[sourdough]

On our way back home to TX yesterday and a fellow waved at us, pointed to the passenger side of the truck and made a motion like a rolling wheel. I thought what the heck? Finally found a spot on I20 between Ft. Worth and Weatherford; 80mph traffic flying by....not fun. Found one of my OE Firestone Transforce tires was low and going flat - with the 5th wheel hooked up. Geico got us a guy out and put on the spare and I'm here in an RV park departing tomorrow for our final leg. Long intro to talk about a couple of things;

The Firestone Transforce OE tires; this is the 2nd HD truck that I bought that came with them OE. First set one tire got a cut in the sidewall at about 36k from some unknown anomaly. On this set one went flat yesterday at 35k. Don't know the cause and didn't care to find out, just pulled them all off and had Michelin Defenders put on this morning. I was/am not happy and certainly much poorer.

Has anyone else had issues with the Transforce tires? I don't like them because they are so hard riding, pound/slap on every road irregularity and the rubber compound is just really hard. After 20k or so they just "slap" on everything. I think that hard rubber compound is what is letting the tires fail...and yes, I take care of my tires meticulously. I've only had 2 tire failures in several decades, both Firestone Transforce AT 285/60R 20. I'll be getting a new truck in a bit and wondering if those things should come off before I leave the lot like TKs??

Next, tire costs; boys, tire prices are out of sight these days. Last set of Defenders were approx. $250 or so installed each. Today the Michelins were 358 each; total cost for 4 was $1908....4 tires $1908!! That included road hazard and lifetime rotation/balance.

One last thing to think about; my truck and RV have tpms. I always worry about the trailer tires...not the truck. I checked truck tire pressure yesterday morning before leaving Shreveport and all was fine. Due to my fixation on watching gas mileage to see what the trailer was doing to me I had the computer on gas mileage, not tire pressure - BAD mistake. I should have been watching the tire pressures and not worrying about mileage as it will be what it is. Just some things to think about as you drive, tow etc. and go have fun. Keep safe out there.