[AuburnTiger92]

Anyone?

Anyone?

Bueller?

Bueller?

[vtx531]

BTT

10char

[CB3]

I think the tires would be fine tires. Maybe even great. What concerns me is Walmart. Specifically this: Can you trust their mechanical guys to do a quality mounting, balancing, installation, and alignment? If you think so, then this tire sounds great. If you don't think so (I have my doubts), then this tire isn't the potential problem. The guys installing it might be the potential problem. That would be my concern.

Incompetence seems to be the rule, not the exception, and that's in general. Do you really think Walmart tire store employees are better, or more reliable, than at the average tire store? Competent help is hard to find in any profession. Do you think Walmart is competitive at hiring competent help in their tire store? Do you think that Walmart is competitive with other tire stores in recruiting the best employees? If you think "yes" then by all means get the tire. I'm sure there is nothing wrong with the tire. It's probably a great tire. But how good is the installer?

I think it is highly unlikely, probably almost impossible, that Walmart does good alignments on lifted Jeeps. Let alone other mechanical service you'll need. Other tire stores don't want to do alignments on a Jeep that got its tires at Wally World. That's common sense. So after you buy Walmart tires and thereby alienate yourself from all the other tire stores in your area that do offer competant mechancial and alignment service, what are you going to do then? A bad alignment will eat any tires. Even if these tires in this thread are great, a Walmart alignment will probably eat the tires and spit them out in short mileage. Most otherwise competant tire stores are challenged to align a lifted Jeep. I don't think there is any way that Walmart can do it with the employees they have considering what they pay them and charge you.

So at Walmart you will probably get a bad alignment (and possibly bad balancing) and your tires will get eaten up by that, even if they are good tires. So I don't think the quality of the tire is the legitimate concern here. It's the quality of the tire store that should be everyone's concern.

No, I do not work for a tire store. I'm a computer programmer. I've been through the ringer myself with bad alignments and a shop that was incompetent to give me a good alignment. I now have those problems licked since a local tire store that is good and also a 4X shop where Mud works are both good for aligning lifted Jeeps. So my alignment woes and premature tire wear problems will be over. However, the competent local tire store required a lot of begging, pleading, eating crow and a pound of poop before they'd agree to align my Jeep. They were p'd off with me for having bought my tires at another local store (that is incompetent).

Think about the above because no tires of any brand are worth a crap, unless you have a round tire (which is partly dependent on installation), and good balancing and alignment (totally dependent on installer).

[CB3]

i.e. - I wouldn't hesitate to buy those Goodyear tires at Walmart, if I could have a competent tire store mount, balance, and align it. But no competent tire store would do that if I bought my tires at another store, and certainly not if I bought them at Walmart. I'll bet my last dollar in the world that Walmart cannot be trusted to properly do it. Certainly they can't align a lifted Jeep properly; few tire stores can.

So even if the Walmart tires are good, the bad balancing and bad alignment will eat those tires up way to soon, and unbalanced and misaligned tires don't perform well either.

The truth is sad but obvious. There is no free lunch.

But if you can mount, balance, and align yourself, then by all means do try the Walmart version of Goodyear tires because they're probably great tires if installed, balanced, and aligned properly.

I have faith in Goodyear anyway. Well, to an extent. Their GSA are pretty crappy. Coincidentally, that's another Goodyear discount tire for SUVs. Hmm. Stop and think about that.

I hope this Goodyear Authority tire is great because I love hybrid tires, but my concerns above are valid concerns that anyone with any tire experience will know are valid concerns.

I'm sorry to be a buzzkill and spoil anyone's discount hybrid tire fun in this thread by telling the truth, but it's better to hear it from me than to learn it by real world experience. Experience is a cruel teacher.

However, if you are really tight on money and have no other options, that's different because when you have no other options, you have nothing to lose. At that point, Walmart is great. Seriously, I'm not being sarcastic. I really mean it.

[Mtnduey]

So don't get the tires mounted/balanced at Walmart if you hate em so much. Mounting tires isn't that difficult to do with the modern equipment they have. Plus you're talking about a max size of 31x10.50 on a 15" rim, a size that's been around since just after Noah built the ark. I dont see why you wouldn't be able to trust someone to install a tire for you at a different shop when they don't sell the tire you were looking for. They'll charge you for mounting, balancing, etc... but duh you took it to them.

People buy tires from all over the place and get em installed at their local shop all the time, otherwise folks like The Tire Rack, 1010tires, Discount Tire Direct, not to mention all the tire wholesalers, etc... wouldn't be able to stay in business.

So if it's a quality tire that the mfg will stand behind, what is there to lose? No tire company wants their tire to be the next Firestone 500 (I think it still holds the record for tire failure) especially a company like Goodyear that has too much at stake to lose their rep on a bad tire.

My heart is set on the Goodyear Duratrac's as I want the added snow/ice traction, otherwise I'd be getting a set of these to thrash around in.

*edit* also, so don't get you're lifted rig alligned at Walmart if you hate em so much. But any shop and any tech can mess up an allignment. If you're super picky about it find yourself a good Truck and Axle shop that does allignments for lifted rigs and make a visit.

Goodyear made the deal with Walmart on this tire, they wouldn't do it if it would damage their reputation. All we know is that for some reason they're limited distribution of this tire to Walmart right now. As none of us work for Walmart or Goodyear's Sales, Marketing and Distribution divisions, we don't know why and speculation is pointless.

So Walmart is the big evil not that anyone really cares. This is a capitalist society where free market reigns. Buy or don't buy, it's your dollar, spend it where you want.

[CB3]

I don't hate Walmart. I often shop there, but I also have a realistic view of their capabilities. Walmart is good for some things (like jeans, underwear and socks, motor oil, paper towels, over-the-counter drugs, and many other things, etc; but mechanical work on your vehicle? Do you have Walmarts in New Hampshire to know what we're talking about? Do you have any first hand experience with Wally World? It'd be almost like letting McDonalds employees mount your tires, balance and align them.

I don't see how anyone who's ever tried to get a lifted Jeep properly aligned can fail to see my points, especially if they've had dealings with Walmart.

Also, I have a realistic view of what another tire store/installer is going to feel about installing tires someone bought at Walmart. Would any tire installers at this forum care to comment?

Goodyear isn't perfect either. They made the GSA. Ever owned a set of those? Obviously GY isn't always worried about their reputation as high priority. The GSA is proof of that. Though GY does make some good products.

Like I said before, the Goodyear Authority tire is probably a good to excellent tire, if you can have some other place mount, balance, and align the Jeep; especially a lifted Jeep. But it might not be so easy finding a competent installer elsewhere who is willing to service tires you bought at Walmart. Things are things to consider before your money leaves your wallet. Then if you still want to buy tires from Walmart after being informed, then by all means do it. I think the tires themselves are probably good tires.

[CB3]

Originally Posted by Mtnduey

*edit* also, so don't get you're lifted rig alligned at Walmart if you hate em so much. But any shop and any tech can mess up an allignment. If you're super picky about it find yourself a good Truck and Axle shop that does allignments for lifted rigs and make a visit.

That is excellent advice and I agree. Though someone still has to mount and balance them too. Is Wally going to get a big tire well balanced? Doubtful.

I do think your specialty alignment shop advice is good. Only a minority of tire stores can align a lifted Jeep properly.

[Fargo]

Originally Posted by CB3

Walmart is good for some things (like over counter drugs, etc; but mechanical work on your vehicle?

This made me laugh. You trust Wal-mart enough to get your medication there but not enough to service your Jeep. I know what your saying, but it struck me as funny that we would trust our health to WalMart but not our Jeeps.

[CB3]

Originally Posted by Fargo

This made me laugh. You trust Wal-mart enough to get your medication there but not enough to service your Jeep. I know what your saying, but it struck me as funny that we would trust our health to WalMart but not our Jeeps.

Please read more carefully and reconsider what I said about medicine. I said I trust them for "over-the-counter" drugs. That means the non-prescription stuff you don't need a doctor's prescription for. The same as any grocery store carries too. For those things, the store employees do not make or package the pills. All they do is ring them up and take my money. I only have to trust their cashier, and really not even that person since I can do arithmetic and check them.

I defineately do not buy my prescription drugs there. Prescription drugs require some skill and care on the part of the pharmacy employees. I remember reading in the local newspaper about a man who had some health problem that needed treatment with male hormone. Walmart pharmacy misread his prescription from doctor, got confused, and filled his prescription bottle with female hormone. In addition to growing breasts, he also got very ill and some permanent health damage.

Over the counter drugs are safe anywhere. Prescription drugs are only safe where the pharacist and assistants are competant and careful.

In the same way, I do sometimes buy automotive supplies from Walmart, but you won't ever see me getting a tuneup there, nor an alignment. It's one thing to buy goods from them. It's another to trust their mechanical or medical expertise of their employees.

I'm very careful about what I will and won't trust Walmart with and what I will and won't buy from them. Unless I was near broke. In which case, risks must be taken when you have no choice.

[CB3]

Krylon spray paint is great stuff, and only $3 a can at Walmart. That's half what it costs at Schucks auto. So there's a great example of Walmart being good at something. Ringing up a spraycan of paint for a low price. But I didn't have to trust Walmart employees to make the Krylon paint for me. All I had to trust Walmart to do is offer it cheaply and ring it up.

Selling at a cheap price a product (good) that someone else made is what Walmart excels at - both in cost and quality when it's a namebrand.

Providing skilled services is something Walmart sucks at.

It's the basic economics and basic business facts of life that occur when you hire the cheapest labor you can find for a given job. Did I ever mention I have a business degree? Though I'm a computer programmer by profession. Though I do write business math programs that analyze banking, money, investments, inventory, etc.

But you don't need a degree in anything to see my point is valid. It's common sense.

Walmart specializes in hiring cheap help and charging low prices. They're good at that.

The result is great prices on goods and services, but ONLY their namebrand goods are reliable (because those namebrand goods were made at other companies by skilled employees and management). Walmart's noname brands, and especially Walmart's services, are unreliable.

That's why I say that I shop at Walmart for namebrand goods, not services. They did OK changing my oil a couple times, but I was lucky. They didn't do very well on a friend's car (long story, but they f'd up her oil change badly enough to damage one of her seals due to severely overfilling the oil).

[AuburnTiger92]

You know what would be nice? IF SOMEONE WHO HAS RAN THESE TIRES WOULD CHIME IN!!!!!!!

I'd really like to hear how they are doing...

[+Crusader+]

What's wrong with a Walmart pharmacist screwing up a prescription so you see neon colors for a few hours at work?

[Mtnduey]

Originally Posted by AuburnTiger92

You know what would be nice? IF SOMEONE WHO HAS RAN THESE TIRES WOULD CHIME IN!!!!!!!

I'd really like to hear how they are doing...

sorry you're right

[CB3]

Originally Posted by TheHoff

What's wrong with a Walmart pharmacist screwing up a prescription so you see neon colors for a few hours at work?

Did the Wally pharmacist giving the man female hormones cause him to see pretty colors? If so, they didn't mention that in the newspaper.

The paper did mention him having certain PMS-like symptoms, crying jags, and literally growing breasts! Talk about a man having a midlife crisis!!! :

[cloiselle]

Originally Posted by CB3

Did the Wally pharmacist giving the man female hormones cause him to see pretty colors? If so, they didn't mention that in the newspaper.

The paper did mention him having certain PMS-like symptoms, crying jags, and literally growing breasts! Talk about a man having a midlife crisis!!! :

you are degrading an otherwise highly useful and enjoyable FORUM and technical section with absolute trash.

these tires hook up well and clear mud very well , friend has them no an xj with a 2"bb and it keeps up with my dub jay in some pretty hectic terrain.