I have a 97 F-150, Supercrew with the GoodYear factory tires still on. It just hit 46,000 miles and I was wondering about the tires. I have very little knowledge in the area, and need some advice/opinions about two things: The tires seem to "skip a beat" when climbing hills and have almost no tracation in wet terrain. Is it normail to have this much wear and tear on them after 46k? If so, what type of tires should I shop around for?

Also, would this have anything to do with the painful scweal I hear every time I turn the steering wheel when I'm in park or driving under 5 miles/hour?

 

Hey Chuckdawg,

The Goodyear tires aren't very good tires to begin with, but I guess they do the job to start. They are bad for traction off-road, and even worse in water. At 46k, it's time to get new tires. I think they should be changed at 40k at the most. I would recommend BF Goodrich or Pro Comp tires, both have good all-terrian (AT) tires, and they are both good on the highway. If you have the 17" rims on your truck, then the size you'll need is 265/70/17. If you want to go bigger, Pro Comp has some 33's that should fit on your truck (if you have the 17" rims). By the way, that painful squeel could mean that you need to add some power steering fluid. Hope that helps.

 

Thanx for tips...

My truck is not a 4X4 so I'm not looking for anything dramatic looking, just something that will hold well in wet weather and on hills. Do you know how much they run or recommend a place they might have some.

Also, I'm more than positive the squeeling sound isn't the power stering fluid, it seems to squeel when I am at very slow speeds (under 5mph) when I turn the wheel. I've heard many people have the problem with F-150's and is very hard to pinpoint.

Thanks for your input!

 

I would first take a look at the BF Goodrich and Pro Comp web sites, because they have good all-season tires as well. They'll have their distributors' names on their web sites. If you search these message boards under "Tires" you'll get a lot of information too.

Not sure about the squeel, hope someone on here can help you out.

 

My truck will squeel when turning in parking lots but most of the time I'm going at a good bit of speed so I sure its the front tires making the noise its not the same kind of squeel when I step on the gas to make the rear tires squeel but is very close in sound.

 

if i owned a 2-wheel drive, it would wear nothing but Michelin. by far, the best tire for strictly road use ever. Rich.

 

Let me put in my two cents worth so hopefully someone might learn from my mistake. I recently bought 255/70 R 16 Dayton Timberline HT's to replace my off brand 235/70 R 16's that were on the truck when I bought it (used). I had wanted the Michelin LTX's all along but was afraid of wifey hitting the roof if I spent
600.00 on tires. So I got the Daytons for about 350.00 or so installed. I find that I'm not very pleased with my choice. One of the reasons I wanted to get new tires was hopefully to smooth out the ride a bit. Well, I honestly think that the ride quality did not improve much, if any. It seems like I can feel those tires rotating more, as if they are not quite balanced. I was looking at my wheels the other day and saw two big counterweights side by side on one side of the wheel. This, in my opinion, indicates that the Daytons are difficult to get balanced. I remember hearing someone at a tire shop some time ago comment about Michelin tires being very easy to balance. I wish I would have remembered that before I bought this last time. I feel like the 250.00 savings wasn't worth it!

 

1jcomer you should have known better as the Dayton tires are a off brand Firestone/Bridgestone tire it just goes to show you get what you pay for.

 

chuckdawg I will bet the squeal you hear is from your GoodYear tires. my truck came with GoodYears (because the dealer wouldn't give me any credit to take them off) and they squealed if I even thought of turning the steering wheel. I replaced them @ 2000 miles with BFG A/T ko's and couldn't have been happier. No squealing, better handling, can accelerate in the rain without spinning, etc. etc. the list goes on. To make a long story short...
GoodYear tires suck!
I would bet that if you replace those tires with Michelin or BFG or ProComp you would be amazed at the improvement! Like getting a new truck.

 

Michellin Cross Terrain.

These are unbelievable tires. Replaced my GYs (s&^ked).

Rain? What Rain?

Have been great in the sand.

Highway...smooth as silk.

These don't have an aggressive tread like the BFGs (my first choice, couldn't get them in the time I needed them) or ProComps.