Tire problem on RT

[SpartanBert]

Just my luck. I took a nail to the sidewall (just on the sidewall, not the tread) and have a flat. No tire shop will repair it because it isn't safe to repair the sidewall. I understand that. So, I have to get new tires. I really don't want to replace them with the Conti's, because after only 11k miles, my Conti's are already looking like junk. I have the 18" wheel and want to keep it stock, I am not spending any money to change it. My tire shop is saying that Pirelli is the only other manufacturer that makes our size, the P6 model, and they want $675 for all four (including all the labor blah blah blah).

Do I have any other options at this time? Is that a fair price? I certainly won't get just two tires, that is just silly.

[Northern Rider]

Just my luck. I took a nail to the sidewall (just on the sidewall, not the tread) and have a flat. No tire shop will repair it because it isn't safe to repair the sidewall. I understand that. So, I have to get new tires. I really don't want to replace them with the Conti's, because after only 11k miles, my Conti's are already looking like junk. I have the 18" wheel and want to keep it stock, I am not spending any money to change it. My tire shop is saying that Pirelli is the only other manufacturer that makes our size, the P6 model, and they want $675 for all four (including all the labor blah blah blah).

Do I have any other options at this time? Is that a fair price? I certainly won't get just two tires, that is just silly.

I am replacing my crappy Contis. I did a fair amount of research, including talking to 300c and Magnum R/T owners who now have this tire. Here is a thread:

Tire Replacement

[SpartanBert]

Thanks for that thread. I really want more of the all-season variety, given my travel destinations through out the year. Hopefully someone here will have an opinion about the Pirelli. The customer reviews at tirerack.com are moderate to good, which, is a LOT better than our stock Conti's.

[SilverMagRT]

Look for another tire shop and offer to sign a waiver. I've repaired sidewall punctures (radial tires) with SafetySeal plugs. They've been around for decades they are made from a fibrous sticky material. I'm not in the tire business but I have the tool and plugs and have used them many times with no failures. I don't know why the plug/patch combos won't work even better.

[shiltz]

those prices for the Pirelli's are high, tire rack has them for $92 each, figure another $50 for S/H and $15-20 each mounting and balancing is only $478-498. the Pirelli's however from what I read really aren't much better than the continentals.

your other option is to go with a different tire size, 245/55 R18, they are an exact match OD but a little wider, a bunch of people have put them on with no problems at all, BFgoodrich makes them, the are $131 each at tire rack and are all season tires but much better than the continentals from what people have said. here's the link to them http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

[AZmagnum]

I just scored 4 F-gorce KDWs for my RT from Tirerack.com. The folks at my local discount tire informed me these were on backorder for over a month.


I got 17,500 out of my contis and could probably squeeze a few more miles out of them if i really pushed it.

[beefheart]

Pirelli's are very good tires. Much better than the Conti's. Tire Rack has good prices.

[Northern Rider]

Thanks for that thread. I really want more of the all-season variety, given my travel destinations through out the year. Hopefully someone here will have an opinion about the Pirelli. The customer reviews at tirerack.com are moderate to good, which, is a LOT better than our stock Conti's.

Lots of LX folks have put on the BFG all season KDWS.

The feedback I've heard on the P6 is - good handling; noisy; rapid wear.

[dchemi]

Thanks for that thread. I really want more of the all-season variety, given my travel destinations through out the year. Hopefully someone here will have an opinion about the Pirelli. The customer reviews at tirerack.com are moderate to good, which, is a LOT better than our stock Conti's.

I just had the Pirelli P6 4 Season tires put on my Magnum RT 3 days ago. As far as I know it is the only OEM size tire other than Continental CH95.

I contacted Continental to complain about the quality of the CH95's and they told me that this summer they will be releasing a High Performance All Season tire in the OEM size of 225/60/18 similar to their Extreme Contact tire.

I have only driven 100 miles so not much to report yet.

They corner much better than the Continentals did and have a higher speed rating, but they make more road noise. The noise is most noticable on the concrete sections of the highway that I travel on. I have not driven them in rain yet (The grooves in the tire are narrower than on the Continentals so my guess is the hydro-plane resistance will not be as good) and snow is a long way off. I did notice that the rating for snow traction on tirerack.com was slightly worse than on the Continentals. Speaking of tirerack.com, if you can find someone that will mount and balance the tires without selling you the tire, they are available for $92 each plus shipping on their web site.

[SpartanBert]

Yea, tirerack.com has a lot better price. Unfortunately, I need to have the tires quick as I am going on vacation at the end of next week. I am going to try to negotiate a better price with the tire shop, if he gives me a better price, I will probably get all 4. If not, I will probably just buy 2, then after vacation buy 2 more from tirerack. I will be keeping at least one of the old conti's, just in case I have another problem with a tire since these things aren't readily available. It really sucks having to ride on a donut. I left the magnum at home today and brought out the old vette for work, so life ain't all bad.

[MCaesar]

The standard contis suck. I also agree with a person on that other thread in that you are much better off buying 2 sets of wheels and having a 3 season tread that really sticks and resists hydroplaning and another set with winter tires on it.

Mercedes has used Contis a lot for years so maybe they still have some agreement to put those crappy tires on as OEM.

There are some really good tires out now but, as mentioned, most of them don't come in 225/60-18. Very few tires that are 18" are going to come in such a high profile as 60 series.

Neither the Contis or the Pirellis are good tires.

(hope this link comes through)

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compar..._26HR84X4V2_=4

compared to

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compar...4YR0SPORTAS_=4

If you can read the links, you will see that neither of the 18s can hold a candle to the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S or the G Force. Even Pirelli and Continental make much better tires: Continental ContiSportContact 2 and the Pirelli PZero Rosso Asimmetrico.

All 4 of these tires score significantly better in almost every area.

Of course you would have to go to Plus 2 and go with 245/40ZR-20.

And then go with Continental ContiWinterContact TS790 V for winter time.

JMO

[beefheart]

I like the Pilot A/S even better than the Pirelli's. I think the Pilots cost even more though and are expected to last 40k.

[MCaesar]

I like the Pilot A/S even better than the Pirelli's. I think the Pilots cost even more though and are expected to last 40k.

I like them a lot better. I have run through two sets of them. For the first 50% of tread they are almost the best all around tire on the market. The last 50% you lose some of the amazing wet traction but it is still a vastly superior tire to the Pirellis or Toyos.

They are the best.

[schmeky]

I got 27,500 miles out of my stock Conti's, which is when they hit the wear bars. They stayed round and maintained their balance to the end but were making more noise than 2 adolescent lovers before being replaced.

I now have the B.F. Goodrich KDWS tires and after 3,000 miles they are shaking the steering wheel on the Interstate. May be a balance issue, I'll have them checked in a couple days.