Mastercraft courser ct 2 year 50000 mile review

[craveman85]

I just hit 50000 miles on my mastercraft courser ct tires so I thought I'd write a review. The size is 235/75r15 on a 2008 ranger 2wd. The truck sees 95% paved roads. The rest is dirt roads and boat ramps with frequent giving in snow for 5 months out of the year. Sometimes over a foot of unplowed snow because I leave work at 2am. I needed something moderately aggressive but good in snow. Mpg, weight rating and tread wear are very important so I prefer commercial traction tires. Generally they are a harder compound and last longer. I've had these tires on my truck for 21 months so far and they have worn great. After 50k I still have a little under a quarter inch of tread out of the 18/32s. Wear is even, they're not super loud but noticeable. They give great traction on snow and the clay I drive on occasionally they are also pinned for studs. I've had them in 14" of snow with 350 lbs of lead over the axle. I do sometimes spin when it's raining and I have no problem sliding the back end out in wet corners. If you had them siped they would preform better in rain. I did notice when the tires are cold they feel like a bias ply. They would thump in the winter for about 2 to 3 miles until they warned up and rounded out a little. I did also have a problem with one this morning. I always keep my air pressure correct for the load and rotate every 5k. I also had the tires flipped on the rims and rebalanced after 4 rotations. On my way home I felt a sudden thumping from a back tire. I pulled over immediately and there was a huge bubble in my sidewall. I couldn't put my spare on there so I drove slowly on the dirt shoulder for about 75' where I could get off the road. The bubble had burst open and tore about 50% the way around the tire. Right where the tread meets the sidewall. This along with the cold weather thumping has me worried about sidewall construction. I did love these tires and have about 15000 miles of tread left in the others but after this I think I'll replace them. One other one has a spot in the sidewall that looks funny too.