Are “cheap” tires bad?

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bigcountry78

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My brother-in-law's new 2021 Ram 1500 was delivered with Falken tires. Time will tell, but not what you would expect on a new vehicle. Of course with the supply shortages everywhere, he was lucky to have the truck delivered at all.
I’ve heard a lot of good things about Falken tires, but around here they are priced about like BFG and Michelin.
 

Grit dog

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I hear nothing but good about Falken Wildpeak tires on trucks out here.
Wife's SRT8 has a set of Hankook Z rated something or others. Haven't been tracking treadwear but they're quiet (as quiet as a 40 series tire can be I suppose), didn't take alot of weight to balance and have run out at 160mph (briefly a couple times) and didn't pop. I havent run them out any faster yet, but they appear to be be a good quality tire.
I'm cheap (read "frugal) when buying tires. Buy some used off CL or FB and generally go more price point than top of the line if buying new/retail.
In the last say 10 years, I can recall having probably 10 or more different tire brands including Kumhos and Hankooks and nary a complaint.
 

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That said, there is cheap and then there is CHEAP. Once you shop Scamazon for tires, there are some that you just gotta say, lo ciento, no bueno.
 

Midnightmoon

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Speaking of cheap, or not so cheap, tires. I just picked up these Firestones (Destination XT) for my DD Ram today. $204/each mounted, spin balanced, and new stems.

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GMFORLIFE

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Bought Kelly Springfield once..every tire had puncture within 3 months.
Wore out a set of firestone in 3 months.
I now run hankook tires.
Great tires..never any punctures..long lasting and INEXPENSIVE.

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GMFORLIFE

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The grip of that ipike tire is insane.
 

Dooley

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BF Goodrich hasn't made light truck/passenger tires in over 30 years.
Back then Michelin bought that part of their tire business.
They share production costs and the like between them, but left the business side separate.
Most of my square body vehicles are BFG equipped.
A large portion of my "green trucks" are Michelin equipped.
They hold up well.

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mrdap

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Michelin
Worth every penny of the extra cost.
It's the only tire I buy for any of my vehicles.
And I've got 12 vehicles
 

Raider L

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I know this may sound tacky but I've been using Walmart online to buy my tires for years. Most people would not put Walmart and buying good tires in the same sentence, but you can get any tire at Walmart online at super cheap prices. The tires I have on my truck right now are regularly $158 a tire and Walmart has them for $77 a tire. That's more like it. Other than a few tires made in America most all tires are made in China. They do make some good tires. Every bicycle and nearly every motorcycle tire is a Chinese tire. Kenda? Ever heard of them? Chinese. Walmart sells Continental, Cooper, B.F. Goodrich online, if you prefer those brands, for a lot cheaper than you can get them at a store that exclusively sells tires. Those places are going to be the highest because that's how they make their money. You can order tires from Walmart online and have them delivered to your local Walmart you trade at, and they will put them on for you with all the necessary other stuff.
 

Bextreme04

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BF Goodrich hasn't made light truck/passenger tires in over 30 years.
Back then Michelin bought that part of their tire business.
They share production costs and the like between then, but left the business side separate.
Most of my square body vehicles are BFG equipped.
A large portion of my "green trucks" are Michelin equipped.
They hold up well.

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I bought a 2005 Dodge Neon SRT-4 brand new and it came with BF Goodrich G-Force T/A KDW tires on it. They were some amazing super grippy sport car tires. You can still buy them brand new. https://www.4wheelparts.com/p/bf-go...y6yNTQij6-SK61kUZLqUF9jMtv7nwK2RoCrPIQAvD_BwE

They also make a full line of light truck tires.
 

Camar068

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There's a lot of "off brand" tires that are very good. Sailun is one of them. We've had Ironman steer tires on a couple work trucks, they were... well, they weren't terrible.

Tires like Primewell, Douglas, Fisk all come to mind as ones I consider to be no good. Hercules have made some good ones, but also some that are garbage. Most Dayton and Mastercraft tires are pretty good, if not excellent. My other favorites that come to mind are no longer in production. But there have been many off brands that I thought made an excellent tire.

My truck will only have MasterCraft unless I win the lottery.
 

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