Right now I think I am running Firestone Destination LE. I think they can get a bit squeally in turns, and also in the wet, they don't seem to have a lot of traction. I think they were the best bang for the buck when I was looking for a set of tires to replace the OE ones.
Based on how they perform I am thinking they were designed with maybe a harder, longer lasting type rubber as opposed to a softer, more responsive one.
I don't like the fact that they don't perform as well in the wet. I'm not sure if this is due to the rubber compound, tread, or perhaps both.
As a consequence I am thinking of going with the Michelins from Costco, which will run about $1000 for 4 (I think the firestones were only $500 or $600).
Will this be $$ well spent? I think I am looking for just better all season performance and handling in a tire over how my current tires perform.
Why an all season in Hawaii? i lived there for 4 years and all I saw was summer. I would think a highway tire thats is good wet would be a good choice. I would not look for a high mileage tire as it may age before wearing out.
Well, it does rain here. And although I may be incorrect, I think an all season tire would perform better than a highway tire made for mostly dry conditions.
I have driven in the rain here and experienced loss of traction when only mildly accelerating from a stop (tires just spin like a burnout, no smoke).
IMHO, you can't go wrong with the Michelins. Sure, they are pricey, but with tires, I really think you get what you pay for.
I put a set of the Michelin LTX A/T2s on my wife's 2003 4Runner V6 4WD and they are GREAT tires. FWIW: I am going to try and save the household a few $$$ and will be adding the LT265/75-16 Nitto Terra Grapplers to my 2002 4.7L in a few months. The out-the-door price differential between them and the Michelins in our neck of the woods is about $220...
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2002 Tundra V8 SR5 AC | Silver Sky Metallic | Chrome Step Bars | Kobalt Low Profile Bed Box
Daystar 2.5" Levelling Lift, 1" Rear Block
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Mobil-1 5W-30 Truck & SUV | Magnefine ATF Filter 3/8" | K&N AF #33-2144 | NGK Iridium Plugs #BKR6EIX
Russell Speed Bleeders #639560 | Josh's Billet Wing Window Latch Upgrade
My truck came with a set of Goodyear Fortera (sp?)....they're not very beefy for off-road use....but for mileage, quiet ride and wet/dry traction they are pretty damned impressive. Might be worth a look
All seasons are a compromise for well, all seasons. They don't do anything great. A summer tire is designed to hold up in warm weather and not fall apart. I brought my car from NY to Oahu with snow tires and they kinda fell apart as they were designed for cold. A lot of summer tires have impressive wet traction. Now if you are sand bogging, that is different. Except for the snow tire change. I kept the same tires on mine the entire 4 years and only went about 20,000 miles but the tires were cracking and I had to change them out due to age.
Ok, well maybe I am using the wrong terminology here. I just thought all season were made for rain more than a summer tire.
In actuality, I don't really care what classification the tire is, highway, all season, etc. All I care about is I don't have that "loss of traction" in the rain as I do with the Firestone Destination LE's.
In fact, those Michelins I am looking at at Costco could very well be a highway tire too. I'm not sure. All I know is they cost rougly 2x as much so I'm assuming (and hoping) they'd perform better in the wet.
So what would you call something like the Michelin Hydroedge? Are these highway or all season? I have a set of these for my SUV (also bought at costco), and in my opinion, they are much better than the OE goodyears that came on the car.
Tires have rating on them, it's by law, that give comparisons for traction and treadwear. I would look more for traction than treadwear on a tire. tirerack has some great review for the tires they sell. They call the hydroedge an all season. and they rate the wet traction as superior. My recollection of rain was that it was constantly raining on the island somewhere and it was rarely hard. At least compared to the east coast. But maybe combined with the lava dust, it gets bad.
I am in favor of quality tires and tend towards the upper range but since tires age, I'd rather have a set no longer than 5 years.
Yea, that's correct about your perception of the weather here, except that during the winter (december/january), it can rain VERY hard. Also remember that being in the pacific, we are subject to hurricanes and typhoons (or weather similar to it) which can cause a LOT of rain during those seasons. Lava dust is not a problem except on the big island, which has active volcanos (and that is not the island I live on).
I will probably go back to costco and check the model of that michelin they sell. Since the Tundra is more of an unsual size tire, the price clubs usually only have one or 2 models of tires that will fit, if any. Before when I first got my truck, costco did not carry ANY tires that would fit, and that's also partly the reason I went to firestone also.
I still think as a general rule, an all season would preform on average better in the wet (although there may be exceptions). Otherwise, there would be no need for that classificaiton. But I am also limited to what type of tires they make for my truck and if all they make are highway/summer tires, then I'd want the best wet-performing tire that I can find.
another thing, when you say a tire is has a "Traction rating", what exactly does this rating mean? Does that number correspond to only dry traction, or wet and dry traction?
Because if the former, then the number would be deceiving if you are only going based on it. If you are looking for a tire with superior wet traction but the traction rating only references dry traction, then you would be not making the right choices.
That's partly the reason I was thinking the all season category in general, because regardless of the traction numerical rating I would think that in general they should be made for "wet traction" more than say a highway tire that has high dry traction but is unable to perform well in the wet.
If on the other hand that number you are talking about does refer to wet traction, then that is what I need to be looking at.
It is more remembrance than perception. I had a sports car, a motorcycle and a sedan during my living in Waipahu right behind the drive in. so it has been awhile. I still have some lava dust stains on a set of wheels I still have. Living next to the cane fields, I was exposed to a share of dust.
Here is a link to tire racks description of the rating. they test it on a wet skidpad so it should be close to what I remember driving through. Tire Tech Information - Uniform Tire Quality Grade (UTQG) Standards
getting tires from a mail order place may lose it advantages for you with shipping. But you would have wider selection
that's interesting that you lived on the same island as I do. i never heard of lava dust on this island. there is visible black lava on the big island in kona.
i've driven past the cane fields you are talking about and all i see is brown dirt. we only get vog when the volcano is active and the winds blow the smoke our way.
what color are the lava dust stains you are talking about?
I'm actually just curious as to how there is lava dust out there when I don't see any lava on the ground like how I see in Kona.
Last edited by 05TundraDC; 06-25-2009 at 04:34 PM.
I am looking at HANKOOK DYNAPRO ATM RF/10, and comes in 255/70 18 and 275/65 18 for TUNDRA. I need to know on how they wear and drive. They have 50,000 mile warranty so not bad. They have high marks on truck sites and discount tire.
It is a reddish brown. Since its very old volcano activity, the rocks have broken down. When I got there I said it was sand and some locals told me it was the remains of the lava flows. I believed them as it is different from all the beach sands there. And there are a lot of differences on different beaches.
I've seen video of the black lava flows on the big island, that stuff is geologically brand new
Cheap vs. Expensive Tires for Tundra
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