General AmeriCrap

lowrider · October 7, 2006

Well, I have less than 11K Miles on my '06 Sierra, and yesterday I replaced my AmeriCrap tires with a set of 265/65-17 Goodyear Wrangler SR-As. I wanted a wider tire, but wanted to keep the same OD, hence, the 65 series.

With the Generals I had a Blowout with less than 1K Miles, and I had an unexplained flat in the parking lot at work on Thursday. It was on a rear tire, that had been chunking for quite a while. If I ever get another set of General's, Please, someone put a bullet in my head.

Both the General (GM that is) and General Tire should know better than to install and make such a crappy tire. I've heard good things about the Goodyears. We'll see.

Lou

pm26 · October 8, 2006

Well, I have less than 11K Miles on my '06 Sierra, and yesterday I replaced my AmeriCrap tires with a set of 265/65-17 Goodyear Wrangler SR-As. I wanted a wider tire, but wanted to keep the same OD, hence, the 65 series.

With the Generals I had a Blowout with less than 1K Miles, and I had an unexplained flat in the parking lot at work on Thursday. It was on a rear tire, that had been chunking for quite a while. If I ever get another set of General's, Please, someone put a bullet in my head.

Both the General (GM that is) and General Tire should know better than to install and make such a crappy tire. I've heard good things about the Goodyears. We'll see.

Lou

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

+1 on a blowout with crappy General tires. In my case they were on 83 Pontiac Boneville. One of the rear tires blew right through the sidewall at 70 MPH and almost caused me to lose control on I 95. The tire had about 3K miles on it when it happened.

GM probably buys a truckload of General tires for 1/4 the price they would have to pay for good Michelins, for example. It is irresponsible from them, however to mount these tires on new GM trucks. I would not mount a General tire on my wheelbarrow.

Dana_15 · October 8, 2006

I heard those tires really suck, I wouldn't have bought my 06 if it had them (it had the Bridgestone A/T's)

BlackLT06 · October 8, 2006

I heard those tires really suck, I wouldn't have bought my 06 if it had them (it had the Bridgestone A/T's)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just had the generals replaced after less then 3k miles (prob started at 600 miles) were out of round and my right front rim was bent Replaced ALL 5 (yes spare was bad too) with Michlin LTX M/S after applying the credit for the generals. it took me over three months and even after the dealer giving there typical can not replicate problem excuse and even telling me i had to have at least 3 k on them to "break them in" (that sent me into mad scientist style laughter) i even called GM and they said if there dealer says theres no issue then theres nothing they can do weither i had it in writing they were bad from an ind tire shop or not. Long story short a call to general gave me credit and got them replaced. I would never buy a general tire ever. I would rather take my chances on a bare rim first, prob safer anyway.

sc4808 · October 8, 2006

I agree that the Generals are low quality, my truck came with the Bridgestone AT's

Here is some interesting info though; we did a fairly large job at a Bridgestone/Firestone plant a while back, I got to know one of the Engineers pretty well and being a truck guy, I was very interested in the tire manufacturing process. He explained a lot to me but one of the most interesting things is that the quality goes something like this.

<3% Defects goes to the OEM to be put on new vehicles to be sold.

3% to 5% Defects goes to retail tire stores to be sold to the general public.

>5% Defects cannot be sold in the USA and therefore are exported to other countries.

In other words, as far as ride quality, the OEM tires are superior to any tire you can buy from a tire store. Now he was quick to point out that a lot of times the OEM's use cheap tires for the lower end vehicles but they still fall in the <3% catagory.

SoCalChris · October 8, 2006

I fought tooth and nail with the service manager & general manager of the local dealership to replace my AmeriCrap tires under warranty. With just under 5,000 miles, I had one blowout, another flat, and tread falling off in chunks on the 4 that were left.

The dealer claimed that I wasn't using the tires in the manner that they were designed for, even though the only driving I had done was on public roads (About half unpaved), and hadn't hauled anything more than a few hundred pounds. When they told me I wasn't using them as designed, I asked "So these tires weren't designed to be driven on public roads then?" That shut them up pretty quick, and they eventually admitted that GM shouldn't be shipping trucks with P rated tires, and replaced them with LT rated tires.

bigdogxx · October 9, 2006

The Bridgestones are no better then the general crap tires they both are not worth a d**n!I couldn't even get my truck up the driveway with the stock Bridgestones on my 05 z71 with even just a inch of snow on it and in 4wd they had absolutely no traction at all!That doesn't even go into the sidewall flex those cheap pos had, thank god i got rid of them with only 7k on them, i couldn't take em any longer and the ride difference especially on the traction side is night and day compared to the Bfg ko's on there now.

Ive heard the complete opposite with o/e tires, they are the lowest quality out there and i have to believe it after suffering thru a winter with the stockers on there, ill take the aftermarket store bought model tires a thousand times out of a thousand times before any stock o/e tires!

jhm · October 9, 2006

My '01 came with some kind of Goodyear, dont recall the name but they were also junk. If the street was wet and I was at a red light, I would just sit there spinning, real embarrassing when your truck wont even move. I got Cooper A/T's now they got 35000 on them and almost no wear. Trucks get shipped with P metric tires because they ride smoother and get better gas mileage due to the lower weight and mild tread.

05W/T · October 9, 2006

I have a 05 Serria W/T with over 19,000 miles on the original General tires on it. No problems with them other than some light feathering on the front tires (never been rotated). They still have ~60% tread. As a side note I noticed a 2wd police tahoe with the identical tire on it.

454ss · October 9, 2006

must be ive just been lucky but ive never had a problem with generals, ap, at, or mt. i do know that bridgestone = firestone and they are 100% crap.

pm26 · October 9, 2006

The Bridgestones are no better then the general crap tires they both are not worth a d**n!I couldn't even get my truck up the driveway with the stock Bridgestones on my 05 z71 with even just a inch of snow on it and in 4wd they had absolutely no traction at all!That doesn't even go into the sidewall flex those cheap pos had, thank god i got rid of them with only 7k on them, i couldn't take em any longer and the ride difference especially on the traction side is night and day compared to the Bfg ko's on there now.

Ive heard the complete opposite with o/e tires, they are the lowest quality out there and i have to believe it after suffering thru a winter with the stockers on there, ill take the aftermarket store bought model tires a thousand times out of a thousand times before any stock o/e tires!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have the factory Bridgestones on my Z71 and the only problem so far is that the edges of the front tires were feathering beyond normal. I rotated the tires and took the truck in for an alignment check. They adjusted the toe setting, and in the last 1500 miles I noticed much less feathering on front tire outer edges, but some is still there. Do not know about traction in snow as I live in Florida - but I would be interested in traction in mud and sand .

I take your word for it though: I tend to believe that these tires are not the greatest. I had a set of OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE92s on my Mazda 626 an d they were junk. And Continental CH95 were much, much worse. I had to return two new ones back to Tirerack becuase they were egg shaped. I cannot believe they are making such crappy tires nowadays.

Rolandd · October 9, 2006

When I worked in a repair shop we consistently did not need to add weights to Michelin tires when balancing them. I have been impressed with their traction and they were consistently rounder (less height difference) than anything else we mounted and balanced. I have Bridgerocks from the factory, so far one has been religated to the spare after a rock went through the tread (since when can a rock penetrate a steel belt?) putting a 3/8" rip in the tread. Can't wait for them to wear out. After 12,k miles I have to say that for a $33,k vehicle I am unimpressed with the corners that have been cut to save money, the tires being only one of a litany of issues.

lowrider · October 17, 2006

Well, I have put a little over 400 Miles on my new Wranglers. Truck rides better, and Handles MUCH better. Turn-in is now crisper, and the truck is nimbler in the twisties. Braking has also improved. These should have been on the truck in the first place. I tend to take corners rather fast, my car is a worked over Infiniti G35 Coupe, so I enjoy spirited driving. These tires don't squeal like the Generals, and the truck now corners flatly. It is true that one of the best suspension mods you can make is the tires. One thing that's puzzling to me is, the the Goodyears don't pick up pebbles in the tread like the Generals did

BTW, Tire wear is not any way near as important to me as handling. And now, for the first time, this truck is now a good handling truck. Maybe my nasty experience with the Generals was a blessing. I should have put on the Goodyears months ago. However, as I said originally, GM should not have put this tire on their vehicles as OEM with a TPC Spec, and General will only get bad press from me. This is a situation where there is no winner

Anyway, so far I am happy, except for the outlay of cash.

Lou

rjirvine · October 18, 2006

I'd go with a set of Michelin LT M/S and not look back....

OFF-RD · October 18, 2006

You took the crappy tires off, and replaced them with crappy tires? Why? Dude, read up on the Goodyears...they are just as crappy as any of the tires GM uses. Actually, Dodge and Jeep use the Goodyear SR-As as factory equipment, and people complain about them all the time. I hope you end up having better luck out of them than most people.