NEED HELP CHOOSING TIRES

Hello All,

I need new tires for my 98 Chevy Blazer. It is a 2 door, 2 wheel drive. (I'll never buy another 2 wheel drive)
Anyhow, I am looking at Uniroyal, Michelin, Cooper and BF Goodrich. Does anyone have any suggestions? The Blazer is mainly highway driven at high speeds. I need a good, long lasting tire.

Thanks!

Of the four brands you listed I'd prefer BFG or Cooper. I've had them all and I HATE all but the top-top of the line Michelins, and for the money Cooper is better than Uniroyal. I've had great experience with BFG for both car and truck. Another brand to consider is Yokohama. I have a set of Geolander A/T+II on my Toyota pickup and they are great in dry, wet, or snow and I have put around 30k+ highway miles on them and they are at about 50% tread.

-DF

Dunno if tire branding in the US is the same as here in the UK but the michelin exalto's are superb tires, especiallly in the wet. Actually I don't even know wot car that is :laughing: , but if its got a bit of performance go with the exalto's or the US equivalent.

Spend the extra money and follow the Michelin Man, nothing is more important than where the rubber meets the road and unfortunately that is where a lot of people skimp, learned my lesson a long time ago, all my vehichles have Michelins on their feet.

BFG A/T on my truck...going on 65k miles with about 10k left to go!

Yep, bfg a/t's on this, but it sounds like 4 drum an bass parties in one room on the motorway, not car tires

ChocolateLab33 said:

(I'll never buy another 2 wheel drive)

The Blazer is mainly highway driven at high speeds. I need a good, long lasting tire.

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Not sure I understand why you want a four wheel drive for high speed highway driving.

Are you looking for a truck tire or passenger tire? Do you tow?

Check out what Continental is making. I did at the Tire Rack, nice comparison charts with ratings in all categories. I dont think this brand is one of the more popular ones which I think helps makes the price right.
My original equipment Firestones went 80 thousand miles (on a subaru outback) and the continentals I just bought are rated equal or higher than the Firestones in all categories and they were way cheaper. I hope I did well but only time will tell.

That statement makes perfect sense to me having owned a 2wd in the past. I drive 95% highway, but will also never buy another 2wd again because that 5% non-highway driving is just as important.

-DF

Survey results here: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=ORAT

Each tire model has detailed owner reviews if you click on the model, then "read all reviews for this tire."

Monolith said:

Not sure I understand why you want a four wheel drive for high speed highway driving.

Are you looking for a truck tire or passenger tire? Do you tow?

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My Blazer handles very poorly in the rain and snow because it is not a 4 wheel drive. The teeny-tiny-est bit of snow and it slides ALL over the place. That's the reason for no more 2 wheel drive.
No I don't tow.
I would prefer tires made for a Blazer.

There aren't tires made specifically for a Blazer per say. But they do make Tires for you class of vehicle. Depending if you have a full size of S-series Blazer, there are lot of options. Tire Rack really does have a LOT of information on their site, I buy most of my race tires thru them FWIW. My regular tires I get from America's Tire. Tires really depend in vehicle weight, wheel size and driving conditions.

And there really are some bargins to be had with tires if price is a factor. Khumo's are a very good newer brand of tires.

bfg9000 said:

Survey results here: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=ORAT

Each tire model has detailed owner reviews if you click on the model, then "read all reviews for this tire."

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Thanks!!!

ChocolateLab33 said:

I would prefer tires made for a Blazer.

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Actually, I would recommend you pick tires based on your desired use. For me, I do lot's of highway driving and like you had traction issues with rain and snow. For this, I steered (pun intended) clear of the "highway" light truck and SUV tires. I went with the more aggressive AT type tread and have been plenty pleased with the highway ride, noise and wear. I would honestly go with the BFG ATKO's at the drop of a hat and would highly recommend them, but for the money and the fact that my pickup is a secondary vehicle I went with the Yoko's which were $30-$40 cheaper each. The newer tread design of the ATKO's is a lot quieter than the previous design. Heck, I've even had great experiences with the BFG Mud Terrains and highway driving.

My $.02 .

I've been happy with the Bridgestone Revo A/T on our Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ). These are pretty good all around. Decent on pavement, decent in rain and decent on snow. Not really sure about treadlife because I typically don't factor that in too much.

If I needed a new pair I'd do these again in a heartbeat.

Previously, I had Pirelli Scorpion A/Ts which were also decent. I think the Revos are a bit better, but the Scorpions are similar tires.

Previously we had a ('85 or '86) S10 Blazer with Goodyear Wranger A/Ts and I felt they were "hard" and didn't get good traction (on pavement) in comparison to the two ones mentioned above, esp. in the wet.

In fact, being unhappy with the Wrangers prompted me to do a fair amount of research which led to the two above choices. As mentioned above, Tirerack is a good research tool.

-john

I went thru 2 sets of Michelins, though they rode just fine, they seemed to wear out kinda quickly, maybe due to the increased grip and friction they have on the road. I was also 'picking up' a lot of dry wall screws (I don't know why)-- so I tried a set of Uniroyal Nail Guards. Though they felt different ('harder' - a little less sensitive to the road) I have now gotten completely used to them and they are wearing MUCH better than the Michelin, and, not a single flat!
They have some sort of gummy stuff stuck to the tread on the inside of the tire that plugs up holes.. it works.

drive safely.

Look into the Revos. I do not believe however that they will satisfy your "long wearing" requirement and they are not cheap. They come in Passenger and LT (light truck) types. Highly recommended for rain and will afford you some offroad capability. Quiet on the highway.

SolarFlare said:

Yep, bfg a/t's on this, but it sounds like 4 drum an bass parties in one room on the motorway, not car tires

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Those are BFG Mud Terrrains not A/T! I have the BFG A/T on my truck and love them. The lugs are much tighter than those in the picture thus giving better road performance.

Ryan

For highway driven SUVs, some highly regarded tires are Mich Cross Terrain, GY Fortera Silent Armor, and BFG AT/Revo. Also, look on forums for your car. If there are none, then go to HondaPilot.org... they talk about tires like we talk about flashlights! If you live where there's snow then the Mich's have the most aggressive tread of those three.

I have the Revos and I like them. They're excellent in the torrential rains we get in south Florida although they're not the quietest (not too bad, though). Also, they're good in sand. Overall offroad performance is just adequate.

DFiorentino said:

Actually, I would recommend you pick tires based on your desired use.

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Agreed. The mfg. picks tires for a lot of reasons, and those reasons don't necissarily match yours. They are usually pretty serious compromises and tend to be inexpensive tires to boot. Personally, I consider tires safey equipment and get the best ones (for my use) that I can.

One thing that I would say, is that unless you understand what you are doing, I would stick to the mfg provided tire *size*.

For me, I do lot's of highway driving and like you had traction issues with rain and snow. For this, I steered (pun intended) clear of the "highway" light truck and SUV tires. I went with the more aggressive AT type tread and have been plenty pleased with the highway ride, noise and wear.

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Part of it depends on how much snow and how fast you drive normally. For example, if you drive real fast, a summer street tire is best. However, these tires are less than useless in snow.

In general tho, I think for snow that A/T tires would probably be a good compromise. For rain A/Ts are not necissarily better than other styles like summer tires, but a good A/T should be able to do well. Of course, it all depends. For example, some summer tires are not designed for wet performance and perform very poorly in the wet.

I would honestly go with the BFG ATKO's at the drop of a hat and would highly recommend them,

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The BFG A/T KOs get good reviews, but I think the Revos are better in wet. I think the BFG A/Ts have a stronger sidewall, so would be better if you are doing more serious off-road.

Heck, I've even had great experiences with the BFG Mud Terrains and highway driving.

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FWIW, I'd do a lot of thinking before picking M/T tires for the highway. To provide the big voids needed to throw the mud, I think they need to use harder rubber. The combination of less rubber (again, the voids) and the harder rubber is going to make any sort of emergency maneuver a lot more interesting that I'd prefer.

I think this is an OK choice if you understand that and make sure to take it slow and careful, etc.

-john