Tires Man, Tires

With the way people around here drive, I'm thinking about using my winter tires on my car like boat fenders...

First thing I do when I buy a car is to get an extra set of wheels and mount winter tires on them.

 

Thought about it but unsure, haven't done anything yet. My car has 25 thousand on it. The stock tires that came on it are horrible. I need new tires. Do I buy winter and swap out every year? Or do I buy really good all seasons and some chains for those bad days. I face about 3 weeks total of really bad roads but the rest of the time things are pretty clear or ice and you really can't do much about ice.

 

I've had great luck with bfgs, and coopers. I dont run studs but run smaller tires for summer then go up two sizes for winter. Only buy mt's cause I know I'd get stuck and kick myself otherwise. Had horrible results with pro comp, they were loud didnt balance and wore out fast.

 

I hear that a lot, and has kept me from buying them. I've had good luck with BFG's myself. Luckily a lot of other people still like them, and I was able to find a couple used on craigslist with the same size and rims for spares for little coin.

 

I use Cooper Discoverer ST/STT on my 1 tons. My welding truck weighs in right at 23k fully loaded and I've never had a problem with these tires. Highway, off road, or being pulled into or out of pipeline right of ways with D8's I'm pleased with them. I'm ashamed to admit this, but I honestly don't remember what brand of tires we have on the wife's Hummer They are some high dollar Dick Cepek type that came with it. Ill replace them with either the Coop's or BF Goodrich mudders when the time comes. I do know the Hummer has nitrogen in the tires. My trucks do not. I rotate the tires every other oil change. That's 7,000 miles for us.

 

Time to take the leap and buy new tires. Thanks to the monkeys on here I am researching the brands that had favorable comments. Just looking for all seasons.

 

I really like the reviews on Yokahoma Geolander's. Couple people gave thumps up on cornering. I drive on dirt so so that is a consideration

 

Spares act weird, i knew this but i guess i forgot. About a month ago i put a spare on my truck to fix a flat. I did not realize that the spare was the original spare for the truck which i purchased new in 2004 (F-250). Yesterday it went flat, no hole, no puncture marks. Could have been the valve, who knows. Stupid move on my part, i knew better than to trust a 12 year old spare.

 

Saw something very similar one afternoon on I-5 in SW Portland. This truck was a flatbed. It made me feel like I was an ant.

 

Could have been the valve, or sometimes after sitting that long the bead can lose its seal in a spot. I rotate the spares when the tires are rotated. Of course this only works with full size spare tires and used to be standard practice. For the two grocery getters we have here I went to the wrecking yard and bought a used tire and rim to replace the "donut" spares. I suggest this to everyone that asks me about it as I feel it not only helps with tire wear, but when I was out west, a person could easily be caught out somewhere where a new tire is further than 30-40 miles away, let alone in a SHTF situation. JM

 

Juckyards in California were giving donut tires away free, when I was there. They has stack and stacks of them. That is why I built a trailer when I was there, that used full sized spindles for the donut wheels, instead of the standard undersized trailer wheels. I saved a ton on tires over the years, by sourcing the parts first.
Back here in Ohio, they want about $20.00 each for donuts. With the lighter load, they do quite well.

 

Two words, Tire Chains. I had highway tires on my ram3500, had to do some trail driving, skidding logs, we had a month of rain. Tire chains always got me through the slop!
Easy to put on, amazing traction for extreme conditions. I will never go without again. A plus for me was keeping a nice quiet, high mileage, highway tire.

 

And you can pick them up for free alongside the road after the snow melts...