Sure Footed

Although technically still good, the Explorer needed new tires before the snow gets serious here in NH. I haven't been overly happy with the Michelin A/T's that were on it when I bought it. Oh, they did okay in snow, but wet roads were not as good as I would have liked. At stop signs, to start going, there was wheel slippage even under gentle power. Additionally, two of the tires developed slow leaks, so I was putting air in them every couple of weeks - depending on my TPS to tell me when they needed it.

I thought I would wait until December or so to get tires, but I have been keeping an eye on flyers from local places to see what was on sale, or what rebates were available. The dealer that I normally have my vehicles service had given me a quote of $750 for the same tires that were on the truck plus another $90 for the 4-wheel alignment (necessary for a 4WD vehicle). Yeah, I know SUV tires, especial A/T's are expensive, but if I were to pay that much, I wanted a tire I was happier with.

Thursday I realized there is a tire place about 2 miles from work. So it would be easy to drop off and pick up the truck. I got online and looked at what they had. I recognized a couple of the tires from the research I had been doing, but then I ran into a tire I had never heard of, Kumho, which was not only on sale, but offered a rebate too. They were extremely low priced and I thought that they couldn't really be very good but since they were also Mountain/Snow rated, I went to look them up on TireRack anyway. I was pleasantly surprised that the Road Venture AT51 were well regarded for all the things I was looking for in a tire. The Kumho's were rated as #2 and the existing tires were rated at #5 (and look at those snow and wet traction rating differences - which were my main concerns).

Only snag was that the rebate was only good for tires bought by 10/31/16. I went to the tire place's appointment maker on their website and was pleasantly surprised that I could get in first thing the next morning. So I arranged for various co-workers to pick me up and drop me off, and I was in business.

For about $200 less than I was quoted for tires that I wasn't thrilled with, I got a top rated tire, my TPS service and stems replaced, and 4-wheel alignment - aand that is without factoring in the rebate (which I have already applied for). Between the $$ savings and looking at the nice aggressive tread, and the pattern versus what was on there was enough to make me giddy :D.

Then I drove the 30 miles home, on wet roads. Oh. My. A nice smooth ride on the heaved portions, nice starting from stops on the wet pavement, and no tire noise. After driving to Concord yesterday via highway, once again on wet roads, I experienced the same pleasure. So, as long as they hold up well in the snow, and I have no reason to believe they won't, I am one happy camper that I gave these "cheapy" tires a chance.

Comments

[Ruth]

Nice! We just put new tires on mine, the old ones weren't technically safe to drive on, especially in a place with the sorts of snow we have. They cost just about as much cause the Dodge Caliber takes small truck tires. Something I neglected to notice when researching the car. Oh well!

[Cop Car]

Fabulous! I'd not heard of Kumho tires, either. It'll be interesting to hear your experience with them in several months.