Toyo Tires and Warranty

[Velogeo]

Well, that pretty much sucks the mop because I've been planning on doing exactly the same thing next year sometime -- except for adding the Hella monitor, which I have. I've got close to 15K on my BFGs (which have done good by me so far).

It must be -- I really hope -- dependent on which Les Schwab location you go to. Covington has done good by me up till now. We'll see what happens when it's time to re-shod the beast.

Which Les Schwab did you go to, if you don't mind saying?

[twolost]

Due to the other problems I have had with this specific Les Schwab... lets just say my 'beef' was not with the one in Covington.

[pjpvi]

Funny, I too have decided to put a set of Toyo M/T's on my van prior to heading to Alaska in three weeks. I called the Les closest to me and they had them in stock for $1200+ installed out the door (set of 4). I have used the Big-O Tire near my house for the last 10 years and will see what their price is prior to driving the extra distance to Les. The guy I have always worked with finally quit this year, so I'm less attached to them since he always was the one that took good care of me.

I'm sticking with same size I currently have .... 305-70R16.

Phil

[jage]

Back in Indiana the Discount Tire I went to had a manager change and that is what led me to going across the street to the Tire Barn. I later found out that the manager I'd worked with had gone to a different location so I started driving the extra 45 minutes to get to his store.

I was really blown away to see how much of an impact one person has on the whole location.

Twolost- I hope they don't give you flack about wheel spacers after all the trouble. When the Discount gave me my keys back and said "we'll never touch this van again, that will be $34.95 for the new warranty" we were both suprised- me that there was no way around their policy and him that I wasn't going to pay for a road hazzard warranty that required me to remove and move a tire. I've heard a number of locations don't care, but I managed to get a note in my file that warns anyone who looks up the warranty about me. Good luck!

[pjpvi]

Big-O Tire pretty much matched Les Schwab price on a set of 4 Toyo M/T's, so I'm having Big-O install them tomorrow. I'm absolutely paranoid that they are going to be too noisy for my liking for highway driving, but I guess I'll find out soon. I seem to have justified the pro's to outweight this one con (well, the other possible con is the increased stiffness in ride).

I'll be putting somewhere over 7000 miles on the van on this trip, so I hope I like them.

The tires that came on my used van are MasterCraft Courser A/T. They are D rated with a very flexy sidewalls. They've developed cracks on the inside sidewall near the rim and one of the front tires has an odd very thin cut / slice in the sidewall. Plenty of tread left at 26,000 miles, but there is no way I trust them for the drive to Alaska.

I'll try to remember to report back on the Toyo M/T's after my trip.

Phil

[oclv]

Toyo also makes the AT. I opted to try them instead of the MT's. I was pleased with how they performed on our 3 week trip. We had 6" of snow in Gunnison CO where I pulled a rental car 2 miles up the climb out of the Black Canyon National Park from the river to the entry gate. He could not move at all, and every time he tried his car slid closer to the edge of the road. We had 8" of snow in Silverton on a muddy road up past the new ski area and the van went fine. I know the MT's are much more aggressive, but if you are balancing time on black top, dirt roads, jeep roads, snow, etc, I think the AT's are worth consideration. oclv

[jage]

*sigh* I called 4WheelParts locally and they stock Toyos and Nitto. I asked about a warranty and he said, "I don't know what you mean." and I said, "Well Discount tire won't touch my van because it's got wheel spacers,"

And he interrupted with "we won't either." And pretty much didn't want to talk to me after that.

I'm wholly annoyed. I don't think I should have to upgrade to a full-float D60 just to be able to buy tires. The wheel spacers SMB uses certainly seem to be quality and I have yet to hear of a problem. I'd gladly sign away any liablity from the company for the rear wheels falling off, providing they agree not to touch the spacers, but that's not an option- it's just point blank "No way."

That drive to Les Schwab is looking more appealing.

The guy did give me the name of a local place "Performance Wheel and Tire" that does spacers along with rims and tires. The search continues...

[pjpvi]

I'm sorry to hear that Jeramiah. I just dropped my van off at Big-O and had to do a little further negotiation. I wanted to verify that the price included continued rotation, balance and flat repair. He said no. I told him Les included it and he didn't believe me. He then called Les and verified it and with a "huff", said he would include it too.

They have never brought up spacers as an issue and I certainly haven't offered it up as a topic.

To your's and my point earlier, it is funny how one guy can make or break your opinion of a company. I feel like this guy was pissed off to have my business. The previous guy I worked with for the past 10 years was doing no charge rotation and balances on my old tires he hadn't even sold me knowing I would come to him when I needed a new set.

I wish Les was closer to me. I would have just gone to them as they seem to actually want my business.

Good luck!

Phil

[twolost]

It has now been a week+ since my last post to this thread. Since then, I had ordered the Hella Tire Pressure Moniotor from Amazon and it arrived right away as expected.

I had also placed the order for my tires and wheels thru Discount Tire and Wheel. In a weeks time there has not been a peep from Discount, so I called them. Turns out they had the tires… but (surprise, surprise) no wheel. Rather than wait for the non-existent wheel… I had them install everything they had now and I would pick-up the reminder, later. The tire install was a little interesting. One of the technicians tried to lift the rear (center) of the van with a 3.5 ton floor jack. The van did not budge. Then they tried two 3.5 ton floor jacks on either side. With a lot of grunting, they got the rear of the van up in the air (about an inch). Tires were swapped out and they did put the tire pressure stems in at no charge. Tires were aired up to 55psi (max is 60). I don’t have wheel spacers, so there were no issues once the wheels came off.

As for the tires themselves, wow… they really made a difference in low speed handling. They are noticeably stiffer and the van sways much less and bounces less on uneven pavement. Even though they have a more aggressive tread pattern there is no noticeable noise or vibration increase. The flip side is that my factory CD player has never skipped before, and it skipped twice within 10 miles of the tire store. Also, the van wanders back and forth (maybe an inch or so) when traveling down the highway (I expect that this is due to the aggressive tread design).

Costs were as follows:

$466.36 for the TC400 + 3 x additional tire sensors.
$1920.00 for six 35x12.50x17 Toyo Open Country M/T’s
$288.00 for six tire certificates (for free replacement warranty)
$72.00 for lifetime free spin balancing
$60.00 shipping and handling
$185.00 for one American Racing Crater wheel

Tax and an environmental fees make up the remainder for a grand total of $3224.61.



Cheers,

[Greggd]

Bruce ,
I can't believe how much sturdier it makes your SportsMobile appear , very nice .
Greggde