54 RegCab, fixed retail prices were a reality years ago, under what was mis-informationally called the "Fair Trade" laws. Those were part of the bad old days, when a Timex watch often cost more than a Hamilton - ah, the power of advertising. Anyway, they've been history for years now, to the benefit of all of us. If those laws actually existed today - you would have paid bottom-line sticker for your vehicle.
Back on topic - this only do I know: The General Ameristar 550's that are OEM on my F150 are not good. Despite being well and properly balanced (and showing no vibration) they are not wearing evenly. Biggest complaint - lousy wet traction. Even this lil ol' 4.2 has a hard time getting around in the wet...

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'98 F150 XLT SC SB 4.2L 5SP 3.08 AC, Power this-n-that, Cruise, Gold stripes, bug flinger, Shelton Cl III hitch, Belgian Pointer

 

BFG's are second to none! I have raced the bajeepers out of my BFG M/T 35's. I have tried most tires out there. This year on my 99 F150 I am running Goodyear AT/S's. They are a bit more spendy than BFG's (retail). I have probably burned up over a hundred sets of BFG M/T's and even if they weren't one of my sponsers, I would still purchase them!!! One thing to remember...If you are considering MICHELINS, BFG is actually made by MICHELIN. BFG is actually a space company now!

99 F150 4x4 XLT extracab longbed
tires- Goodyear 305/70/16's on AR Baja's!
The Goodyears are little quieter than the BFG's.

 

Fair trade did go by the wayside, however, a new demon has risen its head...it's called UNILATERAL PRICING. In this case, the dealer signs a dealer agreement with the manufacturer declaring that they will post signage, perform advertising and SELL the product for the unilateral price, as determined by the manufacturer. The penalty for violation...the manufacturer can legally cease shipments to the offending dealer. Somebody needs to test this new tactic in a court of law, but until then...consumers are being duped.

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1998 Fire Engine Red F150 Flareside Extended Cab with Snuglid 4.6L with Superchip, Airaid, Dual Flo-Pro exhaust system, etc.

 

Belvadere, doesn't this unilateral pricing thing sound a whole lot like "Fair Trade"? Does to me - sooner or later someone will test it. The clever thing they've done here is set it up so the consumer is not a party to the deal, so is involved only circumferentially. Ie, a consumer could not directly bring an action - and why would the dealer want to? Arguably, he's better off this way.

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'98 F150 XLT SC SB 4.2L 5SP 3.08 AC, Power this-n-that, Cruise, Gold stripes, bug flinger, Shelton Cl III hitch, Belgian Pointer

 

It's a fancy new-fangled "fair trade." I'm in the electronics/appliance business and can tell you that Maytag (for instance) and others are implementing it more and more. Bose speakers has had it around for years. They were one of the first to implement it after fair trade was done away with. The real purpose of it is help the big box retailers. For instance, if Sears doesn't have to worry about advertising a different price in Chicago (due to local competition) than they do in Miami, then isn't that wonderful for them? Unfortunately, it destroys competition from the smaller dealer AND it hurts the customer. I'm not saying that's the case with these tires...we'd have to hear from a tire retailer, but UNILATERAL PRICING is very real and in effect. I know because I have to deal with it everyday. There is little question that customers would be outraged if they really knew what was going on. There is little question that smaller retailers ARE outraged, but in comparison to the national chain stores they are hard pressed to do much about it. The big box retailers lobby FOR it because it makes their life so much easier. It removes the power of the local retailer to undercut their price. It removes the difficulty they have in creating advertising for all markets, without being concerned for individual markets. One price fits all. Not a pretty picture.

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1998 Fire Engine Red F150 Flareside Extended Cab with Snuglid 4.6L with Superchip, Airaid, Dual Flo-Pro exhaust system, etc.