i need good new tires. are one store's tires better than another?

OK, that is what I was getting at. I didn't want to find the right model tire cheap at some location, and find that they get the REJECT tires, like you get at walmart and sams.

I will check costco, we have one in Houston. Yes, I think we only have ONE in Houston.

 

Hey Scooper, do you have a 4x4 or 2x2..............the Latitude Touring's are not low end, they are meant for on road, where the LTX/MS is a truck tire, harsher riding and noisy comparted to the Latitude.................I guess if you take your truck off road they would work. My Latitude's pull the car trailer with the Maverick much better than the Goodyears, and corner much better too..........................IMHO

 

2-wheel, no offroad, just towing a boat 5 miles each way.

I was looking at those low-end ones as well.

Quiet is more important to me, since I drive 60 miles highway each way to work. And longevity.

 

One thing that you should do is check the date when the tire was made. There's some shops that have tires 10 year old that look brand new and they will charge you the "brand new" price instead of the "10 year old tire" price.


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11

 

Scooper,

I don't know how to break this to you, but THE Latitude Touring ARE NOT LOW END...........................the size dictates the price..........I can get them here in sunny CA for $200 all day long, but in my wife's size they are $305, and the size is smaller............and there are more vehicles using that size tire...................size and popularity dictate the price........
So, in my opinion you would be better off buying the Latitudes than truly a TRUCK TIRE....................................IMHO

 

I agree. A few months ago, I put a new set of Cooper CS4's, on my wifes Chrysler Town and Country. I could NOT be any more happy with these tires. I love Cooper tires. I even have Cooper's on my '73 Maverick. They are VERY quiet and ride, as we say here in North Carolina, "like a Cadillac." I will not buy any Goodyear, of any kind! In my opinion, Cooper CS4, will offer Michelin quality, at a cheaper price. Probably looking at 1/3 less money. The Cooper CS4 is an 80,000 mile tire. I am not telling you the Cooper CS4 is better than the Michelin LTX, but it is a great tire. Keep in mind that the Cooper CS4 is a highway tire. I know they have a tire equivalent to the Michelin LTX. The owner of the tire shop, where I purchased my Cooper's from, runs them on his own vehicle. Just my humble opinion.

 

See.. those who know use Cooper

 

Olerodder, I am sorry if I say "low end" and you think I mean cheap or shoddy. What I mean is when I pull up the Michelins on the websites, the Lattitudes are the cheapest of the michelins. Not low end out of all tire brands and models, just the cheaper of the michelins in the class I am looking at.

So, that puts them in 3rd place out of ALL the tires I am looking at. Not at the bottom below the goodyears and BFGs.

They are actually up around number 2 for me, at this point.

I will need to do a little research on the coopers, since I have no experience with them.

 

Whatever you end up with, steer clear of "Dayton" tires, I've been sucked into 2 full sets, one on our old Blazer, and another on one of my service vans. The blazer never road as good as it did with the Uniroyals (cough) and the ones on the van dry checked within a year

 

The tires I have on now were manufactured the 32nd week of 2010, so there is no reason for the amount of dryrot and tire wear they have at this time.

 

They have a different line of tires built for those companies like you said. They make them to the big stores cost and specs.
Michelin LTX MS are the same no matter where you buy them. They are actually Michelin LTX MS2 now. You pretty much get what you pay for with tires.

 

Yep good logic. I have yet to have a customer not like the Michelin LTX. Especially on trucks. Get a ton of positive comments. Especially after they had Goodyears for a few years.LOL Make sure you get the LT rated for a truck. You'll likely find the P rated a bit soft in the sidewall. We run the P rated on Jeeps etc that wont see the heavy load of a truck. We dont use anything but these on Commercial trucks and RV's anymore. They last and just done come back. A business owner doesnt want to come back with tire issues on his work truck.

I know from installing and balancing new tires that the higher end tires balance up with very little weight on a decent rim. The low end tires can be horrific to get to balance up. We kind of judge the tire quality on this as well as wear.

 

I knew this was going to be a lively topic
Learned quite a few things I didn't know before, like how to read the manufacture dates on tires.

 

Speaking of balance...When I had these installed, there was a LOT of weight added to one of the wheels, which told me something was not quite right....