Wrangler Radials

[Kenobi77]

Thinking ahead to when I’ll need to get new tires. I’m very seriously considering picking up the Goodyear Wrangler Radials from Walmart for two reasons: the price per mile (assuming warrantied 50k); load rating; and, especially, the weight of the tire (under 30lbs). I’m neurotic about MPGs and the combination of weight to load rating is very attractive to me. However, I’ve heard complaints about performance in wet conditions (and off-road, but I rarely go and never do anything extreme) and am not about to risk my life just to save some bucks and potentially eek out some more miles. Has anybody here used them and if so, in adverse conditions? Rains a decent amount here in the fall/spring and always get at least a few inches of snow in the winter.

 

[Shran]

No.. no.... no.... no.

I've had probably 10 sets of these tires that came on vehicles I bought (I've never bought them new.) I hate them. Traction is OK but the tread pattern makes them follow the grooves that are usually cut or brushed into concrete roads. I have never had that issue with any other tire and it is super annoying.

My biggest complaint is that these tires will dry rot and start cracking in just a couple years. I have a bunch of tires that are way older than 10 years, some 20 years old with no dry rot but every single Wrangler I've had that is more than 2 or 3 years starts to dry rot between the tread lugs.

These tires are worth nothing, they are total shit. Good for a vehicle you're selling, to make it worth a bit more because you can say it has brand new tires... and that is literally all.

 

[sgtsandman]

I've never liked any of the Goodyear tires that came with my vehicles.

 

[rubydist]

In addition to what Shran said, they like to wear funny, so unless your alignment is perfect, you will be rotating them all the time - like every couple thousand miles.

I recommend the Michelin Defender LTX M/S for most usage, those are the best truck tires I have had in my experience.

 

[superj]

yup, those michelin defenders are great /\

 

[19Walt93]

We installed a bunch of alleged all terrain Wrangler RSA's in place of Firestones during the recall and people hated them, they wore out in about 30k where the Firestones could go 50-60k and their snow traction sucked. My 2004 Ranger came with them so I made a deal with our Cooper rep to swap them but didn't do it because time was short. After sliding around during the first snow storm I bought some Coopers and sold my Goodyears to a csutomer who liked them for about 2/3 of the normal price.
My 2011 Ranger came with Goodyear SRA's, more of an all season than the RSA's, and I liked them. They were quiet, handled good, and were good in snow. When I sold the truck at 43,000 miles and 8 years old they had at least 1/3 of the tread left. Goodyear uses Wrangler on a bunch of different tires.
My current Ranger and Escape both have Cooper Enduramax all seasons on them now.

 

[Shran]

If you're looking for something around $100/tire, there are a lot of options, lots of Chinese brands and I really don't think it matters much because those are probably all about the same quality. I am just suggesting to stay away from Goodyear. The only Goodyears I've ever had that I was happy with are the MTRs that are on my crawler.

Looks like you can get Hankook Dynapro AT2's from Walmart for $111/tire, Falken Wildpeak or Rubitrek's for $130/tire... or there are these, lol: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Set-of-4...R15-Load-C-6-Ply-MT-Mud-Tires-Tires/854899520

No idea how good those are but they're cheap. I know several people who have Falken Wildpeaks and they seem to like them a lot.

I've got Coopers on my beater truck, the other beater truck had Dextero's... my 95 and my wife's 95 have some generic Chinese tires. Nothing bad to say about any of them.

 

[sgtsandman]

The Hankooks that came on the 2019 were decent enough. If I was looking for a highway terrain tire, I would have gotten them again.

Everything I've seen as far as reviews on the Falken Widlpeaks were very good. Good enough that I'm planning to get them for the winter season since mud tires aren't usually great in the snow.

 

[901wd#2]

I bought a set back in 2009 For my F150, I was pleased with the on road wet and snow traction. I wasn’t pleased with the tread life and how the fronts rounded over so quickly. I don’t Waste my brakes and gas slowing down for turns. I waste the tires instead.

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

I’ll toss in my two cents having been a tire tech for two years.
The wrangler radials kinda suck. It’s a very old tread pattern with many downfalls that others have touched on.

Goodyear does make some good things though.

For all season, if you have money, Michelin is one of the best. Hankook and Cooper make some good midrange stuff too.

For all terrains, good midrange is the Falken Wildpeaks, or the slightly pricier Toyo Open Country.

I went higher dollar and have BFG KO2’s on my truck, because people rave about them, I like how the tread looks, and they are great at most everything but deep mud and loose sand. They cost a lot though, I wouldn’t have gotten them if I didn’t get an employee discount.

 

[Shran]

I only buy BFGs when they have a buy 3, get one free deal at fleet farm… which discount tire will price match. My last set of 31’s ended up costing me $750 instead of almost a a grand.

 

[Kenobi77]

Held off on jumping in until the replies slowed down…thanks for all opinions. Seems to confirm what I’ve heard, so I’ll be avoiding the Wranglers. Michelin and BFG would be at the top of my list of ideal choices, but almost $200 a tire would be at bit harsh on my finances for the foreseeable future. Then again, depending on the mileage I could get out of them, the cost might even out.

Regardless, I’ll look into the other recommendations, too. To throw one more hat in the ring, I noticed Walmart also has a listing for a set of four GT Radial Adventuro AT3s. The price is intriguing and so is the warranty, but I’m wondering if they’d be a similar “value” to the Wranglers. Anyone have experience with these?

 

[Blmpkn]

General grabbers are the way to go for a normally priced A/T.

Cheaper than the BFGs, deeper tread, treadlife warranty 10k miles longer than the BFG, variety of load ratings for each size... they're a no-brainer imo. They'll last WAY longer than their mileage warranty too if you try..

 

[DeeRanger]

I guess I'm lucky but I had to chime in here. I've always ran Goodyear tires on my vehicles whenever I could get them. They used to make the 'Assurance TripleTred' all season radial. Over the years I put three different sets on my 01 Ranger 2wd. The gave amazing traction in wet and snowy conditions. Mileage not so good, but an easy trade off for the traction peace of mind. When I moved from C.A. to P.A. in 2019 I had a new set of Wrangler raidials put on and motored across the country in my Ranger. Anyway the Ranger sat in an un-climate controlled garage for the next five years. I thought the Wrangers would surely be no good after that, but they were absolutely fine. No flat spots, no dry rot, no separation. They probably now have about 10k miles on them and look new. So I guess I just got lucky again ?

 

[SenorNoob]

I see lots of them around here. At least they are better than whatever the "house" brand at Walmart is now. I've never cared for them, I just prefer a more aggressive tread. Gotta mention my favorite tires for the price tho. Kenda. It's all I buy these days. Got 'em on both trucks, Brittney's car, and the bike.