tires, tires, tires, maybe wheels, but tires first... (Chis?)

PoweredByDodge

Chris, I was hopin that maybe you'd have an opinion as u were a tire jockey for a while there...

bout a month, once i'm done with the tune up, the caddy needs tires.

P235 / 75 / R15

keep in mind the car weighs as much as a 3/4 ton pickup, yet i dont want a **** rough ride like most truck tires give.

although i'm in buffalo, car wont be driven in snow... it'll be a late may to late october / early Nov. car. so summer tires would be fine.

after thinking, I'm either getting somethign from goodyear / firestone / or dunlop.

at least two of those are stuff you oughta know... do you have any reccomendation on which to go with?

I want something that's got a white letter - no stupid white wall - and black walls wont quite do it for me either. has to be white letter, with a nice smooth cruising tread. but its also gotta be load rated for 3/4 ton.

help!!!

ps -- the cheaper the better ... i'm not penny pinching but 250 dollar per tire pirelli's aren't gonna be on my list of things i'd want. hence why i picked those 3 brands because they're decent, reliable, dont wear down to bad, and not a bad price.

CPHILHOWER

I am going to use the Firestone Destination LE on my Escape. I like the tread pattern on that myself. Somewhat of a car tread pattern. Firestone Indy 500 got high marks according to Tire Rack surverys.
GoodYear? Regatta II or Eagle LS. Not sure if they have the Raised White Letter. If you can get them. I used the Invicta GL on my brothers car. Very good tires. Great in Snow, Rain, Long tread life. Pretty quiet. Wished they still made them.
Dunlop? Most of the tires in that size are Truck tires.
Hope this helps.
Chris

PoweredByDodge

thanks dude

i'll be spending the next XYZ days lookin those up on tire rack and checkin em out in local stores -- i'll let ya know what i end up chooseing from those.

PoweredByDodge

the regatta only come blackwall / white stripe from what tirerack is slating...

the Destination LE look pretty good... i actually like them a lot -- if only i could afford rims they'd look goregous with these american racing ones that have like a baby moon cap in the middle, but its all chrome... gorgeous rims.

i think they're 90 bucks a rim -- then 63 a tire = 153 a wheel = about six and a quarter.

this may work out yet.

CPHILHOWER

I like the lazy S(~) pattern in the tread myself. That plus the open sidewall design should be very good in the rain. And Yes, The price is right.
Chris

Jstas

Hey, you are going to think this is retarded but, I'm gonna say Pep Boys Futura Super Sports. I'm pretty sure they come in that size. They aren't as quiet as some of the other tires I've seen but, under big ole honkin' Caddy, thay won't be noisey at all. They do have raised white letters and will handle the load range. Alot of guys I know use them as cheapo drag tires because they hook well when heated up, corner fairly well, have good ride characteristics and are cheap at 50-60 bucks a tire.

Another option from Pep Boys is the Futura 2000SE Touring tire. Only thing it doesn't have is raised white letters. They do have raised letters so a tire white pencil will make them white ina jiffy! I did it on my friend's car with a set of Touring SE's he got and it worked like a charm! At 60-80 bucks a pop, they are also cheap. They were also rated higher than any similar tire from Firestone/Bridgestone, Goodyear, Pirelli, BFG and Michelin.

I know, sounds like a sales pitch. Normally I wouldn't go recommending Futura tires but for your application and desire to keep things cheap, they are a good deal and exactly what you are looking for.

dorokusai

Tire Rack is a great source for sifting thru many brands of tires and narrowing the field down. I have used TR for about 20 years and never bought a tire from anyone else... fast shipping, convenient and very informative website.

I am personally a non-OEM Dunlop and non-OEM Continental fan, always had success with these brands.

PoweredByDodge

ya when they replaced the fronts on my gf's car w/ futuras for 49 bucks a pop (p205/55/R15) i came to realize that its a hella good tire, and minus the fancyness of other name brands, it has the same if not better qualities...

i actually considered strongly doing the futura tires of one sort or another... only bug is the name futura rollin under the car -- i dunno if it'll bruise my ego or not --- i know it sounds **** saying that, but people give u more respect with "firestone" under the car than "futura" -- but that's still up for debate...

got about a month -- gonna go stare the destination le's, the futuras, and some dunlops (hoosier's wud be nice but i dont think they make a tire for the car)... but if i stare at the three long enough i'll come to a decision i can live with.

thanks for the help guys... 3 tires are a lot easier to choose from than 300.

dorokusai

Most of the time, the cheasy named tires are made by a known manufacturer, so I wouldnt sweat it.....just say that Pirelli's sub-division in Mexico makes the tire....hehe

Jstas

Because then he would be wrong because the tires are actually made by Kelly tires. A FULLY American company.

Just a breakdown:

Firestone/Bridgestone: Japanese
Toyo: Japanese
Nitto: Japanese
Kumho: Korean
Yokohama: Japanese
Goodyear: American name, last I checked, Canadian tire
BF Goodrich: American name, French ownership (Michelin)
Michelin: France
Hankook: American sounding name, Korean tire
Falken: European, I can't remember who, British I think
Pirelli: Italian
Cooper: American
Kelly: American
Futura (Kelly): American
Dunlop: British I believe but might be French
Continental: German
General: Owned by Continental I believe.
Sumitomo: Japanese
Uniroyal: French


Most of the racing tire companies like Hoosier, Mickey Thompson, M&H are American companies.

And if you are going to let someone hassle you about the brand of tires you have rolling on your car, you gots issues. I don't need respect from others because of my tires. If Futura made a 295/45/18 ZR rated tire, I'd be rolling on those myself. Hell of alot cheaper than 250 per tire for the Goodyears or 300 per tire for the Nittos, BFGoodriches or Toyos.

dorokusai

It was a joke Jstas, but the information you provided was nice.

Jstas

Originally posted by dorokusai
It was a joke Jstas, but the information you provided was nice.

I don't care. I didn't think it was funny. Sorry.

dorokusai

I can see you havn't changed in this forum either. That was a compliment to your effort Jstas.

Steve@3dai

Falken Azenis > * (except race tires)

CPHILHOWER

I was told the Pep Boy tires were made by Cooper.
Chris

dorokusai

I don't think you can go too wrong in a tire, as long as you physically check them out and get some detailed info on them. Cooper and Falken are good choices also.

PoweredByDodge

dunlop may be owned overseas, however, i know 100% of their MFG is in the USA -- one of dunlop's largest plants is about 20 minutes from my house... and they must be in "cahoots" with goodyear because goodyear stores started selling dunlop about 2 yrs ago.

in addition i think kelly is in with goodyear in one way or another -- the belts i bought for the car are Kelly Springfield, i could be wrong, but i think that's kelly tire too... well the fine print says "goodyear tire and rubber corporation".

a good bulk of "american made" product is overseas -- like bridgestone being french although like 90% of its product is made in the states...

just sucks to know that in the end the dollar you spend on an "american made" product ends up in some snail eating a$$hole's pocket.

thanks for the mfg break down -- had no idea goodyear was canadian owned oh well... the neighbors to the north aint too bad... long as when u hit the breaks the tires dont say "so you want to stop, eh?... are you sure, eh?"

kelly's a decent tire - and if that's who makes the futura's then by all means that's not a bad manufacturer to fall back on.

besides, then i can have my normal mechanic mount them and do a wheel alignment all in one shot instead of paying some jackwad to mount them and then have to have it re-aligned anyway -- i've found that 3 out of every 4 places u go to get an alignment actually do it wrong... my guess is mostly due to lazyness.

i've got another problem with the car but i'll post that up separate.

Jstas

Originally posted by dorokusai
I can see you havn't changed in this forum either. That was a compliment to your effort Jstas.

Hmmmm....ummm...nope, still don't care.

Originally posted by CPHILHOWERI was told the Pep Boy tires were made by Cooper.

Used to be. The Challenger line and Cornell lines were Cooper tires but they phased them out.

As far as Kelly Tires being Goodyear, maybe but I do know that all Kelly and Futura tires are made here in the U.S.A.


One more thing:

Originally posted by Steve@3daiFalken Azenis > * (except race tires)

While they are nice tires, Falken does not make any Azenis in any size even close to a 235/75/15 which is what he needs for a 76 Cadillac Calais. The only thing Falken offers in that size is several different kinds of light truck tires. Totally not what he is looking for. If he was willing to change to a 16 inch wheel he might be able to swing a Falken ZEIS (sp?) size but I doubt he could find an Azenis that is 28 inches tall without going to at least an 18 inch wheel. I don't think he is prepared to do that. Also, even if he did find an Azenis to fit, I don't think they have a load rating high enough to support a 4400-4600 pound curb weight.

Steve@3dai

Originally posted by Steve@3dai
Falken Azenis > * (except race tires)

PoweredByDodge

Originally posted by Jstas
Totally not what he is looking for. If he was willing to change to a 16 inch wheel he might be able to swing a Falken ZEIS (sp?) size but I doubt he could find an Azenis that is 28 inches tall without going to at least an 18 inch wheel. I don't think he is prepared to do that. Also, even if he did find an Azenis to fit, I don't think they have a load rating high enough to support a 4400-4600 pound curb weight.

depending on how bountiful the money tree is after mech work is done, i'm either doing tires on the stock rims and polishing the living **** out of the original hubcaps (would just get new caddy crests for the cneter of the hubcaps, old ones are faded a bit - might even be able to retouch them if i can swing a decent appropriate paint)........ or getting 15" american racing rims that have something akin to a "baby moon" inside of a spoked rim... nice lookin wheel - was actually made with old ford's in mind - had a ford logo on it - but u can order them without the ford emblem. i cant fit anything bigger than a 15" on there -- every rim on the market would protrude outside the rear fender skirt - and i'm not takin the skirts off unless somebody drops a borla exhaust, turbocharger, and lowered suspension into the car. that aside -- its 15's -- whether i do new rims or not -- same size -- prolly the only remotely easy decision i'm gonna have is tires...lol.

... BUT...

at least the radio sounds good

i keep leanin on that when i get discouraged with it or my funding gets threatened.