New Tires (Post #567) 1/22/2017

BWB up on the rack

After 4 years on my Firestone AT’s they finally quit me. They just don’t make tires like they used too. /sarcasm.

With 2/32ds on the worst one it was time get new shoes for the BWB. I took her by my son-in-law’s Firestone shop on 33rd in Edmond to get a new set of Bridgestone Dueler AT Revo 2’s. I love these tires.

I noticed he had a set of 5 BF Goodrich MTs on sale for 180$(US). If they were the right size and I had an extra set of rims I would have totally bought these for trail driving. But alas I am only able to afford a single set today.

They got me all setup and I’m back on the road. I could go on for hours about tires. But like opinions there are many brands and sizes of tires to choose from. I am a big fan of Bridgestone. I know Bill Burke is a big fan of BF Goodrich tires. All I recommend is that you do your research. Tires need to function on dry and wet roads, snow and ice, gravel and dirt. And for me most of all they have to be quiet on the highway.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering

 

Follow-Up on Tires (Post #241) 1/20/2011

I received a GREAT coupon in my email from my preferred tire dealer. Basically it is store cost plus a dollar for Bridgestone or Firestone tires. As you have no doubt read I have had a love affair with Bridgestone Dueler AT Revo II’s. The bad news about this is the supply of this tire in sizes that would work well for a classic Range Rover has dried up.
Basically I am looking for tires that match as closely as possible the original size.

As you can read on RangeRovers.net the original size was 205/80-16.

Getting a tire close to this size is the trick. Knowing which tire is the same size requires a little math. Thankfully there are lots of tire calculators available on the interwebs.

I used this one on 1010tires.com.

The tire sizes I’m considering are…

Tire Size Comparison
Size Size Change Percent Speed at 60mph
205/80-16 0 60
215/85-16 -.77 60.4
225/75-16 +1.27 59.2
245/70-16 +2 58.7
235/75-16 +3.22 58.0

This tire calculator will pop up a message saying the 235/75-16 tire is outside the recommended range of 3 percent or smaller.

I highly recommend you read the tire page on RangeRovers.net. There is a lot of information about sizes on there that will remove a lot of the guess work.

So back to the Bridgestone problem of supply. Art at Hibdon’s Tire Plus called Bridgestone and asked the question I’ve been trying find out. Are they dropping the Dueler AT REVO II?

According to Bridgestone they have a supply problem. Tire manufacturers do not like to have tires sitting on the shelf too long. Tires have expiration dates just like milk only a tad bit longer. I can’t answer how long is “too long” but lets just say the tire companies know. In any event, they are trying to keep their stock rotated. When uncertain times like these come around manufacturers cut back. Apparently they cut back too much and a GREAT tire became unavailable.

Again, according to Bridgestone the Dueler AT REVO II’s stock will be replenished. So the tire sizes for that tire that are best for our Range Rovers will again be on the shelves or racks in late March or early April. You know I will be checking out this information.

In the mean time a quandary has appeared in our path like a rather large rock slide. Do we buy tires now and just source a different tire that got good marks, in effect DRIVE AROUND the rock slide? Or do we wait for the Dueler’s to show up meanwhile driving around on bald tires or severely limit our driving? This second portion has some added weight that I will miss using the coupon the dealer sent me.

How good a coupon is it? Well, I’ll tell ya.
I asked them to quote me Firestone Destination A/T with full hazard replacement. Here is the survey page for this tire at TIRERACK.COM.

They place 2nd in the category and are actually ranked higher than both of the Dueler AT REVOs.

With out the coupon I can get a set of four installed for 733.45$(US)
With the coupon I can get a set of four installed for 589.63$(US)
143.82$(US) savings!!!

That’s a pretty good alternative to waiting for the Dueler AT REVOs to arrive. Now I could buy Bridgestone Dueler AT REVO IIs in the 245/70-16 size. This is a common pickup truck size and there seem to be plenty of them to be found. They will supposedly fit with no modifications. The coupon is in affect as well giving me a 200.09$(US) savings (nice) on a set of four. Unfortunately a set of four tires without the coupon is 1009.53$(US). HOLY CRAP!

This takes us back to the thoughts in my last tire post about “how much driving am I going to be doing”. This is not my daily driver at best it will be two days a week one of which is a Saturday or Sunday. This Range Rover does not need to rest on a 1000$ set of tires in my driveway. This makes this a fairly easy decision.

So to wrap up.
Milk expires on the shelf. Tires expire on the shelf.
Manufacturers reduce inventories of even their best products when hard times come around.
According to one source at the Bridgestone warehouse, as of this post, they are not planning to eliminate the Dueler REVO tire line from their inventory.
Tires are expensive. Why buy a more expensive tire when a cheaper and notably better product is available? Rhetorical question Farley.

Time for Tires Again (Post #241) 1/7/2011

I’ve blogged about this subject a few times. One of those posts sits in the top position of most pageviews for my site.

As you may have gathered from the post’s title, I’m looking for new tires for the Range Rover Classic. The project and calendar have progressed to the point where it is time for new rubber to meet the road. We have pending snow storm coming on Sunday. It will not be the blizzard we had last year. Hell, it probably won’t even snow enough to measure it. But after the local weathermen(and women) get finished with the weather tonight the grocery stores will have a run on milk, smokes, booze, bread and canned soup. And by Wednesday the roads will be clear so new tires are not an emergency situation and neither is running to the grocery to buy something you can wait a day or two for the trucks to deliver.

Consider this, I have not put even a hundred miles on the Classic since last year’s Snowpocalypse storm the tires on her right now will most likely work just fine. They are bald for sure, but I was able to manage with just a failed viscous coupling and front wheel drive and bald tires in blizzard conditions. Now I have both axles working correctly so…I have that going for me.

I have been digging around on the net and I found some bad news today. Bridgestone Dueler AT REVO’s are being discontinued. At the very least they are on closeout at TireRack.com. It’s no great surprise to me. I knew it would happen. Every time a company produces a product that is genius it only takes a few production runs for someone to change it and thusly screw it up. Or someone at corporate to declare we need a new product and thus kill all the successful products they have produced to date.

This is pushing demand for Bridgestone Dueler AT Revo II’s and the smallest size of that tire which is perfect for your Range Rover, 235/75R16, is listed on TireRack.com as….back ordered. Of course it is, I need to buy four of them. I’m not going to wait for them. My local tire shoppe, Hibdon’s Tire Plus, which is normally able to shit me a pair of Tiffany cuff links on command, can’t get either the Revo or Revo II’s. What the hell is that all about?

So I’m looking for a new tire. I could wait to buy, but there is a pending snow storm coming on Sunday night/Monday. That in itself is not enough reason to go buy tires but I need to start looking. So what do we have available as a replacement.

Here is an obligatory graphic that will be out dated 15 minutes after I post it.

These are the top 7 tires in this category at TireRack.com and an associated observation from my point of view for each…

Kumho Road Venture SAT KL61
Never owned a set. Smallest size 225/75R15. The brand is one of those you perhaps don’t know what to expect. I’ve seen more Kumho tire signs on abandoned tire shops than active ones. But they seem to have hit a homerun with the folks on TireRack.com.

Firestone Destination A/T
Lots of sizes. Firestone let me down in the 1990s with a set of tires and I’ve never forgiven them. You remember when Ford and Firestone were sued for tires that fell apart and caused cars and SUVs to flip over? I had a set of those tires in the smaller 15 inch size. They didn’t get recalled, but they fell apart just like the 16 inch ones. I took them back to Firestone and they would not replace them. I haven’t darkened their door since.

It seems they are using UNI-T technology just like the Bridgestone REVO’s. I also know they are essentially the same company as Bridgestone as one owns the other.

Michelin LTX A/T 2
They made the OEM tires for your Range Rover. Those 205/80R16’s had a distinctive narrow and tall look that can’t be copied. If they weren’t 200-300$(US) more than everyone else I would have bought another set. Another strike against them, I can’t buy them at my tire dealer of choice. That is sad because there is a Michelin plant in Ardmore Oklahoma, and I’m all about buying products made in Oklahoma or at least products made by companies with a presence in Oklahoma.

Bridgestone REVO and Bridgestone REVO II
Discontinued and not available. I am very disappointed in this.

Goodyear Wrangler SilentArmor
Not excited about Goodyear. SilentArmor? really? that’s the name you came up with?

Pirelli Scorpion ATR
I saw a set on a truck the other day they looked really good. I’ve never owned a set though. I know they had a tire that was popular with Land Rover owners a decade ago.

I bounced this situation off my friends EGD, Magnum Mike and Titanium Hitch. They sometimes offer sound advice. Most of the time the advice is littered with insults about the Land Rover brand. The gist of their points this time revolved around how much are “you” going to drive the Range Rover. They aren’t too keen with spending the equivalent of the per capita GDP of your average Chadian for tires on a vehicle I’m going to drive only a couple times a week.

This is a good point. I did mention that I’d like to have quality tires because I plan to do some cross country driving. Their observation that I was either stupid or completely mad to drive the Range Rover across the country were well founded. I am often stupid and I am mad to spend the energy I have on a nearly 20 year old Range Rover and to expect it to carry me to California or the Carolina’s is pretty crazy. Can you say AAA? Sure, sure you can.

So I’ll call the tire shoppe and ask them if they carry Pirelli Scorpian ATR‘s. Then I may wait for a month and see if I can get a discount, rebate, Bridgestones, if not, I guess I’ll be rollin’ fat on Pirelli’s.

And if they are willing to have a set on hand, I’m willing to buy them. Of course I will let you know how they perform and whether or not I’d buy them again.

Thanks for reading, stay warm and Happy Rovering.

Tires….again (Post #131) 3/2/2009


It seems like just a short time ago I bought tires for my Discovery. In fact it has been 47,000 miles ago. The Bridgestone AT REVO’s have been great. As you may recall I bought a set of 16 inch rims and got “real truck tires” for the Discovery. I thought fancifully that I would be able to use the Discovery off-road and would begin modifying her for that purpose. BOY WAS I WRONG!

The funds I envisioned for the modification never happened. My daughter went over budget on her wedding and this was needed and that was desired and presto, I was broke again.

Now it is time to put another driver behind the wheel of an OkieRover vehicle. The Diet Mountain Drew will be using a vehicle this summer as he comes of driving age. He has his choice between the 2002 Ford Taurus and the 2003 Land Rover Discovery. His friends are leaning on him hard to get the Discovery. He has mentioned the cost of operation more than one time in conversation. He is keen to save money and to drive the MUCH MORE economical Taurus. Hands down it gets twice the mileage of the Discovery.

But mom’s four door Taurus doesn’t even compare in coolness to a Land Rover. And I have to agree with the teens on this matter. Heated seats, dual sunroofs, kick ass sound system, 18 inch rims, smooth. Mommy’s Taurus just can’t compete with that.

So back to tires…. I let the wife take the Discovery to retrieve the children from a church function last night. When I got in her this morning put her in reverse, I heard the scratch, scratch, scratch of a tire that obviously had a large nail or bolt in it. So I jumped out at my first car pool pick up point and sure enough it’s a bolt. My guess is a lag bolt you might use for a wood panel fence project.

Needless to say I’m absolutely thrilled! (end sarcasm) I was hoping to hold out until summer to buy a new set of tires. The tire guys are just going to laugh when I ask them if that tire can be repaired. The tread is well worn as you can imagine.

So we have two considerations. Tires for the 16 inch rims or tires for the 18 inch rims?

I have priced and read about tires all morning. The obvious choice is a new set of Bridgestone AT REVOs for the 16 inch rims. But there is that spectre of Diet Mountain Drew and his request that the 18 inch rims go back on the Disco when he starts driving her.

So which tires do I get for the 18 inch rims?
With most tire prices hovering around 200$(US) and up the choice really comes down to each tire’s rating. For that money I better be getting some damn good tires.


If you read the Land Rover Only Forum the obvious choice is the Nitto Terra Grappler. And Big O Tires has them for roughly 187$(US) a tire. So I could get off-road tires for the 18 inch rims. That’s a thought. Those tires were not available when I bought the 16 inch rims and tires. I remember seeing the announcement that they would make the tire in 255/55-18 size. I remember thinking well that was just awesome.

So I jumped on TireRack.com and did my tire research. I looked at all of the brands I normally consider. And when I decided I didn’t want to spend the gross national product of Chad to buy tires for my Discovery, I started looking at brands I might not normally consider.

Tire Bias
I am a self confessed tire snob. I like the “name brands”. I feel like I know what I’m getting when I pay a little more for something based on marketing. But there in lies the folly of the tire purchase. Cooper Tires advertise like crazy and they don’t have much of a reputation with me or anyone I know. They sell a lot of tires overseas. They have a racing pedigree. Sadly for them, I don’t follow racing.


Nitto doesn’t market their tires at all compared to the big three, Firestone, Goodyear, Michelin. At least not in the TV and radio realms of advertising. If you look at most of the “second tier” tire brands you will find the same thing. Short of a couple of signs in front of independent dealers there is very little advertising.

So we as consumers look at the ratings and hope we are getting a good tire. I found such a tire when I looked at the Continental Cross Contact LX. Normally I would not buy a Continental tire. But the ratings for that tire were great on TireRack.com. It is an exceptional tire. As I read about the Terra Grapplers I saw a lot of what turned me away from Yokohama tires after one purchase, tread life was very poor.

So I can save myself around 40-80$(US) for cheaper tires with poor tread life or spend a bit more and have the tires around for a while longer. It probably works out to a nice number if I did the math. 30-35,000 miles out of a 700 dollar set of tires or 50-55,000 miles out of a higher priced set with a cap of expense at 900 bucks. The most I’ve ever spend for a set of tires was 870 dollars.

There is also the consideration of customer service. Customer service is dead. I’ve said it many times. But I have been buying tires at my local Hibdon Tires Center forever. They sold out to Tires Plus and nearly went out of business in Oklahoma until they added the Hibdon name to the stores. So now they are Hibdon Tires Plus. The Hibdon’s are from my old hometown of Newcastle. I went to school with them, I served in the Marines with one of them.

The Hibdon’s always stood behind the tires they sold. Almost ridiculously at times. I’ve taken tires down there that were nearly flat, driven flat and they replaced them, no questions asked. Today they have a more sophisticated system for tracking the tires and thusly their warranty of tires. But it is still fair. And they match what ever price you can find. Period. If I had one complaint they can’t see the historical record of my purchases. Return customers should be rewarded.

I found a cheap price on TireRack.com got the shipping lined up, got another independent tire shop lined up to install the tires (for an additional fee) and planned to get the rebate. I tallied that all up and Hibdon still beat it. I didn’t even have to cajole them. His first call back price was cheaper than all the above and I had just one stop to buy the tires.

How can you beat that? I don’t think you can, not in Oklahoma anyway. So I’m going to buy some Continental Cross Contact LX tires for my 18 inch rims. I’m even getting a 75$(US) gift card for buying them. And when my son comes to his senses and tells us he wants to drive the Taurus…I’ll be cruisin’ fat on my 18’s for forty thousand miles boyee.
Or I think that’s how they say it in Hipster Town.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

Postscript: I’ve decided to sell my 16 inch rims. If you are interested send me an email. I’m thinking 275$ plus shipping.