Cooper RTX?

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Anyone have experience with Cooper RTX tires? NTB has them on sale for less than Wrangler Radials, which are garbage. I just need decent general purpose 235/75/15 tires for a 25 year old SUV and pick up. Wal-Mart also has a similar cheap BF Goodrich AT...I hate going to Wal-Mart, but am considering it too.
 
Yes, I was thinking about the Mesa AP for my Explorer, but they have/had a buy 3 get 1 free on the RTX, and it looked more "AT". My Explorer is a general purpose beater and really just needs any tire that rolls, but preferably something that isn't completely incompetent like Wrangler Radials. I wish there was a Wrangler Radial looking tire that wasn't junk in the rain.
 
Cooper is IMO bottom of the barrel. For use they didn't use gum strips to save money on tires resulting in higher than average rates of blow outs. They have rectified this with their current offering but cooper has never impressed me. I own a high volume repair shop and toeing company and the two worst tire brands...imo..are Cooper and Goodyear. Pardon the pun but your mileage may vary but I'd rather run Almost any Chinese tire ver Cooper or Goodyear's. I run cheap Chinese on my wreckers and they are fine...buy in bulk.

Check out Kendas (Taiwanese) I sell them as my entry level tire and they actually perform well. I've sold hundreds to the city, county and school board without issue. On my personal vehicle I prefer Michelin or UniRoyal (made by Michelin)
 
If I walk around a random parking lot, I seem to see more cooper, mastercraft, etc tires than any other brand. If they were really that bad, would they be selling so many? Could it be that more problems are observed with Cooper because people see more cooper tires than other brands?

I've had coopers on several vehicles in my 30 year driving career (some sears or pep boys branded). While none were worth raving about, I never had problems with any of them either. I've had 2 sets of the Cooper CS5 ultras, and they really perform well for the money.

The only brand tire I've ever had problems with was Kumho, and I don't think I'll consider them again.
 
The reason so many lawyers solicit for Cooper blow outs is because of the proportionally high number of blow outs Cooper has. It's a fact for years Cooper refused to use gum strips to save money. Gum strips are even used by almost all cheap Chinese companies. Not by Cooper for years.

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-utd-1_06-cv-00108/pdf/USCOURTS-utd-1_06-cv-00108-3.pdf

I have personally witnessed issues w Coopers in my business. Anecdotal. Sure. But there are plenty of videos, lawsuits and reports to back up what I have seen. Further there have been several Cooper employees come forward under the whistleblower act as well.

Glad you like your Coopers. I'd buy anything but personally.
 
Originally Posted by novadude
If I walk around a random parking lot, I seem to see more cooper, mastercraft, etc tires than any other brand. If they were really that bad, would they be selling so many? Could it be that more problems are observed with Cooper because people see more cooper tires than other brands?.


Cooper is actually a very small manufacturer compared to the rest of the Industry. Your observations could be recognition bias or you could live in a area where Cooper has a disproportionately high share of thr local market for various reasons.

Nationwide as of 2017 the largest tire brands offering tires for sale in the USA is as follows.....

The largest tire manufacturers offering tires made in USA are:
Michelin.
Pirelli.
Continental.
Bridgestone.
Yokohama.
Jun 24, 2017
 
Btw most Coopers are made in thr USA so the above is a valid representation of the US market.
 
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Originally Posted by ToadU
Originally Posted by novadude
If I walk around a random parking lot, I seem to see more cooper, mastercraft, etc tires than any other brand. If they were really that bad, would they be selling so many? Could it be that more problems are observed with Cooper because people see more cooper tires than other brands?.


Cooper is actually a very small manufacturer compared to the rest of the Industry. Your observations could be recognition bias or you could live in a area where Cooper has a disproportionately high share of thr local market for various reasons.

Nationwide as of 2017 the largest tire brands offering tires for sale in the USA is as follows.....

The largest tire manufacturers offering tires made in USA are:
Michelin.
Pirelli.
Continental.
Bridgestone.
Yokohama.
Jun 24, 2017


Curious if this considers OEM and aftermarket. I would think Cooper would be a more major player if you only looked at aftermarket, considering all the private labeling they do (Pep Boys, Sears, Mastercraft, etc, etc). Of course, Cooper does not play in the OEM market at all.

I'm no Cooper fan boy. I don't particularly think they are the best on the market, but based solely on my experience, they seem to offer good value for the money.
 
Per coopertire.com

Primary focus is passenger car and light vehicle replacement tires in North America
An emerging OE presence
The 13th largest global tire manufacturer
The 5th largest tire manufacturer in North America
 
I had a set of RTX on a 2006 Tundra. I was very pleased with them. They had an aggressive yet reasonably quiet tread that did well in the dirt as well as with a tow load on them. They were more stable in turns than my go-to Revo2 A/T. The tread itself drove as if it was a softer compound - in the rain there was some warning before they would break free, whereas the bridgestones tend to hold longer then let go all at once. The tread patch was wide, the tire had a bit of a square profile, and they cornered better than they should have. A drawback to that square profile was they were more prone to minor cupping, but the rubber seemed soft enough to not make much noise about it; I was surprised when it was pointed out to me. I did rotate every 6-7000 miles. Sadly, I replaced them before they were worn for other reasons - but they were a good tire and I never had any issues with them. I don't have a lot of experience with A/Ts, but they offered a lot of value for a very competitive price, and the installation quality / balance / mounting at the NTB I bought them at was superb.
 
Originally Posted by 01rangerxl
Anyone have experience with Cooper RTX tires? NTB has them on sale for less than Wrangler Radials, which are garbage. I just need decent general purpose 235/75/15 tires for a 25 year old SUV and pick up. Wal-Mart also has a similar cheap BF Goodrich AT...I hate going to Wal-Mart, but am considering it too.


Wrangler Radials are absolute garbage. Would a cheap all-seaon car design work for this, or do you need A/T? I'd look into a Kumho TA11 or something.

Not clue about the RTX, as I sold their Mastercraft line. Be very careful of the Walmart BFGs. I bought some Walmart "Bridgestone" car tires one time. Cheap Chinese made tires stamped w/ the BS name for WM only. In less than 20k miles, I had 4 replaced under warranty for impact bubbles, in size 195/65R15 on a 2700 lb '96 Galant. They were absolute junk.

It may be considered anecdotal, but over 5 years I sold probably 10,000 Mastercraft tires, often to repeat regular customers, and never saw any evidence of a high failure rate. Some of their more expensive tires don't present good value for money versus competitive tires, IMO, but there's never been any undercurrent of cheapness in my rather large experience with them.
 
Originally Posted by novadude
If I walk around a random parking lot, I seem to see more cooper, mastercraft, etc tires than any other brand. If they were really that bad, would they be selling so many? Could it be that more problems are observed with Cooper because people see more cooper tires than other brands?

I've had coopers on several vehicles in my 30 year driving career (some sears or pep boys branded). While none were worth raving about, I never had problems with any of them either. I've had 2 sets of the Cooper CS5 ultras, and they really perform well for the money.

The only brand tire I've ever had problems with was Kumho, and I don't think I'll consider them again.

Their popularity is because they are cheap compared to the others. I never had a set of coopers which didn't have either cracking or ply separation issues.
 
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Thanks for the input everyone.

Sounds like I need to read more reviews on the RTX specifically. Not ready to rule it out yet, but not as sure about it as I was...

I might consider an all season for the Explorer, but would prefer ATs for the Ranger. The Explorer needs tires now, the Ranger has a set of LingLong Crosswind L780 highway tires that are maybe half worn. I can swap tires/wheels between these vehicles no problem, so a set of ATs is really what I'd prefer to get.

I was suspicious the Wal-Mart BFGs would just be a bottom of the barrel tire with a name brand slapped on it.

I might look at the Crosswind AT. I've had L780s on both Rangers for a while and they are good when new, but wet traction deteriorates badly long before they hit the wear indicators. It seems like the siping is very shallow and wears off quickly.
 
I decided to go with the Cooper RTX. The vast majority of the reviews I read on the RTX specifically were good, and the price was really hard to beat with the buy 3 get 1 free deal NTB had. Hopefully they hold up well.

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