whats wrong w/stock tires?

[THE BIGPUNN]

i have 265/75/16 firestone on my Z-71. i have noticed a lot of advice about changing tires. why is that?

[DigUout]

A lot of GM's, including mine, came with 245's that look a little small.  Bigger tires look better.  Some people want a different tread pattern for offroading, or for mud or snow or sand, etc.  As far as the Firestones, I'm sure you've seen all the media coverage of faulty tires allegedly leading to fatal car accidents over the last year, yes?  Reason enough for some.....

[Shaners]

Quote: from THE BIGPUNN on 1:15 am on Aug. 6, 2001

i have 265/75/16 firestone on my Z-71. i have noticed a lot of advice about changing tires. why is that?

 

I don't know if you really looked at them but they are "p" rated tires.  The same type of tires you'd find on cars.  They put these low weight rated tires on the truck to help with the ride quality.

In my opinion, if you were to take your truck close to the GCVW you'd be taking a chance running these tires.

[RyanbabZ71]

Its like dr jeckyl and my hyde

Unless you change tires you wont really understand what we are talking about.

The ride handling overall feel of the truck got better.  The firestones are very thin.  At 10K mine were wearing pretty wierd right down the center.  Had em checked out a few times pressure and everything else was fine.

The firestones to me werent worth Jack.  Wish i would have saved ome $$$ and got the cheapest ones.  

Only real regret

 

[ScottS]

From my experience, factory tires are less than satisfactory, especially on 1500 series.  They are;

- Generally P class, as mentioned above

- Generally cheaper tires

- Generally optimized for smooth quiet test rides, not any sort of real world performance, handling, or longevity.

Not to say you can't live with them, but again, as stated above, you will never go back to factory tires after changing out to a good set of LT (light truck) rated tires.

 

ie: First aftermmarket purchase for my 96 K2500 6.5 pickup and my 99 K1500 Suburban were BFG All Terrain T/A's.  Great tire for my driving requirements, look, handle, last and feel the road better than factory on both trucks.  Pick a good tire for your truck, driving style, and roads travelled, and you will not regret the $$ spent.

Scott

[Jpshostr]

The only thing I don't like about the stock tires are their tread pattern that is only suited to highway driving.  For my purposes a little more aggresive tread is better, something like a Goodyear Workhorse Extra Grip.  But you won't see me swapping tires until the stock ones are worn out, why let all those good miles left in that rubber go to waste?

[Kansas Kid]

I agree that for the most part it is to get rid of the "P" rated tires that have no purpose what so ever on a half ton truck IMO.  They just aren't safe for carrying loads.  The tires on the 2500's and up are better, but still not big enough, have enough load capacity, or aggresive enough for me.  I'd probably order the cheapest stock tires and put a 10,000 miles on them before getting some better treads though.

[The Beav]

It's a lug thang.  If you can get over the whole life & death aspect of the Firestones, they're OK for tooling around town and cruising on the highway.  But...like everyone has mentioned, get them off-road (####, even on damp grass) or loaded down, and you'll see why you want to get rid of them.  I'm in the same boat, but like some of our on-line bretheren, I can't justify throwing away tires with lots of life on them, so I'm sticking with the Firestones till they're at least half gone.

[Stepside Z]

The Firestones are just plain bad tires. All I can say is change them and you will see. The side wall strength while towing or during high wind really shows the true colors.

[THE BIGPUNN]

i understand now, thanks for the replies.

[Awsum00z]

I had the 245's  made by Firestone on my truck also. The first thing did after I bought the truck was go to Sears a throw a set of 265 BFG AT TA KO's on the truck. I had a set if the old (pre KO's) AT TA's on my 98 and I loved them. You can't beat the three ply side wall for response and stiffness. I sold the old Firestone's to a guy for ?, just proir to the SUV scare. They were the Steeltex type not the Wilderness ones. I guess it's all a matter of personal preference. I like the way the BFG's perform and they look nice too.

[Charles]

I'm real happy with the BFG's that came on my GMC HighRider. So far the have been flawless on and off road.

[celloman]

I believe all the negative info on the Firestones. I just finished changing a flat on my 2004 Suburban for the 3rd time since I bought it. The truck is not even 3 years old, has less than 35K and is driven very gently on paved roads only. I think the Firestone Wilderness LE is simply too weak for the job. Something to consider next time I buy a Chevy.

[svensk]

I slid off the road in the winter with my firestone steeltex AT crap. Got rid of them promptly after the truck got repaired for Michelin LTX M/S. Expensive, but they're the best.

[az'03Silverado]

Holy crap. Talk about resurrecting a butt-******* old thread. I think Firestone (as a whole) has learned it's lessons from all of the litigation. As far as factory tires, I had Goodyears on mine and I swear they were factory-seconds or something. I mean, they had 'Goodyear' on the side but they weren't the quality I expected. They only lasted 28,000 miles. Now, I'm running Michelin LT4's and it's like night and day.