Sand Sled Tire Shopping Question...
 

I'm in the process of getting the tires on my 4WD replaced.

Thinking of getting 235 Toyo's to replace the 235 Michelins my truck (99 Series I Rover Discovery) came with. I was advised not to increase the tread to 255 by the manufacturer.

I went to a fairly large New England chain - Town Fair Tire - for a quote. Including installation, balancing, and disposal, the bill would be north of $600. I was told subsequent rotations would be free.

Should I keep shopping around for a better deal, maybe from a smaller mom-and-pop type of place? I haven't checked out Goodyear yet, but something tells me they will be similar in price.

It's so easy to overspend on this car.

Thanks in advance!

-WW

First off, you are buying 4 so make sure you check for nationally advertised deals, buy 3 get 1 free...

Secondly, go to tirerack.com and look at what people have commented on various tires. Then check out BJs if you are a member...

I found the set for my tires at BJs and basically paid less thatn a comparable buy 3 get 1 free deal. But never settle for full whack on a set of tires. Hard to do with 2 but easy with 4...

What is wrong with Michelins?

$600 is a lot of coin but aren't those Toyo's gauruteed for life? I guess that's why the free rotating.

I bet Michelins ride better on the hiway.

John-

Thanks, I'll check out BJ's Warehouse (am a member.)

Bruce - the Michelins are great tires, but they don't directly sell the 235's for my truck anymore. They distribute through the dealerships - and all they want is "just" $1,000 to install them. :smash:

*sigh*

bj's had a better price than town fair for my michelins, i didn't give town fair a chance to beat the deal.. should have:smash:

I like Sears, they usually have a some % off coupon in the weekend circulars, plus they offer free rotation for the life of the tires. I like that because Sears are in malls and with kids you can kill the time easier in a mall than in a waiting room.

I have purchased tires on-line from the TireRack in the past but now I think you can do better at the local Mom & Pop tire store.

I used to live in Lynn, MA and my in-laws did business with a place called Bennett Street Tire (781-598-1613) - http://www.bennettstreettireglass.com. These guys buy up odd lots of tires when they can at considerable discount and pass the savings on to ther customers.

I was shopping around for new tires for my Chevy truck (P265/75R16). I was looking at the Bridgestone and Michelin dealers, but they wanted over $160 per tire. Bennett Street hooked me up with Goodyear Wrangler RF-A (Rotation Free Aquatred) tires for $90 per tire installed. NTB or the Goodyear dealer would have been around $140 for the same tire.

The tires have worked great so far. They look sharp and ride better than the original P245/75R16 Goodyear Wrangler RT/S tires too.

It pays to shop around!

That was a great deal gf2020.

I have had great luck with the Cooper HTs
265-75-17 on the pickup, set of 4 mount, balance, tax, old tires left behind $525.00
Great on the beach, nice and quiet on the highway.

I have a set on my motorhome as well, 4 seasons on the beach,
and NO troubles. Good sidewalls, I've seen some horror stories out there sidewall wise with michelin, and BFG's.

Karl - you inspired me to recall what I did for my Bronco. Is that an Off-Road F150 you have :D ? I had that size tires on my 98 ...

I got Uniroyal Laredo AWP 31 x 10.50R15 tires for about $400 with M/B, new stems, and rotation (I think) at BJ's. Decent tire for the coin. Michelins can be overrated and don't fare as well as people think in comparison tests - they are good tires just not incredible like perception has them.

John R..... yes, off road f150 green xcab, you must have esp, didn't even mentionit was a fahd in my post?

I had them uniroyals on an old cj a few years ago, wore like iron,
and went great on the sand.

Karl - I had the same truck 98 F150 XLT Offroad SuperCab (with a 5 Speed :D ) and I think that's the only truck that used that size tire from the factory - Mine was green too - road like an M1 on the sand :( and I miss it but the 5-2 wife had trouble loading a baby into the child seat...

...which is why my wife won't let me get one of those. :(

Hay GF2020-

I just called Bennet Tire & Glass in Lynn.

They quoted me $95/tire (installation, balance, tax) for Michelin 235/70 S 16 Cross Terrains! That blows away just about anything I've looked at, including Sears.

Guess I'm driving up to Lynn....

Congratulations! Tell Gary I said hi. We have those Cross Terrains on my wife's 2002 Ford Explorer. They seem like a pretty good tire.

GF, I drove up there yesterday.

I don't spend that much time on the North Shore, so I got lost trying to find the place, but it was well worth the effort.

Lady behind the counter was shocked that I drove up all the way from SW CT and got there at nine a.m.!

Place was packed. It took a while to get the work done, b/c Saturdays are half staffed and they only work until 1 p.m. But the savings were well worth it!

Thanks for the info - we're going to do the wife's tires there too! She'll love that b/c we can combine a shopping trip in Boston with the tire change. :smash:

-WW :)

p.s. Only $10 for a rotation!!!!!