Help me pick tires

[spacemanspif]

I went to Firestone the other day because the wagon has developed a vibration around 60mph. All I wanted was my wheels/tires rebalanced because I figured maybe a weight popped off. Got a call later in the day saying that they can't rebalance the rear tires because there is cupping and the tread is too close to the wear indicators (2/32" I think was their reading); with that, he tried to sell me a new pair of tires or a set if possible. I told him that I don't have the money and to not worry about the balance. $0 later I'm still driving a car with a shake at 60mph and thinking about getting a "sketchy" place to rebalance them to see if it fixes the issue.

If they still shake, I'll probably drive them until it gets too bad for me to tolerate. Now I'm stuck at a bit of a cross roads, do I keep stock size 195/60/15 and just buy 2 or do I get taller 195/65/15 tires for a little bit of rubber gearing to try and bring my highway RPM down? Looking on tirerack.com it doesn't look like I have many size options other than those listed above. I'm only looking at LRR tires and comparing prices and need some advice.

The cheapest 195/65/15 tires on the site are Hankook H426 for $264 for 4
The cheapest 195/60/15 tires on the site are Kumho KH16 for $208 for 4 but I can also get a set of 4 Bridgestone Ecopia EP422plus for $240 after a rebate.

So the 65s rotate 30 less time per mile according to tirerack specs but I'm not sure what my RPM will drop. My car is geared horribly low which is why I'm considering taller tire. Either way, do you think that it's worth the extra money to get the taller tires, or save a little money by staying with stock size? If anyone has more advice on tire brand, size or sales please feel free to speak up. Even if I don't buy tires for another year, I want to have a good plan ready for when I pull the plug and do buy some. I never thought I'd toil on the internet looking for tires until I joined this site and now that I'm overthinking thing I really want to make an educated decision.

TIA,

[2000mc]

If the inner edges are worn more, an alignment might be well worth it, but I wouldnt be satisfied with "in spec" as in within tolerances on a tire eating focus. I would want the rear camber at spec, or slightly positive.

[user removed]

Have somebody follow you and maybe they (or you following them in your car) can see the tire hopping and get that one balanced.

I would go with the Ecopias, without hesitation. Buy two, put your two best remaining on the rear end.

regards
mech

[CapriRacer]

OK, first if your tires are at 2/32nds, that is the legal minimum in many states. It is recommended to replace tires at 4/32nds for wet climates, and 5/32nds if snow is involved.

So you are well advised to get new tires ASAP!

Second going from 60 to 65 series is going to change your rpm's by 3.2%. So if your car is going 2000 rpm at 60 mph, the larger size will change this to 1936 rpm - which isn't a lot of difference.

[spacemanspif]

So at my 3000rpm at 70, taller tires would bring my rpm down 96. Which is probably not worth it especially when comparing buying 4 vs 2. Whenever I get tires I'd like to get the car aligned too, as Foci are known to have problems with the rear. Maybe I'll start looking for 2 tires sales and get a new pair before winter. The current rears are low and it's probably better to be safe than sorry especially if we get the wet winter that is being forecasted by the witch doctors.

Any other brands to look for in terms of LRR superiority? I'd like to spend less than $100/tire and would really like to buy American if possible. I know the Ecopias are not but I was using them as a major LRR competitor and price comparison.

[deejaaa]

I ran Cooper CS4 195/65R18T's for my last set. while not LRR, they are have a UTQG 800 rating and a 80,000 warranty. I got 90K out of them. they have been replaced by CS5 now, all else remains the same. Ebay has the best price with free shipping.
http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=C...%3D14978428809
these are less than 100 each.
I suggest getting T rated. it makes the diff of 20K miles.
I believe this is who I bought mine from:
http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=C...%3D14978428809

[digital rules]

Originally Posted by spacemanspif

Any other brands to look for in terms of LRR superiority? I'd like to spend less than $100/tire and would really like to buy American if possible.

Yokohama Avid Touring "S" are LRR & manufactured in Virginia. I believe they use orange peels as part of the tire manufacturing process.

Was happy with the ones I had used for 60,000 miles. Could have gone another 10,000 or so, but had an intermittient leak in one for about a year & got tired of it.

Replaced them with Bridegstone Turanza Serenity Plus & very pleased so far.

[Hersbird]

Sounds like you were on Tirerack, personally I really like Discounttiredirect.com their prices include shipping so end up being less. Buying just tires from either of these online places also in my experience leads to a higher charge on the mount and balance as some shops don't want you bringing in your own tires.

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted by spacemanspif

.....Any other brands to look for in terms of LRR superiority? I'd like to spend less than $100/tire and would really like to buy American if possible. I know the Ecopias are not but I was using them as a major LRR competitor and price comparison.

First, the term LRR is a relative term. It means better RR than tires with similar wear and traction properties. You need to be very careful when comparing tires, because LRR tires don't necessarily have better RR than non-LRR tires.

Ya' see, there is a 3 way technology triangle involving treadwear, traction and rolling resistance. Improvements in one area come at the expense of one or both of the other areas. You have to decide what compromise works for you.

[spacemanspif]

Today I went to a used tire place to have my rears rebalanced. When they pulled the rear passenger one off, the inside trad was showing steel sticking out. Balance was not done, I got home and called Firestone back to see what they have in stock and scheduled an appointment for Monday to drop off the car while I'm at work. I'm getting two Firestone Affinity tires and an alignment. There is a LRR version of this tire but I don't know, and doubt, that those are what I'm getting. With installation it should be just over $200. If it wasn't for Mrs. Spif's cousin working at branch and getting us a discount, I'd have probably not bought these tires or gone to Firestone but I'm hoping that the friends and family discount will get the total below $200 without the alignment. I'm interested to see what the alignment has been all this time. This may be shocking, but I put over 100,000 miles on my old Saturn and never had it aligned because I never had any trouble with it eating tires or wearing too quickly or unevenly. I'm pretty sure I've only had my Monte Carlo aligned once in the 13 years and 75,000 miles I put on that car. Now I'm at 1yr and 25,000 miles and already NEED to align the wagon...