Nice ride and good traction at a reasonable price
Written: Feb 14 '07
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Pros: Ride quality, relatively low price, on-road traction
Cons: Off-road traction (which is not what this tire is designed for)
The Bottom Line: An excellent tire for the price
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| backwoodsbum's Full Review: Yokohama Geolandar H/T Truck/SUV Tire |
Last fall my girlfriend asked me to recommend some new tires for her Dodge Dakota. Both the original set and the tires she had replaced them with had worn out much sooner than she had liked and the combination of a V-8 engine in a truck with little weight over the rear tires made traction non-existent.
I began to research tires for her and when doing my research I listed the qualities she was looking for the most with price, longevity, on-road traction, and ride quality being the top four. She said noise, off-road traction, etc. were areas that were less important to her. My first suggestion would have been BF Goodrich TA/KO's like I have on my truck but since their strongest point (off-road traction) was low on her list and since they are fairly expensive I decided those were not the tires for her. I have used Yokohama tires on several cars with good luck and a few friends have Geolander's on their trucks so I began to research these tires.
As I began to ask around and read reviews on the Geolander H/T's the general consensus seemed to be that they were a good tire for the money. A friend of mine has nearly 40,000 miles on a set on his Durango and raves about the ride quality and the fact that even with that many miles they still have good traction. A check of prices at both the tire stores in my area and online dealers showed that Discount Tire Direct had these tires in the size she needed (235-75-15) for $300 shipped for four which was by far the best price I found. One thing to remember when purchasing these or any tires online is to add approximately $10-15 per tire for mounting and balancing since you will have to have the tires mounted and balanced at a local tire store. My father used to manage a Goodyear store and I have access to the equipment to mount and balance my own tires so this was not an issue for me.
The tires arrived 3 days after placing the order and the following day I mounted them on her truck. One thing I noticed is that these tires required very little added weight to balance them. This is a sign of a quality tire since often cheaper/less well made tires will require more and larger wheel weights to balance them because they do not have to meet the same quality standards as better tires. This is something I have come to expect from Yokohama tires as every set I have had has been easy to balance.
One thing I noticed while mounting the tires was that these tires had a stiffer sidewall than most I have mounted and as a result were slightly harder to get to seat on the rim. This is not something that most people would have to worry about since they would be having the tires mounted, but since a stiffer sidewall can translate into a harsher ride I was a little worried about the ride quality. As it turns out there was no need to worry. We have put approximately 5000 miles on these tires so far under widely varying conditions and the ride has been excellent. While I never drove this truck with the original Goodyears my girlfriend said these tires ride much better than they did. I did drive the truck with the last set of tires that were on it (cheap off brands) and there is no comparison, the H/T's ride MUCH smoother.
As for traction, we have driven on paved roads and gravel, both when dry, in the rain, and even a little snow, and again these tires have been excellent. The two large grooves that run around the circumference of the tire do a nice job of channel water out of the tread and we have noticed that the truck is much less prone to hydroplaning when hitting puddles of standing water. This truck see very little off-road use however we have driven through the woods on my farm a few times and while off-road traction is not a big selling point for these tires they have proven to be adequate. They are prone to having the tread clog when driving through mud and when this happens you can kiss traction goodbye. As I said this is not something that is a concern for us but if you are going to be driving in mud very often you might want to look for a tire with a more open tread design.
After only 5000 miles I cannot comment on longevity other than to say that these tires show no wear whatsoever and that based on the experience of my friends I expect that these tires will last a very long time.
All in all I think that the Yokohama H/T is an excellent tire for any truck/suv that will see minimum off-road usage and where price is a factor. I don't know of any tire in this price range that I would recommend as a better option and only a few that are better when price is no consideration.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 300.00
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Epinions.com ID:
backwoodsbum
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Member: Clark Ware
Location: Morrison, TN USA
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
I'm 36 years old, married 7 years, no kids.
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