Tire delima....

[seahawkfankk]

I am getting a new set of tires soon and my mechanic has 2 in my price range. What do you all think? I live in South Dakota with a fair amount of snow and minimal rain. My top priority is tread life.

My choices:
Kumho KL61
ROAD VENTURE SAT - Kumho Tire USA, Inc.
or
Cooper AT/3
CooperTiresConsumer - Discoverer A/T3<span class='trademark'></span>

[rocky]

Have you done a search?

[xGS]

Do you drive off-road/off-pavement enough that you would need that type of tire?
They're likely to be fairly noisy on the Pilot.

What make and model of wheel balancer does your mechanic have?
The best balancer is the Hunter GSP9700.

What other brands of tires does your mechanic sell?
For example, can he get Michelin or General?

Would you consider buying tires at the Ford dealer?
They have the GSP9700 balancer.

[seahawkfankk]

Rocky, I have searched online yes but could not find a site that had both kinds of these tires to get customer reviews. Do you know of one by chance? Tirerack does not show cooper that I can find. I searched this forum but could not find any thing specifc on these types of tires.

xGS: No I rarely drive off road so these may be a bit aggressive for what I need. That said we did get about a foot of snow last night and road noise does not bother me really. I am not sure what type of wheel balancer my mechanic has and he seems a bit limited to Kuhmo and Cooper although he can also get the Toyo Open. We are in a rural area and he has done very well by us on in the past and would rather help out a family owned local shop with less options and maybe slightly more exspensive then take it to Wal-Mart or Sears and have a tech with little experience work on it. Really try to avoid dealerships since this guy has treated me fair for 15 years now.

[xGS]

Go with the Cooper Discoverer A/T3, then.

It was top-rated among the all-terrain type tires in the latest Consumer Reports test.
The Cooper outperformed the Kumho in snow, on ice and for expected treadlife.

Ask your mechanic if he knows how to do match mounting.
It will help reduce the amount of weight needed to balance the tires, resulting in less vibration and a smoother ride.

[seahawkfankk]

Thanks xGS I was leaning toward the Coopers anyway but that sealed the deal. I do not have a consumer report login anymore so I am glad you were able to pass on that information. Also Cooper is the last American tire manufacturer as far as I know so I have always gone with them in the past. Thanks again!

[humanoid]

Cooper, as with all tire manufacturers, farm their work out to various countries to produce their tires. While they may be a company based in the States, their products are manufactured from all over the world.

[xGS]

Originally Posted by seahawkfankk

Also Cooper is the last American tire manufacturer as far as I know so I have always gone with them in the past.

What about Goodyear (who also owns the Dunlop brand in the US and Europe)?

[seahawkfankk]

I am no tire expert but do know I have had better luck with Coopers then Goodyears over the years. Sad to say but most products are not made and manufactured solely in the US anymore.