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12-05-2013, 07:21 PM
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#1
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Member
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Northern California
Posts: 66
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Yet another TV tire question
Hi all,
Just picked up the new TV yesterday and it showed up with
Firestone Transforce HT tires. They are LT245-75-R17 load range E
3195 lbs at 80pst.
Are these tires any good? Last Firestones I got on a new vehicle were nothing but crap, self destructed in about 3-4 K miles. Granted that was quite a few years ago but I have never had a Firestone on anything since.
Can I expect anything but the worst from these tires? Maybe one season of towing?
Thanks for opinions.
Tinbender
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12-05-2013, 07:48 PM
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#2
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Site Team
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Gaylord
Posts: 26,979
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Everyone has their own "favorites" so I'm not going to offer that kind of advice. Rather I think some "sage observations"
First, as soon as you drive a new vehicle off the lot, the tires on it become virtually worthless to a tire dealer as trade.
Second, Finding a buyer for truck tires is usually a dime on the dollar, so you'll lose if you try to sell them outright.
Third, No matter what tire you buy as a replacement, there's no real guarantee that they will be any better or worse than what you have right now.
Fourth, You paid for them (maybe dearly) so why not use them and see how they do. You'll probably get 30-40 K miles out of them if you care for them properly, so might as well recoup at least a part of the expense of your new truck
__________________
John
2015 F250 6.7l 4x4
2014 Cougar X Lite 27RKS
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12-06-2013, 04:59 PM
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#3
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Member
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Northern California
Posts: 66
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Well thanks John,
I asked for opinions I guess I got one .
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12-06-2013, 05:32 PM
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#4
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Site Team
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Gaylord
Posts: 26,979
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What's that they say..... Like something else, everybody's got one and most of them stink ???
__________________
John
2015 F250 6.7l 4x4
2014 Cougar X Lite 27RKS
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12-06-2013, 05:55 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Virginia
Posts: 865
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I agree with John, my new truck came with Generals. I've never owned a set of them and was not happy to have them at the least. I did however do exactly what John described, I ran them for about 40,000 miles and then bought what I wanted. Moreover to your question though, a friend of mine has Firestone Transforce tires on his F-350. To this point, he seems to be satisfied with them. I ride in his truck a lot and they ride well and offer decent traction. The jury is still out on the mileage though at this point.
2013 Cougar 28 RBS
2012 Ram 3500 Dually
6.7 Cummins H.O.
4.10 rears.
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12-07-2013, 12:52 PM
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#6
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Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Texas Hill country
Posts: 97
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My RAM 2500 HD 4x4 came with the 265/65/17 Firestone TransForce tires & they are great tires so far .
Pulling a 2014 Cougar 28RLS & 0 Issues.
I have 12,000 miles on these tires & they are showing 0 wear .
Running 80 psi in the rear & 65 psi in the front & it pulls the trailer with 0 issues
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12-07-2013, 01:58 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 1,037
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My friend has 6 of them on his dually. he likes them, they ride fine when I am in his truck. I have looked at them for my F350. Thats about i can tell you,
randy
__________________
Randy "Camp On"
2011 Cougar 327RES
2014 Ford F-350, 6.7L 4X4, CC, SRW
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12-07-2013, 02:00 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Dacula, GA
Posts: 620
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Michelin
My Dodge 2500 came with Michelin tires in 2008 with 70,000 mile warranty on tread ( and 5 years). Had plenty of tread remaining at 44,000 miles. Just put new set of same on TV. Had age stress cracks in sidewall and on wet pavement from a dead stop, had slight wheel spin with 5 er hooked.
Moral of the story: regardless of major brand name, they are tires and common sense becomes the deciding factor for replacement. At least it does for me
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12-07-2013, 03:32 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Austin, Tx
Posts: 1,910
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I took the tires off my previous truck with a couple of hundred miles on them and sold them on Craigslist for $100 each. That helped pay for the Michelins that should have come on the truck to begin with.
__________________
2011 Outback 277RL
2013 F250 XLT Crew Cab 6.2L
Bitter Gun Owner
Bitter Clinger
Armed Infidel
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12-07-2013, 05:03 PM
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#10
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Member
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Northern California
Posts: 66
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Bob,
That is what my instinct tells me to do, I have ran nothing but Michelins on my trucks and cars for years, but like John pointed out I paid, probably plenty, for the dam things and I would like to get some service out of them.
Thanks to you other fellas for letting me know that there are satisfied users of these tires out there. Makes me feel that I should be able to get a year or two out of them. There is enough added expense getting the new truck ready for use without springing for new tires as well.
Tinbender
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11-24-2014, 06:09 AM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Oregon
Posts: 783
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As much as I would like to not like my Firestone Transforce AT 265-70-17 they have served me well. They came factory on my new 2012 Ram 3500 and from day one been pulling my heavy Alpine 3450rl fifthwheel. They now have 44,000 miles on them and still have towable tread.
__________________
Jeff & Jan - Retired & Full-timing since 2013
2019 Ram Big Horn 3500 Aisin 4x4
2012 Alpine 3450-RL
Double Coin 235/75R-17.5/16 J rated 125lb
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11-24-2014, 10:12 AM
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#12
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: S GA (Albany area)
Posts: 70
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Actually Firestone is back to making good tires. They are now owned by Bridgestone (Japanese, since 1988). They are trying hard to recover lost consumer confidence from the Wilderness AT/Ford Explorer fiasco in the late 90's (and even the Firestone 500 fiasco of the late 70's).
I think you'll be pleased with their performance. Monitor the tire pressures and maintain a rotation schedule (and alignment), you'll get 40-50K of good service out of them.
I spent almost 30 years in tire manufacturing, and not with either Firestone or Bridgestone. But we frequently tested and evaluated our competitors tires. The results were often very surprising.
__________________
Mike-Anne
and Trudy the Brittany Spaniel
AKA "Chubby Dog"
2013 Laredo 308RE TT
'06 Ram 2500 CTD AT
S GA
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11-24-2014, 02:48 PM
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#13
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Site Team
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: W. Texas
Posts: 17,669
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My 2014 Ram 2500 came with LT285/60 20 Firestone Transforce tires. I didn't really want them. The last time I had Firestone tires they were OE on a new 1989 Mercury Cougar. They ALL separated within the first 12 months - 2 on the same trip to San Antonio. Never wanted them again. That said:
These Transforce tires were part of a $1200 tire/wheel upgrade so decided I was going to try to "make them work". So far I've been nothing but pleased with them. Tread pattern is pretty good and they ride well enough (as well as a tire that big can holding 80psi rear and 65psi front) I've only got to pull the trailer about 1000 miles with them but they did great. Guess I'm going to give them a shot. As one of the posters on this thread said; they are making better tires. My tire dealer who has been selling me tires for over 25 years said the same thing.
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11-24-2014, 08:14 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Liberty, Texas
Posts: 5,034
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I had the famous OEM Firestone TPC tread separation on a new 1974 Olds Cutlass on the I-10 Atchafalaya bridge. I think that may have been the start of their downfall. I haven't bought any Firestones since. Since they were rescued by Bridgestone I hear they are decent. If they came on a new truck I would roll with them.
__________________
2018 Ram 3500 Laramie CC DRW LWB 4X4 Cummins Aisin 3.73
Reese Goosebox 20K
2018 Heartland Landmark 365 Oshkosh
2008 Bigfoot 25C9.4 LB Cabover
2023 CanAm Defender SXS
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11-25-2014, 02:39 PM
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#15
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Las Cruces
Posts: 4,665
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The Transforce is a good tire, a lot of heavier trucks run them for commercial operations. I'll admit my 2011 2500 came with them and I got rid of them after 3,000 miles for Michelins (got $200 for the set on trade). According to the manager at the tire store, they don't like taking in OE tires because they are a different spec than what they sell in the store. Don't know how much truth is to that, but I didn't really care. I like Michelins and bought them as a tire/wheel package with RWL, so the transforces had to go..
__________________
Brent
2013 Alpine 3500RE
2019 Silverado 2500HD Duramax
U.S. Air Force Retired (25 yrs)
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