New Car Tires?

Truth or Fiction?
Are the tires the manufactures put on new cars, trucks & SUVs the same as I can buy at the local tire shop?
How long will factory tires last. 50k?
What tires are the best on TB? Houston Texas Weather. HOT HOT HOT

Actually, your 'non-factory' tires will probably be of higher quality. Manufacturers tend to throw on cheap tires at the factory to help maximize profits. I'll be lucky to get 30Kmi out of the factory goodyears on my 2005 TB. I'm not partial to any one brand, as they all make a good line of tires. Generally the more you pay, the better, longer lasting the tire. I've been partial to cooper tires for years, but I tend to buy based on price, especially these days. :uhoh:

Joel

[QUOTE=max3456]Truth or Fiction?
Are the tires the manufactures put on new cars, trucks & SUVs the same as I can buy at the local tire shop?

New car (truck) tires are designed to meet the manufactures TPC. The tire is made to give the best performance for the vehicle, not tread life. The tires sold to the public are designed to meet the qualities customers want. OEM tires are very hard to find. There even is a truck tire that stays dark black as the tire ages, most lighten slightly in color.

Robb

i got 73,000 miles out of 245/65-17 tires on my '04 TB the tread was at the bars but just barely, i replaced them with BFGoodrich rugged trail TA's and am pleased.
the stock tires were conti contitrack TA's. they had NO TRACTION in snow and lost traction in rain however the tread lasted a very long time, and they were very quiet.
i could have replaced them with OEM but they cost 2X as much as the bfgoodrich.
josh

I wasn't all that impressed with the BFG Open Trail T/A's that were stock on my '04 TB, I just replaced them at about 43,000. They were getting pretty low on tread, not quite to the wear bars, but the winter performance last year was bad, so I didn't want to go through another one with them a year older. One positive was gas mileage on those old tires, I got almost 22 MPG on one 150 mile trip in late summer! I put Bridgestone Dueler Revos on... good quality tire, happy with traction so far. Have noticed gas mileage drop slightly... but I'll be happy in the upstate NY winter.

I agree, in general, OEM tires are not the highest quality. They are typically a run-of-the-mill all season tire. Moderate traction, moderate tread life, etc. Why - because how many people base the purchase of a vehicle on the tires it wears from the factory?