Buy once, cry once

pyscodog

Active member
Old saying still holds true. Long story some what short version. Four years ago, I bought a used Toyota Tacoma. I'd been looking for one for quite a while and a dealership called and told me they got one in. I bought it and the same week, I went to Discount tire for new shoes. The truck always had a slight vibration in the steering wheel around 55 mph but really wasn't bad. I did the usual rotate and balance that the tire shop offered but the vibration never went away. The tires were Pathfinder brand which is a store brand tire. Fast forward to last week. I wanted new tires before hunting season rolled around and of course looking for the "Best" deal. A friend I've know for years has a shop and I've bought tires from him before. He had a set of "Venom AT's" and made me a pretty good deal so I went with them. Tires looked good, not to aggressive but a meaty looking tread. Now the issue. Between 55-70 the steering wheel had a major vibration. I went back and he did a Road Force balance. Better but still not good. I thought maybe there was something loose so I had a mechanic friend look at it and he found nothing. I had another shop put it on their alignment machine and everything is tight and aligned. They recommended checking the balance again. So I had them balance a third time. No success. I went to a transmission shop but they were no help at all. I talked to my friend that owns the tire shop and he said if I wanted, he would refund my money on the tires and I could get tires somewhere else, so I went back to Discount tire. They installed 4 new Goodyear Wranglers and the problem went away completely. Lesson learned....once again. A buddy once told me to take a "Good" deal and shove it you know where. A good thing never hurt anyone. Once again if you buy cheap, you get cheap. It may cost more but might save you a week of grief.
 
Tires are what connect me to the road, I don't scrimp on tires. MY truck has BFG KO2 and the wife's Jeep has a set of Toyo's.
 
I was being hard headed I guess. Stupid might be a better word though. My Tacoma had a slight vibration even with the new tires that I bought right after I first got it. I had read some time ago that others had a similar problem. So I "assumed" mine was one of those. Seems many owners had a similar issue but no one ever said what the "issue" was or how to fix it. When I got the Venom tires, it got worse. So I kept "assuming" it was mechanical and not tire related. I finally figure I had nothing to loose but more money and bought the second set of new tires and all the vibration issues went away. Luckily I did get my money back on the Venom tires. To bad, they looked like a nice set of tires. Although they rode a little rough and were noisy even being new. They might be OK for a vehicle that never saw highway use.
 
It was most likely an out of round tire. Not unusual with mid-range or inexpensive tires. And the heavier the tire (a/t or m/t versions) the worse it shows.

BFG, Michelin and Goodyear are usually safe bets but I have had trouble with a few of those over the years.
 
I may have the same tires. I bought a 2023 Taco, TRD Off Road. It came with Goodyear Wranglers, made with kevlar. No idea what parts have kevlar LOL

They ride & handle great, we'll see how well they last. The roads in AL eat tires, 22 years here & I've never gotten tire life like I used to in TN & AZ
 
I was leary of the Venom's from the start but my friend that owns the shop said they were good tires and he has had no issues with them. So, I took his word for it. He's a great guy and been in business for years here in Broken Arrow. I figure they are mass produced China made and the old saying, You get what you paid for, kinda rings true here. All is good now and the Taco rides better than ever now.
 
The more aggressive and bigger the tire the more like you are to have vibration and road noise (roar).

My last tires on my ford 150 were Cooer ST Max. Not cheap at all. They road all right but only got about 40k miles. Went with the Cooper Rugged Tekk this last time. Seem to be wearing a little better.
 
thats wild... ive been running pathfinder AT's for several vehicles now. i'm on my 3rd set with my silverado and never had an issue balancing or with vibration while driving.

been averaging around 80k per set, give or take and removing them with >4/32 tread left and nice even wear.

i do rotate every oil change (8k) and my front end is always tight - good buddy is mechanic so he helps me fix everything asap, and he inspects it every time its on the lift for any repair & all oil change too!

bit of highway hum depending on the surface makeup but otherwise nary a complaint about them. they grip amazing in snow/crud.

275/70/18 for reference on size.
 
These are Goodyear Territory Wrangler AT tires. They make a few Goodyear Wrangler tires with kevlar, Adventure, Ultraterrain & there seem to be AT and MT variants of them.

I've some reviews on some of the others, which so far have been pretty good but so far I've found nothing on these Territory ones.

FWIW the truck hugs the road, they ride great & I've had zero traction problems, including during some horrendous downpours. But I haven't had them off road yet so have nothing to report about that. 6100 miles so far, it will take some time to see how they wear.

FWIW, the last tires I put on my 98 Silverado were Firestone Destinations & I will never, EVER buy those again. Worst traction of any tire in my entire life. Those things slide on clean dry roads & when it rains, they're downright dangerous. I came close to being in a number of accidents with those things, they scare me.
 
I've used Goodrich All Terrain A/T's since 2003 on my pickup and the Jeep a few years later. Low noise on highway and good traction on highway in mud and sand. Lots of cactus and mesquite thorns on ranches where I hunt and sidewall punctures are a real thorn in your side....pun intended.

When I purchased first set from Sam's Club I specifically inquired as to whether the "road hazard" covered sidewall punctures and was assured that it did. I was a bit skeptical, knowing the hazard, but gave them a try. Sam's held true to their promise, replacing at least 6 tires due to sidewall punctures on the truck, most of which were free, other than the usual core fee covering new valve stems and balance (around $10). The shop foreman and I were on first name basis and the last one they replaced, he told me he thought he could patch due to the location of the leak, but called me a few minutes later on PA to ak me if I wanted to replace it as once it was dismounted he found 18 thorns in the sidewall that were not leaking at the moment.
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When I got the jeep, put slime in the tires & quit using the truck in the brush. That ended sidewall problems.

Regards,
hm
 
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