What are the current requements heading up to the Sierras, chains only, three peak rated tires okay, or? That will drive some tire recommendations.
@North7 Great question- when CalTrans makes you chain up, they inspect your tires to show that you are M+S. Otherwise they make you chain up, even w/ all terrain tires and the like (note: could just be a silly California thing... don't get me started about this state).
Stiffer side walls is about the only difference. Yeah I don't really get it either. But look at the specs of some tires that come in P and LT. Her is another example.
The specs I got straight from Kenda. I don't trust tire sites anymore. One had the Kenda Klever RT in a 33x10.5x17 listed with a weight of 47lbs. Actual weight when I got them was 64lbs. I called Kenda to get the weight of the AT2 and it was spot on when I got them. I would tend to trust the manufacturer.
The reason why nobody agrees is because tires are subjective actually. The performance of the tire vastly depends on the vehicle it's on as well. Very few people have actually ran many different tires before ON THE SAME VEHICLE. Most people find one tire that does, or what they think does, pretty good and just stick with that over and over. That is why you have a lot of KO2 fanboys, they don't know anything else. Some people are saying they ran them on Jeeps, Tacoma's, F-150s, all of which are going to perform very different even if they're all running the same tire. And the other reason people don't agree is because they weigh performance in different categories differently. Some people think quiet ride and tread life is what defines a good tire, some people think it is wet traction, some people think it's how good it does in the mud, or in the snow. A lot of people are willing to give up one of those categories to be good in a couple other categories and then determine whether a tire is good or bad to them based off of that, which could be completely different than the next user.
Your needs are like a number of forum members from the northeast posting they also can only buy 3-Peak rated tires. Your Wildtrak will come with the Goodyear Territory MT (maximum traction) 35" tires. Some early information said Goodyear was trying to get them 3-Peak rated, if so, they should be good for your first season to see how they perform. Your decision to buy the Wildtrak will limit your choices of 35" tires with 3-Peak rating. I'm buying the Badlands with the stock 33" tires as their is a much larger selection of tires in the 33" size.
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Yes, it is necessary, the alignment works like any other truck, best to buy a Firestone Lifetime Alignment.
I took those directly from Kendas website...
As a former Firestone Alignment tech all i have to say is good luck to the lifetime. They barley ever honor it, and there is all kind of stipulations. All maintence, tire ,brake work has to be done there at there full price. i dont think its worth the trouble when alignments can be had for $79 at smaller shops. This was a couple years back, maybe things have changed now.
Wow, great information, thank you for posting.
Haha, they changed it and took it out. It was definitely there initially. I will edit the initial post to avoid the confusion.
@North7 thanks so much! Very helpful. I’ll do some perusing.Your needs are like a number of forum members from the northeast posting they also can only buy 3-Peak rated tires. Your Wildtrak will come with the Goodyear Territory MT (maximum traction) 35" tires. Some early information said Goodyear was trying to get them 3-Peak rated, if so, they should be good for your first season to see how they perform. Your decision to buy the Wildtrak will limit your choices of 35" tires with 3-Peak rating. I'm buying the Badlands with the stock 33" tires as their is a much larger selection of tires in the 33" size.
Specific recommendations are so subjective, I've seen most brands recommended for and against on the forum, everyone's needs and opinion vary and few mention M&S or 3-Peak. Its hard to find a tire website with a search function for M&S or 3-Peak tires, but I've only checked three. I've read Caltrans waves people thru with 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake rated tires, you would have to confirm.
Tirerack lets you search for 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake rated tires where Discount Tire (America's Tire) does not. If you select compare, you will see the "Winter/Snow Performance" for each tire.
Tire Rack 315/70R17 3-Peak tires/
(Regarding your note "(could just be a silly California thing... don't get me started about this state)." I got started myself and moved to Texas four years ago.
