Best tires to buy for SW2

I put a set of Goodyear Allegra's in 185/65 size on my daughter SC2 a few months ago and I have been very pleased with their traction even on slick pavement and great handling too. I also "tested" a set of them on my wifes car last fall because they looked promising and they did a superb job in winter driving too hence the reason for my selection for my daughter car too. I got them at Sams Club.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Thanks SnoMan. I'm planning on renewing my Sam's Club membership soon myself, so that's one of the places I'll be pricing them at. Appreciate the info.

Jeff

I put a new set of stock Firestones (I forget the model name, starts with an "A") on my '95 SW2 when I bought it used about five years ago. They've held up through highway, local and limited off-road (construction site) use. I did buy the road-hazard coverage, and I've used it a couple of times for nail repairs. Ride is smooth, traction is good. And this is in south Texas heat (99 deg. as I type this).

Thanks for the info William. At least I'll have a good idea of a couple of brands to check into when I price tires.

Jeff

check out

marx404

One defining factor we havent a clue about is location (climate). If you dont get snow you dont need an aggressive tread obviously. Just about any tire these days will give you a good ride unless its some sort of hard crap made to last more than 100k+ miles. Personally I like Cooper Tires as they offer about the only real American made tires anymore.

Allegra's are not agreesive and my daughter SC2 will do about 40 MPG with them on a trip so they roll nice. THere is a cooper tire main warehouse near here and while cooper makes a lot of tires, they are only a "B" tire at best when it comes to top end radials.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

I had a 2000 SW2. I replaced the awful stock Firestone tires with Goodyear Aquatred 3's. They were awesome. In the winter, I used Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50's with an extra set of steel wheels. I'd do the same again if I still had an SW2.

You want some awesome winter tires, try studded ones. I use them on my plow trucks, they are a bit noisy at times but the traction is ice and snow is incredible.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Thanks for the info guys. It was the Blizzak's I remember reading about on here about a year or so ago. Don't know why I was thinking it had "Mountain" in the name.

My location at present time is Omaha, but will be moving probably next spring or sooner. Not sure exactly where to yet, but it'll probably be one of these three places: Casper, WY; Billings, MT; or Salt Lake City, Utah. So no matter what my new tires will be seeing alot of snow & ice.

Thanks, Jeff

Billing would be my first choice with Casper a close second and Salt Lake a distant 3rd. I have been all three places and spent a lot of time in first two. Casper get a bit more snow than Billings and Billing can be a lot stormier and colder at times (more wind) Slat Lake just does not suit my fancy at all. BTW studed tires are real populars in Billings and you can buy them at warehouse clubs in any common size prestudded too. You get up into the high country were roads can bi iced covered for months at a time, studs rule big time. I know I lived out there for a spell.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

...And not legal in some areas. I think we have a certain "season" for them here in NJ.

In some areas they are only legal for 4 to 6 months a year but they are quite legal in snowy areas and even if it has a restriction on usage this is not big deal because I used extra rims for them and put them on in winter and switch back in spring and this way get many years of service from them (Next winter will be 6th winter for studded tires for wifes car)

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Snoman, I've received negative feedback from family and friends about my idea of moving to SLC, so I'm seriously thinking of either Casper or Billings a little more lately. I was in Helena for 4 months about 3 years ago. Had trouble finding work and came to Omaha where I thought I'd be for about a year tops. I'm really getting the itch to move ASAP. Nothing against Omaha, but I like the country in and around the Rockies. Peaceful and beautiful.

Thanks for the input,

Jeff

If you plan to look for work, Billings has a far bigger playing field to look for work in. If you are going cold turkey, Billings would have a edge over Casper. Helena has a very limited job market and it nothing like Billings in this regard. People travel for 300 miles and more to shop in Billings as it is the "hub" for this and has the biggest selection of goods north of Denver and Salt Lake to canada. Billing climate is not too extreme in that while it can get to 30 below in short order and blow snow big time it can be mild in winter sometimes too since it is about 3400 feet above sea level and yet you can drive to the mountains and snow in but a few hours at most. It is a little over 2 hours to Bozeman which is in a higher vally and has snow more often but a very tight job market their. I used to spend a lot of time in billings and sometimes I really miss it. Good luck on your choice.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Thanks again Snoman. When I left Montana I remember seeing smokestacks on the edge of Billings but couldn't see the town from the highway. It was real early in the morning and I had just driven through a bad snowstorm so maybe it was just my eyes, but all's I remember is seeing those smokestacks and thinking it was probably more of an industrial town.

If nothing else I'll be taking a drive up through Casper and Billings just to check out the area. A lady told me Casper has grown to about 3 times the size it used to be over the last couple of years. Not sure why or if it's even true.

Anyways, thanks everyone for the advice.

Jeff

It has been several year since I have been there but there is a refinery on the north east end of Billings which they keep pretty clean and there are really no house really down wind for it. There is another one in Laurel which is about 18 miles west of billings on I-90 and you may have seen them because they are right next to interstate. From Billings central to the northwest going sout to the south side of billings is the area that is booming with stories and such and there is no other big manufactures in billings stack wise. THen there is billings heights to which is north of town past airport. They had a nice mall there, RimRock Mall.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Couple of more questions for you gents:

What are your opinions on Kumho Touring A/S 795 (Standard Touring All-Season) tires? Have any of you ever used Kumho tires before?

My original tires are size 185/65R15. The Kumho's I can buy are

185/65SR15. I'm wondering what that 'S' stands for. Apparently it's fine to use them for my car because it's listed as such.

I'm wondering about these tires because I read very good reviews about them and the price is 'nice' also. I'd have to pay for shipping and I don't know how much that would be yet. But if I buy these I'm guessing I'd save at least $100 on what I figured I'd have to spend for new tires just walking into a shop.

Also, I noticed other options listed for sizes of tires for my car as being 16 & 17 (besides the original 15). How much better would 16's or

17's be for driving? I'm pretty sure that's the width of the tire. As you can see I'm not an expert on this stuff.

Thanks, Jeff

THe S stands for a max speed rating of 99 MPH and the next most common one is the "T" rating which is rated at 116 MPH. THe "S" rating is basically a standard tire.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com