What are the best, inexpensive tires for daily driving?

[Tray]

What are the best, inexpensive tires for daily driving?

[Jason S]

Can you give a little more information? Information such as tire size, your regular load, on-road or off-road, highway, street/strip, etc. will allow for a better response.

If you have a half-ton with stock wheels on paved roads, I know the Michelin LTX (not exactly inexpensive) on a '86 GMC C1500 Suburban & on a '87 GMC R1500 gave excellent results, close to 100K miles. This was based on the front suspension being in good condition and the tires were rotated regularly. 

[Stewart G Griffin]

i don't know if you have a pepboys in your area, but i've had good luck with the cornell 1000 in 235/75-15 for $80.  i think these are made by kelly.

i've also had good luck with Hankook optimo 727 also in  235/75-15.  Tire rack has them for $96.  A set of 4 is $334.  These tires have a 100,000 mile warranty and a UTQG of 700 (basically NHSTA's treadwear rating).   This is alot of tire for the money i think.

i have heard alot of good things about Kumho, another company that offers a lot of tire for the money.

What i did before was to try the salvage yard---you can often get good quality tires off of wrecks for cheap---like $5, 10, 20 per tire.

[sbx22]

I did a little research about a year ago. I was going for the pro-street look with 15x8 fronts and 15x10 rears but wanted to keep the costs as low as possible. I was between Cooper Cobras and Firestone Firehawks Indy 500's. I decided to go with the Firestones. Have had them for a year now, no problems and handle great on street. If you're going for AT, others may chime in.

[Stewart G Griffin]

i'd like to amend and update my thoughts on certain tires.   The cornell 1000 that i have on the truck is apparently now out of round and i notice the D.O.T. build date is octoberish 08.  i didn't put that many miles on it---maybe 12K.   i think cornells are made either by kelly or cooper.

2) You have to be careful buying used tires from wrecking yards.   Especially check the date that the tire was made and check visually INSIDE and out for any patches or other damage.  i wouldn't buy a tire 5 or 6 years old no matter how good it looks.   i would only buy from wrecking yards that give a guarantee.  The last tire i bought from the yard leaked and they took it back.  So i ended up getting another new Hankook 727.

i think i'm going to buy new from now on.

[Stewart G Griffin]

Unfortunately, i'm not sure if i can still recommend the Hankook 727 Optimo.   i bought a new one, 235/75-15 from Tirerack last week and it is distorted and noticeably out-of-round.   The other 235/75-15 optimo is distorted and out of round (got that one october '11) and the 205/65-15 optimo727 i got just october last year is also noticeably out-of-round.

Now the last two i'll give Hankook the benefit of the doubt as i had the truck sitting for a long period of time so they may have flatspotted and distorted, but a new one shouldn't be like this.  And yes i checked the wheel and the axle flange---both are good.

Right now, everything is smooth, no complaints UNTIL 58 MPH.  That's when it gets to shaking.  Not super bad, but too much to be reasonable.

i think i'm just going to go with Michelin from now on.

[Stewart G Griffin]

edited

[m3talc0re]

I still cast my votes for Firestone tires..

[Dr_Snooz]

I'm super picky about tires. I have a fairly long list of tires I absolutely won't buy, which includes: Pirelli, Bridgestone, Firestone and Falken. That said, I'm enjoying my BF Goodrich KO2's. Michelins are excellent tires, BTW, and well worth the premium when you consider they last for 100k miles without any issues whatsoever.

[srozell]

Best and inexpensive are rarely compatible.

I'm a bit of a stickler for good tires, although I live in the Pacific North West which means I'm running through creeks with algae covered rocks, rain can hit at anytime on greasy pavement, and I have property up north that can get as much as 4' of snow, 4 months out of the year, and I'm often packing or pulling weight.

I leave proper snow (not 4 season) tires on my daily driver all year round. They wear out faster, but you can't beat them for traction.

If you are not frequently in extreme conditions, BFG K02's have a great track-record for all-around usefulness through much of North America. They wear well, are relatively quiet, and hold up in most conditions. I hate them on ice and algae covered rocks however, and I don't believe they belong on a proper 4x4 in a wet climate, but lots of locals swear by them. You can go with the BFJ MT's if you need something more aggressive. I used a pair of BFG's KO2's in Moab with no problem.

I had some really nasty Micky Thompson MT's once. They were hard as a rock and at 120k miles, they still were barely worn. I ended up giving them away. I'm sure MT can make nice tires, but the ones I had came with the truck, and left a bad taste in my mouth for MT.

[Jakethesnake73]

You get what you pay for and jason is right. Not inexpensive but the ltx do last. And they are great in snow

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[75gmck25]

I always decide on what size and type I want, and then check Walmart, Sams and Costco to see what they carry in that size and how much they charge to install.  It usually turns out to be a Firestone, Goodrich, Goodyear, etc., that is cheapest, and that is what I go with.  My current set is Firestone, and the time before that they were Uniroyal.

I also bought my first set of tires (for my car) from Tirerack last month,  and that turned out to be a simple process.  I bought the tires, online, they provided a list of local installers (with prices) based on my zip code.  They delivered the tires to the installer and I just dropped off the car to get them mounted.  The installer is within walking distance of my house, so it was easy to do a drop off and pick up.

Bruce

[roundhouse]

Get a brand name tire that is NOT made in China

You will have to specify not made in China when you're price shopping on the phone
Otherwise the prices they quote will be cheap commie China tires


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[VileZambonie]

although i have wholesale accounts, I often use these guys. If my customer wants wheels and tires, they'll mount, balance and ship them ready to be installed with new lug nuts and road hazard warranty. I've submitted two road hazard claims through them and they promptly shipped a replacement tire without hassle. Recommend

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/home.do