Dueler H/T dry rot

not sure if anyone else had this problem, i replaced my factory tires in 06 with Bridgestone Dueler H/Ts that came from the factory.. well 3 years and 40k miles later they are pretty badly dry-rotted, i picked out my new tires, have them on order, just for kicks i decided to contact bridgestone, turns out they agreed to warranty out the remaining tread in the tires! so they are gonna give me 30% of the cost i paid for the tires towards the new tires of my choice provided i provide proof of purchase within the last 4 years :dance:

anyone else having trouble with theirs, it cant hurt to try, just take em in to an authorized bridgestone dealer

That was the main reason I had to change up tires this year. My AVS's were bad due to dry rot, it happens. Especially with mine as it sat more than was driven but I had a little over 5 years on them with at least 90% tread left. Safety was the big concern so I dug into the CC and funded them. I'm hoping these new monsters will wear down faster than they rot.

In the sidewall code on every tire, is included a manufacture date. When getting tires, always check this date. Tires should not be kept longer than about five years....alot of them sit on warehouse and big store shelves nearly that long. Refuse to buy tires more than a year or so old.

Supposed to be a new federal law not allow tires older then X being sold. Problem is your tires might have sat at the tire dealer for 3 years before you bought them, and everyone knows tires do have an age limit.

So what did you get? Offroad worthy for your driving habits?

with it. Do not store in a garage where it gets too hot or as big temp changes.

yea my manufacture date was 1905 (19th week of 2005) so bridgestone said they only warranty for 4 years, thats the only reason i needed proof of purchase, otherwise they would have just said ok...

i went with 265-60-18 goodyear fortera tripletreds... not great offroad, but probably comparable to the dueler HTs... leaps and bounds better on the road, they are severe snow rated even!

when all is said and done with my discount through work and the credits from bridgestone i will be paying around $600 for 4, im debating on the 5th, i have the rim for it, but the tires are directional/rotational, so a spare would only work on one side of the vehicle, looking into something that would work as a universal spare now


http://s.sears.com/is/image/Sears/09586585000

well i heard too many bad reviews about the goodyear fortera tripletred wearing badly, from a few different people ive been hearing they get really hard as they wear and loose traction quickly.. so i actually got a good deal on a set of 285/60/18 Falken ST/Z04s its a really nice looking tire, pretty good reviews from the UHP market.. and ill be paying about $100 less per tire.. they arrived today.. will be mounting sunday :thumbup:

http://www.falkentire.com/media/tires/6/tire.jpg

Thinking about these:

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/pr...s/hanvl2.l.jpg

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/pr...hanvl2.ang.jpg

Hancook LT285/75R16E1 127R W

Quote:

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Originally Posted by etlsport

well i heard too many bad reviews about the goodyear fortera tripletred wearing badly, from a few different people ive been hearing they get really hard as they wear and loose traction quickly.. so i actually got a good deal on a set of 285/60/18 Falken ST/Z04s its a really nice looking tire, pretty good reviews from the UHP market.. and ill be paying about $100 less per tire.. they arrived today.. will be mounting sunday :thumbup:

http://www.falkentire.com/media/tires/6/tire.jpg

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Hey etl those aren't too bad! Falken Ziex ST/Z04s. They came on my VX in 255/55-18 at about 90% tread remaining when I bought it in Dec 08...took 'em to Moab this year...didn't get stuck once (oh, well, if you count that one time when I was teetering on my tx case skid plate and Moncha came & lifted me off - but that wasn't the tires fault)...'course I did only go on 2 trails....but they did me proud on my stocker. But, nonetheless, after I saw y'all with the 285 Nitto TG's I just had to get something beefier, so I got those Cooper Zeon LTZs. I'm ready for next year!

As a side note, I got 23 MPG (hwy) to/from Moab on those Falkens.

when i last purchased tires finding th eright size was hard. I wonder if they are a little used size causing them to be slower sold

yep the size is definitely a problem.. not much in that size... i cant even order the dueler HT in a 245/60/18 anymore, only the dueler HL. its easy to up the size of your tires though to a more common size like 255/55/18 (no difference in overall height) 265/60/18 (small difference in height) or a 285/60/18 (pretty big difference, but little to no trimming required

I got OEM tire 2 years ago at tiresavings.com for $85 each pl;us $15 each S&H. I have 2 years on them and they are wearing good so I will be happy to settle for them. Better than the $228 each including mounting and balancing at Discount tire. At $228 what exactly is the discount? The next lowest was $168 at Walmart

:fyi: According to the factory website of Bridgestone-USA, the 2000/2001 VX-OEM tire of Bridgestone - Dueler H/T-D689 in P245/60R18 is no longer manufactured. However; there is plenty of old warehouse stock in this tire still available, although perhaps now dry-rotting on their tire shelves. The 1999 VX-OEM tire in 16" diameter is still being manufactured by Bridgestone-USA.

For those die-hards considering the common Nitto - Terra Grappler would do themselves a serious injustice if they didn't also consider the new Cooper - Zeon "LTZ" in 285/60R18, as was selected by fellow VX member VX-KAT. A visit to the photo gallery of VX-KAT is highly recommended to view this new radical tire of the Cooper - Zeon "LTZ" mounted on the VX. A word of caution-- Cooper makes multiple Zeon version/series tires, so look specifically for the "LTZ" notation (very important).:yeso:

got my new tires on! pics to follow...;Db;

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...falken_010.jpg
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...falken_006.jpg
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...falken_001.jpg

mm i like em! very very slightly louder than the stock dueler HTs.. leaps and bounds better cosmetically... i havent noticed much driveability difference.. might be a touch slower acceleration, but its not pronounced at all, esp not as bad as i was anticipating. i will say that i coast much further than i used to.. final bill came to.... $320 and change... that was 137 per tire (on sale) plus my associate discount and a $67 per tire reimbursement from bridgestone for the duelers sucking big time (heh.. they were actually dry rotted pretty bad at 6/32nds and looked awful)

I like-em too, and boy the color of the VX is totally awesome. SHARP RIG !

They look terrific! Love the tread pattern. :thumbup:

couple more photos

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...falken_008.jpg
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...falken_003.jpg

LOL, looks like the Bird just missed its intended target.:laughing:

Forgive my ignorance, but what's to stop a much taller tire from bouncing up and hitting the inside/outside of the fender/cladding if you don't also do a lift? I figure that's what the bump stops are for, but are the OEM stops designed to stop this large of a tire?

I'm sure a lesson is coming so I've got my pen and paper ready. :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by vt_maverick

Forgive my ignorance, but what's to stop a much taller tire from bouncing up and hitting the inside/outside of the fender/cladding if you don't also do a lift? I figure that's what the bump stops are for, but are the OEM stops designed to stop this large of a tire?

I'm sure a lesson is coming so I've got my pen and paper ready. :p

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The lift wiki. . http://www.vehicross.info/modules.ph...warticle&id=66 . .has part #'s for a higher profile rear bump.

The front is usually clearanced by trimming, & if the offset/tires are too large, the good old fasioned . :smack: . mod comes into play...:_wrench:

The PO put a spacer under the bump stops on the front of mine.