Firestone Affinity LH30 tyres on 2001 Forester

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Boris - 20 Dec 2006 08:34 GMT

I'm going for a trip: 1,500-2,000 miles altogether. There will be no driving
on snow or ice (during the trip): Southern California and Las Vegas.
Car: 2001 Forester. Tires (I drove 45K miles on them): Firestone Affinity
LH30. 6 months ago these tires had ~7/32 thread left...also one tire had a
nail in it- was repaired.
Should I get new tires right now (before the trip)?

Thanks for any advice.

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Edward Hayes - 20 Dec 2006 13:05 GMT

The tires are in excess of the 5 year max that some recommend. I would
carefully check the sidewalls for cracking or splits. If I found no
sidewall problems and the tread depth was 5/32 or more I would not
change them. JMO Ed

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Body Roll - 20 Dec 2006 19:02 GMT

> I'm going for a trip: 1,500-2,000 miles altogether. There will be no driving
> on snow or ice (during the trip): Southern California and Las Vegas.
> Car: 2001 Forester. Tires (I drove 45K miles on them): Firestone Affinity
> LH30. 6 months ago these tires had ~7/32 thread left...also one tire had a
> nail in it- was repaired.
> Should I get new tires right now (before the trip)?

It depends. If you get a flat you may have to end up with whatever
garbage
a tire shop on your way happens to have in stock. On the other
hand if you get decent sticky tires you don't want to waste lots of
thread
on 2000miles of highway droning. If you have another set of tires you
can pack them as an ultimate spare solution, but your mileage would
drop
not to mention the cargo capacity shrinking in half. Since you're going
to gamble
anyway why not gamble that you won't get a flat? It's an
environmentally
friendly choice :-)

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Stephen H - 21 Dec 2006 06:43 GMT

> I'm going for a trip: 1,500-2,000 miles altogether. There will be no
> driving on snow or ice (during the trip): Southern California and Las
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Thanks for any advice.

Remember also, If one tire goes bad at this time, you will need to replace
all 4

Signature

Stephen W. Hansen
ASE Certified Master Automobile Technician
ASE Automobile Advanced Engine Performance
ASE Undercar Specialist
Currently working at a Subaru Dealership

http://autorepair.about.com/cs/troubleshooting/l/bl_obd_main.htm
http://www.troublecodes.net/technical/
http://www.familycar.com/Alignment.htm

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y_p_w - 21 Dec 2006 18:06 GMT

> > I'm going for a trip: 1,500-2,000 miles altogether. There will be no
> > driving on snow or ice (during the trip): Southern California and Las
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> Remember also, If one tire goes bad at this time, you will need to replace
> all 4

You might be able to get just one shaved for about $30. If the other
ones have enough tread left (I think 6/32" would be plenty) it might
not be such a good idea to dump the rest unless you really want a
different tire.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=18

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Mark T.B. Carroll - 21 Dec 2006 19:37 GMT

> You might be able to get just one shaved for about $30. If the other
> ones have enough tread left (I think 6/32" would be plenty) it might
> not be such a good idea to dump the rest unless you really want a
> different tire.

Are there any bricks-and-mortar chains that will shave tires
competently? I looked around a bit and couldn't find any obvious
ones.

-- Mark

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y_p_w - 21 Dec 2006 21:37 GMT

> > You might be able to get just one shaved for about $30. If the other
> > ones have enough tread left (I think 6/32" would be plenty) it might
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> competently? I looked around a bit and couldn't find any obvious
> ones.

Don't know about chains. The Tire Rack does enough volume to
justify it, and it's seems to be primarily for the race tires they
sell. They could probably do that for anyone near one of their
retail locations. I guess it depends on where you live. You'd
need to find a tire shop and ask around.

I know Tire Rack has a location in Sparks, Nevada. Don't know
if they have tire shaving equipment.

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who - 24 Dec 2006 09:05 GMT

> I'm going for a trip: 1,500-2,000 miles altogether. There will be no driving
> on snow or ice (during the trip): Southern California and Las Vegas.
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> Thanks for any advice.

Whatever you do don't replace with Firestone.
I recommend Michelin.

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Oscar_Lives - 24 Dec 2006 13:28 GMT

>> I'm going for a trip: 1,500-2,000 miles altogether. There will be no
>> driving
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> Whatever you do don't replace with Firestone.
> I recommend Michelin.

Firestones suck.

Michelin or BF Goodrich all the way.

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Stephen H - 26 Dec 2006 05:58 GMT

">>

>> Whatever you do don't replace with Firestone.
>> I recommend Michelin.
>
> Firestones suck.
>
> Michelin or BF Goodrich all the way.

Got Firestones on all my rigs; excepting the Camry and I'm waiting for the
Goodyear's to wear out. Never had a single problem with the tires and the
last count was 10 rigs; Form fifth wheels to motorcycles. Specific tires I
won't put on due to wear habits, but after 4.5 years mounting tires
Firestone and Bridgestone were equal to or better then the competition.

Steve

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Boris - 29 Dec 2006 09:40 GMT

Thanks to everybody who responded.
I just returned from my trip. One day before the trip I put GY ComforTread
(I asked for TripleTread, but local tire shop: America's Tire - didn't have
them in stock). I like my new tires...they are very quiet and seem to handle
well...but didn't have chance to really test performance, because it didn't
rain much diring the trip (and of course, there wasn't any snow or ice).

Boris

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