Tire brands and warranties

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Princess Valiant

Princess Valiant

A.K.A. Rainy Day Auto
Joined
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So I am about to put some new tires on a duster to become the new daily driver rainy mobile and retire the dart for awhile.

I was shopping for P205/75/R14 for all four corners to be mounted on stock 14x5.5 rally wheels.

I got a quote from Firestone. ......40k warranty primewell tire.

Out the door price. $281.33 for a set of 4

Then I got a quote from Wally world .......70k warranty Hankook Optimo tire

Est.. out the door price $276.00 for a set of 4

Are Firestone's even made in USA anymore?
How could the warranty be so different but so close on price?
Which ones would you get??

The car is a daily driver, grocery getter and get me to work car. It even has the fold down rear seat for more groceries and shopping.

Any input?
 
I have found out that when my 70000 mile tires wore out at 45,000 miles, the warranty pretty much means nothing. Unless you get the tires rotated religiously at every oil change or at least under 5,000 miles, and for Walmart it is probably old only at Walmart, the warranty means nothing.
 
Mileage warranty is based on tread rubber composition and wear resistance. I would go with the Hankook Optimo. It’s a better tire regardless of the warranty.
 
You can go to tirerack.com and they tell you the country of origin of the tires THEY sell.

I think you'll find most every 14" and 15" tire is made overseas... they just don't sell many now.
 
My opinion,
Primewell, round, black and cheap. Made in China. I think they are noisy.
Hankook's are the same, just made in South Korea.
If those are the only two options, I'd go with the Hankook's. They are of better quality than the Primewell's.
I agree with the comment about Goodyear's. The quality of Goodyear tires has gotten horrible the past few years.
I'm a big fan of Uniroyal and BF Goodrich Tires. Both are actually made by Michelin and where I'm concerned, (though others will disagree) better tires. Both are made in the USA and have similar price points.
You should also know that, Primewell isn't owned by Firestone, it's owned by Giti Tire (a Chinese company) and is offered by Firestone Autocare Centers as a affordable alternative. Tires and brakes are the two things I would never skimp on when it comes to maintenance.
 
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Some Hankooks are made in Clarksville TN. Don't know about that one. I bought some for my truck and I think they're great. Primewell usually has rounded tread shoulders and didn't like them on my car.
 
I wouldn't put a Firestone/Bridgestone on anything I own. Ever. Anybody whose been in the tire business for a while knows Firestone ain't ever made a tire worth a crap. They make racin stuff and that's about all that keeps them goin.
 
What do you all think about "10 years and replace"? I don't put 5000 miles on tires in 10 years on my garaged 65 as I just don't drive it far at all, everything I go to is pretty close. Even if I drive it every weekend for a year for an 8 mile round trip to the local cruise in and maybe the 70 miles to the Fling, thats still not 5K in 10. Hard to toss a set of 5K mile tires with no sidewall cracking and the nubs still on the sidewall in the Tire stores pile.
 
Get the Hankook tires, and have someone else you trust to mount them. I would never have anyone at Walmart touch my car, ever.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I wouldn't put a Firestone/Bridgestone on anything I own. Ever. Anybody whose been in the tire business for a while knows Firestone ain't ever made a tire worth a crap. They make racin stuff and that's about all that keeps them goin.
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Even still, if they would have been USA made, I would have bought them for that reason and only that reason. Everyone talks about buy American made but when when most are at the cross roads, most will ***** out to save a few bucks JMHO
 
Rainy Day Auto said:
Even still, if they would have been USA made, I would have bought them for that reason and only that reason. Everyone talks about buy American made but when when most are at the cross roads, most will ***** out to save a few bucks JMHO
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I do agree, but I will also buy non American if it means better quality and there are a LOT of quality non american tires. For me with tires, it's not all about money......although a low price is nice too.
 
pishta said:
What do you all think about "10 years and replace"? I don't put 5000 miles on tires in 10 years on my garaged 65 as I just don't drive it far at all, everything I go to is pretty close. Even if I drive it every weekend for a year for an 8 mile round trip to the local cruise in and maybe the 70 miles to the Fling, thats still not 5K in 10. Hard to toss a set of 5K mile tires with no sidewall cracking and the nubs still on the sidewall in the Tire stores pile.
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Not a problem here. In 2018, I clocked16,231 miles on my daily driver 68 dart. Slant six powered rocket with a decent, only decent, not fantastic suspension. The tires on the dart have just about had it and have been on the car since around March of 2017. Not sure how much they were because they were a gift (parents) but they had a good run.

I use these mopars as my only transportation because I think they were made to drive. I am fixin to rack up some mileage on this duster.
 
LocuMob said:
Get the Hankook tires, and have someone else you trust to mount them. I would never have anyone at Walmart touch my car, ever.
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If I were still in auto school, i would want to mount them myself, problem is most retailers won't let you walk out the door with bare tires...... that and I don't have access to that gorgeous balancer anymore. Pffffftt.... graduate they said :D
 
I have had really good luck with coopers. I really like them. I have never warranted one so I can't speak on that. But that may be a good thing!! Lol
 
Hey Rainy, I'd buy those Hankook's and take them down to that Mexican Tire Store you told us about in another thread. I'll bet they'd mount and balance them for you at a reasonable price!
 
Rainy Day Auto said:
If I were still in auto school, i would want to mount them myself, problem is most retailers won't let you walk out the door with bare tires...... that and I don't have access to that gorgeous balancer anymore. Pffffftt.... graduate they said :D
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I ordered my tires from Wally World, picked them up and took them home.
Then I put them on the rims myself and took the tires and rims down to another place and had them balanced, took them back home and put them on the car.
Walmart employees don't touch my car ever.
I'll be damned if some goofy teen is going to be driving my car, even if only to pull it in and out of the tire bay.

Having run the Solar 4XS tires on my car for a year I liked them just fine.
A nice modern tread design 130mph rating and 37.89 per tire shipped, AND you can get road hazard for them.
The only reason I don't still run them is I got to get a set of Ridler wheels and 40 series Nitto Neo Gen tires.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Solar-4X...dssu_85dN7srwoh53uR7OaHRz1ZPCQkMaAvO3EALw_wcB

solar.jpeg
 
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I ALWAYS get Michelin.
They warranty for 10 years while everyone else is only 5 years.
They are always good to great.
 
Rainy Day Auto said:
Any input?
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Any more now days I look at the most expansive and then the cheapest and try to find something in the middle of the road. I purchased Douglas tires and had Wally change and balance, a course I just took the rims in, without the center and beauty rim. I could not trust them to fully understand left and right lugs nuts... Douglas tires I am pretty sure Goodyear makes, but are under Wally's store brand, I choose the same tire size you mentioned.
 
Newer BFG RWL are made by Coker.

Have not had any to judge.

Hankooks did fine on my Dakota in 255/55/17, but were too sticky to last 10 years!
They did better than the factory Goodyears.
I have federals on there now and like them as much or better.
I run those Cooper RWLs on my Satellite and they have been good, although the first pair of 14's had belt separation right after the warranty time. This set has been fine for longer.

Look at traction and traedwear and you can see how compound affects life cycle and grip, and also see a good compromise if both numbers are good rather than a trade-off.

I invested in a scrap yard tire changer a few years ago and it has paid for it's self many times over. I also invested in a pawn shop snap-on hand spin balancer which just barely paid for it's self before it crapped out. Last month I bought a small Coats direct spin balancer at the Carlisle swap meet and it has already given me back $100 from the $375 price tag.
 
I have Douglas on my '97 Ram. Blew a tire in front of Wally world six years ago so I didn't bother to shop.

I've worn a couple and replaced them with the same.

Got Solarus on my Buick...bought them used two years ago. I also have a set of Firestone winter tires.

Bought used for my dually.

I have Bridgestone on my Grand Cherokee.

My last 15 years of owning my Peterbilts I ran nothing but Michelin...overall the cheapest tire you can own.
 
Rainy Day Auto said:
How could the warranty be so different but so close on price?
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Probably different warrenty details. They probably both cover defects in manufacturing, and if include some sort of prorating on wear, its probably just pennies at the higher milages. (for example see post #2 )
Road warrenty is different again. If you're not paying extra, then its built into the pricing.

Rainy Day Auto said:
Are Firestone's even made in USA anymore?
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Some are. Such as these. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Firestone&tireModel=Destination+A/T Go to the 'Spec' tab and it shows that on the far right column.

My suggestions are:
Brand
Low priority, unless you know that there are certain brands you just couldn't stand seeing on the sidewall every time you got in the car. It doesn't have to make sense. It could be because 20 years there were a bunch of recalls by that company, or you just think it looks visually wrong. If you don't want 'em, don't buy 'em.

It is true some companies have targetted certain markets, may have different QC strategies, etc. But just because it says Hankook on it, doesn't mean its a super sticky high performance summer tire. Specific model may be as mundane as the next company's basic tire.

Milage Ratings
If you're putting on a lot of miles each year, use that along with cost to figure your budget. If you can't afford another X dollars for tires until 2022, then the treadwear ratings become important. The UTQG treadwear ratings are based on tires within the manufactures line.

UTQG Traction and Temperature Ratings.
Give these some consideration. A traction rating of A might well be worth a few extra bucks over a similar tire with a rating of B.

Tread and Internal Construction
This should be a high priority. Always choose a tire most appropriate for the conditions its going to be used in.
 
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