Going Round-and-Round With My Tires
June 29, 2009
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Posted by Aubrey Turner
Last week I finally bit the bullet and bought a new set of tires for the Avalanche. While the OEM Goodyears still had decent tread depth (they only had about 35K miles on them), they sucked in the rain. Further, the right rear tire had a plug in it from a previous encounter with a screw, and the left rear had a slow leak. They were due for rotation soon and I didn’t want to rotate the plugged tire to the front, but at the same time the fronts had developed an uneven wear pattern, so just swapping them from side to side wouldn’t probably be enough.
Anyway, all things considered, I thought it was time to replace them. So I started looking online at the various brands and models of tires and all of the reviews on them. The wealth of information that was available (some tires had over 1000 reviews on Tire Rack’s website) was what really led me down a rat hole. After about a month of dithering, I finally narrowed it down to specific models from Hankook, Continental, and Michelin. All were fairly expensive, with the Hankook’s being the least expensive at just over $850 installed, up to the Michelin, which were quoted on Discount Tire’s website at $1049 installed.
After a final round of dithering due to the cost, I called Discount Tire on Wednesday and they suggested I come into the store to see the tires in person. They didn’t have the Hankook in stock, but did have the Continental ContiCrossContact LX and Michelin LTX M/S in stock.
Wednesday was also the dogs’ yearly vet visit day, so after picking them up at about 5:30 (and dropping $560 into Parkside’s coffers), I rushed over to Discount Tire. I got there about 5:45 and after looking at the tires and discussing it with Aaron (the sales rep), I decided on the Michelin tires (which came out to $997 in the store; I wasn’t completely sure what was different from the online quote, but I wasn’t adverse to keeping the extra $50). By then it was just about 6:00pm and they were supposed to be closing. Because of the delay with the vet, and the fact that I had the dogs in the truck, I wasn’t really expecting to have the tires changed right then, but the manager suggested that they could install them right then and that it wouldn’t be a problem.
I have to say that they were very quick and efficient about it all. They even let me bring the dogs inside while we waited. They had the tires installed and I was out the door by 6:15pm. If you should be in the market for new tires, go see Aaron at Discount Tire in Keller. Other than the hit to the pocketbook (and just when did tires get so damn expensive?), the process was pretty painless.
Now to wait for the first good rainstorm to see how these tires handle. In my short time with them so far they seem to ride smoother and quieter than the old ones. Although I should note for the record that my garage now smells like a tire store.
Categories: Personal Life Stuff
I’m a fan of Discount Tire too. They focus on one thing, tires, and do a pretty good job of taking care of business. I’ve been employed at two different places that sell tires, and needless to say, I usually choose Discount over either of those two places!
I wondered the same thing when I re-shod the F150 at Firestone – $800. I think the big 17” & 18” wheels are an opportunity for the TireCos.
Hi Aubrey, I also bit the bullet last Thursday and replaced my tires. I hadn’t planned on it but came out of meeting to find a totally flat tire. Triple A was on the spot and had me on the road in 20 minutes. Unfortunately, the tire was showing wires and it was basically coming apart. Don’t know how that could happen because I look at my tires every time I walk up to the car. Anyway, I have been buying tires at Discount for at least 10 years. They are reasonable and very quick. This time the place was packed but in 1 hour and 45 minutes I was out of there. And they had cold bottled water as a courtesy for customers. Always good service from them.
Tia
I’ve driven on Michelin MXV4 Plus Energy tires for the past 8 years. I love them, they handle wonderfully in the rain. Cost a fortune, but it’s worth it not to be fishtailing all over the place.
I got caught in a massive downpour on Sunday near Gilmer and for the first time in years I was comfortable driving the Avalanche on a wet road. The Michelins felt like they were glued to the road. When I got off the highway I tried several times to get them to spin out, but they didn’t. With the Goodyears I could spin the wheels just by tapping the gas too hard from a stop.
If you had uneven tire wear on the tread you also need to get an alignment, otherwise you’ll just have the same problem on the new tires (though it could have also been due to improper inflation of the tires too).
Mr Scott,
You are absolutely correct. Because I didn’t want to ruin the new tires I took it to a local shop here last Thursday. They put it on the alignment machine and determined that it was indeed out of alignment. It wasn’t much, but enough to wear the tires a bit. I had them do an alignment on it so hopefully it’s good now.