08 HL Limited Tire replacement

[mchristo]

I've managed to squeeze a 32,000 miles out of the oem Bridgestones, but the need to be replaced, and just now discovering how Highlander buyers have been pooched by Toyota on the tires.
I've been poking around Tire Rack and I'm thinking about getting a tire one size wider or possible one size narrower (255 or 235)

Is there any problem going to a slightly larger size for my HL ltd? 255 55 19 vs 245 55 19 ??

Tire Rack has a couple of options in this size that are highly rated, their ratings confirm just how bad the oem tires are on the HL ltd.

General Grabber HTS, or
Bridgeston Dueler H/L Alenza.

Thanks,

[O8HLLTD]

Will be doing this myself this week. Have 26k miles on the Toyo's. I will be looking into the 245/55/19 Toyo Open Country H/T (different from the A20 OEMs) and the Bridgestone Dueller HL Alenza's in 255/55/19. Another option might be the Nokian WRG2's in 255/55/19. Loved the nokians on the volvo xc90, but they are expensive and a little noisier.

I will post back this week after I get some quotes. Expect to be on new ones by Friday at the latest. The OEM toyo's are not safe anymore with snow on the roads.

[mchristo]

thanks 08HLLTD.

Pretty funny that I am about to trade my 07 Tacoma for an '10 Tundra same as yours. My Highlander is even the same color.

ever seen Single White Female?

How do you like the Tundra?

[bob259]

I would stick with the original tire size for a number of reasons and go with the Toyo HT's, which have gotten good reviews such as quieter, great traction and great wear.

When my A20's wear out I will be ordering the HT's over the Bridgestones unless Michelin steps up and makes our size.

I got a set of OEM take off wheels (19") and mounted 4 Blizzak snows (245/55/R19) on them for the winter and have had no problems in the snow and ice. A set of snow's is a better investment then trying to use the 'All season / Mud & Snows' in the NE and risk getting into a wreck.

[O8HLLTD]

ever seen Single White Female?

How do you like the Tundra?

No I haven't, but should I be worried?

On the tundra, it's good. PM me if you have specific questions.

Now on to the tire fun and an unexpected twist. The following information is opinion and based on tires for New England. While I understand the dedicated winter tire idea, it doesn't fit our situation. So we are looking for a good performing all season tire.

I spent the early part of the week researching tires and narrowed it down to the Toyo Open Country HT, Bridgestone Dueller HL Alenza (not the HL 400), and the Nokian WRG2. The latter two were 255/55/19. The Toyo and Bridestone are both rated for approx 60k miles and the Nokian approx 50k. I have had nokians before and they are probably the best all season tire in the snow. While the other poster didn't list the reasons not to change the tire size, I wouldn't be too concerned and actually think it might even benefit the ride a little to get a slightly taller sidewall(less than a quarter inch at the larger 255/55/19 size). Of course I think the ride on the HL Ltd could use some help. I personally don't understand the design to have the Highlander with 19 inch 55 aspect ratio tires, but I digress. The possible negatives to the larger tire could be handling, abs issues, speedometer differences, etc. The speedometer would be off approx 1.5% or 60 mph would really be 60.9 mph. Honestly, the difference in tire size wouldn't be any more than the difference in size from a brand new tire to a tire that was worn down. The difference is 0.4 inches in diameter (30 vs. 29.6) between the two sizes.

All that said my story took a turn when I had the vehicle in for service and called Toyo customer service asking about the tires. Talking to Toyo about the tread life and the evidence of chunking next to the sipes, they asked me to have a Toyo dealer look at the tires for warranty issues. When I asked the dealership to call, the Toyo customer service rep (a difference person from the women I spoke to) told them to take it up with Toyota. I am guessing that I may have gotten a different response from Toyo if a tire dealer was calling or if they spoke to the same person I spoke with, but that is speculation. So the dealer called Toyota to discuss the situation and because my Toyos were from 2007 and they have sinced changed the tire design they decided to "good will" me new tires. They offered either the Bridgestone HL 400 or the new Toyo A20s as the only options. I tried many other options to get the open country HT, but no luck. Having read some negative information about the Bridgestones, I opted for the Toyos again. The Toyos were fine the last winter and a known. While I don't have high hopes for these A20's on wear due to the 300 tread wear rating (approx 30k miles), you cant beat the price. They are a different tread pattern, so hopefully they will at least get me through next winter. Then I get to do this all over again, but at least I am a little ahead of the game thanks to my dealer.

On the positive side, the dealers service management was great and very helpful and responsive.

[dsmonline]

255/55-19's work just fine on my '08 limited, opens up many fine tire choices. At 245/55-19, there is only two choices, both are terrible tires when compared to the Bridgestone Duelers H/L Alenza's I put on. You would not believe the difference in snow and the dry pavement handling is totally different, can corner with confidence now. The larger size tires even have enough clearance for a set of SCC Z-6 snow traction chains, put mine on earlier this week just to make sure. I am expecting at least twice the tread life with the Alenza's.

[O8HLLTD]

Agreed it doesn't seem hard to beat the BS HL 400s or the Toyo A20s at 400 UTQG and 300 UTQG respectively. But there is one other (makes 3) options in the OEM 19" size. The Toyo Open Country HT comes in 245/55/19 and at 640 UTQG and should a be a comparable tire to the Alenza. It is considerably different tire than the OEM Toyos. Others have reported very positively about it.

So at least Toyo recognizes that the A20 is junk because they don't even list it on their website.

DSMONLINE-A tire dealer commented that they did returns for customers because the Alenza was harsh riding. How does it ride compared to the OEM's when new? It was on my list before getting free tires so I'm curious.

[dsmonline]

DSMONLINE-A tire dealer commented that they did returns for customers because the Alenza was harsh riding. How does it ride compared to the OEM's when new? It was on my list before getting free tires so I'm curious.[/QUOTE]

The new tires ride noticeably better than the OEM's, can't understand anyone thinking the Alenza's ride rough.

[O8HLLTD]

Good to hear. I was thinking this was in the class (albeit very different) with the Revos AT's I had on my truck and was very happy with. Good to know that is another option.

[JMSinMD]

We discussed the heck out of this at the Toyotanation.com HL forums, I personally had a 'fit' and had Bridgestone replace my HL 400s 245/55/19 with BS Alenza's 255/55/19. They have been through deep sands, snow, ice and rain and I couldn't be happier.

While I was researching tires I decided that if Bridgestone wouldn't comply I was going to go with the Pirelli Scorpion ATR in the 255/55/19 size. They both have great reviews and a lot of similarities. These are both at the top of their class for all season tires.

[TopDawg]

I have a 2008 Toyota Highlander Sport with 245/55R19 Toyo A20 Open Country tires. At 22,000 miles they are nearly worn out. You should find the blog at ConsumerReports.org that talks about these tires. They are junk and Consumers is disappointed that replacements are so hard to find. The answer for me is to change the size slightly as others posting here have done. The reason is that the only two exact size options are poor tires too (TOYO and Dueler). I will look at Continental Conti Cross Contact UHP tires in 255/50R19 size. Slightly lower aspect ratio, but slightly wider tire so it should be very close. I will also start checking with Toyota to see if they are making allowances to buyers for these low mileage TOYO tires. If some of you are wondering why people are replacing these tires so soon, it is because they wear out! I had disappointing results on my 2002 Highlander with the Goodyear Infinity tires -- mileage was not too bad, but wet weather and snow traction was very poor once they wore down (worst than most). Seems like Toyota goes cheap on the OEM tires. I have had good luck with Continentals in the past and they get good reviews on TireRack. Tire Team has the Contis for $222 and they are W speed rated - high performance which will probably mean weak mileage unless I can find that size in a lower speed rating like S, T or even H, V. If you have the Toyo tires, complain to Toyota!

[JMSinMD]

I have a 2008 Toyota Highlander Sport with 245/55R19 Toyo A20 Open Country tires. At 22,000 miles they are nearly worn out. You should find the blog at ConsumerReports.org that talks about these tires. They are junk and Consumers is disappointed that replacements are so hard to find. The answer for me is to change the size slightly as others posting here have done. The reason is that the only two exact size options are poor tires too (TOYO and Dueler). I will look at Continental Conti Cross Contact UHP tires in 255/50R19 size. Slightly lower aspect ratio, but slightly wider tire so it should be very close. I will also start checking with Toyota to see if they are making allowances to buyers for these low mileage TOYO tires. If some of you are wondering why people are replacing these tires so soon, it is because they wear out! I had disappointing results on my 2002 Highlander with the Goodyear Infinity tires -- mileage was not too bad, but wet weather and snow traction was very poor once they wore down (worst than most). Seems like Toyota goes cheap on the OEM tires. I have had good luck with Continentals in the past and they get good reviews on TireRack. Tire Team has the Contis for $222 and they are W speed rated - high performance which will probably mean weak mileage unless I can find that size in a lower speed rating like S, T or even H, V. If you have the Toyo tires, complain to Toyota!

1. Don't waste your time with Toyota, you're not going to get anything.

2. Go with the 255/55/19. I have the Bridgestone Dueler Alenzas in that size on our 09 Sport and yesterday in 6-7 inches of snow it handled as if it was dry. I couldn't be happier with these tires.