Replacing OEM tires with OEM

[radin2son]

I have had no problems with the NV 2500 OEM Firestone Transforce tires and wonder if there would be any advantage to putting on a set of NV 3500 OEM tires. I think they mainly are taller, which would be good for increased clearance. Are they load rated any differently? Doubt it...

 

I was considering Michelin, but on the SMB forum, there have been some complaints about tread wear and harsh ride. Consumer reports still rates them as the best light truck tire. Firestone wasn't even mentioned, nor is there any mileage warranty. I would be surprised if anyone would get 70,000 miles on a set of Michelins on their NV. But, then again you get a credit for unused miles within a certain life span.

[Nv Envy]

Tires on the 3500 are E rated.Don't know what they are on the 2500

ear in mind that if the tires are "taller" it also means they're a larger diameter which makes them heavier and also makes the driveline work harder.If you have an 8 cylinder it's probably not that big a deal.A 6 however might be another story.

[radin2son]

I have the 2500 with V8 with the same 3.54:1 first gear ratio as the 3500.

 

The 2500 has Firestone HT LT 245/70R17 tires ($201 ea.) while the 3500 has 245/75R17 tires ($216 ea.). Both are E rated. (Prices are from Firestone's web site.)

 

My question is based on payload. GVRW for the 2500 is 9100 lbs. Camper conversion/travel weight adds about 2000 lbs. to the NV vehicle weight of 6000 lbs. Is the payload difference significant between the 2 sizes? If so, would it be better or safer to put on a set of 245/75R17 tires.

Edited January 20, 2015 by radin2son

[Jerry]

x

Edited July 28, 2015 by Jerry

[radin2son]

I never considered Cooper tires, but I can see why you would go back to these if they worked well

Edited January 20, 2015 by radin2son

[radin2son]

Firestone Transforce HT tires at the local dealer are $195 each, which isn't much less than $204 msrp. Unless the dealer offers "buy 3 and get the 4th for $1, this isn't the way to go although this tire has worked well for us. The dealer indicated most tire manufacturers' road hazard coverage is for cars only. He recommended nitrofill.com for a road hazard policy. I'm pretty sure Firestone offers a truck road hazard coverage but did not read the fine print on their web site.

 

The Michelin LTX M&S at Discount Tire is $214 with a 70k tread guarantee vs none for Firestone. DT offers their own 3 year road hazard policy which I have used in the past. They also offer a tpms rehab for $32. Not sure what this entails or if it is compatible with Nissan. If it is for a set of 4 tires and works, it would be worth doing to avoid having to remove and remount the tires later on.

 

No matter what set of tires, it will be $1000+. Also, none of these tires are in stock, so it will be 2 trips.

Edited October 15, 2015 by radin2son

[KMG]

FWIW, I had the Michelin LTX on a vehicle before and would buy them again without hesitation.  Because the tread pattern isn't quite aggressive enough for my 4x4 van, I went with the Goodyear Duratrac.

[ASD Dad]

I had Michelin LTX MS/2 on my wifes old Sienna and my Tundra.  On the Sienna they were wonderful and we got well over 60K miles out of a set.  On my Tundra they were terrible.  I mean really really terrible!  First set lasted 30K!  That was after getting a free alignment twice since they could see the tread wearing when I brought it in every 5K miles for rotations.  They replaced that set and the second set wasnt doing any better when I traded it in on the NVP.  

 

I live where they are made and have friends that work both in the corp level and in the factory.  Both told me the MS/2 wasnt a good heavy duty tire.  The corp guy was mad they ever released it in truck tire sizes!  He told me if I wanted to stick to Michelin to get the ATS tires, they would last a lot longer and had similar traction.

 

BTW - the "treadwear" guarantee is bunk.  They will prorate the tires life, so if they die at 30,000 miles they take that amount off the 70,000 tread warranty.  You must then buy the exact same tire at MSRP.  You cant switch, upgrade or downgrade plus MSRP is always higher than what you can buy them for at a store or dealer.  Mine were replaced for free since I raised a bit if a stink in the dealer showroom and they could obviously tell something was very wrong.  I paid a grand for tires, I wanted them to last!

[radin2son]

Most of the reviews for the LTX were by Ram PU truck owners; no van owners. ATS or was it AT2 tires got mixed reviews last time I looked. RICK may have been one of the reviewers, and he definitely had problems with them.

 

Interestingly, I walked by the Dodge dealership (also owned by Jim Click, who uses at least 3 NVPs for shuttles for his 4 non-Ford dealerships) storage lot and the Ram Heavy Duty PU diesels all had Firestone Transforce AT tires.

 

I mentioned this before, but last year we met a Sprinter SMB owner who replaced his LTX tires with Firestone. Looked odd not seeing Michelin on a Sprinter.

 

I only mentioned the tread guarantee to compare the tires. One you get nothing, the other you get a credit, even if it isn't much. It really isn't as important as getting a good tire. So far Firestone has been a good tire.

 

I'll take a look at what else DT sells. I know they sell BF Goodrich and Goodyear.

 

Thanks to both of you for your input.

[ASD Dad]

Sorry, you are correct - the AT2 tires was recommended over the MS for a HD tire.  

 

Transforce gets mixed reviews online and I had contemplated swapping them out.  The small independent shop I like using told me that all of the local EMS/Fire/Police vehicles run the Transforce and love them.  They only replace them with those and they get a voucher to use pretty much any tire that fits.  I am actually looking at getting a set for my camper now.  I like them for the most part on our NVP but do wish they had better traction off pavement.  

 

Michelin and BFG are one and the same now.  I used to swear by both but it really depends on the actual tire and usage.  The BFG's on my wife's new Sienna have been fantastic.  The stock BFG on the Tundra were junk and most owners replaced after two years max.  BFG TA KO2 are pretty awesome offroad tires.  So it all depends on the actual tire...

 

BTW - almost all of our local car dealers have been advertising the buy 3 get one free deal.  They dont care if you have the vehicle make they sell or not, they just want to make sales in the service dept.  DT will also price match the dealers (here at least).  

[radin2son]

Thanks.

 

You may want to look at the Transforce AT tire ($218). The ones on the Rams didn't look overly aggressive. Both HT and AT come with optional Gold warranty (3 year replacement for any reason). Web site doesn't give what it costs. There also is a 30 day trial period.

 

I have time to check around.

[radin2son]

So far, buy 3 get 4 tire promotions have been for a few select car tires. Other promotions are mailin rebates.

 

3 recent reviews for Transforce HT cover the spectrum:

 

Ram PU owner: throw them away at 50,000 mi

 

Ram PU owner: only 24,000 mi. Don't buy.

 

2012 NV 2500 owner (FL): 117,000+ mi. Still going, original tires...

 

Not my typo; kilometers maybe, as this would be 70,000+ miles which is close to Axulsuv has on his NV 1500. I had forgotten this, but the first time I brought our NV in for service in Tucson, there was a "business" NV getting new tires at 30,000 miles. I was told this is what to expect for city driving.

Edited October 26, 2015 by radin2son

[Daydreamin520]

Bumping up... cos I finally need to buy tires... like SOON! 

 

For my 2013 NV2500 SV high roof cargo van... which is still "wearing" it's original Transforce ones.  In the past, I had Coopers on my Honda Element and liked them.  I still have less than 50k on the van but not able to garage it from the Arizona sun, so dry rot is main problem.  I will rarely, ir ever, have to drive in snow, but do go camping and drive on dirt roads sometimes.  Occasionally have to drive in monsoon rains. 

 

So.... Firestone Transforce HT's - or -  Cooper Discoverer HT3's?  OR...??? 

The NV is my daily driver that I use as a home-on-wheels for camping adventures.

 

Thanks for any input.

 

BTW - Jack Furrier says they can do the Coopers for $682 total cost.  I haven't checked the price on the Transforce yet, but the AFBase here has a Firestone store on it, so hoping there may be a dealio on price there... idk.

Edited December 9, 2017 by Daydreamin520

[rolliew]

My 13 hi top is getting bfg ko2's in factory size this Thursday $218 each.

 

I will paint the factory wheels satin black in a few weeks, leaving the center cap silver and white letters out. My alignment shop talked me out of aftermarket wheels, the Nissan drives and handles so well I didn't want to screw around with it. Custom wheels are mostly China junk now days and often are not centric, meaning the hole is not quite dead center in the middle which can cause a weird slight vibration.

[mahu]

Has anyone tried BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A KO2?

I have seen them all around Tahoe and they have the snowflake certification for Canadian highways. Everyone says they are very close to winter tires even though they are all season. And great reviews all around. Got at least another 2 years left in the OEM but also looking to replace the tires on our 2005 Xterra.

[mahu]

I guess I should have read the previous post more carefully!:-) Rolliew Let us know how the KO2 work out!!

[ASD Dad]

Has anyone tried BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A KO2?

I have seen them all around Tahoe and they have the snowflake certification for Canadian highways. Everyone says they are very close to winter tires even though they are all season. And great reviews all around. Got at least another 2 years left in the OEM but also looking to replace the tires on our 2005 Xterra.

 

I think a couple have them on their NV's but I had them on my previous Tundra.  Excellent tire and a favorite of the off road crowd.  My Tundra saw just light snow at best so I cant tell you about snow traction but they were very good in sand and mud.

[chphilo]

Has anyone tried BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A KO2?

I have seen them all around Tahoe and they have the snowflake certification for Canadian highways. Everyone says they are very close to winter tires even though they are all season. And great reviews all around. Got at least another 2 years left in the OEM but also looking to replace the tires on our 2005 Xterra.

 

 

Apparently they really improved over KOs. Awesome tires, from everything I read about (I almost went with this on my Tundra, but they didn't make one in 295/70/18). 

 

The only negative thing I've read was some people found it difficult to balance. Some say they have to try several tires until they found one that balanced. But then again, others have zero issues with this tire and they love it.

[rolliew]

New KO2's mounted up and have 200 mile's on them.

 

The good - They look cool and are giving me more confidence driving over a couple of passes in the next two weeks, I still carry chains just to be safe.

 

The bad - There is a slight buzz (not really a vibration) felt in the steering wheel due to the aggressive tread, the tires do make some noise but is very minor and a passenger that has never ridden in my SV2500 would never hear anything out of the ordinary (the tire noise is that minimal). The van does not track quite as well through the corners, meaning you are fighting the wheel a little bit to keep from over or under turning the corner. Van drove straighter down the highway with the highway tires. My KO2's are the stock size.

 

I do not regret purchasing these tire's as my trips to AZ in the winter will be a little less nerve racking. I recommend these if you are in need of a snow/mud tire or simply want a more off road look to the vehicle. For me they are not too big of a compromise to have the extra snow traction.

[ASD Dad]

I really liked KO2's on my Tundra but went with the Hankook AT-M this time around.  Your KO2's may break in and feel less squirmy for you after more driving.  I honestly cant remember what my KO's felt like but I HATED my Hankooks when brand new and almost took them back.  They felt like I was driving on really under inflated or greasy tires.  They broke in after a thousand miles or so and have been fine since other than a large increase in noise.  I am down to the first wear bars and they got much noisier.  I have about 25K miles or so on them with a lot of towing.  There's still a lot of tread left but they have these intermediate bars that start bridging lug gaps that are now all exposed.

[rolliew]

Another 3,800 miles on the ko2's over Christmas break, highway miles mostly, did not get into any snow. Drove 85 most of the trip with plenty of 90 mph and some 100 mph sections and no issues, I would buy these again.