supporters and opponents.  A lot of
the positive reviews
come from people who only have a couple thousand miles on the tires.

Finally, I bit the bullet and bought Cooper.  They feel very good, are a
little noisier than new
Michelins, have a 70,000 treadlife expectation, and were $15-20 each cheaper
than the Michelin.

So far, so good.

In the very distant past, I have bought Firestone (rather poor results), BF
Goodrich (ditto), Goodyear
(not too bad, except for the Eagles which were crappo), General (like tissue
paper), Kelly Springfield
(actually under Discount Tire label, these were pretty good.)
William H. Bowen - 28 Jul 2006 00:11 GMT
>> I'm starting to feel "dated".
>>
[quoted text clipped - 39 lines]
>paper), Kelly Springfield
>(actually under Discount Tire label, these were pretty good.)

I'm curious what model Buick you have. I'm looking at very soon having
to buy tires for my Buick - a '94 Regal Sedan.

I've already eliminated from consideration Goodyear, Firestone and BF
Goodrich from consideration. Based on past experience I'm kinda
leaning towards Yokohama and Toyo. You comments about the Michelins on
your Buick are enlightening - which series Michelins did you have on
your Buick? Some of the Michelins are a bit noisy (like the Pilots I
had on the '87 Olds).

Regards,
 Bill Bowen
 Sacramento, CA
HLS@nospam.nix - 28 Jul 2006 12:55 GMT
> I'm curious what model Buick you have. I'm looking at very soon having
> to buy tires for my Buick - a '94 Regal Sedan.
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>   Bill Bowen
>   Sacramento, CA

This car is a 1998 LeSabre, Bill.

Apparently I pitched the paperwork on the old Michelins.  They came from a
local tire shop
rather than a WalMart**.  (The Michelins that got such bad reviews were the
series that
WalMart carries here locally.)  I was surprised to find such poor reviews on
a Michelin.

The tires I finally went with are Cooper Touring SLE's.  Only time will
tell.

I looked over some of the tires you mentioned and would have probably given
them a
try, except that this is a small town and there is a rather limited
availability of choice.  My
wife was going to be on the road, and I just didnt have time to wait.
Tim - 28 Jul 2006 23:41 GMT
If my wife was going on the road I would buy the quickest I could find too.
LOL

>> I'm curious what model Buick you have. I'm looking at very soon having
>> to buy tires for my Buick - a '94 Regal Sedan.
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
> availability of choice.  My
> wife was going to be on the road, and I just didnt have time to wait.
HLS@nospam.nix - 29 Jul 2006 01:40 GMT
> If my wife was going on the road I would buy the quickest I could find too.
> LOL

He,he!! Been there too.

In this case, I wanted her to get back, not just leave.
 
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