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...or maybe they're all just POS. Bought 5ea 235 Kumho MT's and an AR767 steel wheel for a spare. These tires are highly rated on Tire Rack's website, and are said to be a good value. Mounted/balanced 4 tires on existing black d-wheels, put the spare in the back. Off I go with new tires; I now have maybe 1500 miles on them.
Been chasing vibrations since I bought this damn Jeep. After RC 3" lift, shocks, new lower control arms, new track bar, rebuilding the front axle, installing an 8.25 (with a bent shaft...which was a whole 'nuther fukkaround), Aussie Locker, drive shaft U-joints, got the pinion angle set within 0.2 degrees, verified rear axles are not NOT bent, removed front drive shaft..and I still got vibes. Like...alot of vibes.
Finally took this damn thing into my local Les Schwab Tire store and had them take a look. They removed all four wheel assy's and ran them on their road force machine. THREE of the four tires on my Jeep had "hop". Meaning that the hole in the tire is not in the middle. Or maybe there is a thick spot in the rubber...but the worst of the three at had 69 lbs of road force difference (at 60mph)
I brought the Jeep home and ran it on jack stands. Holy crap, all three of the tires I ran had wobble, and even the brand new spare on the brand new wheel (AR767...made in USA!) had wobble. Fookin' hell! Reminds me of a joke I heard as a kid, about Italian tires (Dago Wop, Wop, Wop!)
SO - I called up Tire Rack, ordered a set of aluminum alcoa-style wheels (that get spun on a lathe when manufactured...so they should run true) and 31" Dura Trac tires. All this Kumho zhit and the AR767 steel wheel are going back. What a pain in the ****. Tire Rack customer service has been great.
So I'm just posting this to share information. For what it's worth....
Last edited by goatherder; 03-12-2015 at 11:32 PM.
So wait tire rack is taking them back as a return?
Yup. Packaging is in the mail to me for the spare wheel/tire combo. The rest I have to dismount from the rims, slap a label on 'em and give to the UPS man. Tire rack is paying return shipping on the old set...but I had to pay outbound shipping on the new set. Way it goes.
I'll sell my black D-wheels on CL and get back some coin.
Last edited by goatherder; 03-12-2015 at 11:55 PM.
Engine: Golen 4.6 Stroker, AFE Headers, 62mm TB, 24 LB Injectors, Brown Dog kit, HF Cat, 3" Exhaust
I didn't have any problems with my kumhos.. They were 315/75/16 but balanced fine. Haven't known anyone to have an issue either. Probably a bad batch.
Either way, you'll be better off with the durratracs. In my experience, they will last twice as long and are better in everything/every category except mud. (have ran both) I think you'll like em!
Thats pretty impressive for tire rack to handle it this way. Maybe they are known for that and Im just not in the know. I would just think they would say something along the lines of warranty is void once they go off road or something crazy like that even though they are aggressive off road tires.
Its been awhile since I have bought from them maybe I should give them more of a chance when I move to 33s
What Tire Rack told me was this - as long as the tread depth has not been worn down more than 2/32nds they will give full credit for out-of-round tires for a year after purchase.
You have to buy replacement tires from them. (and pay shipping for one set or the other)
This is working out OK for me, as I was kinda wishing I had bought 31's instead of 235's.
So the new wheels & tires showed up the day after I ordered them...took them like 28 hrs to mount & balance, pack and ship a full set of wheels from Reno to Olympia, WA. Impressive.
No more hoppin while rolling down the road now, and the Jeep looks like it should. This is what I should have bought the first time around....
Perfect example of why to buy tires locally. My dealer will meet any prices mounted, balanced, road hazard warranty, free flat repairs and lifetime balancing.
I can't afford to buy tires anywhere else, been doing business their for 30 yrs. later this yr. in November. Three owners and the last 2 were all prior employee's of the shop. Its nice to go in somewhere and they all know you except the new guys fairly large shop now went from 5 to 23 now, full service.
I've bought a few sets of Toyo AT's & MT's from my local Les Schwab. Its a big chain here in the NW, I have an acct at that store and they know me by name. They do all my alignments, tire repairs, etc. Excellent service...but they don't match prices and they are expensive. A set of Toyo MT's for my F350 would be about $1600 from them. Which is about $400 more than mail order. I recently put 235 Toyo AT's on my daughter's XJ and they charged me over $900 (w/ alignment). So I don't buy tires there very often.
I purchased my Duratracs from Discount Tire a few months ago. Their price was pretty good, and they took care of me well. I had a flat and brought it in to have them try to repair it. I completely ruined the sidewall getting there so they wouldn't let me drive it away, and I'm glad they didn't. There was a lot of material inside that tire. They kept my XJ in the shop overnight while I did my research which I was surprised about. Can't complain abut the lifetime road hazard and balances, etc.
I purchased my Duratracs from Discount Tire a few months ago. Their price was pretty good, and they took care of me well. I had a flat and brought it in to have them try to repair it. I completely ruined the sidewall getting there so they wouldn't let me drive it away, and I'm glad they didn't. There was a lot of material inside that tire. They kept my XJ in the shop overnight while I did my research which I was surprised about. Can't complain abut the lifetime road hazard and balances, etc.
Sometimes you just have to shop around for a local dealer that will treat you right. In the beginning you may have to pay a few bucks more to establish a relationship but once done it pays in the long run.
Sometimes you just have to shop around for a local dealer that will treat you right. In the beginning you may have to pay a few bucks more to establish a relationship but once done it pays in the long run.
Very true. I've purchased from a local shop once, but that was when I was in high school in NY. He gave me a good deal, but I really like the fact that Discount Tire is everywhere. I drive from Michigan to Buffalo and back every three months, and continually move around the SE portion of MI. It gives me a lot of peace of mind to know that I can get free tire help pretty much anywhere I go. Personally I prefer a relationship with a small local shop, but I really benefit from tons of locations.
03-12-2015, 11:22 PM
Bad batch of Kumho M/T's...
