Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 The wheels on the cars go round and round. 

Lots of tread, ready to deal with the rainy season.

All that spinning wears them out... eventually.

Well, eventually has finally arrived.

Now I find myself with three vehicles that are going to need new tires before the Winter rains arrive in earnest.

These would be my Daughter's Mustang, my F150, and that is followed by our Flex. Two of the vehicles have 20 inch wheels. I admit that I like the look, but I knew that replacement rubber would be a bit more expensive. 

Buying tires is always a tribulation. Generally I stick with the brands that I know and the retailers that I've dealt with.

I tried looking at reviews at The Tire Rack but they are maddening. Of course there will be a few that say that the tires are just okay.  There will be five or six reviews that state that these tires are heaven sent. Then you'll find a couple that say that they are the worst junk that you can buy. It's hard to make a decision based on information like that. 

My Daughter's Mustang runs the same size tires as my GT. It came equipped with the upgraded 17 inch wheels as part of the Pony package. Currently it is running a set of Faulken tires. I wanted to get a set of Hankook Optima tires for it. I had put a set on my Riviera and found them to be quite good. Last Summer I bought a set of Hankook high performance tires for my Mustang, I was hoping to get a set of Optimos for her Mustang but the Hankook tire distributor in Santa Clara has closed down, and that brand is not carried by many tire dealers. Wheel Works doesn't carry them either, but they will order them from somewhere if the customer (me) insists on them.

I really like this wheel design.

Last year I bought an OEM set of 20 inch wheels for my F150 to replace the original 17 inch steel rims.  I had vowed to keep my truck completely stock and not to add any dress up items. However when I saw several later model F150's sporting those cool looking rims I was smitten. I had to have them for my truck! The OEM tires are Hankook Dyna Pros and I am on my third set. They have been excellent tires and I plan to stay with that brand. I saw some 275/55/20 Hankooks online and I was determined to get a set of those.

The Flex was bought with a new set of tires and with 30,000 miles on the odometer. They currently have 44,000 miles on them. They are rapidly approaching the time for replacement. If I can restrict my use of the vehicle I should be able to make it through this Winter.

photo source: Keller Bros. Auto Repair.
The old Penny test is a good indicator of wear.
This is a more accurate method than looking at the wear bars in the tread.

Tires with shallow tread are more prone to hydroplaning on areas of standing water. Higher speeds also make that likely. The ideal situation is to have good tires when Winter storms are on their way. Worn tires are not so hazardous during dry conditions. I managed to get almost a years use out of the tires that came on my truck's new wheels. Of course, I don't put many miles on it, so that wasn't too difficult.

What other options do I have? 

Are there any alternatives?

Whatever happened to those low priced tires that were available at the local gas station, back in the old days? 

A better question might be; are there any gas stations that actually sell tires instead of energy drinks and Slim Jims?

To be honest, while modern tires are much more expensive than the tires sold at the corner gas station when I was growing up, they grip much better, providing better handling and braking, and they last much longer.

While most of the tires that I looked at usually sell for anywhere between 230.00 up to 350.00. There are however many low priced brands that sell for close to 100.00 each. Theses are generic brands that come from China and other Asian countries. 

Are they worth it, and are they a viable option? 

Maybe, many times it is a sort of hit or miss affair. Sometimes a buyer ends up with a low priced set of tires that performs adequately, and is satisfactorily durable in mileage.  Other times, the tires squeal when cornering from Day One, ride poorly, and suffer from tread separation, or other problems. Besides limited tread life.

In many ways low priced tires are a lot like toilet paper; even if you aren't particularly happy with your purchase, you are likely to use it up anyway. 

What about used tires?

These are only an option if you are really hard put financially. I used to buy lots of used tires for my old hobby cars. They used to be much cheaper back then. There are many outlets that specialize in used tires. The last time I bought a used tire was for my '46 Plymouth, to be used as a spare. The tire, tube, balance, and labor came out to a bit over 100.00. Not really a bargain, but the guys put extra effort into finding something suitable.

Used tires are used; that means that they are already partially worn and they are also old. Legit tire dealers will not repair a tire over six years old.

If you really need to scrimp you can find deals on CraigsList. I sold an almost new take off tire from my Riviera for 60 bucks, but it's hard to find a complete set. 

There are cheap new tires close to that price. I took a look at Big O and found that they featured many no name tires at lower prices. I suppose that I could have headed down to Alum Rock Ave. or Monterey Highway and checked out some of the tire and wheel dealers with the brightly colored flags flapping in the wind. There might be some good dealers and some good deals out there, but I stuck with familiar territory.

I usually buy my tires at the local Wheel Works store. I start off with a price quote and then spend a few days going to other outlets to see what they have to offer. I have bought tires at Pep Boys, but the last time I checked, I was looking for tires for my Riviera, I didn't find their prices to be very low. I've been a Costco member for years but have never bought tires there. I went by to check out their quotes for the tires I wanted and they didn't have the brands that I was interested in, and the price was higher than the quote from Wheel Works.

I ended up going to Wheel Works for my truck tires. This particular store has a horrible parking situation as it's located in a multi business auto center. But they do good work, and I've been satisfied with them. In the end it cost me around 1,200 bucks for the tires. It seems like a lot to me, but if I look at the cost amortized over six years it only comes down to 216.00 dollars a year. That sounds reasonable. Especially since I'm not planning on selling the truck.

I also bought the tires for my Daughter's Mustang there. They are Firestone Firehawk high performance tires with a 50,000 miles tread wear guarantee. They also gave me a quote on a set of "Ironman" tires, but I knew that I'd always regret the purchase whenever I'd see her car! They are going to cost me a bit under 900.00. 

Oh well, when you need them, you need them. 

The Flex can probably make it through the Winter as I've got a couple of other vehicles with good tires. I just need to rotate the tires. They should be fine.