new tire brand selection

[white-eagle]

i've got 8 michelin xze tires dated 02 and 03.  stopping at wingfoot, they can put new on for $410 G395.  Michelin says their tires have softer sidewalls and the goodyears will vibrate and ride rougher.  Michelin xze2 $550.  mounted and balanced, each. 

my plan is to replace front 2, moving the old ones to drive axle.  in 6 more months, buy 2 more and do the same until all have been replaced.  Can't afford to buy all at once.

obviously, there are cheaper brands which some of you have indicated before, but i'm hoping these tires will never rot or i doubt if i'll wear them out, so i'll never have to buy new tires again before i hang keys up.  Michelin says their tires are good for 10 years, 7 years under warranty.

any thoughts on hardness of ride, or firm experience opinion on other brands.  i'd much rather pay $250 per tire, but i'd also like to have a smooth and safe ride more.

by the way, the Michelin man says all the brands he sells, including michelin, are going up by about 15% or more june 1st.  bus, truck, atv, lawnmower, all of them.  so buy now?

[JohnEd]

I hear tons of good things about Kuhmo.  Another Asian brand also gets the nod.  I have not a clue about ride.  And, you need to know that.  I rode in a bus that had LOG TRUCK tire on it and it was profoundly harsh and unbearable.

You should also pay attention to NOISE.  Boogie the Cat had spendy Mich on his Crown and he thought the noise was just a characteristic of a Crown.  WRONG.  He replaced his Mich with a different model Mich and everything went to hush quiet going down the road.  Heads up!

John


Moderator Edit:  Replaced an ethnic slang reference with a more acceptable official one in response to complaints.  I don't believe any disrespect was intended, but such slang ethnic references are offensive to many people and therefore best left out of the forum.

[happycamperbrat]

why are they going up?

[JohnEd]

PROFIT!

[happycamperbrat]

just profit for that individual store or is all the stores having to raise their prices? the reason I ask is because in the next couple months I too will be replacing all my tires.......

[hargreaves]

I hope that that word was a slip of the tongue and not a derogatory slang against the Chinese!

[TomC]

Do you really think a sidewall on a tire that you can deflect with your weight when it is not mounted on a rim will make any difference in ride?  I don't think so!  The biggest determining factor on ride is proper tire inflation.  I have Michelin 11R-24.5 16 ply tires that can be inflated to 120psi.  But because of my bus weight (10,500lb front, 20,500lb rear), I run 90psi all around and the bus rides great.  Personally, I always will stick with Michelin-they are the fore front of tire technology (meaning they come out with something new and then the other tire manufacturers sit back to see if it works, and when it does, they too bring it out-think X-ones).  I used to use Dunlap tires on my truck and bus (since they were automatically 16 ply in 11R-24.5), but since Goodyear bought them out, my tire guy will not carry Dunlap anymore since he feels Goodyear are junk (my sentiments too).  Yous gets whats yous pays for.  Good Luck, TomC

[HighTechRedneck]

by the way, the Michelin man says all the brands he sells, including michelin, are going up by about 15% or more june 1st.  bus, truck, atv, lawnmower, all of them.  so buy now?

Looks like either the dealer is adding some increase of their own or he is exagerating to push an immediate sale, but a Google search did turn up that most major tire brands are increasing the prices in May/June:

http://www.moderntiredealer.com/News/Story/2010/04/Nexen-Pirelli-announce-tire-price-increases.aspx

In addition to Nexen, Kumho Tire U.S.A. Inc., Yokohama Tire Corp., Hankook Tire America Corp., Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., Falken Tire Corp., Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC and Continental Tire the Americas LLC also will raise tire prices on June 1.
Kumho: Passenger and light truck tire prices will be raised up to 8% effective. A company spokesman says there also will be additional inline adjustments.

Yokohama: The company will raise its consumer prices up to 8%, and also will make some in-line adjustments.

Hankook: Passenger, light truck and medium truck tire prices will be increased up to 6%, although specific increases will vary by product line and tire size.

Cooper: Prices on all of Cooper's passenger and light truck tires will increase by up to 7.5%. The company says only its tires sold in North America will be affected.

Falken: Consumer tire prices will increase up to 6%; radial medium truck tire prices will rise up to 4%.

Bridgestone: The prices on the company's Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand passenger and light truck tires in the United States will be increased up to 6%.

Continental: Passenger and light truck tire prices will increase up to 6%, while medium truck tire prices will increase up to 7%. All Continental, General and proprietary brands will be affected.

Michelin North America Inc. announced it will raise prices on replacement truck tires sold in the U.S. by 3% to 7% on May 1. The same day, Michelin also will hike its U.S. and Canada ag tire prices by an average of 4.5%.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. also will raise commercial truck tire prices effective May 1. Increases up to 8% will apply to the company's truck tire brands in North America. In addition, Goodyear will increase tread rubber prices by up to 7%.

[bevans6]

I have Firestone FS560 Plus on my bus, rated as an all-position urban/regional tire.  I like them a lot but it's not like I've tried a bunch of different tires.  My guy can get them for about $450 CDN, installed.

edit fixed stupid price typing error...  $50 I wish!  I'd buy people 12R-22.5's for birthday presents if they were $50!

Brian

[robertglines1]

no Goodyears My vote ....I run recaps on drivers..Michelin 225 ea with warranty..315 80R 22.5...FWI I went junk yarding yesterday..saw a truck axle with two near new 315's next to building with hud pilot wheels...told him to price wheels..he said a grand..I said wow that's steep...he said that's for all 6 tires and wheels ...I said sold...09 tires matched set 90 percent tread(Michelin)

[white-eagle]

i'm convinced Michelin's are only a few bucks more, and you get more.  i ordered 2 xze2's for the front, and a wheel alignment checkup, possible adjustment while i'm there.  $525 mounted and balanced. each.  $95 for the front axle alignement.

My drives have spider cracks all around and are 02's.  Don't know what the inside duals look like, but i don't ever want a front blowout, so as i said, i'm starting a rotation of 2 tires every so often until all 8 are replaced.

just in case anyone has any comments about why i should or shouldn't do this.

[Ace]

Tom you should have gotten tires while down here! I just got 6 coopers for 2500.00 mounted, balanced with new stems!

[robertglines1]

What size??could have deal..

[white-eagle]

Ace, is Cooper made by Michelin?  if we're just buyin tires, i could have gotten some other off brands for $340 each, Goodyears for $410 each out the door price.  it only costs a little more to go first class.  You of all people should know that;  that's why you hang with Susan isn't it.  .  it's for sure why i stay with Fran and have an Eagle.

[JohnEd]

Hargreaves,

I hope that that word was a slip of the tongue and not a derogatory slang against the Chinese!

Well, no,actually, it wasn't a derogatory slang statement and it wasn't a slip of the tongue either.  Though I do tend  to make those.  But, I am admittedly cavalier in my regards to that topic.  My generation of cousins has adopted just about every race on the planet and in half breed mixed blood to boot.  I am 1/4 Indian and I have been called various terms.  Also, various terms due to my other conspicuous ethnicity.  I adopted a Mexican American and she various terms to refer to herself and us.  The three black crack babies my cousin adopted call each other "the N word" in every other sentence but none of the rest of the family use the term on agreement.  "Black", and various other terms are all OK in the family and among friends or most times but the N word is out.  My cousin Charles adopted half breed Chinese and Vietnamese and a Korean.  Various terms are used around there.  Again, that is their choice.  I honor their choice and I think my close family ties give me latitude.  I, myself, have rules in that regard and all seem amicable to following them:  MY NAME IS UNCLE JOHN or SIR.  Mr. Grabe was my father and I say those things with a smile.  I guess I am in solid as they bring their sweethearts around for me to meet and they pridefully introduce each of us to the other. ....or at least they did.  Perhaps it would be different if this slang speech was limited to the family but I hear it used commonly in the neighborhood and it doesn't raise even an eyebrow.  I did see a man lose front teeth for calling. Mr. Gabriele "MISTER Gabriele" cause he seemed to spit out the word MISTER and Italians don't take kindly to disrespect.  I guess you can make a slur out of anything.  All of those minority nieces and nephews have WHITE step brothers and sisters born to my cousins so it isn't like we had no choice.  All except one has gone to college and all are upper middle class so please don't think they are low life trash.

If you have a chance to see a movie starring Clint Eastwood that is titled "Gran Torino" please don't pass that one up.  It largely demonstrates what I am saying and is, in fact, where I was born and raised.  Given that we are all products of our environment, I am one of the all and the north east was the site of my beginnings.  Still, perhaps we can come to an accommodation.  I have pet peeves and maybe we could trade considerations.  Who knows?  Contact me off the forum..my email and phone numbers are listed as well as my address.  You might also want to talk to a moderator off forum about your issues and you might very well be within your rights. I am less certain nowadays about everything so I am not betting any money. Hope to hear from you soon

Your friend,

John


Moderator Edit:  Removed ethnic slangs while trying to preserve the intneded points.