For you Tundra owners who are looking for a great all purpose tire, I just bought NOKIA TR's for my Truck. They carry a great warranty 50,000 plus the first 20% carries a full replacement. Better warranty than Michelin, also better traction on wet and snowy roads in the northeast. Paid $117 ea.
Do you have a link for the Nokian TR? I've seen the WR, but not the TR.
I think that Nokian makes the world's best winter tires, I'm getting Nokian Qs for my Volvo, and the WR is the only true all-season light truck tires I've found; it's actually passed a snow traction test.
Nokian has made their name known in the Downhill mountain bike industry. It is widely used with many extreme downhillers and freeriders. I know this is not much of camparison to truck tires but, I'm just saying they do make durable tires.
Originally posted by rtetrault For you Tundra owners who are looking for a great all purpose tire, I just bought NOKIA TR's for my Truck. They carry a great warranty 50,000 plus the first 20% carries a full replacement. Better warranty than Michelin, also better traction on wet and snowy roads in the northeast. Paid $117 ea.
rtetrault,
Tell us more. How did those tires compare to the oem tire you had? Which OEM tires did you have for reference? What dealer did you buy them from? I've been trying to find a dealer that has sold a couple of sets and knows how they compare to michelins which are the closest competion. (nokian having the far superior snow traction, of course).
I've been agonizing over which tires to get when mine are due (before fall). For an AT tire, I'll probably go with Toyo Open Country ATs. But I don't really need an AT tire and want to get good snow traction for skiing during the winter, but a quiet and smooth ride for the rest of the time.
I really want to keep the smooth ride of my current BFG tires that were part of the TRD package but I would also want a tire that is quieter and has decent snow traction. With the BFG, you're getting what you pay for and those are cheap tires.
I've no problem paying $150 or even $170 for a tire if I can get a) A smooth ride and b) great snow traction even in two feet of thick, wet snow and c) a quiet ride.
Really, the best solution might be two sets of tires, but I can't go with a winter tire during the winter because it's 50 or 60 degrees during the day here during the winter but cold and snowy in the mountains.
But for a mud and snow tire I could either go with the tried and true Michelin LTS M&S which will have good snow traction and a quiet and smooth ride. Big O has an AT tire that compares favorably to this Michelin though. I've been looking for personal experience info on that Nokian tire you got. I'm assuming you meant to type WR and not TR. If it's TR, it must be a brand, brand new tire.
Nokian makes outstanding high quality tires though and probably even out manufactures Michelin (if you can believe that!). But I've been wondering how those Nokian WRs compare to Michelins M&S. If they're just as quiet and smooth riding, I'd probably go with them over the Michelin LTX m&s even though they would be $40 more per tire. I'd probably still go with them even if they were a little noisier than the michelin ltx m&s, but had a quiet and smooth ride since they'd still be quieter than the TRD tires I have now. Getting quieter isn't hard, it's the smooth AND good traction that's hard. Most AT tires are a little harder riding, including Michelin AT (but their downside is really their noise). But any good aftermarket AT tire is probably going to be quieter than those OEM TRD tires, but usually they are a lot firmer riding.
What I want it the best performance and I'm not afraid to pay the extra money for it. I've never been sorry for buying the best. Well, maybe for the first week because of the cost. Than later I'm sooooo glad.
I'd really like to hear a more detailed comparison of your new Nokians with what you had. After a while, you'll forget what the old ones were like and these will be your new standard.
The big advantage Nokian has is that they use real rubber vs synthetic so they stay soft in winter instead of turning into rock like domestic brands. The downside is that it's much more expensive to manufacture.
For those of you that noticed, I mistyped the model of the Nokian.. I meant to say "Nokian WR". Also I don't have personal experience with the Michelin LTX Pilot or the Michelin LTX M&S but from what I'm told the Michelin's aren't that great in the snow. The Nokians are the only all seasons that pass the test as true snow tires. I'm sure there is some trade offs such as ride etc. , but dollar for dollar the Nokian was the right choice for me. Oh, one other thing, if you need to have the white lettering thing going on, don't consider Nokian.. no white letters.
Also, for whoever asks, I was replacing the stock Dunlop Grandtreks which really suck! As with everyone else I've talked to, I got 20k out of them.
Originally posted by rtetrault For those of you that noticed, I mistyped the model of the Nokian.. I meant to say "Nokian WR". Also I don't have personal experience with the Michelin LTX Pilot or the Michelin LTX M&S but from what I'm told the Michelin's aren't that great in the snow. The Nokians are the only all seasons that pass the test as true snow tires. I'm sure there is some trade offs such as ride etc. , but dollar for dollar the Nokian was the right choice for me. Oh, one other thing, if you need to have the white lettering thing going on, don't consider Nokian.. no white letters.
Also, for whoever asks, I was replacing the stock Dunlop Grandtreks which really suck! As with everyone else I've talked to, I got 20k out of them.
The Nokains are also directional. So the have to be rotated front to rear only.
Seeing this reminded me of my quest for tires so I talked to a tire place in Denver that sells tons of these and Michelin LTX m&s. He seemed pretty hands on knowledgeable and suggested that these literally run donuts around Michelin LTX m&s during the winter. The only thing about Mich is that the rubber they use is so darn hard.
These Nokian WRs are supposed to be an amazing tire. Though hard to find and a little on the pricey side. That price ($117) was great. I've not found them for less than $135 (anywhere in the country) and for me to get them here in California, I'll have to pay $150 a tire.
Unless I go with Toyo Open Country tires though, these sound like the ultimate m&s tire (that really does work well in snow!!). If you never get in snow, Michelins may be better, but otherwise.
They are fine until you really get into 6 inches or more of mud. Then it's spin city.
Michelins will outlast these though. But at the cost of winter traction.
Alan,
Here's some info about Big-O tires. They're owned by TBC Corp., and many are manufactured under contract by Kelly (which is owned by Goodyear.) For those of us in the West, Les Schwab is TBC's Multi-Mile brand biggest dealer.
I've noticed that Multi-Mile brand, Big-O brand, & Kelly brand tires often look very similar and identical in some cases. I don't think that there's anything wrong with any of them; they seem to be good, medium quality, moderate price tires. http://isysit.com/tbc/ (click on "about" and "history") http://www.multimiletires.com/about/index.html
A friend did have a separation with one of Les Schwab's Multi-Mile tires. It did about $1000 damage to his truck. Every tire company makes a very small percentage of tires that fail, so it's possible that there were a million identical tires that didn't fail. Schwab told him to go to Goodyear for compensation. After many phone calls and letter, Goodyear did come through with the full check for the damage. Schwab's warranty was only for the tire.
Originally posted by KLS Alan,
Here's some info about Big-O tires. They're owned by TBC Corp., and many are manufactured under contract by Kelly (which is owned by Goodyear.) For those of us in the West, Les Schwab is TBC's Multi-Mile brand biggest dealer.
I've noticed that Multi-Mile brand, Big-O brand, & Kelly brand tires often look very similar and identical in some cases. I don't think that there's anything wrong with any of them; they seem to be good, medium quality, moderate price tires. http://isysit.com/tbc/ (click on "about" and "history") http://www.multimiletires.com/about/index.html
A friend did have a separation with one of Les Schwab's Multi-Mile tires. It did about $1000 damage to his truck. Every tire company makes a very small percentage of tires that fail, so it's possible that there were a million identical tires that didn't fail. Schwab told him to go to Goodyear for compensation. After many phone calls and letter, Goodyear did come through with the full check for the damage. Schwab's warranty was only for the tire.
Ken
Thanks, Ken.
Big O does tell you that their tires are made my Goodyear (who owns Kelly).
The thing I've been looking for is a great tire in the deep snow but is whisper quiet and smooth riding. (good luck, huh?) I really don't need anything for mud. If I did, I'd already have bought the Toyo Open Countries.
I have noticed the similarity of the dual or two grooved type tires that Big O has and similar design from Les Schwab and Kelly.
Actually, part of the reason that Kelly is so big is that they have so many private brand tires that they make for tire dealers. They're really quite large.
In looking at the construction of Big Os dual groove, it seems like a great tire. But I have to have personal experience stories to back up what the data seems to say. Of course, though, personal experience is subjective in nature.
That's what's so cool about this site. The ability to share perception of how things are and the value of them.
I, too, looked at Nokian tires. The local dealer recommended them highly as an all terrain tire with good winter capability. However, the largest size they come in is 265/75/16. I wanted to run a 285 so that eliminated them. I ended up going with Bridgestone Dueler Ats. It isn't looking like a good choice, unfortunately. I think I'll be using their 30 day test drive offer!! I am also looking for a set of winter tires and the Nokians may enter the picture again for that use. I am wiiling to run a narrower tire for winter but I am wondering if the WR is the right choice for a pure winter tire. Nokian makes other light truck winter tires and these may be better suited for pure winter use. Another problem with the Nokians: they are very expensive and are relatively unknown so its hard to make that leap of faith with the serious dollars they cost. Any recommendations on a pure winter tire?
Originally posted by hakim I, too, looked at Nokian tires. The local dealer recommended them highly as an all terrain tire with good winter capability. However, the largest size they come in is 265/75/16. I wanted to run a 285 so that eliminated them. I ended up going with Bridgestone Dueler Ats. It isn't looking like a good choice, unfortunately. I think I'll be using their 30 day test drive offer!! I am also looking for a set of winter tires and the Nokians may enter the picture again for that use. I am wiiling to run a narrower tire for winter but I am wondering if the WR is the right choice for a pure winter tire. Nokian makes other light truck winter tires and these may be better suited for pure winter use. Another problem with the Nokians: they are very expensive and are relatively unknown so its hard to make that leap of faith with the serious dollars they cost. Any recommendations on a pure winter tire?
What don't you like about the Bridgestone ATs? Too hard a ride? That's a general issue for any AT tire. Even Michelin. I think the Toyos are the most "well behaved" AT tire if you want to go that route. A lot of people who in the past have said, "well, it *is* a truck" so they never really expected that much for a ride are pleasantly surprised that their vehicle actually can ride much more civilized than they thought with premium tires.
Actually, for a pure winter tire it's easy - Nokian. That's where they started and that's what they do best. It's only been recently that they started to branch out to other tire types. But Nokian's methods and standards are so high, that I think anything they make is going to be outstanding. I just needed to hear a few personal recommendations before going with Nokians new all season tire. The traction isn't the issue, it's noise and ride that I wondered about. Apparently that's not an issue and the WRs are great all season tires but much, much better than even a premium all season tire in the winter.
I think that there are really only three pure winter tires that you might look at. Nokian and Bridgestone and Michelin. The Bridgestone Blizzak is a great tire and they also make a Winter Dueler which is probably as good as their Blizzak and is truck oriented. Nokian always makes outstanding winter tires that have a little more of everything, but as you mentioned are more expensive. They are probably the best by far though. Michelin also has their Alpin series that are very good.
You get what you pay for and is it worth another $120 to you to be much more likely to avoid an accident (even if it's not your fault) in the winter. That answer isn't so clear when you're in the tire show room pricing tires, but it's REALLY clear after you've started to enjoy the benefits and realize that you got more than you bargained for.
Too, Nokian's 265/75 winter truck tires are a C range tire so you would get a pretty good ride too. For something like that, you're crazy if you aren't buying the best you can. The issue is whether Nokian is the best for winter tires.
......Yes.
After that I'd go with Bridgestone or Michelin - kind of 6 of one half a dozen of another there.
The Nokian WR will not be as good during the winter but will last through the summer months whereas a true winter tire would never even make it through summer. Well, unless it's a Nokian. I know someone who runs their Hakka 10 tires year round and they are actually lasting!!! But that's an exception to the rule. Only run winter tires when it's winter. You're wasting your money otherwise.
Originally posted by hakim I, too, looked at Nokian tires. The local dealer recommended them highly as an all terrain tire with good winter capability. However, the largest size they come in is 265/75/16. I wanted to run a 285 so that eliminated them. I ended up going with Bridgestone Dueler Ats. It isn't looking like a good choice, unfortunately. I think I'll be using their 30 day test drive offer!! I am also looking for a set of winter tires and the Nokians may enter the picture again for that use. I am wiiling to run a narrower tire for winter but I am wondering if the WR is the right choice for a pure winter tire. Nokian makes other light truck winter tires and these may be better suited for pure winter use. Another problem with the Nokians: they are very expensive and are relatively unknown so its hard to make that leap of faith with the serious dollars they cost. Any recommendations on a pure winter tire?
I'd buy Nokian winter tires without hesitation. I actually bought Bridgestone Winter Dueler DM-Z2 for my Tundra because of the good price from Tirerack with the tires already mounted on Tundra OE steel wheels. I've been very satisfied with the Winter Duelers in both deep snow (shin deep) and ice too slick to walk on. The Winter Duelers are P245/75-16, the same OD as our original P265/70-16. Although the tire's body is narrower, the tread is wider!
Click on the tirerack.com logo on TS when you buy tires, and TS gets a small payment.
Why am I unhappy with the Bridgestone's? Well, its sure not the ride. They ride well and are very quiet. However, I actually use a tire for what it is advertised. The Dueler is advertised as an all terrain tire and to me that means it should stand up to moderate off road use and should perform well in the process, though not as well as a dedicated off road tire. Well, in approximately 750 miles of wear since new, 150 miles of which have been off road the tires already show significant wear: several of the lugs are cut more than half way through, some of the lugs are missing small chunks, the shoulders are beginning to round. This is totally unacceptable in a premium tire. I am familiar with the durability of other off road tires and this is not anywhere close to what something like a BFG A/T offers. Furthermore, Bridgestone as of today is unwilling to stand by their publicly advertised warranty of a 30 day test drive with a no questions asked return. Let's face it, Bridgestone/Firestone has some serious public relations problems after the Wilderness AT/ Explorer fiasco and this is an attempt to win back customers. I am beginning to wish the lawyers had finished them off and saved me from wasting my money. Unless they change their tune, I can only say: don't buy Bridgestone/Firestone products; they do not stand behind their promises and they make bad products. I'm getting to the point that it really means a lot when a company stands behind its products. If they do that, I like to reward them with my loyalty and future business. Bridgestone will receive neither.
akauth, which shop in denver did you talk to? im just outside denver, and i want to give them a call. i used to run nokian snow tires on my old saab (r.i.p.!), they were excellent in the snow and fine on the highway, but i never got in to deep snow with them, only the few inches that builds up in a ski area parking lot.
i ran big-o 265/75/16 studded x/ts (i think...its the medium aggressive tread) this winter, going to the ski areas at least twice a week, a road trip to bozeman in january, and a trip to salt lake city for the olympics. the trip to salt lake involved about 5 hours of driving through snow and ice over the eisenhower tunner and through the mountains out to utah, all of it driving heavy wet snow, about 6 inches deep coming down vail pass. i passed quite a few people who were bogging down or spinning, i was able to keep control in 4hi+o/d off+'2' range the entire way, only had to slow down for slow traffic in front of me. granted i was born and raised in alaska so im used to that kind of weather, but i did not lose traction at any point in the trip, including one point where i had to drop in to 4lo/'1' to descend a rather large, long, steep median to backtrack and avoid an accident several miles ahead. the median is normally grass-covered, and i did not lose traction at any point on the roughly 30 degree-plus slope; other vehicles which had done the same maneuver at other points ahead of me slid the entire way down while i was able to crawl and brake on the descent without slipping. overall i was very impressed with the tires' performance in rough conditions.
the downside was dropping about 2mpg from my stock baja p.o.s. a/ts, and a ridiculous amount of road noise, in part due to the studs. the handling was also looser due to the larger tire. i'm getting a set of these same tires without studs in a 285/75/16 in a couple of weeks, mainly due to the warranty coupled with the tread and the performance i experienced over the winter.
big-o brand tires are warranted for anything, ever. if you rip the sidewall open rockcrawling on a tire, theyll replace with a new tire free of charge, as long as the tire is not worn to the bar--they'll also usually throw in a slightly used spare of the same type free of charge, and the rotation/balance/mounting/etc is all free as long as youre using the big-o stamped tires (even mounting if both sets are big-o). bfgs and other tires you can get replaced for less than full price, but the replacement cost will be prorated.
incidentally, i also have more imbalance trouble with the tires i got from the dealer when i purchased the truck than i did with the big-o tires...they are not "premium" quality, and may not perform as well as the nokians in the snow (as i have no basis for comparison), they may perform better in deep snow, i have no idea, however they are comparable to any mid-quality tire, with the added bonus involving the replace-for-any-reason warranty.
since i take the truck off-road a lot, the warranty part was a pretty major factor, otherwise i might have gone with bfg, toyo, yokohama or one of the other brands ive seen other members on the bb using. also keep in mind a good dry-weather dirt tire may perform terrible in the snow; the geolandar a/ts are excellent in dry, loose, and i think muddy conditions but are terrible in snow.
someone post when you've tried your nokians in the snow ! i want to know how they compare to a more aggressive tread, deep snow, wet/dry snow, ice, the works .
Originally posted by hakim Why am I unhappy with the Bridgestone's? Well, its sure not the ride. They ride well and are very quiet. However, I actually use a tire for what it is advertised. The Dueler is advertised as an all terrain tire and to me that means it should stand up to moderate off road use and should perform well in the process, though not as well as a dedicated off road tire. Well, in approximately 750 miles of wear since new, 150 miles of which have been off road the tires already show significant wear: several of the lugs are cut more than half way through, some of the lugs are missing small chunks, the shoulders are beginning to round. This is totally unacceptable in a premium tire. I am familiar with the durability of other off road tires and this is not anywhere close to what something like a BFG A/T offers. Furthermore, Bridgestone as of today is unwilling to stand by their publicly advertised warranty of a 30 day test drive with a no questions asked return. Let's face it, Bridgestone/Firestone has some serious public relations problems after the Wilderness AT/ Explorer fiasco and this is an attempt to win back customers. I am beginning to wish the lawyers had finished them off and saved me from wasting my money. Unless they change their tune, I can only say: don't buy Bridgestone/Firestone products; they do not stand behind their promises and they make bad products. I'm getting to the point that it really means a lot when a company stands behind its products. If they do that, I like to reward them with my loyalty and future business. Bridgestone will receive neither.
For that use, it would have been better to go with BFG ATs even if they are really expensive. Although if you're correct about 150 miles of off road in that short a time that is a LOT of offroad unless some or much of it is firetrails or something like that.
Michelin/BFG will stand up much better to that kind of offroad abuse - even if it is "normal". If you live in a place where there are a lot of gravel roads (especially slate or volcanic) and they are a good dealer, they'll steer you away from the Bridgestones even though they are a premium tire. They aren't good for that application.
I live in Nortern Nevada and the offroad use consisted of; improved dirt roads with sand and d/g; sandy two track; a limited amount of rocky two track (this is what really did them in but it comprised maybe 25 miles of the total). This is not unreasonable or out of the ordinary for this area. Plus, that's where all the really cool stuff is
Nokian Tire
! i want to know how they compare to a more aggressive tread, deep snow, wet/dry snow, ice, the works 
Linear Mode
