New Tahrs

Tires when shipped to the OEM (GM, Ford, etc) from the tire manufacturers are sorted for "Road Force Variation" and some other key characteristics.

Road Force is a tangential force, but think of it as an out of round tire. The higher the road force the more vibration and shake you will feel in your vehicle, typically at the steering wheel or in the seat (butt shake).

Well you can guess that if the tire is out of spec that Goodyear and others do not scrap the tires, they get shipped. Where to? Aftermarket stores, Goodyear owned stores, dealers for replacements.

That is why you can go to the dealer and they may replace tires, and when you leave your car shakes more, you actually got worse tires from the aftermarket then what you started with.

And, Goodyear is not the only company that does this. I have seen all the tire manufacturers doing this.

The sad thing is, it can really be a crap shoot when you put new tires on.

Sorry for the long comments, but I spend a lot of time at work fighting with tire manufacturers to send good tires.

Rick

Rod

It still has it's second set of tires, Power Marks and they are holding up really well. One has a small rip in the sidewall but it's not poking through yet, they will probably last a good while yet. The fronts are getting down there. One is a Firestone and while it's not cracked, it's bald. The other it a General and it's got plenty of tread yet but it's cracked really bad.

Our 1755 came with Armstrong's and they were pretty good, but now the engine is blown. Our 165 has new Titan's (feild & roads ran over a disk about 10-15 years ago) on and so far they are holding up just fine but they're only 3-4 years old.

Our 1855 has Coop's on. While they are splitting some in the center around the lug, it sits outside (to big to go in the shed) and sat on the dealer's lot for about 2 years before we bought it. It's getting new ones in the next year or 2, probably gonna go with either Titans or agri-master.

The 1600 has Agri-masters on, just got them put on last year and I like them. It doesn't do much for pulling or road travel, but it still earn's it's keep. Can't say how the tires will hold up yet.

Donovan from Wisconsin

I find what you say about the GoodYear's really interesting. You're not the first person I've heard say that on this fourm either. That said, out here on the east coast, I've never really seen any degree of trouble with the GoodYear casings. They generally wear out before they have a chance to crack up. I'm still wondering if the different climates have a different effect. I've had probably 6 or 7 sets of those DynaTorques in different sizes, and never lost any to dry rot or ruptures. Every one came off because it was worn out. It was the big thing they had going for them in my opinion. The Firestone's that I've had have always served well, and wore out, but I do remember some of the Field and Road's from 20 years ago or so that were awful ripe when they were worn out. We were always happy with Firestone tires, and Galaxy tires for that matter. The Armstrong's and Titan's that we've had were factory installed tires on new tractors, and a skid steer. The performance in terms of pull and wear has been good. I can't knock them in that regard. That said, the Armstrong's we had did rupture from a rotten casing after about 10 years. They were close to worn out though. The Titan's that I have now have ruptured a couple times from loading. That said, they were within their load range. That's the first time I've ever seen a tire internally rupture from loading. The casings themselve now are heavily weathered after 8 years. I simply have not been impressed with them. Installing a 100 dollar blowout patch didn't help. Next slip up for them, and they're gone. It was much the same story with the Generals we had. The belts broke in those tires within 2 years. We never got to wear them out. At this point I've pretty much been cured of the need for bias tires anyway. The tractors that have been switched over to radials ride so much smoother that there just isn't any comparison. They do cost more up front, but there's a lot more tire there. The Michelin's especially have 3/4"-1" more lug depth than most bias tires. In the end, so long as the casings hold up, the increased cost will bear out in increased service. The fuel savings, increased pull, and better ride are just bonuses.
The only reason I would not install a radial today was if the tire was going into an application where it would not wear out before it rotted. In other words, on a trailer queen that never works, or doesn't do much.
The only problem I've seen with the 23 degree firestone radials was actually with the tubes. The tire was carrying so much weight, and gaining so much traction that the tractor could turn the wheels IN the tires, and shear the valve stems off. I replaced several tubes from that, and have since started running duals. That seems to have solved the problem. Otherwise, I've been very happy with those tires.

Rod

The duals for the 1855 are Feild & roads, but are extremely smooth so they really only provide flotation. When we do get new tires on the 1855, the old Coop's are goin on the dual rims and the F&R's are going on the road with "FREE" signs on them. Costs us $20 otherwise per tire.

The only a tire that got so rotten it just failed was on my 1600 while waiting to be sandblasted (for about 1-2 years). The one remaining Good Year finally let go, but it was severley weather checked and about 20-30 years old. The other Good Year was swapped out for one of the original Factory Firestone's many years before that, and then that one was sliced on the side wall so a used Coop was mounted.

Still a little mad my dad just paid to get rid of the Coop, it still had plenty of tread and I'm sure they mounted it on another tractor, just like they did on the 16. I guess that's just a money making tire for those guys....

Donovan from Wisconsin

Dunlop and Michelin were really the same tire back then so I always run Michelin if I can. A bit more pricey but in a tire, you get what you pay for. They have done very well on my trucks and Tahoe.

Uniroyals never hold up to any kind of abuse (or even use for that matter)

Good Year just wasn't any good. The side walls seem to weather check and crack a lot, espescially on the Ag line. We've got a pair that came on our Masey 285 (18.4-34's) with about 50% tread, but he had them replaced about 20 years ago (tractors only about 24!!) because of cracking sidewalls. He had Power Marks installed and 20 years later they still have about 40-50% tread. One of the Good Years just made it on a dual rim for the 285 because I tore the other one open.

Firestone- well we all know about the Ford Exploders. Their Ag tires seem pretty good though, but the ones on my dad's truck (00 Tacoma) handled like crap. Even worse in the winter.

Wide Tracks- Look in the junk yard at all the smashed cars, about 50% have Wide Tracks (or other Fleet Farm Brand) tires on them...

He replaces everything with Coopers, and they prove to be VERY good tires.

I've got a set of Sport Kings (forget who makes them) on my truck, about 3 years old and almost time to replace them, they're a 50,000 tire and I've got about 45,000 on them. I'm happy with them, but I may not be keeping the truck too much longer so I don't know about putting expensive ones on. Too rich for only a few more months of driving.

I plan to put either Coooper's or Sport Kings on my new truck when I finally get the funds to buy one.

We've got about 3 Uniroyals on rims in the shed right now and 2 of them have busted cords and the tread is bulging. Another one on the haybine we bought this year has the same problem, but it's coming off the next time we pull it around to the shop. I'll NEVER drive on a Uniroyal, they just fall apart on us.

Donovan from Wisconsin.

(If ya havn't noticed, I can be a little passionate about some brands)

Donovan from Wisconsin