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tire recommendation for mountain driving?


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Hi -

 

We moved to the Eastern Sierras in California a year and a half ago. Aug., 2005, we replaced the tires on our 2004 Outback wagon. A year later, they're saying we're going to have to replace them soon - and we only have 18,000 miles on them (they were at least 60,000 mile tires, maybe more).

 

We have a lot of winding roads and we live 1 1/2 miles up a gravel road.

 

Any suggestions on what kind of tires would work well for us? We do get some snow in the winter, up to 12 inches at a time, but not that often. We have Spider Spikes for chains.

 

Looking for tires that will last a little longer for the money... or do we buy the cheapest possible and just plan on replacing them regularly?

 

Thanks, Anne

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Hi -

 

We moved to the Eastern Sierras in California a year and a half ago. Aug., 2005, we replaced the tires on our 2004 Outback wagon. A year later, they're saying we're going to have to replace them soon - and we only have 18,000 miles on them (they were at least 60,000 mile tires, maybe more).

 

We have a lot of winding roads and we live 1 1/2 miles up a gravel road.

 

Any suggestions on what kind of tires would work well for us? We do get some snow in the winter, up to 12 inches at a time, but not that often. We have Spider Spikes for chains.

 

Looking for tires that will last a little longer for the money... or do we buy the cheapest possible and just plan on replacing them regularly?

 

Thanks, Anne

 

Good Year Tripple Treads are made for people in your situation. and they're warenteed at 80k miles.

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It's also a good idea to get an alignment done when you get new tires, to make sure your tires wear evenly. I second the good year triple tread. Also, you should be able to get some kind of pro rating out of your old tires if they are 60k tires and wore out after only 20. They will give you a little grief about it.. but unless you drive like Mario Andretti or Ivan Stewart.. your tires should be lasting a bit longer than that.

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It's also a good idea to get an alignment done when you get new tires, to make sure your tires wear evenly. I second the good year triple tread. Also, you should be able to get some kind of pro rating out of your old tires if they are 60k tires and wore out after only 20. They will give you a little grief about it.. but unless you drive like Mario Andretti or Ivan Stewart.. your tires should be lasting a bit longer than that.

 

the only way a tire place will uphold the factory warentee is if there's a malfunction in the tire (belts breaking/ tread blocks coming off/ etc) or is there is 100% EVEN wear on ALL 4 TIRES and wore faster than the X0,000 mile warentee is.

 

so, you need and even less than 2/32nds on ALL 4 tires to get any kind of proration.

 

and yes, get an alignment. and remember, just because it doesn't pull to one side doesn't mean your alignment's ok.

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I had the same problem on my Legacy when it had some Big O Euro Tours on it. I forget what they are rated at.. but they only lasted 18k (until metal was showing) with regular rotations.. and I drive like Ivan Stewart. Regardless.. they gave me $100 (off my new tire purchase) when I had to have them replaced.

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I had the same problem on my Legacy when it had some Big O Euro Tours on it. I forget what they are rated at.. but they only lasted 18k (until metal was showing) with regular rotations.. and I drive like Ivan Stewart. Regardless.. they gave me $100 (off my new tire purchase) when I had to have them replaced.

 

they had your history and sasw that you were rotating regularly.

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they had your history and sasw that you were rotating regularly.

 

Alignment's a good idea...haven't done one since we bought the car and these roads are harsh. And yeah, we didn't rotate every 3,000 miles like they want us to, so don't think we'll get any back from them. sigh. They say it's the mountain roads & the gravel stuff that cause the tires to wear out so fast around here, so not sure they'd give us anything back even if we had rotated every 3K miles.

 

Thanks for the help & suggestions!

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Alignment's a good idea...haven't done one since we bought the car and these roads are harsh. And yeah, we didn't rotate every 3,000 miles like they want us to, so don't think we'll get any back from them. sigh. They say it's the mountain roads & the gravel stuff that cause the tires to wear out so fast around here, so not sure they'd give us anything back even if we had rotated every 3K miles.

 

Thanks for the help & suggestions!

 

An alignment is only needed if ya hit a pothole or rut/curb really hard and drives strange afterward....don't waste your money ...Your tires will tell you whats going on rather quickly...like cupping/feathering ...the tire shop will know whats going on ....like I said before my buddy has the same deal ...

 

I also recommend you check tire pressures once a week !!!

At elevation temps rise and drop alot. Tire shops are notorious about overinflation of tires! Go by the manufacturers recommendations at the drivers door jam.

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An alignment is only needed if ya hit a pothole or rut/curb really hard and drives strange afterward....don't waste your money ...Your tires will tell you whats going on rather quickly...like cupping/feathering ...the tire shop will know whats going on ....like I said before my buddy has the same deal ...

 

I also recommend you check tire pressures once a week !!!

At elevation temps rise and drop alot. Tire shops are notorious about overinflation of tires! Go by the manufacturers recommendations at the drivers door jam.

 

thats a bit of misinformation.

 

 

it's true that normally tires will tell you the story of the alignment, but sometimes the alignment is off in a way that it wears the tires evenly, but faster than it should.

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I don't think anything will last with winding roads very hard on any tires!

 

Just replace them often with cheap ones. A buddy of mine is in the same situation including the gravel rds. he goes through about 3 to 4 sets a year! Unless you've got a fat wallet.

 

3 or 4 a year????? yikes! ok, guess we could have it a lot worse.... guess we'll just have to budget for new (cheap) tires every year...

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thats a bit of misinformation.

 

 

it's true that normally tires will tell you the story of the alignment, but sometimes the alignment is off in a way that it wears the tires evenly, but faster than it should.

 

Also handling will be off as well if the aligment is off abit. However , they stated they didn't rotate regularly...so that's more likely the problem.

 

I know the '06 outback in particular had issues with the rear alignment due to a weak rear suspension problem. hence , poor wear/handling...

 

I think the tire shop was right about the mtn driving and wear...

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Also handling will be off as well if the aligment is off abit. However , they stated they didn't rotate regularly...so that's more likely the problem.

 

I know the '06 outback in particular had issues with the rear alignment due to a weak rear suspension problem. hence , poor wear/handling...

 

I think the tire shop was right about the mtn driving and wear...

 

yeah, probably, but i'm just saying that it's possible to have poor alignment WIHTOUT adverse handling. let's see...i guess it was the first year i had my car that the front caster was off exactly equally and opposite like this: / \

by about a little less than a degree or so, so the car went straightt and handled normally, but wore a set of tires out in about 6 months.

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Good Year Tripple Treads are made for people in your situation. and they're warenteed at 80k miles.

 

The TripleTreds did not fair well on ice in CR tests, FWIW.

 

The Michelin HydroEdge were recommended for areas with snow and ice. We put them on our 97 currently have over 6/32nd tread depth remaining - after 63,000 miles. But you can get the Goodyears for $10-20 per tire less.

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The TripleTreds did not fair well on ice in CR tests, FWIW.

 

The Michelin HydroEdge were recommended for areas with snow and ice. We put them on our 97 currently have over 6/32nd tread depth remaining - after 63,000 miles. But you can get the Goodyears for $10-20 per tire less.

 

they're not promoted as an ice tire.

 

outer edge for handling, inner for water, center for snow. looks like this:

 

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Check out BF Goodrich Traction T/A's. They are a good all season tire. I just put my 3rd pair on yesterday. As for 18,000 miles on the tire that is way to short a life. I drive 60 miles a day w/ 1.5 miles of that on gravel rd. going up a hill (both ways I might add;)). About 1/3 of that is curvy mtn rds as well. My first set only lasted me for about 25,000 miles which I wasn't to happy about, but I attribute that to poor alignment and balancing issues. The 2nd set I got 37,000 miles out of which I'm satisfied with yet the edges were a little more worn than should be. The tire shop actually pro rated my tires for me, and I saved about $40 a tire. I didn't argue with that. I believe our AWD systems may cause a little more wear, but I have no scientific proof. Just a hunch.

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I'll second the BFG Traction ta H rated tires...I love them ....great in wet and awesome in snow up to 8 inches! Gravel they fair nicely...I've had mine for about 35k and are just starting to show some wear. I do alot of offroad driving as well they work great on mtn roads . The nice part is that they are fairly cheap. :banana:

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  • 3 months later...

I second the calls for checking alignment, etc. But, I live 20 miles up a canyon road, that when it's dry, I drive very quickly (as fast as you can in an 84 horsepower GL wagon that is :grin: ), and my front snow tires last one season or so. I had a set of 80k michelins, that lasted alot longer, but they dont do as well on the snow, and I'd rather by a new set of snow tires every year, than either slow down, or slide off the road in the snow. Interestingly, the snowtires on my truck last alot longer, because I can't go around corners near as fast. But it's not as fun to drive either.

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I'll second the BFG Traction ta H rated tires...I love them ....great in wet and awesome in snow up to 8 inches! Gravel they fair nicely...I've had mine for about 35k and are just starting to show some wear. I do alot of offroad driving as well they work great on mtn roads . The nice part is that they are fairly cheap. :banana:

Discount tires tried to sell me the Goodyear TT at $135/pc but I had them order the BFG Traction TA H instead for $85/pc. Only downside is that Discount did not have any instock anywhere near here and had to order them from S. Carolina. it should be here early this week and i'll let you know how they turn out. Sears($100) and Costco($107) had them in stock but they refused to price match.

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I just put on a set of Big O Aspens. The only thing I can say about them so far is they were fairly cheap, $68, and they are quieter than the Michellins I had before. I hesitate to put on a set of $100 dollar tires on a car with 132,000 miles.

 

wuss

 

nipper

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