Dangerous Tires?
 

I just bought a 1997 F150 4x4 with the 4.6L. It has Goodyear Wrangler RT/S tires on it. There seems to be good tread left on them. I noticed in the rain, I have very little traction at all. I spin the tires from a stop and coming onto an entrance ramp on the freeway the rear end tries sliding around! I hate to have to put it in 4 wheel every time I am going to put a little pressure on the tires. Think its the brand of tires or is my tread depth to low? I will replace them with the michelins that other members are suggesting, but that will be about a month from now. I have the pressure at 35 psi all around. I hate to dump a thousand into tires if thats not the problem. Any ideas?

Re: Dangerous Tires?
 

Huh?

Goodyear = Goodyear
Wilderness = Firestone

Ooops...........Goodyear Wrangler RT/S tires.........sorry bout that.

They are ok, what i always run, but a lot of other people dont like them.

Back when I had the Goodyears Wrangler AP's on my truck I learned to start out in 2nd and take it easy on the gas to avoid the dreaded wheel spin in the rain.

yea, but rt/s should do a little better than ap

I have had both the AP and the RT/S on my truck (98 supercab 4.6l 4X2) and honestly the AP did well for the first 15000 after that they sucked, yet I tolerated them somehow for another 30000 miles and 2 more Michigan winters. I though the RT/S would be better (this is prior to my finding this site) though they are still on my truck they only survived 1 Michigan winter and will have to be replaced this fall after only 30000 miles. I too have experienced entrance ramp trouble when raining and it drives me crazy when traffic is bad keeping me from getting up to speed. I know I will not buy another set of Good-for-a-year tires as they are simply that good for 1 year after that good-luck. There is nothing wrong with your tires, it's just the way they are.

35 psi?.....
 

running a little high there bud, better take it down to 32 cold;)

Thanks for the feedback guys.........I will bring them down to 32psi........they were at 40 when I bought the truck.

i hated those goodyears, did a 360 in the rain once, my new ones work great

40!!!!.....
 

jeez..is there any tread left in the center?look at the max psi label.... now say a hail mary:D

Max psi says 35psi. I dont think people know the importance of proper inflation. I guess I learned what a diff it can make by watching Nascar and they "add 1lb to the left rear". Wow, 1lb makes a difference? It must! I started paying closer attention to my tire pressure. Now that I have a truck and will be spending twice as much (at least) for tires, I will be aware of my tire pressure! How often do you guys rotate them? Every oil change good enough? How do you rotate them? I mean from where to where? I heard once a tire is rolling in a certain direction, it has to keep rolling that direction. Is that true?

The best way to rotate your RT/S tires is to rotate them out for BFG, Michelin or ProComp or just about anything other than a GoodYear, in my opinion.

I had RT/S on my truck. Downright dangerous, just as you described in your first post. I have even had the anti-lock kick in on DRY PAVEMENT! These tires should be outlawed.

I'll never buy another GoodYear tire, no matter how cheap they are.

if you change your oil every 3000
 

then rotate everyother oil change(6000) and watch your pressure as the seasons change best rule of thumb is to check pressure monthly. yes rotate front to back,back to front on the same side. also run your front tires 2# higher than the rear tires UNLESS your hauling heavy weight then the opposite holds true(2# higher in the back than the front) and yes g/years are notorius for hyroplaning and i,m considering some michalins next so if anyone has any feedback on those i,d appreciate it,as well as the member who generated this thread

I think your problem is that you do not have a limited slip rear end in your truck.

I have had many a pickup truck over the past years as I tend to run about 50,000 to 75,000 miles per year and like to replace them at about 150,000 to 200,000 miles. I tend to replace tires every 40,000 to 50,000 miles (when ever they are close to useless)

I have used most of the tires mentioned above as I am willing to try most any "premium" brand out on the company truck to gain experiance before purchasing replacement tires for my personnel Expy. YES, there is a differance and it can be substanial however after driving a friends pickup in the rain a few trucks (and years)back I was immediatily impressed by the differance a limited slip rear end makes. I have not and would not by another pickup truck without this very important traction feature.