Best tire for a mostly on-road taco?

Is there anything wrong with the Firestone Destination LE tires that came with the truck? Or at least my truck.

 

I'd say LE2 for economy choice. I've never seen an issue with them yet.

LTX is for best all around choice. They can be a lot more expensive.

 

Firestone Destination LE

 

Thanks. The LE tires have worked well so far. I'm at about 45K miles, so it won't be that long before they need replacing I think. I've never had really good experience with Michelins. Maybe it's the way I drive, but they never seemed all that good in the rain or snow.

The couple of places I've looked so far show about a $50.00 per tire difference between the LE and the LTX.

 

My Destinations Le2 are on their 10th season and have been regularly rotated every 5,000 miles and are being replaced but to age and dry rotting. They probably have just under half tread left on them and just over 50k miles. Ran 30 psi on all four tires faithfully.

 

Another vote for Michelin tires. I had 70K miles on my 2011 DCSB and my MS/2s had been on since the truck had 100 miles. Tread was adequate, no excessive noise, no cupping/uneven wear. Rotated every 5K miles. Can’t say anything bad about Michelin tires.

 

So a sort of related question. I've been working on cars since I was about 10. That's a long time. I completely understand the need for alignment of the front suspension. I also know, having worked on many of them, how a leaf spring, solid axle rear suspension works. Based on what I'm seeing regarding the need for a "four wheel alignment" on various websites, can anyone explain what that's all about? My thought is it's an upsell which does nothing other than make the shop some extra money.

 

There are basically 3 types of alignment.
-front 2 wheel alignment
-front and rear 4 wheel alignment
-front 2 wheel thrust alignment

The first and last are what applies to you. The latter just takes into account the rear thrust when adjusting the front.

 

Pretty much what I figured. The last is a bit different than what I grew up understanding, but it's not major. Unless that's what they mean by a "four wheel alignment." My wife's AWD Highlander gets that because it has independent rear suspension.

 

Even though I run Michelin LTX M/S 2, I would say the Destination LE series are outstanding as well.

 

Anyone tried the Destination LE3 yet?

 

Unless you have some super rare rear wheel steering or something, there's no such thing as 4 wheel alignment on a rear leaf sprung truck. There is no way to adjust the rear suspension, and the alignment doesn't change unless you get in a wreck.

Lots of other suspension styles do have adjustment in the rear and it is very important to get a 4 wheel alignment. On most cars, in the grand scheme, a 2 wheel alignment vs a 4 wheel alignment takes very nearly the same amount of time and effort to perform.

 

I tried explaining that to a kid who was trying to upsell me a 4 wheel alignment when i got new tires on my Tundra.

I asked him to explain how they could adjust the settings on a solid axle leaf spring rear end. Essentially the same set up that has been used for 100 years. The look on his face was precious.

 

It's called a four wheel alignment because you hook up the machine to four wheels.

I've never called it a 2 wheel alignment in my whole career.

The front tires are referenced from the rear. And the rear readings can show if something is bent.

I suggest one every 2-3 years or any curb hit. But we are in snow country where I am.

 

Another +1 for the Michelin LTX

 

How do you perform a 2 wheel alignment without referencing the rear?

 

Fucked if I know. 2 wheel alignment sounds like a motorcycle to me.

 

Seriously, I'm in with Michelin LTX, also. Cooper & Falken are good semi-budget tires. Just avoid those generic tires & General Tire. Had nothing but problems with them. Bulging sidewalls, tread seperation, etc.

 

I run Michelin Defender LTX’s on my Tacoma and my Honda CRV. Great tires.

The CRV performs great in the snow, rain and dry conditions. The Tacoma has similar performance, plus does well on gravel and woods roads.

 

As a data point, I just replaced the Firestone Destination LE2 that came stock on my 2016 TRD Sport 4x4. I replaced them at 50,000 and probably could have gotten a few more thousand miles on them.