Are Goodyear Wranglers still junk?

[01rangerxl]

My Firestone Destination A/Ts have about 40K miles on them now and are pretty beat. A local tire shop has a deal on Goodyear Wranglers, the basic AT version that looks like it's from the '90s, for $390 for four P235/75R15s installed. I have never liked these tires, and they were known for cupping with the torsion bar suspension Rangers, but because of the price, I'm probably still getting them. Another set of Destination A/Ts would be $592, so if I get 27K miles out of the Goodyears I am happy. My truck has the coil spring suspension, so maybe it won't have the cupping problem, and it's about to get new ball joints and shocks. It goes through HT tires anywhere from 20K-35K miles, but got 40K out of the ATs, so I'm thinking ATs again, but the last two sets of tires were Firestones.

Anyone have Goodyear Wranglers and like them?

 

[demarpaint]

Not sure if they count but I have the Wrangler Fortera on my E-150 and Jeep, I like them very much. They are wearing quite well, and do very well in both rain and snow.

 

[Bandito440]

We use nothing but Wrangler SilentArmor Pro Grade tires on our fleet. I think a lot of the others are junky, but we routinely get 45k to 50k out of the Pro Grade SilentArmors. They're tough as nails and will get through some decent off roading too.

 

[volk06]

I have factory goodyear ats In LT275/65/18c and currently have 20k on them and still have 9-10/32 left. I'll easily hit 50k. They seem to get me through everything I've needed so far; mud, snow, rain and they haven't given me a problem yet.

 

[DemoFly]

I have Wrangler STs on my truck and they are pretty much garbage. They have somewhere around 30k on them and they are done. Sidewall cracking, loud, poor in rain and impossible to keep in balance.

I'm going to be purchasing Hancook Dynapro HTs.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Like any other tire, you have to specify exactly which tire about which you're talking. There are many Goodyear Wrangler tires that are very good tires. There are some Goodyear Wrangler tires that are not very good tires.

The particular tires you are considering are not very good tires. I thought they were only sold at Walmart these days, but I guess other tire shops can get them. They are only sold in the P235/75R15 size.

I'd skip them. The Firestone Destination A/Ts are twice the tires.

 

[HWEaton]

You're talking about the old school GY Wrangler Radials. GY makes a lot of good products. This was one of them. For like 1980 something. There's a lot better choices out there.

Not just Wal-Mart sells them. GY still produces and distributes them to their retail stores, Indy shops, and the Wal-Marts and their ilk. However, unlike Wal-Mart or a lot of big chains that will just try and put you in anything round and black, most Indy and GY stores will try and steer you into something else of another brand they carry as a secondary, ie: Mastercraft, Cooper, etc. or other GY brands like Kelly or Dunlop.

 

[01rangerxl]

To clarify, yes, I am talking about the plain Wrangler Radials that only come in P235/75R15.

I would agree that there are better tires, but I'm hesitant to spend $600 on Destinations again when I only got about 40K out of them. They are good tires and probably last longer on other types of vehicles, but if I'm going to spend that much on tires for a 15 inch wheel again I want them to last a long time. I doubt anything would last much over 50K miles on this truck, which is why I am tempted to just throw the cheapest truck AT I can find on there and see how it does.

Oddly enough, the Radials actually get great reviews on Wal-Mart's website. 92% would recommend, and 20 out of 25 reviews were 5 stars.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I've always liked the looks of those tires.

But hydroplaning is suspect to me. There are no longitudinal grooves to evacuate water. The tread compound is also likely very old-tech. I suspect two things about the Walmart tire reviews:

1) Reviewers on Walmart may not be the most discerning of tire buyers.
2) These tires are very likely those that will impress you for about 5,000 miles, and decline in performance quickly as they wear.

 

[01rangerxl]

True, one advantage of the Destinations was excellent traction in the rain, which is now long gone.

You're probably right about the Wal-Mart reviews, but I have low expectations for this tire anyway and am still temped to get it.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Dude...hit treadwright.com for that size! You might get 65k in something as light as a Ranger.

 

[01rangerxl]

The Treadwrights do have really good reviews and the price is cheap, but shipping bumps it up by $100. They would end up being more expensive than the Goodyears, but if they last longer I'd be okay with that. If they distributed to stores this would be an easy choice.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Dude...hit treadwright.com for that size! You might get 65k in something as light as a Ranger.


Could you recap how they'll last that long?

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
The Treadwrights do have really good reviews and the price is cheap, but shipping bumps it up by $100. They would end up being more expensive than the Goodyears, but if they last longer I'd be okay with that. If they distributed to stores this would be an easy choice.


About 18k and zero visible wear on my Cherokee...mine are Kedge Grip, the non-KG will last longer.

 

[hypervish]

I have the Goodyear Wrangler HP's 225/70/16 on my RX. I absolutely hate them. They hydroplane very easily, they have more road noise than my previous tires. Needless to say, I can't wait to get new tires.

 

[jjcom]

Some of the Wrangler line is ok...but normally I feel they're over priced for what you get. The Goodyear Wrangler Radial, the ones pictured above, are pretty ehhh. They're round, hold air, and get you around ok.

I remember a few Jeeps and trucks with those tires I've worked on before. They all pretty much said the same thing. They're mediocre all the way around. They do get pretty noisy after around 20k miles as I remember. If I had the option to get another tire, I would. The Destination LE tires are normally decent, should be less than the AT tires, and should easily out perform the Wranglers.

 

[Bandito440]

DTD should have a $100 rebate coming online shortly. Combine that with the Goodyear $80 rebate on SilentArmors and your final cost is $428. Way better tires and you'll get plenty of mileage on that light truck.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: jjcom
Some of the Wrangler line is ok...but normally I feel they're over priced for what you get. The Goodyear Wrangler Radial, the ones pictured above, are pretty ehhh. They're round, hold air, and get you around ok.

I remember a few Jeeps and trucks with those tires I've worked on before. They all pretty much said the same thing. They're mediocre all the way around. They do get pretty noisy after around 20k miles as I remember. If I had the option to get another tire, I would. The Destination LE tires are normally decent, should be less than the AT tires, and should easily out perform the Wranglers.


In general I think they are overpriced too, but this is literally the cheapest truck tire I have found. Everything else is a car tire at the price of the Wrangler Radials.

I had a set of Destination LEs on this truck before the ATs, and they were good, but only made it to about 35K miles and are still $100 more than the Goodyears after installation.

 

[meep]

I blv I had those GY tires on the back of my tundra when I bought it. they were just touching the wear bars on the outside but had good tread in the middle. PO ran them with low pressure I suspect. I aired them up and tried to live with them. they were downright awful in the rain, and I replaced with Destinations.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

I have Goodyear wrangler Duratrac's and absolutely LOVE them.

However, I've had wrangler RT/S's in the past and HATED Them.