Tires' actual mileage vs. stated warranty??

[Jimmy9190]

My truck will need new tires in about another 10,000 miles. I have been reading reviews online for the last few days, looking for the best tire I can get for the lowest price.

I currently have Firestone Destination LE's on my truck, 235/75R15's and they have 40,000 miles on them and are very loud and nearly worn down past their useable and safe amount of tread. They are rated as a 60,000 mile tire for the warranty. I talked to a guy at a local independent tire store, he said Destination LE's don't usually last much longer than 45,000 miles.

I was just wondering here, what is everyone else's real-world experience? Has anyone been able to get 60,000 miles from a 60,000 mile rated tire? Or has everyone else bought a set of good name brand reputable tires and had them to wear out after only 40,000 miles?

I had a set of Michelin LTX M/S before the Firestones. I am most likely going to just bite the bullet and get another set of Michelins, or I may try the Yokohama Geolandar H/T. I am now just trying to find out which one of those would give the best MPG. I took a 3 to 4 MPG hit when I bought these Firestones.

I appreciate any info here.

 

[Smokescreen]

Road conditions dictate greatly to how long a tire will last. Gravel, rough vs smooth asphalt, concrete all were a tire differently. Then there is how a they are driven, aggressive conservative etc. I like to think if it like EPA fuel ratings, they post up what life the tire would have if used in optimal conditions.

 

[Kuato]

Smokescreen is right. If you drive a heavy vehicle on coarse pavement while racing, you'll wear tires much more quickly than a light vehicle on smooth pavement.

Our Jeep Wrangler has 100k on a set of Michelins so it certainly is possible. The Grand Cherokee has about 80 on some Goodyears, and both vehicles need new tires (the GC moreso)

 

[occupant]

I generally figure tires will last 2/3 to 3/4 of the warranty, unless they are some specific good tires. Michelin, I think they were MWV radials were very good any my parents with their gentle driving style got 70-80K out of 50K mile sets. I got 62,000 miles out of a set of 50K mile Goodyear Intrepids on a Dynasty in somewhat abusive courier delivery work. My mother-in-law is pushing 120K on a set of Michelin LTX M/S tires on her 2000 Silverado. Firestone FR360s (now FR380) were 40,000 mile tires in the 175/70R13 size on my '95 Geo Metro and I got 41K out of one set and 43K out of the next.

So it's varied across the board. Some have excellent experience with some brands and not others. Some tires work better on light vehicles, some work better on heavy. Some last longer driven gentle, some last longer driven hard.

That's another reason I like the TireRack reviews. I can pull up a certain tire, then sort the reviews by miles driven on. If only one guy gets 80K out of Baldyear Maypops, and everyone else gets 20-30K, then I know the one guy is lying. If half the reviews are above warranty mileage on Lightyear McKings and people who get less are all driving full-size cars, SUV's, and crossovers, then I know those tires are great for the sub-2-ton crowd. If I see a highway tire like a Michelin XPS seeing 200K-plus miles on loaded up 1-ton cargo vans, then I know they stand up well to miles and overloading.

There probably is a "tire soulmate" for everyone. I think I'll own my Torino long enough to find out what it likes best. I can say for sure it's not Douglas Xtra-Tracs, and next on the rolling chopping block is the Hankook M+ H725. I don't want a truck tire or a performance tire and 225/70R14 is a dying size. I don't like white letters either. BFGoodrich, Hoosier, Mastercraft, Dean, Cooper, Kelly, Laramie, Eldorado, Firestone, Michelin, and more make either muscle car tires or truck tires in that size but I'd have to turn the letters inside.

 

[FZ1]

Doesn't matter. Buy them at a place that offers free rotations, like Discount Tire. Keep up with the prescribed rotations every 6,000,then get a prorated credit,from the tire dealer,if they don't last the warranty period. Your credit should be 40,000/60,000 X the price you paid for the tires that wore out early. Hope this helps.

 

[MNgopher]

Yes, and yes to your questions. I've had 50,000 mile warranty tires that I got closer to 70,000 out of (Bridgestone Dueler REVOs), and I've currently the Destination LE's that will be lucky to last 40,000 miles on a 60,000 mile warranty. Just depends on conditions driven in - no straight answer. There are others on this board who have had good results with the LE's. Guess we are the unlucky ones...

 

[Jimmy9190]

Thanks for the replies here.

I guess I shouldn't complain too much about my Destination LE's. They have been a good tire so far up until a few weeks ago when I noticed they were getting louder and the tread was really starting to show some wear. They still provide a good ride quality, as comfortable as you can get in a 10 year old truck I guess. And they still get good traction, whether it's raining or dry. Up until now they were very quiet. And I got a good price on them at Tires Plus, $422.00 total for all 4 including lifetime rotation and balance and road hazard policy.

Looking at the tires in the daylight, I think I can get another 10,000 miles out of these Firestones. They are worn but they are wearing evenly across the tread. I rotate them here at home about every 5000 miles. They really have held up well considering the Florida heat and the bad roads we have here. Except for the lower MPG I would give these Destination LE's about an 8.5 out of 10. For the money they have been a good tire, I just figured I would get more miles out of them before they developed noise and showed this much treadwear. It seems that since the tread started to really deplete, it is wearing out a lot faster than it did in the previous 35,000 miles.

I have time now to keep my eyes and ears open for a good deal on new tires. There should be some good sales and/or rebates on tires in the next 6 months. I figure these Firestones should last that long but if I find a good deal on new tires I may just replace them sooner rather than later.

Thanks for the help.

 

[rjundi]

I have found with top tier brand tires like Bridgestone and Michelin I get the stated mileage. They also maintain the same noise level throughout their life.

I have over 50k on v-rated RE960's with a 45k treadlife warranty. They are at 3/32" which is well worn but not worn out completely. They remain quiet and pleasant still on my Subaru WRX.

 

[Kestas]

The number of turns a car makes per mile has a very significant effect on the life of a set of tires. Below is an excellent post by CapriRacer.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb...mp;#Post1407579

 

[sciphi]

I've rarely had the chance to put a set of tires through their warranty period. The Pirelli P4's on the Buick look like they'll make it to their 85k mile treadlife warranty. With 60k on them right now, there's still plenty of tread left. If they go 90-95k miles, great!

Driving style/conditions are important. Putting highway miles on a tire is easier than putting city miles on. And, potholes/rough roads will cause an early tire death.

 

[NHHEMI]

I love my LE's. I have had them on my last 3 vehicles and they have worn very well. If wear remains consistent with my current set as it has been to this point I will exceed 60K.

 

[mez]

i had General Grabber on my 4x4 Nissan truck that lasted to about 95K. The new set of tires i got were Toyo Open Country that only lasted 45K. I knew i shouldn't have listen to the guy from tirerack. I should of gotten the General again.

 

[Jimmy9190]

The LE's have been a good tire. I think they held up as well or better than I could expect given the heat, rain and really bad roads here.

If the price is right I just might get another set of LE's. I say that because my truck has 138K on it and I really can't see spending $650.00 on Michelins even if they do get a couple more MPG. For $422.00 the LE's have been a very good tire. If I can get a good price on the Yoko's they may be my next tire.

I have a few months anyway to make up my mind and hopefully find a really good deal or rebate on whichever new tires I choose.

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted By: MNgopher
Yes, and yes to your questions. I've had 50,000 mile warranty tires that I got closer to 70,000 out of (Bridgestone Dueler REVOs), and I've currently the Destination LE's that will be lucky to last 40,000 miles on a 60,000 mile warranty. Just depends on conditions driven in - no straight answer. There are others on this board who have had good results with the LE's. Guess we are the unlucky ones...


Funny my Dueler Revos are almost down to the wear bars at 30,000 miles. Granted they have been on 6 years on my 2002 F-150. I rotated them at or close to 5,000 mile intervals faithfully. They have worn evenly. Mainly my driving is on secondary roads with occasional highway though no off road. It sees all my winter driving and split use in the good weather. For me in reality 30,000 miles is ok because the tires have gotten hard due to age any way and need to be replaced.

I'm replacing them with BFG Long Trail Tour T/A's. They were less expensive and seemed decently rated for my type of driving. The worst conditions I have is snow and they plow really good in my county.

Whimsey

 

[MNgopher]

Yeah, I got 70k when I was putting a lot of miles on the truck - around 20,000+ a year. Adds up fast. The present set of REVOs isn't going to make it that far. The truck sees more like 10,000 miles a year now, and they aren't easy highway miles anymore - lots of gravel and work duties. I suspect they may make 50,000, but not a lick beyond that...

 

[HTSS_TR]

The only tire that I can get better mileage is Michelin Harmony on LS400, I get more than 70k miles and still have about 4/32" tread remaining. It may lasted up to 3 times as other ties I had on that car.

The worst mileage is any high performance rear tires on S2000, it lasted only 12-14k miles or less. The high performance tires on E430 did not lasted very long either, about 20-25k miles or less even I did not change out until 1/32" left. The 40 and 45 series 17" high performance tires are not cheap.

 

[UncleS2]

The longest I ever ran a set of tires was almost 59,000 miles on some off-brand/house brand, can't remember the name. It was on the Neon, size 185/65/14, so they had plenty of rotations per mile. Occasionally they got a good cornering workout too.

 

[Spartanfool]

I bought a set of Kelly Springfield Charger 225/50-R16 in July 2003 for my Alero when I was out of town and was no where near my favorite (Discount Tire) store. I got 71,392 miles out of a 40,000 rated tire before I replaced them (in 2009) when giving the car to my son. Still had maybe 10,000 miles on the treads. Very impressed with the mileage, but I had to replace two for being "out of round" shortly after initial purchase.